“We’re family.”
Creative Staff:
Script: Christos Cage
Art: Rebekah Isaacs
Colors: Dan Jackson
Letters: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt
What They Say:
“Relationship Status: Complicated, Conclusion”
Buffy and the gang struggle with their newfound responsibility—rewriting the rules of magic. Between that and trying to understand the regular ol’ rules of love, things are a little heated for our heroes. But this rock-solid group of friends are still enjoying adulthood in a thriving city (oh, er…except Giles), until a seriously bad, bad guy comes to roost in the most unexpected place.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
So I got really, really excited in the final two pages of this issue. I’ve been loving the Arrow / Flash crossovers because they bring the best of both worlds into the respective series instead of bogging them down with extra characters. I’m hoping praying that this Buffy / Angel crossover will do the same. I don’t recall many from the TV show, but the ones that did were always character based and for a reason. Well there’s reason yet again.
Enter Spike, just getting into a relationship with Buffy and just getting over their first fight. Literally, they fought against each other because Archaeus—the progenitor of the demon that lives inside of vampires—takes control of Spike and makes him remember the “bad ol’ days.” The days when he used to kill everything and enjoy doing it. The days when he “spit in the eye of the universe” by killing that which was designed to be stronger than him. Going back to last issue, this is the love that conquers all. Spike loves Buffy more than he loves the adrenaline of killing that which should be killing him.
But Buffy reminds us that the world isn’t all happy just because one person is in a relationship. When Spike and Buffy were entering their relationship, Willow was breaking off her own. Now that Buffy and Spike are entering their first lover’s spat, so to speak, Xander is breaking off the…whatever they’re doing…with Dawn. It’s not healthy to pine after a girl who doesn’t even know whether she can still love you. And that’s the hardest part. Dawn remembers what it was like to love and can’t love again—at least not yet.
In Summary:
I’m sorry for myself that I got to this late because I could have been excited for the crossover for way longer if I had read this earlier. This also brings a dynamic that, as Spike points out, has never worked in his favor. Buffy has always gone after Angel. But that’s really just more of Spike’s insecurities now. Buffy has eyes for another hundreds of years old vampire. I can’t wait for this to play out.
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: A-
Released By: Dark Horse
Release Date: May 20th, 2015
MSRP: $3.50
