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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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1. The time travel business does tie in not only with all the previous references (ABH, TOYL, Twilight's camp being three seconds in the future) but also the reset in After the Fall. I don't know if I buy that the story is ultimately going to be meaningless, or that there are infinite resets, though I understand your concern.
2. The pages are very Angel POV, which, if you think about it, is the first time we have seen this in all of season eight. (Not counting the preview page from previous!) Angel gets heroic trappings here--King of Cretins mentioned Superman as a reference, with Angel possibly going to save that plane from crashing. But this is Angel POV so I am not too worried about a whitewash as others above are. Hero is what he thinks he is, and it reads as confused hero.
3. Great call on the big O! Heading for another one. He also crashes through the Hollywood sign, which ties in with Angel-the-celebrity from AtF and, more significantly, with the whole celebrity culture things from Buffy ("Oh God, it's you!") and Twilight (and Harmony and Dracula).
4. LOST references: good catch! The reference is actually to the first & last episode of the show (Jack + Vincent + plane is in the first and last sequence of the series). Note that (spoilers, readers!) LOST ends with basically everyone going to a mind-created dimension where they worked out their issues, ala Twilight. LOST plays this straight, but the fuzzy-wuzzies seems to be not Joss' style, and I think this came through in Meltzer's arc (rickety, to say the least, as it was). So I think I buy that the play here is satire, wherein Angel thinks he's in LOST and the comic "shows" this too, but it's not the real story.
4. I can hear Alyson Hannigan in my head saying "Hey, balls!" excitedly, so I kind like FDW as a theory. Dunno if I actually buy it, or really want it. Saga Vasuki, maybe, though she still feels too much a secondary player to work. Still, someone or something has to be behind this.
5. I'm less invested than you in this being a Spike-heavy issue (obviously!) but I'm not too concerned about the Angel focus of the pages, regardless. I'm anticipating (mainly because of the preview page from way back) that this issue will basically be the "Angel & Spike issue," with both characters getting lots of pages to themselves and their backstories with lots of doubling and ironic contrast so that the next four issues are set to deal with their interactions with Buffy and the gang. Structurally Angel and Spike almost always showed up together in the meta of the story, so I think this issue might just be about both of them. Angel gets the first pages of the issue because he's the surface story (Spike's the subtext one). Just a thought.
7. Wednesday. Can't wait! Also, how cool is the recent Joss interview, where he pretty much confirmed that Angel having his soul thrust upon him, whereas Spike getting it himself, is significant? (If not necessarily to season eight.)
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