Creative Staff:
Script: Christos Cage
Pencils: Karl Moline, Cliff Richards
Inks: Andy Owens
Colors: Dan Jackson
Letters: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt
What They Say:
“I Wish Part One”
The rules of magic are literally being rewritten. With day-walking vampires and a male Slayer, Buffy & Co. are trying to keep the weirdness under control. Willow is focused on learning the new rules, while Giles is coming to terms with his newfound youth, and Xander is trying to save his relationship with Dawn. Still, Buffy has her family together again—and since their mission doesn’t yet feature Apocalypse being spelled out in big letters, life is pretty good…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Giles has always been the Watcher, the father, the guardian, and guide to the group. In Angel & Faith, we saw a new side of Giles that was never present in the show. We saw his family. We saw his vulnerabilities. We saw who he was and what made him who he is. One of the most intelligent characters in the show suddenly gets pushed down for the things he repressed, not the things he’s dealing with at current.
In this issue, we get three amazing shots of Giles. 1. On page 6 or so when he’s walking with Willow, she says, “You don’t care about superficial stuff. You know it’s who you are INSIDE that counts.” Giles isn’t his normal stoic self that would internalize that comment and think about the logical side of things. He’s a kid who wants what he wants and has never had it. He’s a 60-something-year-old man who’s suddenly the baby in the group and he can’t deal with it. That is such a stark contrast to how he really feels. On one hand, he wants to be the Water, father, guardian, guide again. But on the other hand, he finally has a chance to be the kid he never got to be.
That’s the second shot. He, along with the 25 missing kids, march toward Buffy, Spike, Willow, Xander, and Dawn and says, “You’ll ruin EVERYTHING. But we won’t LET you.” They’re trapped in the world of the Hamelin Demon and it creates the childhood you never had, but wanted. This is what Giles grasps on to so heavily because everyone deserves what he’s missing. And even now, when he is a child, he can’t experience that in full. It’s unfair, but it’s life.
That’s the third shot. D’Hoffryn shows up and asks for their help, but Buffy says they just had their souls stomped on. “No. It’s fine. After all…will anything truly be different tomorrow?” That’s the Giles we know and love. The Giles that never had a childhood and always had to think like a cocky teenager or a logical leader. Never having a childhood and losing his squad in training when he was 18 shaped him to who he is now. And just when he got the chance to maybe deal with that or reverse it, it was all taken away. Not just by the Hamelin Demon, but by D’Hoffryn and by himself.
In Summary:
There was surprising depth from Giles, who we’ve seen relatively little of considering he just came back to life at the end of Angel & Faith. His big moment was the reunion with Buffy and since he’s had a role of figuring out who he is now. That’s come full force in this issue and it was worth the wait. Things are deteriorating around them with the new rules of magic, but there are more important issues at hand, as there always are. They’re friends are in trouble.
Content Grade: A+
Art Grade: B+
Released By: Dark Horse
Release Date: August 20th, 2014
MSRP: $3.50
