When Faith returns to London, her qualms about reteaming with Angel are pushed aside when the demon Eldre Koh's search for vengeance and his lost friend Illyria bring him to Magic Town. Illyria isn't in Magic Town, but strangely, Illyria's host, Winifred Burkle . . . is. Solving the mystery of Fred's restoration becomes more complicated when an encounter between Fred and Koh releases startling memories.
Victor Gischler is an American author of humorous crime fiction. Gischler's debut novel Gun Monkeys was nominated for the Edgar Award, and his novel Shotgun Opera was an Anthony Award finalist. His work has been translated into Italian, French, Spanish and Japanese. He earned a Ph.D. in English at the University of Southern Mississippi. His fifth novel Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse was published in 2008 by the Touchstone/Fireside imprint of Simon & Schuster.
He has also writes American comic books like The Punisher: Frank Castle, Wolverine and Deadpool for Marvel Comics. Gischler worked on X-Men "Curse of the Mutants" starting in the Death of Dracula one-shot and continued in X-Men #1.
Gun Monkeys has been optioned for a film adaptation, with Lee Goldberg writing the script and Ryuhei Kitamura penciled in to direct.
Fred returns, fighting with Illyria for her body. I loved Fred in the TV show, but she was very one note here, again with none of the humor her character would inadvertently supply. Much more interesting is Eldre Koh, last seen in Buffy helping to ignite the new magic seed. He's a very cool character, one I could definitely get more of. Will Conrad's art continues to impress.
I really do love the dynamic between Faith and Angel, back since the show itself. Faith has long been one of my favorite characters, and her redemption elevated Angel from emo mope to sage and compassionate guide. They are both strengthened by the friendship.
Faith has returned London and Angel has taken an old friend under his wing.
The book description itself spoils the appearance of Fred, and I love that she's back. But do I buy it? Does literally no one ever stay dead? Still, if it's gotta be someone, I'm thrilled it's her, and the fact she can be the dominant half, bringing forth Illyria only when needed? So freaking convenient, so flippin awesome. Suspension of disbelief is strong with the Buffyverse in post-show comic form.
The return of Angel Investigations! I girly-squeed. I need a life.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This is the third collection for this season. The other two should be read to understand the proceedings so far. This is called "United" and it fits. Faith and Angel are back working together as they try to solve the mystery of the reappearance of a character from the show.
My review might be a little skewed because of the reappearance of Fred and with that Illyria. I wanted one more season of the television show just so they could have explored this story line as I believe it to be fascinating. In other words, I am excited to explore it here. I also liked the inclusion of a character from the Buffy comics and love how these two still continue to crossover. I enjoyed the whole story line but I liked the little foreshadowing of upcoming events and story lines. The artwork continues to be top notch even though I do have one minor complaint. If Faith and Fred were on the same panel they were drawn too similar.
The first two collections dealt with moving the pieces into place and the set up. Now with that being completed we are finally into the story. This season started off slowly but this collection is much better and I am looking forward to the next volume.
The Buffy comics are always at their best when they're taking old continuity and making new stories out of it, and this volume of Angel & Faith shows exactly how well that can turn out. Picking up on existing stories from Buffy Season 8 and 9, this volume features the return of Illyria and Koh, as they deal with the aftermath of the Seed's destruction and following re-ignition, as well as finally giving us some background on Koh himself.
Victor Gischler meshes this all in well with the other ongoing plots such as Faith's return to London, the Zane Corporation, and Nadira's mysterious relationship with the magic of Magic Town. It all comes together to create a cohesive story that is another excellent entry in the ongoing saga of Buffy and Angel comics. Season 8 of Buffy may have lost its way, but Seasons 9 and 10 continue to impress.
I loved Fred in the Angel TV show, and her death was one of the show's great tragedies. The writers were also pretty clear: Fred was gone, forever. So, though I was happy to see Fred returned at the end of the last volume, I was not happy with the plot twist, because it reversed such a major and moving event in the TV show — and we already saw the idea played with in Angel: After the Fall. Sure, the writers have a good enough explanation here for how it could happen ... but I find it a misstep.
With that said, this is Gischler's best volume to date. He finally rises out of mediocrity to offer up an increasingly interesting story. It helps that Angel and Faith are almost united again, at least operating out of the same city, and occasionally encountering each other.
So, this is overall a good volume, despite my deep reservations about the plot.
Glad that Fred is back for good hopefully. Also nice to see Eldre Koh again. Poor guy. Hope he'll be able to save lives and stuff now. Quite glad to be able to see the rest of Spike and Angel's conversation. Wonder if Angel and Faith will ever get together. Can't wait to read A Little More than Kin!!!
If Buffy is a step forward in the evolution of our favorite Scoobies, Angel & Faith continues to be that friend who just won't move on. Most of these storylines seem like re-mixes of old Angel plots mixed in with some of the new characters. While yes, I love me some Winifred (hello, Amy Acker is also from Ft. Worth, Texas y'all), this just felt like a piss-poor excuse to bring her back.
After a lackluster Volume 2, United represented a return for form for Angel & Faith Season 10. The series works much better when Angel and Faith act as a team (even if they do have separate side missions).
I loved seeing Fred again, and was relieved that they didn't "give her" back to the fans without serious complications. Her new relationship with Illyria (for lack of a better word), as well as Illyria's history with Elder Koh, added interesting twists to the season, and I'm excited to see how the situations develop. I also appreciated how the volume attempted to show the parallels and differences between magic and science, as I've always found that to be a theme the Buffyverse does well.
Overall, I really enjoyed this volume, and knowing that an action-packed (and deliciously awkward) reunion is on the horizon makes me incredibly anxious to read Volume 4.
I did not really understood where they went with Illyria. After so many ways of making it a real character with feelings and her own path and now they basically erased all of the growth/character development and made Illyria as bad as in the first episode she appeared in. I don't get it, and they don't seem to have a clear reason to have done it, they just needed the conflict I guess. I would have found it way more interesting if Illyria had been what she was the last time we saw her. I feel kinda cheated by that red-pilling of the character...
"It was previously stated that Fred's soul was destroyed. The person that said that was a bad man. Now it's stated that a piece of Fred is somewhere. The person that said that is a bad woman. Who to believe? Wesley doesn't know, but the smallest glimmer of hope that Fred is out there and that he can be with her is enough for him to play the game."
Well, Fred showed up again in the last panel last issue. We've waited three long years (in comic time) for this. I had my worries, but it's totally worth it!
Faith is back in London, but she hasn't said hi to Angel yet. Instead, the two of them come across each other at Nadira's place, given that Angel is there trying to get answers on Fred's sudden appearance and Faith's just found out from Brandt that Nadira didn't die after Faith left for Africa.
Brandt is another one of those cool characters who only exist in the comics. He is Angel's cop informant--similar to Kate--but sort of has the attitude of Gunn. He's able to deal with the weird parts of Magic Town a whole site better, that's for sure. He requests to speak to Faith, who is now (temporarily) working with a science and medication team that is starting to look a whole lot like the Initiative. More ethical... maybe? We don't really have the information on that yet.
When we see Fred, we realise that she remembers everything that's happened during season 5 with Illyria but, more than that, Illyria is still inside her and fighting with everything she's got to get out. As though that isn't enough, we find out that the resetting of the magic Seed is probably the reason why Fred (and Illyria) have also been reset. That's the working theory we are going on so far.
So far so good.
Except then Illyria gets control of Fred's body. And for a hot minute, it really looks as though that's the only time we are going to get with Fred. That the past is repeating and gee I hope you enjoyed the gut wrench of having Fred taken away again!
Not the case, my friends. In a conversation that happens only in Fred's head--between her and Illyria, and with nothing but white space as the backdrop--we find out that Fred is stronger now. That she has more of an ability to control things. And that there is no more of this "Fred's soul was destroyed in the fires of creation" bull.
I almost screamed aloud when that came clear. Fred is still here!! Here to stay!!
In the background, as an additional plot, we have history from Eldre Koh who was also stuck in the Deeper Well. He has vengeance to deal with, over the death of his family. However Nadira and he manage to come to an understanding of how vengeance isn't actually all that much help and manages to take over one's life while not allowing a person to access their actual grief.
For a comic called Angel & Faith, this collection was definitely about all the other characters around them. Honestly, I kinda loved that. It was an important step forward in terms of developing plot.
At the end, Fred and Angel go for a trip to Galway and basically fend off a monster of the week while Angel still tries to figure out what's going on with the dreams he's having of kills he hasn't made.
If this sounds familiar, it's because Darla and Wolfram & Hart did the same mind mojo to him in season 2, and The First also offered similar flashbacks in season 3 (of Angel and Buffy respectively). However, we find that neither of those are the source this time, as Spike comes in for a cameo phone call at the end to advise us that similar things have been happening over in the Buffy comics, from a big bad called Archaeus - great-great-great-grandsire to both Angel and Spike.
I mostly enjoyed the reunion of Angel & Faith, but I gotta say that I’ve found the returns of Fred & Illyria to be disappointing. Gischler doesn’t have Fred’s voice down at all, and Illyria loses any growth she’s gained since she first appeared in season 5. I think it’s weird too that aside from one line from Angel, there’s no acknowledgement of the camaraderie Illyria herself created with the team. Plus with Illyria reverted to her all-God/don’t-care status, her betrayal of Koh seems cheap. I would have much rather see Koh get angry and Illyria be repentant than the way it went down. And Fred talks about coexisting with Illyria, but in the end it seems like nothing’s changed, and she’s still dealing with repressing her. The one-shot last issue does a better job of capturing Fred’s spirit, but the whole concept of the issue is weird. I don’t think Angel would want to go home and I don’t think Fred would ever push him to do so.
Conrad’s art is great, but really inconsistent on Amy Acker’s face, which is surprising since she’s pretty distinctive, and he’s been so good on other characters (especially female faces) that ended up more generic when drawn by other artists.
Also, I don’t know how to feel about Nadira as a character, but she’s just entirely unrecognizable from the character we met in season 9– and I’m not just talking about her swirly magic makeover, but I AM including the lack of colorful clubwear and her move into witchy boho skirts. To the extent that it’s weird when she talks to Faith or Koh about what went on last season.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Words can not fully describe the happiness I feel at this moment. If you were fans of the original Angel series, you probably sobbed when we lost our dear friend Fred to the god Illyria. We were left looking at Fred's image under the guise of this omnipotent creature who demanded citizens to bow before her or perish under her previously victorious rule.
Fast forward the end of the series and into the comic series, we lost Fred/Illyria altogether. Now with the new seed, however, Fred has been reanimated with Illyria as a passenger on the inside. I can't tell you how much this edition made me smile with her presence being back. I actually think this is my favorite Angel and Faith graphic novel volume to date! I can't wait to see how Angel and Spike team up to try to solve their issues.
At the end of the last book, Angel ran into Fred. She explains that since Illyria "died" protecting the new Seed of Magic, Fred was able to gain control of their body. Now she and Illyria are fighting for control. Meanwhile Eldre Koh is back seeking revenge against an unknown adversary (as usual, that's his whole thing), and Faith has returned to London after doing an imperialism. This is okay. It's a lot better than the last book. The final issue is about Angel and Fred in Ireland on vacation and everything about it is rushed and sudden. This is what happens when you move the good writer over to the main title, but this is at least an improvement. Also, can we officially declare the artist shuffle a mistake? Maybe I was just used to them, but all of them seemed better on the books they'd already been drawing for.
Quanti feels mi ha portato questo volume riprendendo uno (o per meglio dire due) dei miei personaggi preferiti in Angel e riprendendo la sua storyline in maniera eccelsa: Fred/Illyria. Quando pensavo ormai che non avrei mai più rivisto Fred (quanto ho pianto durante la serie tv) eccola che ritorna, e stavolta riesce a tenere testa al dio con cui condivide il corpo dimostrando di essere più forte di non quanto pensava persino lei stessa. Mi piace che siano riusciti a dare una sorta di closure al personaggio di Eldre Koh esplorando ulteriormente il suo passato. Menzione speciale a Spike a fine volume che riprende la telefonata fatta nel volume di Buffy chiedendo aiuto ad Angel e a Fred che nomina la Angel Investigations.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
things i love about this volume: faith and angel reuniting and getting back on the same page instead of the weird awkward beginning and separation they had. the return of fred, and the angel and Fred dynamic that gave me warm feelings of the angel investigation days. I enjoyed learning about why she’s back and the struggle between her and Illyria. koh is a fun addition to the group too even though glad we finally got resolution to who killed his family bc that’s been dragging for a bit.
not really a fan of faiths storyline with Reese or whatever the fuck is going on with nadira but I’m along for the ride at this point.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Fred/Illyria got a factory reset when magic was brought back. We have Fred back? For real? I'm still on the fence about the Angel and Faith separate paths in the same story. I can see how it helps spread characters across the two books. It's kind of difficult reading a book in a shared universe that only minimally shares lore between the two books.
Bonus: Illyria has always been 'one note' and they played out most of it between her time in Angel and also the short time she was in the Buffy comic seasons. Maybe we'll get some advancement in character with them both being present in their current form.
Spoiler alert: I didn't think that Fred would come back, but she did! I loved her and was so upset about what happened to her at the end of the Angel television show. It seems fitting that when Faith starts to go her own way, Angel finds another female to be his friend and confidant. I look forward to seeing what the two of them can continue to do in the fight for the good use of magic.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I really love the characters of Eldre Koh, Fred, & Illyria, and happy to see them back. Love the new dynamic of Koh & Nadira (whose wisdom since the creation of Magic Town has been a highlight of the Angel & Faith comics). The artwork continues to impress.
A little bit better than the rest of the season. Fred's back, though lacking a lot of the southern charm I loved about her. Fred being able to Hulk out with Illyria has a lot of potential for fun and I'm excited to see where they go with it.
A gripping arch bringing Angel and Faith back together to face new problems with familiar faces. Continues to build on the foundation Buffverse Season 10 is building. Engaging and great character development.
Great to see Fred coming back and the dynamics of her and Illyria sharing bodies and then Eldre Koh learning to forgive and forgot and move on so not to be consumed by the need for vengeance.
Angel and Faith convene in Magic Town for the third collection of their Season 10 adventures. A mystically reborn Fred had sought out Angel for answers regarding her return. As Illyria and Fred are now vying for control of the same body, the nomadic Eldre Koh arrives seeking answers that only the Old One can give him. Luckily for Angel, Fait is back in town and more than willing to help make things five-by-five. The volume concludes with a hint at an upcoming Buffy crossover and the potential relaunch of Angel Investigations. Victor Gischler continues to delicately weave threads of past and present into a cohesively entertains story. Both of the titular characters are evolving past their mistakes and into their roles as protectors. Supporting cast members Koh and Nadira are given added depth, and Fred's return is full of the required joy and angst. Artist Will Conrad brings his entire cast to life beautifully, including Magic Town itself. Angel and Faith are reunited, and it feels so good.
Not sure about the direction this is moving, but four stars for my girl. I preferred the After the Fall version of Illyria but interested in how this plays out. Not NEARLY enough Faith in this one, hoping she gets to interact more with Fred.