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This Day in Comics
Apologies to those tired of comic wank; but I continue to be interested.
Disjoint thoughts about the first big comic day we've had in a while.
1. While I've been altogether too militant about my lack of love for IDW, I'm only muted-happy about the apparent news that AtS is going back to Dark Horse. I very much do want both stories under one house. I don't think that guarantees a good outcome, but IDW just hasn't looked promising. Remember that I'm the wierdo who didn't even like Lynch's stuff very much -- and he's Shakespeare compared to what came after. Still it's obviously really devastating some fans, and that's painful to see. So my feelings are ambivalent. They're also on hold because who knows what's really going on here.
I've tended to defend DH in its dealings with IDW. We'll see how this develops, but it really does look pretty crappy on DH's side based on the appearances. The announcement seems to clearly have caught IDW off guard. What does that mean, anyway? Weird.
2. Riley! I think this is a nicely written, tight issue. What have we learned?
* Angel's plan really was to strip Buffy of all of her power. That makes him responsible in my book for all the carnage in Retreat. In addition to learning Angel's plan, we learn that he mustered the army and gave the orders.
* He has a good reason, though! Whistler has popped in to tell Angel that he's seen all the future time lines and if Angel doesn't do all this Twilight gig, if he lets Buffy in on what's going on, he and Buffy fight a losing battle side by side (so romantic) and the world is destroyed. Poor Angel had no choice but to save the world by turning Buffy into a pawn. (And Angel explicitly says that's what he's doing; it feels wrong to him, but that's the price of saving the world!!) Whistler approves: Torture the cheerleader, save the world.
* Can we breath a sigh of relief and say that Angel's character has been saved? Not in my book. And I don't think in this book, either. Riley's story is there to contrast with Angel's and Riley chooses to serve Buffy rather than the world. The bottom line is that Angel has faith in Whistler's prophecies, Riley has faith in Buffy. We get more compare and contrast by seeing that Riley and Sam are totally equals. No way would Riley do anything manipulative behind Sam's back. Finally, Angel's pages (which parallel Riley's) are all dark, while Riley's are light. I'm pretty sure that we're not going to get an outcome where turning Buffy into a tortured pawn was the only way to save the world. If we do get that, I'm ready to go with my pitchfork.
* Angel's story also doesn't match up with his distinct lack of concern in #35 that following Whistler's instructions lead to the end of the world not the salvation of the world. So who knows. (You knew that was going to be my last line, right? Indeed, we are still waiting to see what the heck is going on).
* Ha! A different last line. There's also a nice section on Riley and Sam being together as a choice and not because of binding ties. I tend to think that's a commentary on Bangel as well.
* There are some other nice details. I just like the way this book is written. Nice resonances. Nice parallels.
3. The Angel series. I can't help but like Mariah. She may not do it perfectly, but she works so hard to connect with the fans and keep things on an even keel. So I skimmed the Angel book in the store today to see if I'm ready to come back to the fold. I'm not. But it's not as outrageous as it could be. Spike is foggy about what happened with Felicia, suggesting he's less than culpable. The fact that Spike earned his soul gets an airing. We get the nice observation that from Spike's POV, Angel got his soul as a *gift*. It make sense to me that Spike might see it that way -- totally evil Angelus gets zapped with a soul and he's the champion of the world. That said, Spike is definitely not aware that he's lost his soul and that bugs me. Maybe they'll concoct an explanation -- but how can a guy lose the soul that he took so much trouble to get and which made such a big difference (to him, at least) and not notice? Ergo, they got no pennies from me. Instead, I made a date with myself to re-read![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
elisi's delightful story about what happens when Spike loses his soul in season 5. I didn't read the non-Spike related stuff so I can't comment on their story as a whole. Bad things are afoot, no doubt.
Two weeks until we find out what happens the third time Spike comes dramatically crashing into Buffy's world. I'm ridiculously excited about it. If I were in possession of my faculties, I'd be beside myself with worry, but I'm 90% anticipation, and only 10% apprehension. I puzzle myself.
Disjoint thoughts about the first big comic day we've had in a while.
1. While I've been altogether too militant about my lack of love for IDW, I'm only muted-happy about the apparent news that AtS is going back to Dark Horse. I very much do want both stories under one house. I don't think that guarantees a good outcome, but IDW just hasn't looked promising. Remember that I'm the wierdo who didn't even like Lynch's stuff very much -- and he's Shakespeare compared to what came after. Still it's obviously really devastating some fans, and that's painful to see. So my feelings are ambivalent. They're also on hold because who knows what's really going on here.
I've tended to defend DH in its dealings with IDW. We'll see how this develops, but it really does look pretty crappy on DH's side based on the appearances. The announcement seems to clearly have caught IDW off guard. What does that mean, anyway? Weird.
2. Riley! I think this is a nicely written, tight issue. What have we learned?
* Angel's plan really was to strip Buffy of all of her power. That makes him responsible in my book for all the carnage in Retreat. In addition to learning Angel's plan, we learn that he mustered the army and gave the orders.
* He has a good reason, though! Whistler has popped in to tell Angel that he's seen all the future time lines and if Angel doesn't do all this Twilight gig, if he lets Buffy in on what's going on, he and Buffy fight a losing battle side by side (so romantic) and the world is destroyed. Poor Angel had no choice but to save the world by turning Buffy into a pawn. (And Angel explicitly says that's what he's doing; it feels wrong to him, but that's the price of saving the world!!) Whistler approves: Torture the cheerleader, save the world.
* Can we breath a sigh of relief and say that Angel's character has been saved? Not in my book. And I don't think in this book, either. Riley's story is there to contrast with Angel's and Riley chooses to serve Buffy rather than the world. The bottom line is that Angel has faith in Whistler's prophecies, Riley has faith in Buffy. We get more compare and contrast by seeing that Riley and Sam are totally equals. No way would Riley do anything manipulative behind Sam's back. Finally, Angel's pages (which parallel Riley's) are all dark, while Riley's are light. I'm pretty sure that we're not going to get an outcome where turning Buffy into a tortured pawn was the only way to save the world. If we do get that, I'm ready to go with my pitchfork.
* Angel's story also doesn't match up with his distinct lack of concern in #35 that following Whistler's instructions lead to the end of the world not the salvation of the world. So who knows. (You knew that was going to be my last line, right? Indeed, we are still waiting to see what the heck is going on).
* Ha! A different last line. There's also a nice section on Riley and Sam being together as a choice and not because of binding ties. I tend to think that's a commentary on Bangel as well.
* There are some other nice details. I just like the way this book is written. Nice resonances. Nice parallels.
3. The Angel series. I can't help but like Mariah. She may not do it perfectly, but she works so hard to connect with the fans and keep things on an even keel. So I skimmed the Angel book in the store today to see if I'm ready to come back to the fold. I'm not. But it's not as outrageous as it could be. Spike is foggy about what happened with Felicia, suggesting he's less than culpable. The fact that Spike earned his soul gets an airing. We get the nice observation that from Spike's POV, Angel got his soul as a *gift*. It make sense to me that Spike might see it that way -- totally evil Angelus gets zapped with a soul and he's the champion of the world. That said, Spike is definitely not aware that he's lost his soul and that bugs me. Maybe they'll concoct an explanation -- but how can a guy lose the soul that he took so much trouble to get and which made such a big difference (to him, at least) and not notice? Ergo, they got no pennies from me. Instead, I made a date with myself to re-read
elisi's delightful story about what happens when Spike loses his soul in season 5. I didn't read the non-Spike related stuff so I can't comment on their story as a whole. Bad things are afoot, no doubt.Two weeks until we find out what happens the third time Spike comes dramatically crashing into Buffy's world. I'm ridiculously excited about it. If I were in possession of my faculties, I'd be beside myself with worry, but I'm 90% anticipation, and only 10% apprehension. I puzzle myself.
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2. Yes on all these points. The issue is most interesting on Angel, secondarily on Riley & Sam (who are pretty enjoyable). That the plan needed for Buffy to be stripped of power to be powered up confirms that this is what we were supposed to get out of Retreat; hopefully there'll be more on that in Last Gleaming. (I don't know if I care that it makes sense literally, but it should be clear what the steps were.)
Whistler's appearance was pretty neat.
I'm not so sure that Riley's scenes were all light; in fact Riley's scenes started all light and then became gradually darker and darker until they were in total blackness. Riley has to descend into darkness; we see that Angel was already there. That Riley gets darker than Angel does could mean anything I guess (though if it's that Riley & Sam are worse than Angel, I think that's silly).
I have the same hopes about Bangel subversion.
Back to comment on your comment on my thread!
3. It's nice that Mariah is trying so hard to reach out to fans. I flipped through a few pages of Willingham's Angel book in hardcover; I actually kind of like the art (!) but didn't actually bother reading any of it.
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The pitch black *is* interesting. My read keys off the first bubbles in the dark "You really want to talk about this now" "You have something better to talk about in the total darkness". They go on to talk about their faith in each other and all that. There they are going into the possibilty of death and loss or the dreaded choice about shooting an innocent. It's an act of faith to talk about the future of their relationship. Faith is walking with surety through the pitch black (or unknown). I find it interesting that it immediately follows Angel on a church following what he thinks he knows (knowledge = light) into the dark, rather than trusting in the unknown (dark) in the hopes that it will bring him to the light.
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Faith is also letting your husband go help his ex he still has feelings for, because you know you still come first, as well. I just noticed another Angel parallel, this time with Sam: Sam is generous about Riley's feelings about Buffy, but Angel doesn't really try to understand Buffy's feelings for Riley (such as they are) and just dismisses them--"I didn't know what she saw in him." (Which I just thought as a metacomment on fandom, but is pretty revealing about Angel.)
It's an act of faith to talk about the future of their relationship. Faith is walking with surety through the pitch black (or unknown). I find it interesting that it immediately follows Angel on a church following what he thinks he knows (knowledge = light) into the dark, rather than trusting in the unknown (dark) in the hopes that it will bring him to the light.
Ooh, I like that.
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