This Day in Comics

[maggie2]

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-readelisi'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.

Comments

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

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.

Not a particularly surprising explanation, but not one I like at all. Good grief. So now Angel and the TPTB/The Universe make choices for Buffy? Can't the little woman ever be given all the info and make all the decisions on her own?

[eilowyn.livejournal.com]

What's the date for issue #36 to come out? If it's when I suspect, I'll probably be bringing my laptop along while baking at a stranger's house for a bridal shower which will be followed closely by a Bachelorette party I'm hosting and the wedding the next two days. Far too busy to pay close attention to wank, but I enjoy the wank and snark so much (and your reviews are always a large part of that enjoyment) that I'll try to keep up as much as possible. I recognize I have a problem, and luckily the bride is someone I've whined about the comics to, so she knows exactly how much this means to me, as ridiculous as that sounds.

Anyway, from what I've read review-wise, we can be pleased to see a mature marital relationship finally portrayed in the Whedonverse by someone other than the previously thought incomparable Wash and Zoe, so I'll use my happy non-snarky comic icon today. I've loved the banter you've had with Mogs and KoC over at Buffyforums, and found the balance of your conversation very enlightening.

I am worried about AtS going over to DH, because everyone over there has been clear over which ship they prefer, so as shipperx put it, we might as well get used to getting the fuzzy end of the lollipop ahead of time. Like you said somewhere, a part of me would have preferred keeping the two 'verses separate so that both ships were always up in the air and interpretation as to the outcome could be kept to the fans to decide. That went out the toilet the moment Twilightgate happened (the bride was the one to comfort me in the distress that debacle caused, hence her understanding), so I don't have much hope for any sense of respect for Spuffy now that the verses will combine.

Angel comes across as kinda douchey, as usual, but what spoilers I've read have said that surprised me is how much I'll like Riley in this issue. He was always the red-headed stepchild ship, not as cool as the vampires, and not a core four member like Xander, so I've mostly only felt pity for the poor guy, but his backing of and faith in Buffy show me that I really like what this issue has him standing for, and so I say, for the very first time in my life, that I'm now Team Riley, to a point.

So nice that Sam didn't die. Don't need another one of those death as motivating factor stories.

I have so much respect for Mariah, that I will miss her person to person interaction with the fans, even if it was a slightly inappropriate telling off of Sue that I have in mind as person to person interaction, but at least she tries.

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

Oh, all right. I guess I'll pick it up tomorrow.

I've pretty firmly decided that having Buffy do sudden, epic sex — with virtually no explanation — with a guy who walked out on her more than 5 years before was the bridge too far for me and a lot of fandom. Who does that? Now that I'm saying it, I figure loads of folks will pipe up with stories of long lost loves leading to instant nasty, but I think Joss misread the audience on this one. I don't think I'm being puritanical about it, but it's a vastly weird response for her. It's just too much of a departure for not just Buffy, but any sane woman, no matter how lonely. I actually don't really care about Angel's motivations, as I don't really care about Angel, period. It's Buffy's motivations that are most troubling to me.

And, okay, I got completely off topic and am flogging a poor, dying horse. Please forgive me.

Slightly less diversionary: At Comic-Con, any mention of the comic at Joss' talk was met with dead silence or sporadic, tepid applause. It felt like a wake. Quite a difference from the utter celebration of last year. He's got a tough row to hoe to make us believe in a Buffy that can be relied upon to make good choices. Oh well, that's why he gets the big bucks, I guess. I think he'll probably do it, too.

[flake-sake.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the fence, maggie, I brought lattes. :)

Though I also think the way they broke the news was very crappy from DH and there is probably little hope that it'll actually get better.

It all depends on the S8 ending for me. If they turn it into a Bangefest, I'm never gonna look at a comic again. Usually I wouldn't base my liking of the series on a shippy thing, but the comics never had anything that really intrigued me to offer in all those years I waited for the Spike/Buffy thing to play out, so if they botch it I can at least leave without doubts.

Thanks for the Riley summary. The bits about explaining 10 times over that Angel totally had to be a patronizing dick for the good of the world sounds very stupid. I really hope it gets a smack down, but I'm not sure it will.

It seems so contrived and like a bunch of excuses to bugger over any feminist message they ever had.

Thanks for the IDW heads up too. Sounds like Mariah and Tischman are doing a little better than Willingham and Williams.

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

Thanks a lot for the write-up. Have to say that based on what I've read about the Riley one-shot... well, it's nice that they realised that they had to actually go into Angel's motivations for becoming the villain, but the question is if it comes across as "See, Angel isn't the bad guy" or "Whistler's the bad guy too." Bringing in Whistler as some sort of teacher's edition to tell us what would have happened (except not, if he claims it'll save the world) seems a bit lazy (and it sounds especially jarring given all the Bangel prophecy bullshit, given that Whistler's previous comment on it was "nobody saw you coming"), and I have all sorts of issues with it if we assume that this is still some sort of study of morals rather than just a shippy adventure story (apparently, "not being bad" is what separates the good guys from the bad guys). But we'll see; at least they're trying to fix their own bad planning, and they deserve kudos for that. I like what you write about the juxtaposition of Angel and Riley's decisions, even if I'm doubtful that Whedon and Allie will draw any too harsh conclusions from that (especially if they've just bought the rights to the Angel comics). (Do they explain just how an unknown guy in a mask can "muster" the US army, BTW?)

As for the whole company broohaha, I find it amusing. Poor IDW come across as clueless amateurs a lot of the time, but I've had more reasons than just Season 8 to dislike DH lately...

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

I haven't read the Riley issue yet, but, judging by what I read, I think I'll like it.

So... "The girl or the world?" But it doesn't make sense so far: Angel was trying to get the girl, to keep her to himself in paradise. Unless the situation is more complex and we don't know a lot. Maybe Whistler ordered Angel to kill Buffy, and Angel tried to keep her in paradise to prevent her death.

[local-max.livejournal.com]

1. Well, I'm with you on Lynch and IDW (though I'm not a militant hater, just highly disinterested). Dark Horse did seem to announce it in a bizarre way. This coupled with the Angel reveal actually makes me feel that Willingham et al. probably did have good reason to complain that IDW is being badly treated by DH. Oh well, I guess I don't care enough, and a shared universe would be cool. I do trust Whedon more than any IDW folk to preserve Angel's story, and I trust him a lot on Spike. He also wrote most of Illyria's scenes in the show I've heard...?

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.