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Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Comic Review:ANGEL AND FAITH: SEASON TEN VOL 1 WHERE THE RIVER MEETS THE SEA TP

ANGEL AND FAITH: SEASON TEN VOL. 1 WHERE THE RIVER MEETS THE SEA TPB
Preview

Writer: Victor Gischler
Penciller: Derlis Santacruz
Artist: Will Conrad
Inker: Andy Owens
Colorist: Michelle Madsen
Cover Artist: Scott Fischer
Dark Horse
Genre: Superhero, Horror, Action/Adventure
Publication Date: December 17, 2014
Format:Price:$18.99
Age range:14
Angel’s work is never done. Last time he averted an apocalypse, part of London turned into a chaotic stew of supernatural forces. Who better to watch over it than Angel himself? Or so he thinks. Meanwhile, Faith begins a new chapter in her life—slaying the undead, and then going corporate . . . Collects Angel & FaithSeason 10 #1–#5.
* Season 10 starts here!
* Will Conrad (Serenity) returns to the Whedonverse!
“Highly recommended.”—Unleash the Fanboy

Picking up the 10th season of Angel the series was a first for me. I was one of THE biggest fans of Angel the Series and of course Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Sadly when both shows ended and the comics began, I lost touch with these characters because I didn’t read comics at the time. Scold me all you want, I totally deserve it. But now, it’s time to dive back into that world and dust off my Angel fan flag!

So here’s the sitch (Did you see what I said there?) as I gathered: Angel has since moved on from L.A., magic has returned to the world albeit a bit wonky and unreliable and most of the action happens in a place called Magic Town. Meanwhile, Faith, the formerly rogue slayer with a taste for killing is now on the up and up (sort of, that girl always was unpredictable which was what I loved about her), training slayers at a place called Deepscan.

Color me confused because it’s clear I’ve missed A LOT of happenings here. It was like attending your high school reunion, only knowing four people there but those four people have kept in touch for the past 10 years and you haven’t. Angel and Faith have obviously grown in leaps and bounds since I last saw them on tv and it took me some time to get my bearings and clue myself in to what had happened in the previous season. The finer details still escape me but I was able to get the gist of it in order to understand the conflict in these first five issues of season 10.

The story arc for the season, while not entirely clear to me was fun, interesting, and yes, got my curiosity up all the way past what should be allowed. Angel’s tv personality was familiar and I felt connected to him and was reminded how much I enjoyed his dry humor. Faith on the other hand, I didn’t connect to as well. It’s obvious she’s gone through even more in seasons past but the snarky, confident slayer with the killer humor wasn’t there. Sad really because she’s my favorite.
The artwork? Amazing. Angel and Faith had enough passing resemblance to the actors who portrayed them on tv but at the same time carving out their own unique appearance. The details in some of the scenes had me spending a few minutes at a time on each page with my brain trying to wrap itself around what I was seeing, cataloguing as much as it could in case it needed anything later. Basically, what I used to do when watching the show, looking for clues as to what would happen next is what I was doing with the comic. Kudos to artist Will Conrad on capturing not only Angel and Faith’s appearances but the scenery around them as well the monsters they battle on a regular basis.

Story? Check. Artwork? Double check. Now that I know what I’m missing, I want the all the previous seasons BADLY. I want to see what’s happened to these two characters that made up part of my teenage years, I want to find other fans and start talking about this again because I’ve realized just how much I’ve missed Angel and Faith.

Sheep Rating: 4 somewhat confused but happy sheep.





Adria

6 comments:

  1. It took me a couple seasons to really warm up to this spin-off, but once it found its footing it started to outshine Buffy. Good to see Victor and company doing the franchise justice.

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    1. There were plenty of hits and misses and I was apprehensive about it continuing in this format but lo and behold, years later I've finally been able to give it a try and I enjoyed what I've read so far.

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  2. I've really been afraid to try the comics-- after reading your review though I think I'll check out what they have at the library. It says Season 10--- is that mean there has been ten seasons of the comics? Man, I am so far behind. Or does this count the television seasons? I STILL have trouble watching that last episode of the television series because it was so heart wrenching!

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    1. I'm pretty sure the comics continued with the next season. They did that with the Buffy comics. The comics just replaced the next 'season' for the show. Also keep an eye out for Dark Horse digital comic sales. Sometimes you can get a whole season of digital comics for a very low price. I've gotten where I love reading comics on my iPad.

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    2. That's what I thought...do you look for the comics on the Dark Horse site or Amazon? I have a kindle fire and I haven't done much with comics yet because I'm too busy reading dirty romances. BAHAHHAHAHHA Just kidding-- sort of.

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    3. You can go to the dark horse digital site and see what they are charging, they have sales often. Then there is comixology or something like that and they have a free section as well as a buy section you can look there too. Amazon usually has them too. If there are anthologies (omnibus) it is usually cheaper to get multiple issues that way.

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