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8.36: The Preview Pages
So with four days left to go before #36 finally comes out, I figure I'd waste some time pondering the preview pages. They came out on a pretty crummy day, so I was grumpy when I first read them. Random thoughts below the cut.
1. So this is Angel from the future, or at least from 'a' future -- one where 'we' lost the war. The war in question was in LA, but that may or may not be a purely local deal. At the end of the preview we find out that future!Angel has some issues with the cheerleader.
The time travel angle has been in play all season long -- at least since #10 when Buffy talked about changing things if she was in a time loop. Time travel gives me a headache, and I can only hope this is written in a way that doesn't boil down to some "the characters get an infinite number of chances to make things right so nothing really matters" sort of a deal. The drama of life is that we only get one shot at it (says the woman who wishes she could have a do-over on a daily basis).
2. I love that Angel gets smashed by the O. More call backs to season 2.
3. DOG shows up. His first line is "I know I'm a dog. What a world, right?". Reminds me of Spike in School Hard talking to Angel about what a world it is where people buy all that Anne Rice stuff. There are a few other places where DOG sounds Spike-ish. Fortunately there are places where DOG sounds not at all like Spike.
4. So the world's back the way it was supposed to be. Fortunatley this is DOG speaking which means we don't necessarily have to assume that we really are playing the "reset and redo as many times as it takes to get it right" game. The whole idea reminds me of fanfic, much of which is about resetting the game and getting it right. Which is a perfectly fine and enjoyable game to play -- in fanfic.
5. Angel pushes the O back into place. Superpowers already in place then.
6. Another joke about balls! Probably just the usual joke about why dogs lick themselves. But it'd be cool if DOG turns out to be channeling Saga Vasuki -- a female type would probably be very entertained by the situation.
7. Mention of Wesley. Along with Angel's reaction to mention of Buffy makes me think that future!Angel isn't from so very far in (his) future. The loss of the war rankles, and doesn't seem to be a dim memory.
8. Angel is twitchy about "chosen". Immediate reference is that he's twitchy about Buffy, which raises the possiblity that she had something to do with the war that was lost. DOG asks what they're going to do about that, which Angel takes to be a threatening remark about Buffy. I'd love it if the subtext here is that Angel is twitchy about who Buffy chose in Chosen, and that's what he ought to do something about. Probably wishful thinking, since honestly having the first pages be about Angel was disappointing to my Spike-centric self.
9. DOG is waiting for Angel to feel it. Could mean Angel's superpowers -- maybe Angel didn't notice he had them when he pushed the O back up. But this line resonates with FDW waiting for Buffy to feel it -- the weight of her failure. In this case, Angel could be asked to feel something of how this world has changed. Dunno. It's pretty open ended.
There are two possible shoutouts to LOST: DOG looks like Vicent; there's an airplane about to crash. Certainly the preview reminded me of the un-joy of watching LOST where questions piled up faster than answers were granted. It's the last arc! But we knew there had to be some big back story on Angel. A war weary Angel who has lost everything makes some of Twangel easier to understand. The cynicism about the inevitable deaths of mortals. The lack of concern about seeing a world lost (since he's in a world that just got reconstituted after having already been lost).
My big wish is that DOG be related to Saga Vasuki and/or Willow. That's a plot line that needs to be joined. Angel listening to chaos means that the story isn't necessarily selling Angel as the poor hero who just had to become Twilgiht to save the world. And who knows, maybe they plucked the version of Angel who'd been through the crushing defeat because they knew that was the version that would most easily be their patsy? Could work. But time travel and alternative universes need to be employed with care. Makes me nervous, in a grumpy sort of a way.
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Why does it have to be 'the future' Maggie? King's theory of an alternate or pocket dimension works just as well. It would sit better with the IDW universe and, if you consider this is an Angel who at the end of AtF had lost all his friends and Connor then his motivation is all the more. At that point in Hell A they had lost the war and it was still about a year pre S8 (I think)Alternate dimensions like 'The Wish' have been played with. Time folds in IWRY and AtF.
The thing I'm struck by that seems to be little discussion that this Angel is clearly around the bend. He's talking to a dog. In those other pages we saw him talking to a continous voice coming from a bird, jogger and old woman. He's looking out over a city of lights wishing to see just one light. What's with that?
Oooh, and it would make sense if he was the end of AtF Angel who was human{ish}. I can't recall if we've seen Angel vamping as Twilight so it would explain his lack of vampire traits
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I thought it was generally assumed that Angel is off his nut. He looked that way in #33, and nothing we've seen since says he's not.
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I just want to put something down here, if you'll forgive my indulgence. There's a conversation at the end of AtF 17 between Angel and Spike that I can't help believing will have some significance in how things play out. Yes, Spike/Angel conversations are my drug of choice, but in this one Spike ponders why W&H have to work so hard to prove Angel will be their player in the Apocalypse to come. I wonder whether 'Twilight' is just another of their attempts. Angel responds with his thoughts about Spike not by a 'prophesied' vampire (another reason the whole fake prophecy thing annoys me) that "No one's going to see you coming." With the introduction of Whistler is that relevant? Is that Spike's role.
Anyway, just some irrelevant speculation - go figure. Wednesday it is......