Angel: Season 11, Vol. 2: Time and Tide

Angel: Season 11

by Corinna Sara Bechko, Joss Whedon (Executive Producer), Zé Carlos (Artist)

On a time-traveling mission to prevent an impending disaster, Joss Whedon’s ensouled vampire confronts his past self aboard a ship filled with zombies and a dangerous treasure.

Chasing a vision that links his shameful past with impending doom, Angel reluctantly uses the time-traveling power of Fred’s alternate form, the goddess Illyria. Not quite sure what will bring changes to the future with only pieces of Angel’s vision to guide them, they find themselves aboard a cargo ship on the high seas.

With Angel’s past self, Angelus, and his vampire companion, Darla, aboard the ship, Angel and Fred try to keep hidden as Angel begins to remember this voyage that was filled with slaughter and held a mysterious treasure that sank to the bottom of the sea along with the ship. Believing that the treasure holds some key to saving the future, the pair focus on finding it.

But the treasure is revealed to be dangerous, and soon Angel and Fred are facing bugs, zombies, and Angelus…amid a pirate attack.

Series Overview: Collects issues #5-#8 of Angel Season 11 comics series.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Horror, Fiction, Vampires

104 pages, Paperback

First published January 16, 2018

About the author

Corinna Bechko has been writing comics since her horror graphic novel Heathentown was published by Image/Shadowline in 2009. Since then she worked for Marvel, DC, Boom!, Image, and Dark Horse, among others, on titles such as Planet of the Apes, Star Wars: Legacy, Savage Hulk, Aliens/Vampirella, Invisible Republic, and Green Lantern: Earth One. She was recently short-listed for the Aeon Award for her prose short Sooterkin. She is a zoologist by training.

Reviews

[TJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art is fine even though no one resembles who they should. Angel's nose is basically the main character here. And Illyria continues to be a plot device, none of the depth that has made her interesting in the past here anymore; although, let's be honest, her character has been on a slow downward spiral ever since her appearance in Season 9 because no writer has been able to write her well. Also, Illyria appears to be controlling lava in this volume? Her powers appear limitless, with no regards to her past limitations. This entire story is a horrible mess, but I'm so unforgiving about how Illyria, one of my favorite fictional characters, has been treated over the last few years; this iteration of her is just the nail in the coffin (no pun intended). Dialogue is awful for literally everyone, btw. Again, I appreciate the focus on Angel and Fred/Illyria this season, but it's been done all wrong, from story to simple characterization. The Angel comics really need some new life next season (assuming there is one; I wouldn't be shocked if it got canned after this one). I hate to suggest ignoring "canon", but at this point, this "Season 11" of Angel just needs to be scrubbed from existence and forgotten. It's really the /one/ just straight up awful Buffyverse story that's come out of Dark Horse since Season 8 started. I still can't believe this stuff got through to publishing, no one being like, "Um, this is garbage and doesn't make sense anywhere in the context of the Buffyverse..." Still disappointed in what I have to read each issue, but I don't expect anything else from this title at this point. I'm just hoping someone can fix all of this one day... 2/5 stars, being generous.

[Crystal · Rating 1 out of 5]

Once upon a time the Angel graphic novels were actually better than the Buffy ones. With this season that is no longer the case. The artwork is rough and makes the characters nearly unrecognizable as their TV counterparts. If they'd spent the entire life of the graphic novel series giving them their own looks apart from the actresses/actors who portrayed the characters then I would understand but that's not the case so the stylistic change this season is jarring.

Also, the team of Angel and Fred/Illyria is not nearly as fun as Angel and Faith. I was always partial to Fred in the TV show because she was overall a more "normal" character and so I identified with her but now that she's back she's sharing her body with Illyria and that seems to be the entirety of her identity: that she's harboring an all-powerful demon.

Overall I am ready for this arc of Angel to be over.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a huge fan of this arc. that's how the comic books have been for me, pretty uneven, with Giles Blue being the single issue low point and season eight the seasonal low point.

I feel like revisiting angel's origins is not particularly fresh. honestly this whole arc is like omg, something is coming and it's because of something in your past angel, we have to go back and fix it, oops, this is illyria's past, let's fix that, here's angel's past, well, actually, we shouldn't touch anything, let's just go fight it in the present, oh, good thing we went back after all. it feels like there were holes and murkiness in it. it didn't fit together neatly. more just a vehicle for angel and illyria to date for no particular reason. (that's the other thing about the comics, such a tight circle and soooo many "people" brought back from the dead).

anyway, I do love the cover.

[nidah05 (SleepDreamWrite) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good volume.

[Nicola · Rating 4 out of 5]

SO MUCH FUN! Our library system was sadly lacking Season 11 and on request they have thankfully rectified that :) This is very different in tone to concentration-camp-Buffy over in the USA and a lot more playful (despite the possibility of world ending doom). Hmm, is there something maybe developing between Angel & Fred? They have known each for a long time and been working together on/off since L.A.

In order to investigate the coming big-bad they must travel back through time. First stop is prehistoric demons and seeing the 'real' version of Illryia. The second stop involves current-Angel v.s. young Angelus; also, pirates, zombies, Darla, and another volcano. Looking forward to #three!

Note: fun story and concepts but not the most accurate graphic representations of Angel; bit more luck with Fred but that's a bit hit & miss as well.

Note: A fun coffee-in-bed weekend read but I was confused why Faith wasn't present? Is this the period when they're on the outs because of what happened with Giles??

[Emma · Rating 1 out of 5]

Angel season 11 isn’t getting any better. This volume they’ve brought on artist Zé Carlos, who is a slight improvement but draws the most generic versions of these characters possible that don’t look anything like their real counterparts. Fred looks like generic cute woman, Darla looks like Harmony, and Angel looks like he belongs in the old 90s comics or Witchblade/similar. The story isn’t much better— Angel & Fred go forward in time and end up on a boat with Angelus & Darla, whose actions actually were the right ones for once, so of course our intrepid heroes fuck it up. Honestly, more than anything, this whole arc/season is BORING. Bechko hasn’t gotten any better at writing these characters (at least in season 10, Gischler had Angel & Faith down relatively okay?) and I can’t believe I’m taking the time away from Buffy Season 11 to read this, but I’m just going to finish it and be done with it.

Scott Fischer’s cover art of Angel & ship-dress!Darla is absolutely gorgeous. Nothing else here holds up to that— not even his other covers, to be completely honest.

[Magali · Rating 1 out of 5]

There were so many ways to explore Angel's past and... well... That is not the one I would have chosen. The story was so silly, so full of plotholes and so obvious. Also, they give us Darla but don't do anything with her, she's just a kind of prop, nothing comes from it, when she was one of the most interesting characters of the tv show... A little like nothing has come from Fred since they brought her back... And don't get me started on how convenient the whole Fred/Illyria situation is without ever being logical or consistent. Also the drawings suck, they don't look anything like they should.

[novoten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Příjemná šestáková brakovka, které nechybí dobrodružství, zvraty, moře, piráti nebo zombies. Jen se stále nemohu zbavit pocitu, že místo toho, aby Angel využil menší počet sešitů k tomu, aby doplňoval podobně střídmou 11-ku Buffy, dostáváme místo toho prachobyčejný filler, který tomu, jak většina fanoušků celého Angela vnímá, neodpovídá vlastně v ničem. Jednorázová zábava, ale zároveň smutně promarněná příležitost.

[Sammi · Rating 2 out of 5]

wanted to like this since we had a trip into angelus and darla’s past but meh. boring story with a plot line i didn’t really love. also it’s so wild everyone was concerned about angelus dying and not darla… like bro if darla dies here then you never get Connor someday… feel like that would freak angel out more than anything but the memory lapses in this series.

[Aubrey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Still a big pile of poo, this one. At this point, I just want the story over. Only one volume left in Angel. Might just get it out of the way to finish the last volume of Buffy. I mean, I have to end on a high note. Please let me end on a high note.

[Joan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Art and story 👎🏼. This season is spiraling.

[Ali · Rating 2 out of 5]

A second boring book in a row, with similarly deceptive cover art. Bleah.

[David Cowpar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good to see Darla again. Angel and Angelus coming face to face was interesting. Illyria was just very annoying in this arc.

[Salimbol · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Kathy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wait... was that actually WORSE than the first volume?

[Greg · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, it got worse rather than better. Repetitive, cliche, and nothing like these characters at all. The cover art is spectacular but that’s all this has going for it.

[Kris Ritchie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reads like a really strange Pirates of the Caribbean x Jojo's Bizarre Adventure mix

[Sarah Thornton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pirate Fred is best Fred

[Anastasia MacKenzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The cover illustration is fantastic and so is the story inside. I love a good time travel story, and that's exactly what this is. I particularly like how small scale this is--like it could fit into a TV season of Angel. Don't get me wrong, I love that comics can make this huge and beautiful set pieces and big concepts that an early 2000s TV show couldn't afford. Angel season 11 has thus far been the most canon-feeling (of the graphic novel continuation).

[pianogal · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little better than the first volume, but still not a fan of the time travel stuff.

[Adriana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish I could say this was an improvement upon the first volume but I can’t. The best part is the cover art with the dress/ship. It sets some moderate expectations which are not fulfilled.

[Kirsty · Rating 2 out of 5]

not great