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PLOT
At
last, back to single issue plot land! Angel is on the
case of a man who he believes his abusing his wife. After
witnessing the act first hand, Angel rushes to the woman's side,
only to find she doesn't want to press charges, while her husband
tells Angel he should have let him kill her as she's a demon.
Who is Angel to believe, could the wife actually be a demon?
WRITING
After
the first three issues, which weren't exactly the best of starts
for the series, Angel bounces back in this short and
snappy story. This is much more Chris Golden's usual high
standard of work, and there are nods to continuity with Kate,
although we seem to have forgotten a certain Buffy book
which has also introduced the threat of faeries. It's
quite an interesting tale, although just like in the Buffy
series it's the character with their name in the logo who gets
the most stories.
Other
than that, a fairly good story - let's just hope that the rest
of the Angel series will remain at this standard of writing.
ART
For
his first issue on a Buffy or Angel comic, Powell
does a superb job on illustrating Golden's story. It's
easy enough to distinguish between the character, and his Kate
looks much more like the actress than Zanier's did. Powell's
artwork is a cross between Ryan Sook and Cliff Richards' interpretations
of the Buffy characters, all look moody and dark yet
still retain their likenesses to their on screen counterparts.
I personally hope that Powell will be back on Angel or
Buffy soon, and if there are any plans to a black and
white Angel serial after the one coming soon to DHP
finishes then this guy is the man to do it!
OVERALL
Most
definitely the best issue of Angel so far, and probably
the best all 'round story since Buffy #12 hit the stores.
If you're thinking of buying the Angel series, but were
put off after our comments on the previous issues, then pick
this one up now! It's not tied to any of the plotlines
from Surrogates, and features much better artwork.
Chris Golden also churns out a great story too, and with the
ending as it is, it leaves the door wide open for a follow up
- let's hope they ask Eric Powell to do it!
Next
month: Zanier returns, Matsuda finally gets kicked off penciling
duties, and Angelus is back! Blood, carnage and detective
agencies galore, see ya then!
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THE
CHANGELING WIFE
Writer: CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN
Artist: ERIC POWELL
Letterer: PAT BROSSEAU
Colour: GUY MAJOR
Cover: JEFF MATSUDA
and ANDY OWENS
Cover variations: art, photo
Reviewer:
RICHARD MORGAN
ART
RATING: 4/5
WRITING
RATING: 4/5
OVERALL RATING
8/10
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WHAT
HAS HAPPENED BEFORE?
A
big mess. The first three issues of Angel seemed
dodgy, badly written, badly drawn, but it all made sense in
the end.
Did
I like it? Did I hate it? I'm still undecided -
I'm thinking of going back and rereading all three in one go.
This
month, Christian Zanier takes a break from drawing big ol' muscley
Angel to concentrate on drawing big ol' breasted women in Rising
Stars, so this month we get Eric Powell who has previously
done his creator owned series The Goon. Does his
style fit into Angel? Or does it look out of place?
Onwards doubting toe rags!
WRITING
Ahh,
it's a bridge. This issue acts as a bridge, or a fill-in
issue, between the last storyline and the next one. So
it's bound to be cheap and cheerful. Which is what
it is, but it's not all that bad. It's pretty okay actually.
The
issue starts off with a date, that goes drastically wrong, especially
for the vampire, who was hoping for a bit of 'necking'.
Right before Angel dusted her (how come he always knows what's
going to happen?). The storyline that follows is
about a married couple that are having some trouble.
The trouble is that the husband thinks the woman's a monster.
Seeing as this is Angel, he's probably right.
There's
nothing that really stands out from Golden here. Angel's
a bit rude especially on page 7 (with ads) with his 'Don't tempt
me' line. Now I'm not complaining about Angel's manners,
it just seems out of character, along with the 'I'll
be watching' threat he gives the husband later on, on page 12.
Angel was always a cryptic guy, but he was never big ol' threatening
guy.
Two
characters that Golden seems to be writing splendidly are Cordy
and Doyle. The chemistry that has been created on the
show is transformed wonderfully in the comic, and is displayed
to its best on pages 13-14. It's classic Cordy talk, 'Doyle,
you look like something the cat refused to drag in'.
Brilliant. Golden's always been close to getting the characters
down in my opinion, but here he gets "Cordy speak"
down to the ground.
The
rest of the story's pretty okay. Big giant monster fairy,
but something that I'm having a problem with is the fact that
Angel was surrounded by fire in the end battle, the fire was
all around him, soon as a vampire gets burnt, vamoosh, up in
smoke (did you like the sound effect - thought of it myself).
It seems like here that Golden's ignoring the law behind 'Joss-Vamps'.
Overall,
it was okay. Nothing more, nothing less. Nice use
of Kate here, but I think she'll be more use in longer storylines.
ART
Mmmmmmmm,
another independent artist takes the leap across the line from
indie books to mainstream titles. I like Powell, he's
certainly better than Zanier and his motley crew of around 5
helpers. Here Powell is the penciller and inker and look
at the results. It puts Zanier to shame, who can't even
get the same results even with more people helping him.
Powell does have a very independent style of art: the faces
are pretty cool and remind me of Bryan Hitch (The Authority,
just a little mind you). Angel looks a bit weird, but
overall, the art's really cool.
A
few things I didn't like. Angel with gloves. Not sure
why, anyway, I really liked the stake effect he brought to the
book, which is probably the most effective I've seen in all
of the BTVS line of books. Starts with
the body slowly disintegrating and then the bones and dust.
It looked really good. It would be nice to see Powell
stay on as regular artist, it'll be cheaper on Dark Horses'
behalf. He has good storytelling, good direction, makes
things looks fierce, Angel in vamp form, "grrrr" indeed.
I did laugh at the Fairy monster when I first saw it though
I must admit. But overall, good job.
OTHER NIT PICKS
Bitch,
bitch, moan, moan, is this all this guy ever does?) Major's
first Angel book, brings his trademark illuminated feel
to it. Not really appreciated though, I like what Digital
Broome's been doing, doesn't look like a night out in Vegas.
The usual arse licking over in the letters pages, with such
tripe like 'And another extremely cool Jeff Matsuda cover' excuse
me were we looking at the same cover for issue 1?
COVER ART
Okay,
but I still wish that some different artists would be given
the chance to have a stab at Angel (not in the literal sense,
that would be icky, and would most probably upset some people).
RATING
Writing:
Eurgh. Not bad. Fairy
idea seemed a bit far fetched. What next - leprechauns?
Art: Bravo, Mr Powell, take your bow and collect your
flowers.
Next month: New story arc. Zanier's back.
But am I going to return to the book? I mean, it's
been 4 issues and so far I've not been impressed, sure it's
BTVS merchandise but I'm grossly unhappy with the way
the book's been heading. That and I need to drop two titles
to collect something better (I don't get paid enough!
Again with the bitching...) so I'm guessing Angel and
Buffy might have to go. We'll see. BACK
TO THE TOP
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THE
CHANGELING WIFE
Reviewer:
MARC
ART RATING: 3/5
WRITING RATING: 5/5
OVERALL RATING
8/10
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