Now, This Is More Like It.
The first issue of Angel & Faith scores big as it nails the tone and atmosphere that fans of the franchise enjoyed so much on television. It is a great beginning to Season 9 and indicates that they may have learned their lesson about the excesses of Season 8.
Like I just implied, I was not a huge fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8. It seemed to me that Joss Whedon allowed himself to fall victim to the enormous freedoms of comic book storytelling and lost touch with what made the television series good. It had its moments, but those were somewhat drowned out by the huge Slayer Corps making it hard to get invested with the cast and many moments of way over the top story elements that Whedon never would have been able to pull off on television. Much of it just did not feel like Buffy. Yet, it ended on a really good note that left me with a lot of hope for Season 9. At the end of Season 8, Buffy severed the world's major connection to magic. This basically "fixed" what I thought was wrong with Season 8. The weakening of magic means stories will be more grounded, and the controversy over Buffy's decision means no more Slayer Corps.
Angel & Faith is living up to that hope so far and debuts with a really strong premise for the series. Giles died at the hands of Angel at the end of last season, and to make up for that, Angel and Faith are going through his Watcher's journal to pick up on all of his unfinished business. This doesn't come off at all like a contrivance for the sake of having a series starring these two characters. It actually reads as a very natural progression of events.
I hope Giles' journal and the flashbacks from it remain a part of this series rather than simply be something fun only for the first issue. It is a great way to keep the character alive in the franchise while still keeping him dead.
This is one of the best issues I have read from writer Christos Gage. He doesn't just sell this new series premise wonderfully. He does a perfect job capturing the voices of the lead characters, which is honestly not something very many writers have pulled off so far. I read this issue and hear Eliza Dushku and David Boreanaz saying these lines in my head without fail. This may be hard to explain, but it's a case where I feel like I'm really getting a Buffyverse story rather than reading a comic book adaptation of one.
Along with all the new developments, Gage really digs deep into the franchise history for this story too, giving us a familiar old character from the Angel series and a really good reference to Jenny Calendar.
All is not perfect, though. It appears that this series will also be dealing with fallout from Angel's time as Twilight from the last season, and this was not a concept I was ever fond of. To be honest, I don't think I could even explain to anyone what the deal with Twilight was supposed to be. It's a concept that was part of the over-the-top criticism I had about Season 8 and really never clicked with me on a pure concept level either. I would be very happy if this series glossed it over in broad strokes and moved on, but instead, it looks like it will be tackling it head on.
For those who were also turned off by Season 8, Angel & Faith sends us a clear message that Season 9 of the franchise may be more to our liking. It is necessary to trudge through some references to the past season, but this issue provides enough new and familiar stuff to offset that. This issue is hopefully a good indication of what all of Season 9 has in store.
