Creative Staff:
Script: Victor Gischler
Art: Will Conrad
Colors: Michelle Madsen
Letters: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt
What They Say:
“Where the River Meets the Sea Part Four”
Angel and Faith resurrected the Watch Rupert Giles and saved the world from a magical virus, sacrificing a corner of London to do it. The affected area—now called “Magic Town”—is filled with people transformed into magical creatures, some struggling to survive, some abusing strange new powers. Now Angel is once again looking after the fallout of his actions, while Faith, having delivered Giles to America, explores her options…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Finally, an issue that flows well. It’s completely thanks to the transitions working a lot better now, with the big exception being the part when they put the cork on Corky and we transition to Kennedy and Faith.
But there’s still a disconnect in these stories. Magic Town might be doing something to Angel, but his instincts are off and Nadira is the one that seems to help set them straight. When he was patrolling around in Angel the TV show, he always seemed to be on the right trail. Now, he’s put onto the right trail, largely by happenstance.
I don’t know why these issues seem so aimless, but I feel like it might be because we’re dealing with fallout. Plots are being set up and characters are picking up the pieces of their lives, but nothing’s “happening.” I put it in quotes because obviously things are happening, but it doesn’t seem to be working toward an end. Maybe that’s the point. I mean, Angel’s always working toward redemption and now Faith’s on that same path. To both of them, it seems like an insurmountable task that’s just never going to get done.
Thing is, one way or another, they’re both going to reach an ending. Angel seems to be acting more and Faith more acted upon her by Kennedy. This latest mission she will probably accept has to do with Buffy’s season five boy, Riley, who’s gone missing. But what stock does Faith have in it? It’s not like Faith was around all that much in season five and she didn’t interact with Riley that much when she was. He played a relatively large role in season nine, but Faith was chumming with Buffy at the time.
I guess Faith feels she owes Buffy or at least wants to pay some recompense.
In Summary:
I feel like Angel and Faith Season Ten will get a lot better once we get out of the “When the River Meets the Sea” storyline. These issues may be nice to read all in one go, but they feel way too disconnected as single issues. I like what they’re setting up with Angel and Faith’s separate storylines, but there needs to be some focus as to where the plot’s going. It’s just not there yet.
Content Grade: B-
Art Grade: A-
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: July 2nd, 2014
MSRP: $3.50
