My Review of Angel's 6x10: "After The Fall Part 10"

Written by Brian Lynch
Artwork by David Messina And Nick Runge

Gunn: “Now I know you don’t think you can but -”
Betta George: “Shut up psycho. I’m on it.”

Let’s see, for me it’s been about a few hours since I wrote my review for Issue 9 so it’s not like I had to wait extensively for this issue. In fact when I went into collect the previous issue and Buffy’s “Time Of Your Life Part 1”, I was actually surprised to realise that there was another issue in stock.

This issue opens up with a dream sequence. There’s a group of robbers taking a woman hostage and there’s only ensouled vampire that can save her. Given that Angel is all human, it’s only right to see that Spike is the woman’s champion.

Spike stands atop of a getaway car and gloats about the robbers being screwed. It’s something they even vocalise themselves and with an old Angel in the background, it’s a good thing for Spike that his actual partner in busting crime happens to be Connor.

This makes Angel sad in a few obvious ways. Not only does being human mean that he’s no good in a fight but there’s some clear hurt in the way Angel watches Spike and Connor bond with each other and abandon him.

Luckily for Angel, it’s just a dream and he wakes up in the hotel to a snowy background. He also wakes up to find that Nina is there watching him. Luckily for us, Nina is more the Nina we met in Season Five rather than the erratic woman we’ve encountered a few times this season.

As Angel continues to think about his bruises, Nina brings up both the snowfall in LA and Connor as specialist topics. After all the fire we’ve seen in the previous issue, the snow makes for a nice backdrop here. Think of the Doctor Who episodes “The Fires Of Pompeii” and “Planet Of The Ood”. Also I tend to prefer snow to fire on most occasions myself.

Lorne, Groo and Spike’s groupies are also basking in the snow. Lorne’s in fine form as he muses about the weather but Angel is adamant about the volatile Spider rescuing everyone rather than a select few. That being said, the snow in LA also seems to be temporary given Angel’s understanding.

As for Angel, he’s also in the mood for a decent hunt and tells Connor, Gwen and Nina that they won’t be doing it in the most straightforward of manners. It’s nice that Angel is out to get some answers and even Illyria’s inability to use a door is a lot less tedious than it might have been in a different issue.

With people recognising Angel as a hero, it’s finally beginning to feel like things might be progressing after all. This issue isn’t as tantalising with hints as the previous one but it’s still pretty interesting, especially when Angel advices Illyria to put some distance between herself and Wesley.

Given that Illyria and Spike have also been joined to the hip since Issue 2, it makes no difference that he’s signed on to protect. Wesley is pretty okay with the idea even if he does try to find out whether or not Illyria and Spike were having a sexual relationship. With Spider and her mates still looming around, do we really need another female head over heels for Spike?

The thing is, Spike knows that Wesley cares about Fred and even Illyria to an extent and we know that Spike has similar feelings himself. That being said, Spike comes across as being quite patronising when he tells Wesley he’ll kill if he tries to hurt Illyria. I’d happily torture the woman to get Fred back myself. Wesley however just accepts Spike’s threat without putting up a fight.

Gunn on the other hand has finally manages to remember that he’s keeping Betta George hostage. Given that we’ve had that burly vampire beating the living daylights out of the poor fish for a good few issues; it’s nice to see Gunn interact with anything other than his new found vampire lackeys.

Betta George was curious about what exactly a slayer was so what does Gunn do to educate him? He brings the poor fish down to a basement with a few of them there. While it’s understandable for the slayers to want to attack Gunn, they do rush a little too quickly to start pounding on Betta George for my liking.

Angel and the gang meanwhile take the dragon into the more fiery parts of LA. Illyria’s getting anxious to kill anything and ignores Angel’s pleas to wait. Instead she crashes a vampire nest and starts killing the blood suckers. Angel and the rest of them then have no choice but to help her.

Seriously you can’t take Illyria anywhere; she’s like a spoiled child. However there is a fine moment when a Dracula-esque vampire has the arrogance to threaten to kill Angel, only for him to be overpowered and then left dangling from a roof. Perhaps he could’ve tried to attack Angel first before making the comments.

Getting back to the murder of the Lord from Westwood earlier on in the season, Angel tries to get some answers. Warning the vampire that there are only bad cops and primordial bad cops isn’t much of an incentive to get the guy to reveal anything potentially helpful.

In fact at one point, the guy almost begs to be killed and even has a go at Connor for his lack of self-awareness. The big bads that he’s alluding to are Gunn’s gang but Angel doesn’t figure that one out. Instead as Angel and Connor argue, Illyria really puts her foot in it by revealing to everyone that Angel’s human.

Naturally this shocks everyone and Angel explains to Connor why Wolfram And Hart would do this to him. Illyria also manages to become irritating with her goading of Angel’s mortality and I was bummed to see Connor run away from the conversation he was having with Angel.

Gwen steps up in looking for Connor. As his girlfriend she’s a tad concerned but she also doesn’t mind assigning Nina to looking after Angel. Neither Nina or Angel seem pleased with the prospect and while Illyria’s knack for obvious statements is annoying, it’s nice to have a little backstory as to why Nina is fighting.

However as Illyria is then ordered to sniff out the vampire sitting on power, the very vampire in question is having a blast fighting with a group of slayers. Betta George doesn’t particularly like having to sit through this but Gunn provokes him into freezing the slayers as well.

Almost to prove that Gunn is on the dark side, with a frozen and defenceless slayer within his sights, Gunn then goes and kills her. The horrible thing is that she can’t scream and Betta George can’t get Gunn to do it for her. It seems that Gunn is somewhat immune to Betta George’s mind control.

Gunn’s also pretty pleased with the fact that he’s got the fish under his control. Betta can’t do anything to turn the situation to his own advantage and trying to reason with Gunn is also hopeless. Gunn clearly likes this power and authority that he’s got with Betta George and tries to exploit it.

It’s also unpleasant that when Betta George tries to get some friends to come to his side, he’s unsuccessful. To them, LA is going like clockwork and isn’t in a hell dimension. Because of that they are pretty quick to dismiss the fish’s plea for help. Some great friends there.

As for Gunn, he takes Betta George up to the roof for yet another lesson. Gunn knows a lot more than he’s letting on and Betta George is also becoming aware of that fact rather painfully. However the funny thing is that with all of Gunn’s planning, the last person he’d expect to encounter was Angel.

Gunn knew that an altercation with his former friend and employer was imminent but even was shocked to see Angel so quickly. Needless to say, Angel’s reaction when seeing Gunn is priceless. To him, Gunn is another reminder that he’s doomed everyone in this hell.

You do hope that instead of trying to tear each other apart, there’s a chance that Angel could save Gunn from causing whatever destruction he’s out to achieve. With Betta George caught in the middle, it’s an interesting hook to what will hopefully deliver in the next issue.

Also in “After The Fall Part 10”

The cover for this issue I got was Angel and Illyria outside a crypt, in the snow with a blue background. It’s one of the best covers going.

Connor: “Holy overreaction Dad! Don’t forget that wherever Spike goes – his faithful sidekick Connor is sure to follow.”
Spike: “Ha-ha! We gotta make this quick. The Spike-dragon is double parked.”

While not subtle, does this dream remind you of “Soul Purpose”? Angel still has fears that Spike might go and replace him.

Lorne (to Angel): “What, you weren’t dreaming of a white place of eternal torment, just like the ones you used to know? Sorry about this Angel cakes. Minor snafu on my end.”

Angel: “And it’s not just the four of us. You ready?”
Illyria: “I saw the ashen remains of the fallen fluttering outside. I wanted to taste.”
Angel: “It’s snow and next time use the door.”

Groo got his horse back from the fourth issue of this series and Spider just looked plain – no spider legs on her back.

Spike: “I feel your pain and I’m sorry you’re forced to Christmas past it but if whatever H&R has planned involves hurting what’s left of Fred and you’re even the smallest part of it … I will find a way to kill you.”
Wesley: “I know you will and off the record … I couldn’t be more grateful for that.”

Betta George: “Um, hi, you guys seem mad but if you just stop for a second -”
Slayer: “Fish is in our heads, hit it first.”
Betta George: “Stop. Stop. Stop.”

Why is Gunn using these slayers and how come they didn’t instantly attack him? They could’ve taken him out prior to being frozen.

Vampire: “What the? Slayer?”
Illyria: “Wishful thinking.”

Head Vampire: “Take solace in the fact that you’re going to go out on a high note. I’ve been looking forward to this, degenerate. Titans do clash and an Angel shall fall.”
Angel: “What with this place freezing over, today would absolutely have been the day could have happened, yet here we are.”

The Dracula-esque vampire did look a bit like Gary Oldman now that I’ve read this issue a few times. Did anyone else think that?

Connor: “Right now he sounds formidable. The opposite of you lately. Don’t jump down your son’s throat just because he wanted to keep you safe. Any number of people have had to jump to your defence at any given time for whatever reason.”
Illyria (re Angel): “It’s because he’s no longer a vampire.”

Nina: “You moved on, that’s fine. I’m still here so where should we go now?”
Angel: “Well Illyria knew about my situation because she can read power.”
Illyria: “Or in your case, lack of. So?”

There was a preview in this issue for the upcoming Doctor Who story “The Forgotten”, which is supposed to feature all Ten versions of The Doctor –neat!

Betta George: “One question, though … did you see this coming?”
Illyria: “There. A nest of vampires atop a structure brimming with power.”
Angel: “Okay hit them fast. Don’t let up until -”
Gunn: “No George. This wasn’t supposed to happen yet.”

There was no date for the release of Issue 11. If the Buffy issues can give us constant release dates, why can’t Angel?

“After The Fall Part 10” keeps up a good consistency with the previous issues but with two issues left, can this story genuinely get a satisfying conclusion or will it fizzle out like some of the earlier editions have done?

Rating: 8 out of 10.

My Review of Angel's 6x09: "After The Fall Part 9"

Written by Brian Lynch
Artwork by Nick Runge

Angel (re Fred/Illyria): “Do you how or why?”
Spike: “If I did, I wouldn’t be here. She’s like a schizo switchblade. Fred one moment, off her rocker demigoddess the next. I don’t think this dysfunctional family reunion is helping. If I knew Wesley was back, I would have kept her away.”

Is it me or are Angel comics like buses? You wait a month just for one and in the month of June, you wind up with two. Well in my case, its July so along with picking up Buffy’s “Time Of Your Life Part 1” and the Season 2 DVD of Torchwood, I had to snag Issue 9 of Angel’s “After The Fall” along with Issue 10 as well.

We’ve had to wait three months to get some actual answers on the awesome ending of Issue 5 and with the unnecessary but not terrible “First Night” three parter, I have to say that this comic didn’t rivet me as much as I had hoped it would.

It starts off interesting enough. Fred comes back in the middle of a bloodbath and Angel notes that her sudden reappearance also means that she’s a target for every demon who wants to rip Angel and his gang to shreds. For a minute, being dead must be a preferable option for Fred.

Fortunately she has a protector in the shape of Wesley who stands in the demons way to keep his beloved safe. However seeing as Wesley can’t physically touch, never mind kill anything, he’s not the most reliable of bodyguards. Even the fire demon scoffs at his attempts to be threatening.

Luckily Angel and Spike manage to use their sometimes ability to think alike and decide to do a little demon carnage of their own. With punches being thrown left, right and centre, its little wonder then that Fred nearly gets herself killed but she seems to have another good luck charm in the return of Groo.

With Angel and Spike attempting to figure out how or why Fred has suddenly appeared, you already get that nasty feeling that her return isn’t permanent. Angel’s nihilistic standpoint about miracles never happening is a nice way on commenting on the relentlessly bleak ‘season’ this is turning out to be.

Even though on Buffy, you’ve had a fair amount of danger, characters making incredibly poor choices and a good few deaths, we’ve also had some delightful comedic moments and the odd bit of sauciness to boot. Angel unfortunately seems to be stuck in permanent misery which even as a reader can be a grind to get through.

Gunn himself just stands there with his vampire gang watching the carnage and staking a vampire who dares to disagree with him. Maybe it’s the previous issue still fresh in my mind but I really, really loathe the writers for turning him into a vampire. If anything can be reversed, then perhaps at the end of this arc maybe Gunn can become human again.

As for Lorne’s he also pretty shocked with the sudden reappearance of Fred but there’s hardly time for him to focus on that. Instead one of the demons gets a little anxious and starts killing more and more of the humans while Gunn himself looks like he might actually join in.

Angel on the other hand takes to goading the Lords who can’t be bothered to fight. Spike’s support of Angel’s defiance gives us a fragment of comedy. In fact while Angel goes on an inspired bitch fest to his new foes, Spike gets some one liners that don’t feel altogether contrived.

Gunn meanwhile looks like he’s about to give Angel a mercy killing as the Lords decide to do him in. Then there’s the Hagan Shafts which both Gunn and Spike have vague memories during the time they worked for Wolfram And Hart. Spike explains it in more detail to an eager Connor.

Not only that but Connor seems to remember everything else he’s forgotten. He knows that Angel’s more or less responsible for everyone being in hell. However Connor wants the kind of answers that only a father can give as well as help and there’s a great moment where Angel acts pretty paternal with his son.

That’s also followed by the cooler moment where one of the demons explodes and a crowd of people give Angel an interesting name. Does this mean that things are going to get better? I certainly hope so. We need something good to happen for this lot.

However one demon’s death isn’t enough. Spike rounds up everyone else including Gwen to get stuck in with fighting every other baddie and with large tentacles appearing from out of nowhere. Spike and Gwen arguing aside, those band of ladies from earlier issues have a better use.

Spike rounds up Spider and her gang by telling them how great he is. Apparently it’s a way to get them prepared to slaughter anything in sight. On a positive note, Spider is considerably less annoying in this issue that she was in earlier ones. Funnily enough she was the only one who didn’t want to get involved with the fighting here.

As for Gunn, his contribution to this comic hasn’t been overwhelming so he just leaves and lets Angel and his warriors to get on with things. He seems to have a plan and it might involve Angel and the gang but he isn’t exactly forthcoming in disclosing whatever the hell it may be either.

The gang meanwhile end up retreating. It seems to be the closest thing to a victory they can achieve but with the Shark demon actually posing no threat, things do seem to be a little better. There’s even a glorious moment with Angel and the gang moving into a hotel.

Wesley meanwhile explains to Fred that he’s no longer a member of the living. The real sting in the tail is Fred not really being Fred. It seems that Illyria is just being erratic and we’re stuck with her for the time. That being said the final scenes between her and Wesley are some of the most poignant.

Is it surprising that Wesley might have his own plan to save everyone but at the same time, he can’t tell Angel about? Not within the slightest! Does it royally suck that after three months Fred isn’t completely back? Absolutely! Is there a chance that Wesley and Fred could reunite at some point? Well this ending gives us the mere suggestion.

Illyria admits she’s finding it harder to suppress Fred and even notes that Spike is as bad as everyone else. I want Illyria to lose, I want Fred back and to be honest I hope it happens within the next three issues. As a character we can definitely lose her, especially if it means Fred coming back.

Also in “After The Fall Part 9”

The cover I got for this issue was a knife wielding Angel beside an “I Heart LA” sign.

Angel (to himself): “In a split second, Fred is back. A split second later she’s a target. Reaching her, however seems to take an eternity.”

Surprisingly with this issue there was a detailed enough synopsis of the previous events.

Wesley: “Make one move and I’ll crush your heart.”
Fire Demon: “You can’t do that”.

Spike: “Get back.”
Fred: “Oh my God, what’s happening?”
Spike: “I have a less accurate answer to that every second of the day love.”

This Issue was released a week after the previous issue but I was sure that it was supposed to come out on June 25th.

Gunn: “Vic, man. You know I don’t love this situation. No, that’s an understatement. To say I hate it with every fibre of my being, that would be an understatement. Yet I’m willing to be the better man and overlook it because we’re working towards a common goal but then you go and doubt me?”

Hoodie Vampire (to Gunn): “Angel makes it through this. Got it. We gotta get you into yoga or something.”

There was another promo for Spike: After The Fall. To be fair, I don’t think I’ll be reviewing it.

Demon: “Enough of this! Angel was suppose to battle alone! He wants to change the rules? Dandy. New plan. Champions. Slaughter the humans.”

Angel: “Bunch of all-powerful “Lords” too scared to face off against one vampire. So you appoint champions to do your dirty work.”
Spike: “You tell’em! Just, just let us get as far enough away from you and then you tell’em.”

Spike’s mock cowardice is an interesting standpoint, given that he does actually seem to be scared of what is going down in LA.

Angel (to the Lords): “Tell me something. Do you privately thank me every day for dragging everyone to hell so you D-Listers could actually pretend to be anything other than bargain bin lackeys? Can’t you do anything, just one little tiny thing for yourselves?”
Spike: “Does anyone have a car? We could get further away from Angel if we had a very fast car.”

Connor: “So you messed up! You sent the city to hell! But now you’re back and you’re doing something about it.”
Angel: “Connor-”
Connor: “I remember everything.”

Was it me or did Spider’s little gang look all kitted out like the slayers in the Buffy Season Eight comics again?

Connor (to Angel): “But it also showed me what you did. And not just for me or your friends but for anyone that needed help. Well, look around; plenty of people need your help. Like, okay, like me for instance. I’m seeing an electric girl who I can’t really touch and I know you’ve been through that whole ‘can’t be with who you love’ thing and I kinda brought it up to Spike but his advice was more of the weird uncle variety. So I wanted to talk to you about it, because you know, you’re my damn father.”

Spike: “Yo hate to bother you but the rumble isn’t over.”
Gwen: “It’s fine. Bring it then. Do you know what happens to a champion that gets struck by lightning?”

Connor must have been talking about Buffy during his speech to Angel and the latter got referenced as a vampire slayer.

Angel: “How you’d know that?”
Spike: “Have you met me? My name is Spike.”

Gunn (to Hoodie Vampire, re Angel and the gang): “Yeah. They’re all together and that – is exactly what has to happen for me to do what I gotta do.”

Spider literally has spider legs on her back. Her real name is Maria and she’s also a product of Wiccan tampering.

Angel: “Connor, Gwen … you can bring everyone back here if you want. There’s room.”
Connor: “Kinda lame to move back in with my dad, no? You’ll get all up in my business.”

Wesley (re his body): “No, I thought, perhaps, that I needed my earthly vessel to … to break my contract with Wolfram And Hart. Rituals being what they are.”
Illyria: “You don’t have the power to do that.”
Wesley: “I don’t, no. That’s why I attempted to contact the Powers That Be.”

When Wesley mentions LA’s fashion district, there’s no denying he’s talking about Cordelia. Plus the gang look like they’re living back at the Hyperion and Connor’s with Gwen?

Illyria: “But now you’re alone. Angel doesn’t trust you. Angel shouldn’t trust you. And you want to be with her.”
Wesley: “I do very much.”
Illyria: “She’s here. I try to push her down but then I see the faces of those she loved and she fights back.”

Issue 10 of “After The Fall” is released on July 2nd, the same day as Buffy’s “Time Of Your Life Part 1”.

Arguably a better issue that the previous two, with some genuinely nice moments. After some consideration, “After The Fall Part 9” is a near favourite of mine. That being said, with three issues left in this arc, can we please get some positive stuff, such as the gang escaping hell?

Rating: 8 out of 10.

My Review of Buffy The Vampire Slayer's 8x15: "Wolves At The Gate Part 4"

Written by Drew Goddard
Artwork by Georges Jeanty

Dracula (re Willow): “I can stop them but I need your witch. Go get her!”
Buffy: “I’m not leaving. I can’t leave Xander alone.”
Dracula: “He’s not alone.”

With the previous comic ending with the death of Renee, there’s something rather impressive about the start of things here. Sure Xander would grieve for the girl in the midst of a battle between slayers and morphing vampires but that’s small fry.

The real innovative stroke is tackling Renee’s death from her point of view. Rarely done on television in this context but seeing Renee desperately trying to cling for life even though she’s slipping at a faster rate is quite sad.

Over the course of this season, I’ve grown attached to Renee and I was happy about the idea of her and Xander as couple. She was as removed from Cordelia and Anya as you could get and Xander seemed mature enough to be with her.

Watching Renee begin to realise she lost her voice as well as wondering if Xander really knew how she felt about him is believable. I don’t think Renee needed to worry on that score because from the way he reacts in this comic, he’s more than aware of what she felt for him, mainly because he felt the same way for her.

With slayers and vampires battling it out and there not seeming to be winners on any side, it seems that Dracula is the one with the bright ideas. He knows this lot have an upper hand with their magic so bringing Willow into the game should help even the score for everyone.

Of course Buffy’s first impulse is to go to Xander, which is sweet so Dracula literally has to scream at her to get Willow. A lot of people online thought Buffy was being selfish or unsupportive of Xander in this comic but to be fair, I have to disagree with that thought.

Buffy does leave to get Willow but ends up having to put Satsu in charge. I presume it’s because Satsu is the only other experienced slayer there and due to the fighting, it’s not like Buffy could spend ages deliberating over a decision. Besides Satsu can handle herself.

Willow meanwhile is getting into another battle with Kumiko. They already had a go with each other in “Wolves At The Gate Part 1” and here, Kumiko is not only trying to kill Willow but it also turns out that they have a shared history of sorts. Willow then tries to use that to her advantage to get some answers.

Instead she nearly passes out and if it hadn’t been for a knife happy Buffy, Kumiko might have actually succeeded in killing Willow. Kumiko’s death isn’t quite as glorious as I was hoping it would be but it does leave Buffy and Willow in a bad predicament.

As for the streets, there are more vampires and slayers tearing strips out of each other but at least having Dawn around even things out. For once her giant stature is actually becoming useful. That doesn’t mean I want Dawn to remain a giant indefinitely but I have no objections to seeing her crush a few vampires.

It’s also nice to see Dawn assert herself by telling the slayers to attack the very building with the big magic circle. If they don’t then they’ll become normal girls and will be killed even faster than some of them are already. Unfortunately for Dawn, Toru is also aware of their next move.

Then again Toru has been on top of things for the last three issues what with stealing the scythe and the easy way he killed both Aiko and Renee. Being a giant means that Dawn is harder to kill but Toru is full of surprises and even Dawn has a disadvantage when he reveals his own way of dealing with her.

If you thought that one Dawn wasn’t enough, then you get to have two. The one on Toru’s side happens to be a Mecha Dawn and between jests and gasps from both sides, the robot has fun in beating the shit out of our Dawn. Well this comic was lacking a girl on girl fight and this fills the quota.

As for Toru he’s also aware that Kumiko’s not responding and assuming the worst he decides to do the spell himself in order to weaken the slayers. However the one thing he didn’t bank on was Dracula getting near enough to take the scythe away from him and to hand it to Satsu.

There’s a great moment where Satsu is standing on vampires in order to get the scythe but as soon as she does she realises she’s in for a harsh landing. That the third person on our side that’s fallen from a great big height.

The other two would be Buffy and Willow. They managed to land safely when Willow turned the sidewalk into water. I didn’t see that one coming but it’s also rather delightful to see the girls have a talk about Buffy’s sexuality. When Willow did that with Satsu in “Wolves At The Gate Part 2” I cringed but here I laughed.

I’ve never gotten the impression that neither Buffy nor Willow fancied the other but to see them compare lists and tell each other that they aren’t the other’s type was surprisingly funny. You’d wonder how Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alyson Hannigan would’ve played that if this was a series and not a comic.

However the girls do leave the banter alone in enough time to stop Satsu from dying and do battle with a few more vampires. Dracula on the other hand gives Willow his sword so she can do a spell to strip every vampire of their magic. Weirdly enough he’s also cool with the fact that it will also do the same to time.

Dracula sacrificing his powers is quite strange. In Season Five there’s no way in hell he would’ve done that and I’m not so sure as to why he’s doing it now. Is it because of Xander or a desire to do good? Or is he lying and the spell will strip everyone’s but his powers? The cynic in me wants to go with the latter decision.

Willow pretty much gets on with doing the spell anyway and it quickly takes effect. The vampires are just regular vampires but it does feel like the slayers are more threatening to them now that they can’t morph into animals or mist. Buffy herself rallies the girls into attacking much tougher on them too.

Dawn meanwhile is at a losing point with the Mecha Dawn. Much as I generally loathe Andrew, Drew Goddard found a use for him by having the nerd tell Dawn exactly how to defeat the thing. Dawn does it pretty effectively but her amusement as to how Andrew knows stuff like that is misplaced.

I mean he spent all of Season Six with Warren the robotics king so it’s not too surprising that Andrew might have picked up a few tricks along the way. Still it’s also nice to see Dawn rip off the head of that thing, even though it made some perceptive comments about Dawn’s penchant for whining.

As for the final battle, Buffy nearly got killed by Raidon until Satsu got to be hero and save the woman’s life. Dracula meanwhile got locked in a battle with Toru. While I’m suspicious of Dracula’s motives, Toru basically thinks the vampire has been emasculated.

In a scene that could’ve blatantly written for Spike, Dracula goes out of his way to emphasis that he’s far from emasculated. You could almost say that Dracula over emphasises it a little too much but there’s something very glorious in the swift he decapitates Toru.

Toru’s then left looking like a pathetic shell of the dangerous vampire he started this arc being but it’s a vengeful Xander who finishes him off. On screen that would’ve looked a lot darker than it was here but at least we got to see Xander breaking down and Buffy consoling him. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone console Xander so for that scene alone, this issue wins massive respect.

The rest of the slayers on the other hand are told to clean up the town. I can’t imagine that there are that many dangerous vampires from Toru’s gang left but hats off to Buffy for being sensible and making sure that they are despatched.

Xander meanwhile gets a fairly meaningful scene with Dracula. By that I mean he threatens to kill Dracula and tells the vampire to stop treating him like a servant. Given how messed up the Xander/Dracula dynamic is, this was another choice moment in this issue.

Buffy and Satsu on the other hand also get a good moment. In a scene that’s literally similar to The Doctor/Martha scene in “Last Of The Time Lords” or even Rose/Mickey in “The Age Of Steel”, Satsu tells Buffy that she needs to stay in Japan and fall out of love with her.

Buffy realises that Satsu has a point and decides to let her take a position guiding less experienced slayers. Whether you were for or against Buffy/Satsu, this is a brilliant way of ending a relationship that would’ve never lasted anyway. It’s nice that both women got to keep their dignity intact and that they parted on good terms. Perhaps Buffy is learning something about relationships after all.

The final page is a delight with Dracula bringing a meaningful narration. In a panel we’ve got Willow in meditation mode, Buffy and Satsu having sex and Xander spreading Renee’s ashes. I can’t think of a more ending for an arc like this. It was a nice way to go with it.

Also in “Wolves At The Gate Part 4”

Cover for this issue I got was Buffy and Dracula battling vampires morphing into wolves and bees.

Renee: “Please don’t let me fall. I can’t hear what he’s saying. Why can’t I? Oh God. I’m not ready. I hope he knows. I never got to tell him. Xander I’m not ready. I’m so scared.”

Willow and Kumiko shared the same mentor, the snake creature we saw in “Anywhere But Here”. Will she play a part in later issues?

Kumiko: “We speak the same language you and I.”
Willow: “Good. Talk to me.”

Saga Vasuki (to Willow): “Darling Willow. Did you think I could not find you? Did you think you could hide from what you are? Or what’s to come?”

We saw a burning city and the scythe in Willow’s mind. Again I wonder if this is something we’ll see in a later arc.

Buffy (as she’s falling): “Not like a diving board! Not like a diving board at all! Will? Willow? Um I need you to wake up now … wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up.”

Rowena: “They built a Mecha Dawn.”
Toru: “There’s something you don’t see every day.”

That gigantic red ring looked like a portal at one point. I almost thought Willow might have gotten sucked into it.

Dracula: “Get the scythe.”
Satsu: “On it. Oh hell.”

Buffy: “What list? There’s a list.”
Willow: “Yeah and you’re not on it.”
Buffy: “Oh yeah? Well then, you’re not on my list either.”
Willow: “Good. I don’t want to be.”

Buffy’s ‘list’ includes the likes of Judi Dench and Eleanor Roosevelt. Now there are older women but come on, Buffy.

Willow: “We should probably catch Satsu now.”
Buffy: “Yeah. I was just thinking that.”

Mecha Dawn: “My name is Dawn.”
Dawn: “That doesn’t sound anything like me.”
Mecha Dawn: “I am a teenage girl.”
Dawn: “Then why do you have a tail?”

How exactly did Toru know about Dawn’s penchant for guys taking advantage of her? Was he that hard up for dirt on the slayers?

Raidon (to Buffy): “I bet you taste sweet slayer.”
Satsu: “You have no idea. I can’t believe I just said that out loud.”

Toru: “You can’t leave me like this. You owe me that honour.”
Dracula: “It’s not my place to kill you and you know nothing about honour.”

There was a full ad for the upcoming Buffy/Fray arc “Time Of Your Life”. Here’s hoping it’s a good one.

Dracula: “Perhaps you’re right. Something like ‘lackey’ or ‘minion’ then.”
Xander: “Absolutely not.”
Dracula: “Houseboy?”
Xander: “Still getting killed.”

Buffy: “So. What do we do now? Say goodbye? Go our separate ways and such?”
Satsu: “Well. I suppose we could always save goodbye for tomorrow.”

The next issue which starts of the “Time Of Your Life” arc is out on July 2nd.

This arc might have been a bit hit and miss but it started off brilliantly and “Wolves At The Gate Part 4” made sure it ended brilliantly as well. A sad exit for Renee but at least we got a dignified one for Satsu but I seriously think we need to start advancing the Twilight stuff and reintroducing the likes of Amy, Warren, General Voll, Giles and Faith and soon.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

My Review of Angel's 6x08: "After The Fall Part 8"

Written by Brian Lynch And Scott Tipton
Artwork by Tim Kane And Fabio Mantovani And Kevin Schmidt And Mirco Pierfederici

Gunn (to himself): “I remember the odds. I remember not beating them.”

The last of this good but somewhat unnecessary prelude to “After The Fall” and to be honest, things here aren’t quite as exciting as the previous two issues have been. I mean it’s apocalyptic but there doesn’t feel like we’re getting anything really new.

For instance with the Betta George plot of the story all we’ve seemed to know is that the vampires holding him hostage have been fighting slayers but beyond that, we don’t know why.

Betta tries to get his captor to spill his guts but beyond getting further threats on his life, the surly vampire doesn’t tell us anything. Three issues in I wish that we would either see Betta getting rescued or even dead because the lack of progress is something of a sore point with this issue.

Betta started off feeling important to the whole plot but now he’s just sitting there and nothing is getting advanced. Given that comic book form is a slower medium and the majority of people reading this are just Angel fans rather than comic fans, it would help to speed things up a little.

If Betta’s so important to this hell on earth plot that Gunn went to extra lengths to capture him, then it’s about time we got to see how exactly he contributed. Clearly the fish knows more than he’s letting on so how about some insight. This might be hell on earth but don’t send the readers to hell by being slow on the developments.

With last issue opening up on both Wesley and Kate’s escapades post “Not Fade Away”; Gwen is the next person to come under the microscope. As I’m fond of Gwen and given that we know she later allies herself with Connor, it’s quite nice to know what exactly the electro girl is getting up.

Once again there’s a romantic setting that looks destined to be crushed. Gwen enjoys a romantic picnic on the beach with a guy named Nate and surprisingly she’s able to touch him without killing him. Then again hell does work in mysterious ways.

After all this is the same setting that has made Angel a human, Wesley a captive ghost and Illyria pretty unstable. Gwen not being able to kill through touch is advantageous so surely because of that, it can’t last seeing as hell put Angel, Illyria and Wesley in disadvantaged positions.

Although Gwen is enjoying the idea of being able to get frisky with a bloke it does seem that Nate is a little too overexcited. Perhaps he genuinely likes or maybe he’s aware that she’s not very sexually experienced but either way he is somewhat eager to sleep with Gwen.

It even seems that Gwen’s sexual prowess is quite the news topic but despite his insistence Gwen still refuses to put out. Given how unstable her new environment is, I think Gwen is being smart. Pity that Nate continues to act a little immaturely for my taste.

Another interesting moment is the hellish feel the beach ends up getting a few minutes later. On screen it would be one of those surreal of images seeing an ocean practically resembling the inside of a volcano. There’s even a fish scorched to death at one point to emphasise the sudden transformation.

Nate seems pretty worried about what’s suddenly happening but it’s Gwen who’s more cutting in her comments. Desperate to get rid of her amorous new pal she berates him for trying to be a boy scout and then has a dig at his sexual prowess to really piss him off.

Okay so it’s pretty low blow but Gwen’s reasons for doing this are obviously there to protect Nate rather than harm him. She does seem to like him enough and if being a bitch to him is the only to keep him safe, then Gwen certainly doesn’t mind doing that. Under the circumstances, I don’t blame her.

However Nate still gets hurt when Gwen touches him and ends up fried to a crisp. Hell has been consistent in messing with certain character’s attributes so it’s no surprise that Gwen would get a sting in the tail. No one gets to catch a break in this arc, do they? Well, except maybe Lorne and Spike to a degree.

Gwen’s reasonably upset that her touch can kill once again but I’m having a hard time trying to understand what she meant when she said she earned it. If anything, I’d imagine the opposite reaction would be true. Gwen might not be pure as the driven snow but she’s certainly evil or deserving of bad shit like that to happen to her.

Despite not actually viewing Nate as a permanent love interest, Gwen’s grief for him is still pretty damn effective no less. I liked that she promised to try and fix the chaos surrounding LA by allying herself with Team Angel and seeing how she goes from that to actually Connor would’ve been nice.

It’s also interesting to get a somewhat deeper insight into Gwen as a character too. We know that she’s lonely and part of her reasons for seeing Nate was kill some of that loneliness. In her new surroundings I can’t imagine much in the way of happiness for her right now.

Meanwhile Gwen isn’t the only one in suitable turmoil. Nope, our next focus are the civilians of LA and there’s a young man who is desperate to spread the word of doom much to derision of others.

This guy wastes no real time in chiming bells and spouting stuff about the end being near. He even invades a cinema and uses the words to promote movies in order to get the point across. As plots go this one is both audacious and a little silly. In some ways it’s nice to see how the hell on earth affects ordinary people but this isn’t quite as compelling as you’d want it to be.

The guy comes across as somewhat annoying that the sceptical woman telling him not to be so negative is somewhat more sympathetic. Of course while she might think that he’s barking mad, it’s not long before he actually gives her genuine proof that he’s right to be fearful.

As the skies rain fire and the girl gets increasingly scared, it’s the guy who seems to find enjoyment out of this. For some reason that reminds me of Andrew and that is never a good thing.

With demons trashing the whole of LA left, right and centre the rest of this segment feels a tad flat. So hell is here and this guy is happy to be right? At one point it does look like he’s about to challenge some of these demons to a duel. Whether or not he actually survives, I have to admit that I don’t really care all that much.

The last focus of this issue is then Gunn. So we all know that he’s been turned into a vampire and this issue fills in some of the gaps since we saw him in “Not Fade Away” as Gunn finds himself in the hands of another vampire.

At first he thinks he’s been captured and that the vampire in question is a tad crazy but soon enough his mind begins to flash to the moment he was dying. Gunn even quips that he didn’t beat the odds. Being a vampire also ensures that to be honest.

As Angel, Spike and Illyria fought to survive, Gunn was on the way out and even Angel couldn’t encourage him to hold on for any longer. That’s when a group of vampires took Gunn and one of them ended up siring him. The question is why would one of them do that but annoyingly enough, it’s the one thing this issue fails to provide an answer for.

Gunn isn’t best thrilled with his new fate and nor is he in the mood to become friends with the very fellow who sired him. In fact there’s some good banter about these vampires who have an inside line when they’re explaining that they don’t work for Wolfram And Hart.

With Gunn being offered a position to work with these vampires (whose motives aren’t that clear), it’s actually quite funny that this lot are very reluctant to tell Gunn that it’s hell on earth. Of course Gunn is more than aware of that and when he’s not staking the guy who sired him, he’s informing the rest of the gang that he wants out of hell. I think that’s easier said than done.

Also in “After The Fall Part 8”

The cover I ended up buying for this issue was the one with Gunn and the many hands coming after him.

Betta George (to the vampire): “In the short time I poked around what passes for your mind, I saw all sorts of stuff and for the sake of surviving, I agree that air supply is totally underrat-”

It’s a bit odd that unlike the previous two issues, we got nothing on Betta George at the end of the comic.
Nate: “We’ve been kissing for three hours.”
Gwen: “And touching.”
Nate: “And touching, yes. Lotta touching.”

Gwen: “I should go.”
Nate: “No, you shouldn’t. Because you go and I don’t know when I’m going to see you again and then we can’t touch and that would suck because I’m all about-”
Gwen: “I know where you work. I’ll come there if I want to see you.”

Did anyone else think Nate was drawn a bit like Nathan Fillion for some reason?

Nate: “Somebody’s gotta do something.”
Gwen: “Totally but it ain’t you. Lots of boy scouts in this town. I’ve run across a couple of guys that are probably better at handling this than you. Also better at making out. Take the hurt and use it.”

Gwen (to dead Nate): “Yep. If it is permanent and it’s not and I can’t find another one of those thingamabobs to change me back and I will, kinda wished I had actually dated someone in the short time that I had. Not just. Yeah. And not you, not saying you. Just woulda been nice to know what it’s like. To not be alone for a little while. Woulda been nice.”

This has to be the first issue that was co-written with Brian Lynch. Scott Tipton helped out with the Gunn segment of the story.

Girl: “Why are you so negative all the time?”
Man: “I’m not. I’m positive. The end is near. Get ready. I am. I have soup and bottled water and a sword.”

Man (re Girl): “But if she’s okay and she ever does pass this way again she’ll see I used her stupid sign to lie for her and if she’d just come back, I’d be more than happy to admit it … it wasn’t entirely painful.”

The man used letters from movie titles such as Valentine, Chance, House On Haunted Hill, First Night and Catch Me If You Can – all of these movies have featured Buffy/Angel actors.

Vampire: “Just calm down Charles it’s going to be alright. We’ve been waiting to talk to you for weeks. What’s the last thing you remember?”
Gunn: “I remember … overly friendly vampire telling me to calm down. Oh, you mean before that. I remember the alley.”

Angel: “It’s gonna be alright, Gunn.”
Gunn: “Reall. Reall.”
Angel: “We’re gonna get out of this.”
Gunn: “Really not Angel.”
Angel: “Oh. Just hold on for a few minutes.”

There’s a brief preview for Issue 9 at the end of this issue. It comes out on June 26th.

Gunn (to vampire gang): “So. What’s this about an inside line? Because even before that curtain was pulled I was fully aware I was in hell and I want out.”

Does anyone know if Spike: After The Fall is canon as well as this? Is there even a point to it?

“After The Fall Part 8” has a collection of some good ideas and while it’s intriguing, this whole storyline on a whole hasn’t added as much as I hoped it would. Hopefully by next issue some actual progress will have been made.

Rating: 6 out of 10.

My Review of Angel's 6x07: "After The Fall Part 7"

Written by Brian Lynch
Artwork by Tim Kane And Nick Runge And Stephen Mooney

Connor: “Surprised you haven’t encountered one of my fathers.”
Kate: “‘One off …? Heh, LA.”

Things keep building up and getting rather juicy as this comic season continues to show vital signs of actual improvement. Last issue tackled four different characters so this issue continues with one Betta George and also starts unravelling the fates of both Wesley and Kate.

Betta’s story both begins and end this comic yet again. The fish has managed to break free of the reigns of his prison and is making a decent attempt to escape. Sadly for him, the vampire we all assumed was thicker than two short planks has other ideas.

While Betta George might be keen to catch up with Spike, the vampire minion stops him from actually leaving. Worse still for Betta is that he’s furious about the fish trying to underestimate him at every turn.

Much as I like the Betta George plot I kind of wish that we got the full story in the first few pages. I’m looking forward to really finding out why he’s so significant in the grand scheme of things. What the hell does Gunn want with him and it Betta is so important, then why aren’t Angel and Wesley looking for him also?

To kick off the new stories first there’s Wesley sitting in a chair looking content. From the get go, it’s clear that he’s supposed to be in some form of a happy setting and given the amount of misery he’s had to endure, a part of me was hoping that this happiness was real for him.

After all you’ve got Wesley with a big goofy grin on his face and there’s Fred telling him that they’ve done it. Wesley’s reaction is to wonder aloud if a small of her was still inside Illyria to which she reacts that she was. Given that Illyria lied to him as he began to die, I could see where this one was going.

It’s great to see to a romanticised Wesley and Fred. Both of them want to be together and there’s a few romantic images as well as the odd monster to slay that highlights what their future might be. All Wesley wants to do is curl up in bed with the woman he loves more than anything.

Sadly Wesley is also a realist and immediately that the Fred who is offering him such joys is a fake. It’s not specified who is actually posing as Fred, though a part of me suspects that it could be Eve. Well she always did have a penchant for being annoying when she wasn’t scheming against Wolfram And Hart herself.

Wolfram And Hart clearly believe that Wesley could do with being a bit more miserable. After all they want to reveal the Fred as a fake as soon as Wesley slept with her but they didn’t bank on Wesley figuring out so quickly. I’m hoping future underestimations on Wolfram And Hart’s part will play to Wesley’s advantage.

Wesley’s first reaction to the fake Fred is to strangle her but he manages to keep his anger under control. Not that it matters seeing as the fake is every bit as dead as he is. Still the woman is a right bitch in her happiness to goad Wesley and she doesn’t waste much time either in reminding him that he is still under contract.

As we’ve seen from the start of “After The Fall Part 1”, Wesley is literally being forced by Wolfram And Hart to spy on Angel and report to them everything he gets up to. Wesley doesn’t want to do this and uses both the fact he’s dead and idle threats to try and get out of the deal.

Unfortunately the threat of being separated from Fred even more and the fact he’s bound by contract means that he doesn’t get a say in the matter. Soon enough he’s kitted out for work and is told to get on with things.

Wesley’s reaction to the hell on earth outside is a nice touch. He’s actually surprised by the amount of carnage that has managed to happen in such a short time and while he’s still determined to best Wolfram And Hart, he is for the time being their unwilling little spy.

As for the woman posing as Fred (then again maybe it is Fred), she also questions Wesley’s motives. She knows that he’ll try to break free but she’s also aware that Wesley’s loyalty to Angel could be an advantage for her as well.

The most interesting however is that she mentions Wesley being the key to Wolfram And Hart being victorious in this battle. Needless to say, I really want to find out how exactly that one will come about. How can Wesley help this firm win and more importantly, aside from Angel, is there any other way they can lose?

Connor meanwhile also has the fear of losing his own battles. Being caught by a demon gang in the last issue wasn’t exactly the best of things that could’ve happened to him and given that his mind is less focused on escaping, it’s a good job that he doesn’t have to be the one who kills the demons ready to slaughter him.

Nope, instead that honour goes to Kate who since the last time we’ve seen her has clearly went on a Supernatural marathon and decided to become a demon hunter in her own right. All she says is two words before the demon holding Connor is shot to pieces.

As reintroductions go that is pretty damn cool. Kate’s never been one of my favourite characters but I’ve never hated and while I was expecting the mystery character for this issue to be someone like Cordelia, I have to admit that her story is riveting enough to keep me amused.

As soon as she shoots the demon both she and Connor have to leg it as the remaining demons are ready to tear them both to pieces. One of the amusing things with the running is that Connor goes into overload trying to prove his toughness as Kate gently dismisses him.

Still at least there is Kate’s car so they don’t have to do that much running and the driving allows for some more sparkling dialogue. Kate wants to get Connor away from danger and all Connor wants to do is explain that he can handle himself in a fight.

He’s also quick to mention that he has multiple fathers as Kate gives a brief description of her own antics. Basically she’s helping people fall through the cracks caused by this hellish setting and when she’s not doing that she’s also blowing up as many demons as she can possibly muster.

In fact before we get to see her base she also shoots at a grisly looking spider creature which looked like it could’ve came out Doctor Who. It also enough to get Kate suspicious while in a funny scene Connor thinks she’s flirting with him. I guess in every dimension Connor is going to have a thing for older women.

As Kate’s base of operations, it’s a slayer’s wet dream. Tonnes of weapons and books but Kate’s too busy telling Connor to relax to give him a guided tour. Also when she finishes working on a nifty little weapon of her, she leaves Connor there to ponder all by himself.

Well Connor does that for a few seconds and then he arms himself. More interestingly is that it’s perhaps Kate and not his father that influenced him to fight monsters in this environment. After all when he wasn’t thinking about her sexually, he seemed to be taking in a lot of what she said.

However seeing as the comic started with Betta George, it also finishes with him and the fish is back to being a prisoner. Even more interesting is that the vampire holding him hostage explains that Gunn has being using slayers to help with his training.

This might be the first element of Buffy that has slipped into Angel’s comic season. It’s a nice, sinister twist that will hopefully pay off in later issues and it also manages to both confuse and freak out Betta George so there’s double points in that too. However something like that has got to draw attention and obviously I don’t mean from Buffy’s neck of the woods.

Also in “First Night Part 2”

The cover I got was with Spike in pure vampire mode on top of a building, looking all gothic and creepy to boot.

Betta George (to the vampire): “Wow, you really wanna bite me but you can’t, huh? There’s a reason I’m Hell’s most sought after fish. I’m a powerful telepath, little man. I mean, look at us, you’re a vamp and I can still make you think this is going on. Virtually impossible, yet here we are.”

The only appearance from Spike this issue is the image that Betta George produces to the vampire holding him hostage.

Betta George (to the vampire): “When your boss gets back, tell him I’m sorry I couldn’t stick around but I had to go see a British guy about kicking his ulp.”

Fred: “Sweetie … we did it.”
Wesley: “You were in there.”
Fred: “Maybe a smidge. You always knew.”

I have to give big praise to Nick Runge who really made both Wesley and Fred in this comic actually look like Alexis Denisof and Amy Acker.

Wesley: “What now?”
Fred: “What now …is us. Is this. Forever. We’ve earned it. We’ve earned whatever we want and for old time’s sake we can do this sometimes. But each and every time … we’ll be just fine. And we’ll always come back here.”

Wesley: “It sounds wonderful.”
Fred: “It’s getting there.”
Wesley: “If only … this wasn’t a lie.”

Visions we saw with Wesley and Fred included them by a field and a mountain, a horse drawn carriage and slaying a devil like demon.

Wesley: “Do yourself a favour. Stop pretending you’re her. It won’t get you anywhere except dead.”
Fred: “Well then we’d have something in common. See I knew you’d be smarter than this. They thought you’d be so desperate to believe that we’d have to drop the curtain and tell you when it would hurt the most.”

Fred: “I can’t believe you didn’t want to live in the lie for a while. I would’ve done whatever you wa-”
Wesley: “Shut up. You think I’ll be a company man? Really?”

Wesley had a snake on his back before forced into his suited attire. That has to mean something else, right?

Wesley: “What’s his fau- oh.”
Fred: “Yeah heaven isn’t this clichéd but hell … stereotype is pretty dead on.”

Connor: “It’s cool, I’ve done this kind of thing before.”
Kate: “I can tell.”
Connor: “Hey I grew up in a hell dimension.”
Kate: “Well then this oughta be like old home week.”

The cover issue I got here was also a poster in the middle of the comic book as well. Works better as a poster too.

Kate (to Connor): “A man wiser than both of us helped me through a crisis of conscience once. He said to me and I’m paraphrasing here …‘in the greater scheme. Or the bigger picture, nothing we do matters. There is no grand plan. No big win. If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do because that’s all there is’.”

There’s a double issue frenzy in June. Issue 8 is out on June 11 and Issue 9 is out on June 25th.

Betta George (to the vampire): “And what is with that one word in your head over and over. Seriously what the hell is a slayer?”

Chronology: Seconds after “After The Fall Part 7” and “Not Fade Away”.

I liked this one. “After The Fall Part 7” is upping the intrigue on the hell on earth situation but I can’t help but think that Season Six should’ve started with this story rather than the format it’s placed in.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

My Review of Buffy The Vampire Slayer's 8x14: "Wolves At The Gate Part 3"

Written by Drew Goddard
Artwork by Georges Jeanty

Xander: “Hi guys.”
Buffy: “You look terrible.”
Xander (re Dracula): “It’s been a long flight. He doesn’t travel well.”

Last issue saw the gruesome death of Aiko when Toru was successful in turning her back into an ordinary girl. Needless to say that as soon as Buffy and her troops arrive in Tokyo, they get one hell of a greeting.

Clearly Toru knew that Buffy would come to retrieve her scythe but even Buffy wasn’t expecting to see a strung up slayer on a public building. Horrifying the locals, it’s also a nice reminder for Buffy not to underestimate this particular threat. If Toru can do that to one slayer, then he’s going to have a cherry pick of them now.

Buffy’s pretty disgusted at Aiko’s death but fortunately she evades the “everybody sucks but me” she dished out in “Get It Done”. Instead she gets help in getting Aiko’s body down from the building and brings it back to base as the other slayers watch her.

Willow does her best to be a comfort to Buffy and after the friction between them in “Anywhere But Here”; it’s nice to see them on side. Now if only Buffy could extend that courtesy to Giles and Faith, I would be one very happy reader. No seriously, it’s time Buffy got over that one.

Anyways the fun little girl time gets interrupted by Dracula, which I guess is marginally better than Andrew. Acting like a grand dame Dracula is quick to remind Buffy and Willow that he thinks they are idiots. The fact that neither one of them hurls some form of an insult back is a bit jarring.

Still at least Xander is there to greet his friends and while he does make a lame attempt to defend Dracula, this comic does fortunately give him much better material to work than being the count’s gopher.

Dracula meanwhile not only decides to give Willow a spell to combat the shape changing vampires but he also leaves his manners at home by wanting to snack on Aiko. I suppose its comic but seeing as Dracula seems to be channelling Spike in the dialogue department; it’s a bit irritating as well.

As for our baddies, when they’re not busy setting up a giant symbol to help with the crippling of the slayer line, both Toru and Raidon are either sniping at each other or talking about precautions to be taken against Buffy and her army of slayers.

It shows that Toru is smart enough to realise that his plan could possibly go wrong and Kumiko is still being really creepy by hanging upside down on the wall. Still as secure as Toru might want to be, you have to admit that he still does have to be that extra cautious.

The scoobies are definitely not short of ideas to get their own information on Toru. Having Renee undercover as a frightened school girl in order to trick one of Toru’s soldiers was a neat twist. Renee is definitely convincing enough to dupe this bloke, even though he doesn’t come across as the brightest of vampires.

While he thinks he’s got a tasty school girl treat, Renee quickly reveals her identity before Willow is able to snare him. It seems that Dracula’s spell is reliable after all as the vampire is unable to escape from his boxed prison.

Weirdly though, the gang’s method of extracting information from him felt a tad too extreme. I mean having Willow squirt him with gasoline before Buffy torched was kind of taking things too far. I know she’s got a serious war on her hands and while that vampire was better off dead, did she really have to go that far.

A part of me would like to justify her actions by saying that maybe finding out about Toru’s plans just freaked her out but there was a callousness in what Buffy did that makes me wonder yet again if General Voll was right about her all along.

Because of this Buffy also does what she does worst by isolating those she needs. This time around it’s Satsu who feels Buffy’s distant behaviour when she’s told to stand down. Now there are some arguments that should be in privacy and this was one of them.

Instead Buffy had it out with Satsu in front of the other slayers who by the looks of it are well aware that Buffy and Satsu slept together. Of course Buffy tries to pass off her order as a method of leading but even though Satsu is younger, she isn’t stupid and calls Buffy out on her actions.

Using the Tokyo based slayers as an excuse might have been plausible but clearly Satsu knows Buffy better than she thinks. Satsu even openly ponders if Buffy’s orders have more to do with either protecting or avoiding her and Buffy herself isn’t able to put up much of an argument against the flighty slayer.

Instead Satsu basically tells her that she’s fighting with her and storms off. Buffy on the other hand just ponders that she finds it sexy that Satsu calls her “Ma’am”. While I still maintain that Buffy isn’t gay, there is the possibility that this tryst between her and Satsu might last a bit longer, provided Satsu doesn’t get killed in this arc.

Buffy isn’t the only person with romantic problems. The last two issues have gotten past the awkward stages and confirmed that Renee’s crush on Xander isn’t one-sided. Nope, Xander ups the flirty banter between him and Renee by explaining the etiquette of dating.

This dialogue is a nice reminder to a younger Xander and given how much I like Renee as a character, it’s also undeniably cute as well. He might go on just a tad too much but it’s really nice to see him open up to another person romantically and Renee’s way of countering his proposition is also hilarious.

She reminds him about the less savoury antics that in real life would never occur on a first date but she also puts him out of his misery by planting a juicy kiss on him too. Oh and if she wasn’t likeable she remains nasty to Dracula, who isn’t so quick with the comebacks in this one.

Actually by the looks of things while Dracula might protest about never wanting to go on a date with either Xander or Renee, he sure as hell looked jealous when he saw them making out with each other. I admit that I did find that funny, particularly as Xander and Renee ignored his hints for them to cut it out.

As for the action of the episode, you’ve got a street littered with over a thousand vampires, lot of slayers hiding in the alley and on a roof there’s Xander, Renee, Buffy, Dracula, Andrew and Rowena all discussing different tactics. Everyone except Buffy seems to be spoiling for a fight. All she wants is her scythe back.

Knowing what Toru is doing with her beloved weapon, it’s no wonder Buffy is eager to get the scythe back but with so many vampires standing between her and Toru’s lair, she doesn’t have a lot of options. That’s where Willow comes in and she uses her magic by teleporting Dawn to the scene.

I suppose I should’ve guessed that with the insanely prolonged giant problem, Dawn would once again come in handy. She was useful in knocking out Amy and squatting zombies in “The Long Way Home Part 3” so it makes sense to use her size to terrify the crap out of Toru’s minions.

That being said Dawn did take her time getting into Godzilla mode. Then when she did, she had no problem smashing a few building as well in order to pose a serious threat to Toru’s minions. Andrew musing about the unusual situation Dawn was put it was nice.

As for finding Toru, it was really was a case of being too good to be true. I should’ve guessed when Buffy and the gang go inside the factory and he didn’t seem to look their way. Then Willow got the headache from hell and Xander’s face came into contact with a lot of blood.

Killing Aiko wasn’t satisfying enough for Toru as the victim he claims now is Renee. While her death isn’t as tear jerking as Tara’s was in “Seeing Red”, it’s definitely impacting enough to invoke fury. I liked Renee and I liked the idea of her and Xander hooking up. Does Joss Whedon and his staff writers have to kill off every love interest for the Scoobies when he’s not making them evil?

Given that Renee also hasn’t appeared in that many issues anyway (I think she’s been at least eight), I think this comic took an easy way out in killing her. Unless Renee actually survived being impaled by the scythe but that’s highly unlikely.

Granted if it hadn’t have been her then Satsu could’ve easily also gotten as she’s the only other developed new slayer in Season Eight. Maybe it’s not such a bad thing that Faith, Kennedy, Rona and Vi aren’t around. There’s at least one of them whose death would seriously anger me more. I’m also dreading how Xander is going to react to having yet another dead lover.

Also in “Wolves At The Gate Part 3”

Cover for this issue that I bought was the one with Dawn stomping all over Tokyo in Godzilla mode.

Willow: “How long are you gonna stay up here?”
Buffy: “Just ‘til I figure out what to do next.”

Given the severity of Toru is trying to pull off, I think Buffy really should warn both Giles and Faith as well as the other slayer factions what he’s up to.

Dracula: “I’m assuming you’ve considered using Carolina’s grasp. I mean you’re not complete idiots are you?”
Buffy: “Oh good it’s you.”
Willow: “And Xander!”
Buffy: “Who’s grasping Carolina’s what now?”

Dracula: “I need to get my coffin installed. The sun should be up before long.”
Buffy: “It’s eight pm.”
Dracula: “Is it? I’ve never understood time zones.”

When Kumiko is sleeping/praying upside down it looks like her feet are literally inside the ceiling.

Toru: “You have no imagination, do you Raidon?”
Raidon: “I’m fairly certain it died with my soul.”

Raidon: “What’s Kumiko doing?”
Toru: “I think she’s praying, though it’s always hard to tell with her.”

There’s a timely ad in this comic for Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull actions figures given the movie’s imminent release.

Vampire: “Well you have to be careful. You never know who you could run into out here.”
Renee: “Boy, you’re telling me.”

Buffy (to the vampire): “Everytime we try to fight one of you guys, you turn into air and it’s really hard to fight air. At least until you remember … air burns.”

Buffy had on a T-shirt with a dragon logo on it. Plus school girl Renee was the first time we’ve seen that girl in a different costume.

Vampire: “Please I told you everything I know. You have to let me go.”
Buffy: “I never agreed to that.”

Buffy: “I need you to stay here and look after them. And I need you to help them bury Aiko.”
Satsu: “You want me to stand down.”

Judging by the way the other slayers are looking, they definitely do know that something went on with Buffy and Satsu.

Satsu: “I’m not following your order. Not this time. I’ll see you on the battlefield. Ma’am.”
Buffy: “I can’t believe I find it sexy when she calls me ‘Ma’am’.”

Renee (to Xander): “Okay, so just to be clear. When people ask what we did on our first date, you want me to tell them we dressed me up like a school girl, used me as bait on the streets of Japan. Lit a vampire on fire, then geared up to go into battle with several hundred girls and Dracula.”

At one point we did see Dracula dressing up in the same outfit he wore in “Buffy Vs. Dracula”. I also quite like that sword of his.

Dracula (to Xander/Renee): “I resent that. I would never go on a date with the two of you. Even if you begged. So don’t even bother asking.”

Buffy (to everyone): “I’m not looking for a fight. All that matter is the scythe. Once we get that back, they can’t hurt us. I mean except, you know in the traditional biting and stabbing and clawing sense. But we’ll deal with that when it comes.”

There were not one but two people who commented on The Doctor and Rose’s appearances in “No Future For You Part 1” in the letter section.

Dawn (to the vampires): “Hi. Or I mean … roar?”

Buffy (to Toru): “Yep, that is, in fact, a giant Godzilla woman wreaking havoc on your minions and to make matters worse, she’s a teenage so moody. Believe me, there’s no dishonour in surrender despite what your culture says to the contrary.”

I’m guessing Kumiko drummed up the mirage of Toru to distract Buffy.

Buffy: “Guys it’s a -”
Toru: “I believe the word you’re looking for is ‘trap’?”

The next issue of this arc is released the day before my birthday – June 4th, though as I live in Ireland I’ll get it on June 5th hopefully.

Well this was definitely an improvement. “Wolves At The Gates Part 3” was more darker and wins points for keeping Andrew and Dracula’s contributions to a thankful minimum. It’s going to be interesting to see how this very arc is resolved next issue.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

My Review of Angel's 6x06: "After The Fall Part 6"

Written by Brian Lynch
Artwork by Tim Kane And David Messina And Stephen Mooney And John Byrne

Woman: “Can we stick with you? It’s not safe.”
Spike: “Yeah, yeah, I was retired but to tell you the truth, it got boring after a while.”

After the wonderful return of Fred at the end of Issue 5, it seems purely evil on IDW’s part to deny us some follow up on that. Instead we have to focus for this issue and the next two on what exactly happened on the end of “Not Fade Away”.

Maybe I’m an impatient sort but shouldn’t this have been something that we should’ve gotten at the start rather than now? However as complaining goes, this is where I stop because to be perfectly, this issue is actually quite amazing.

Stepping away from traditional storyline of the previous five, this one focuses on four characters and tells their stories in a rather compelling manner. Not any of them are completed but you’re definitely given enough to make you care for each and every single one of them.

The first page starts off with Betta George still kept captive by Gunn’s minions. The poor thing is quick to muse about all the excitement that’s going on but then wonders why a nice fish like him gets screwed over by bad luck.

I think the answer to that is because you’re a construct of Joss Whedon and whether you’re naughty or nice, you’re going to get shafted at one point or another. Although Betta George’s situation does suck for him (it is a him, right?), he’s a lot luckier compared to other characters in this comic series.

The first story of the issue goes to Spike, who is the only character of their story to take on the champion role. Spike is surrounded by a lot of carnage and although he’s alone, it doesn’t take him long to point out how spectacularly Angel failed in his assessment of taking on Wolfram And Hart.

For once Spike’s comments seem less bitchy but that’s probably because Angel isn’t around to hear them. At least Spike doesn’t spend all his time ranting. Nope he soon gets into battle with a demon that is easily quashed and Spike has fun telling his defeated foe to let everyone know he means business.

Spike may not be in the most modest of mind frames but he’s smart enough to question his surroundings and that garners him respect in my book. He notes the stupidity of jumping off a roof and also wonders whether or not the elevator he happens to be in is just as dangerous.

The most interesting happens when Spike gets out of the elevator. Because we have to wait until Issue 9 because getting any continuity on Fred’s return, the mere sight of her here in distress to keep the craving in check, although obviously my joy factor wasn’t as strong as the previous issue.

Spike can’t believe his luck in seeing the girl but unlike the previous issue, I really do feel that it’s not Fred we’re seeing here. There’s just something about the way she appears here that doesn’t convince me that we have the real Fred.

Spike is still convinced that it is Fred and even thinks that him and her are meant to have survived. I’m not entirely sure why Spike thinks it’s just him and Fred, aside from the issues Wolfram And Hart had with Angel and Wesley but his vow to protect Fred endears him a lot in this issue.

Spike is even tempted to allow two women to be killed by a demon in order to keep Fred but because he seems to be riddled by the champion bug, it’s not long before he’s helping the women. However it’s not Spike who slays the demon as soon enough Illyria re-emerges to annihilate that particular nasty.

I just knew that we were not to get the real Fred here and I really hope that by the time we do get to Issue 9, it is the real Fred we have and not Illyria going loopy. As a character, I’d rather Fred any day of the week and I just think that it’s time to wrap up the Illyria plot.

Illyria here doesn’t make much of a fuss in killing the demon and when one of the women question her, Spike points out that he has to protect Illyria. Given that Illyria isn’t the most rational of gods, Spike certainly has his work cut out for him.

With Spike’s story ending on a promising note, the next person to be focused on is Connor. Okay, so he is the only person that gets a story but like everyone else’s, it still manages to keep you interested. Given that a few hours ago, he helped Angel in taking down Hamilton, the guy also has reservations about abandoning his biological father.

In fact as Connor’s running for his life, he has enough mental energy to muse over the fact that he’s basically grown up with three fathers in the past 18 years of his life. Despite all the musing, he does make the conscious decision to actually go back and help Angel.

One of the positive aspects about this comic has been the cordial relationship between Angel and Connor. It’s another why I enjoy this story too. Maybe after all the hell business, we can see Angel and Connor just enjoy each other’s company as well as slaying beasts.

Connor might jest about the coolness of slaying a dragon but it’s his loyalty to Angel that makes him go back. However because everything gets sucked into hell, Connor finds him in a different part of LA and reacts by heaving at the first moment. Looks like Buffy isn’t the only who’s unable to be teleported without puking.

Even more interesting is that Connor also experience some graphic flashbacks to both his birth and the moment he lost his virginity. To even have Connor admit the yuck factor with him and Cordelia. Believe me, most people who watched Season Four more than felt the unpleasantness of that particular plot.

However while Connor keeps remembering that Angel really loves, most of hell’s minions are determined to turn LA into a bloodbath and even Connor realises that he’s out of his depth. Hiding would’ve been a great idea if he hadn’t gone and picked the most obvious place to do it.

It’s then no big shocker when he ends up being caught by the head of whatever hellish clan are out for Angel’s blood. Worse still is that they know who Connor is and waste no time in deciding to kill him. Of all the times to be defenceless, this definitely wasn’t the best one for Connor. Just like Spike’s tale, it does end on a cliff hanger for Connor, even though it’s safe to assume that he won’t be dying anytime soon.

As for Lorne, if ever there was a prize for innovative, then his segment is surely deserving of it. Because the guy is such a ray of sunshine, Brian Lynch gets to have a little fun with segment by basically having his entire story rhyme while in the form of an ongoing narration.

We see Lorne musing over signing up with Wolfram And Hart while Fred dies and Illyria rises to take her and Lindsay is killed by Lorne. Of course, all of these along with LA being sucked into hell are the negative aspects of what has gone down in Lorne’s life but this is also the most uplifting of the stories as well.

The reason why is because we get to see Lorne not only encouraging people to fight back with the use of his vocal chords but he also managed to turn one little place of hell into a heaven. Seeing as we’ve seen Silver Lake in Issue 4, it’s safe to assume that that is the very place where violence is forbidden.

Also because it was Lorne who brought peace and happiness to one little place, it only seemed fair that it would be him who would become Lord of Silver Lake. Given how dark this comic season has been, Lorne’s story offers so much needed humour and also hope that things are going to get better for the gang. As an Angel fan, I want the gang out of hell.

The last story is then Betta George’s. I enjoy this little character and like Connor, the poor thing is mostly screwed. Being kept hostage by Gunn, who seems to have no idea of what to do with him and then being looked after by an inept vampire, it’s really not Betta’s day.

Still at least Betta George is able to have some fun taunting the vampire looking after him. Well if Donna Noble can taunt a bunch of scary priestesses, then why shouldn’t the fish be able to back talk the aggressive vampire? This show is able to write for some spectacularly stupid vampires as well as nasty ones.

Of course the vampire doesn’t really take to Betta insulting him all that well and spends most of the time threatening him. Its funny that the vampire openly admits to being a wild card. He’s obviously doing it in an attempt to scare Betta but mainly it makes him look like an idiot. Either way, it’s satisfying enough way to end the issue.

Also in “After The Fall Part 6”

The cover I got for this issue had Angel, Spike, Lorne and Betta George on it with a few squid like demons too.

Betta George: “I bet there’s total excitement out there and I’m missing it all. Fighting and biting and probably revelations and everything. Would love to see it. Gotta be better than what’s going on at Castle De Gunn. How did I wind up here? How does a nice fish like me wind up in hell?”

Although all the stories are written by Brian Lynch, each of them has a different illustrator. Stephen Mooney who worked on Connor’s story was my favourite.

Spike (to defeated demon): “Get the word out, flyboy when you reach bottom. Nobody talks to Spike unless Spike talks to them and Spike doesn’t talk to anyone who isn’t a fairly opened mind damsel in distress … aw, no.”

Spike: “Fred?”
Fred: “Is it over?”
Spike: “I think so, love. But. Why are you here? Why are you near me? Also why are you Fred?”

Fred was wearing the same outfit she died in at the end of “A Hole In The World”. She didn’t do that in the last issue.

Woman (re Illyria): “What about her? Is she coming … doesn’t look like she needs protection.”
Spike: “Yeah, lady. She really does.”

Connor (to himself): “No that’s a dragon. He’s gotta fight a dragon? Going back. He needs my help. Besides, kinda be cool to slay a dragon.”

I forgot to mention that as well as flashbacks to “Lullaby” and “Apocalypse Nowish”, there was also a graphic image of Connor inside Darla. The drawings for the flashbacks were so spot on as well.

Connor (to himself): “I’m going loopy. Son of a vampire, shouldn’t be born, it figures everything had to fall apart sooner or later.”

Connor (to himself): “Fantastic. My first time was with my surrogate mother. I’m not only an immaculate vampire baby … I’m also Oedipus. Wow, Dad would be impressed. I referenced Oedipus. Third dad that is. Fake dad?”

There’s a nice poster halfway through the comic with the dragon, Wesley, Spike, Gwen, Lorne, Gunn and Connor.

Connor (after being caught): “What the hell do I do now? First dad would fight. Maybe die. Second dad, fight. Probably die. Third dad. Just die.”

Narrator (re Lorne’s achievement): “For what seemed so long, there’d be no joy at all. But slowly, but surely … in ways large and small … Lorne got his groove back, right after the fall.”
According the letter section, we can expect both Issues eight and nine in June as even IDW want to speed up the Fred thing.

Betta George (to vampire): “Doesn’t it get confusing? ‘Hey which dude is sucking on that fine ladies’ necks?’ Is it Gunn or that big copycat, I can’t even tell. But seriously, why’d you get left behind? Your parents forgot to sign your permission slip?”

Although they appear in Lorne’s segment, there were no actual roles for Angel, Gunn or Wesley in this issue.

Well this was a fine start to a mini-arc that holds for the big reveal about Fred’s sudden return. “After The Fall Part 6” sets things up rather nicely with all of the stories being utterly interesting. Can’t wait to see the rest of it unfold.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

My Review of Buffy The Vampire Slayer's 8x13: "Wolves At The Gate Part 2"

Written by Drew Goddard
Artwork by Georges Jeanty

Dracula: “There was this witch with them …I never should have her deal … those filthy yellow swine!”
Xander: “You know, I really don’t remember you being this racist.”

There’s plenty of things I don’t actually remember as well. Admittedly it has been ages since I’ve watched “Buffy Vs. Dracula” but there’s a lot going on in this comic that doesn’t add up to what we’ve seen in the episode and what has happened since then. I’m not the only one who’s a tad confused, right?

The first shot we see of Dracula here is not him greeting Xander and Renee. No, its fifteen minutes prior to their arrival and Dracula looks awful so to speak. He’s old, hairy, drunk, in need desperate need of a shower and has seemed to lose all enthusiasm for everything.

This even extends to slaughter. His servant Butterfield tries to chide into killing an Albanian boy let loose but all Dracula can do is sit around and feel sorry for himself. Although Butterfield seems to be a loyal servant, he has no problem in pointing out to his employer that staff are gossiping about him too.

Dracula doesn’t seem to be really bothered that he’s the talk of his people but he should be. His people are revelling in his glory, they’re revelling in how pathetic he has become. I’m not really sure why or how Dracula has become this way but I do find it rather interesting that as soon as he sees Xander and Renee’s helicopter, he’s all for getting himself spruced up.

Of course just because he’s delighted to see Xander, it doesn’t mean he wants to deal with him right away. Xander has to persuade him to let him by telling him of the vampires who have his type of powers. Renee on the other hand is given some racial abuse before Xander insists that she accompanies them. Um, Renee, you’re a lovely girl but you should’ve socked Dracula one. Nice that Xander stuck up for her though.

However if Xander is fearing that Dracula’s hold on him is strong, well then he’s justified. They’re barely in the door before he tries to get rid of Renee. At least Renee has the sense to put her foot down and insist that she stays with him. Looks like Dracula really does only affect certain people.

As for the incredibly shit part of the comic – Andrew. So far in this comic book season the writers have done the noble thing and kept him away. Hell he was nowhere to be seen during all of “No Future For You” (one of the many reasons why I adored that arc) but sadly he’s here in a bigger and more teeth grindingly annoying way.

He’s basically telling all the slayers about what exactly Dracula is. Needless to say they already know and really don’t want to be subjected to one of Andrew’s idiotic presentations. Is it still too much to hope that this guy gets a painful death somewhere in this series?

Andrew does however point out that Dracula and Xander have a special relationship. After the pleasant ‘what the fuck’ moment in the opening episode of Doctor Who’s fourth season, the unpleasant thing is thinking of Xander and Dracula’s special bond. Last time I checked Xander loathed every vampire in the universe. Anya’s death or not, what the hell would really motivate him into having a friendship with Dracula?

Moving away from Dracula, at least there’s some progress in the scythe stealing business when a Japanese slayer named Aiko manages to tell Buffy about a vampire sect in Tokyo, lead by Toru. This was the same who managed to best Buffy in the last issue and by the end of this one; he will really pose a threat to her.

While Buffy tells Aiko to stay put, she is insistent on bringing every slayer to Tokyo despite Satsu making the sensible deduction that leaving some behind for defence wouldn’t be a bad idea. Sadly Buffy is in one of her snappy moods and basically ignores sound advice for the millionth time.

At least Buffy does one decent thing by asking about Xander. I swear if this arc indulges on Buffy’s superiority, I will personally ring someone’s neck. Willow points out that Xander isn’t responding and given Xander’s track history, this should mean that he’s in really serious trouble.

Then again it could also mean having to read through the next few pages of relentless arse crawling between Xander and Dracula. Actually it does as they manage to compliment each other on their improved appearances in a way that sounds way too fake for its own good. Renee gets to represent most readers with the look of pure boredom of watching these two.

Fortunately Renee’s patience also snaps and she tries to sway the conversation into business. Dracula’s venomous hostility for the girl really shows itself here when he continues to call her a “moor”. Even Xander refers to her that way by accident but even still it’s Renee who is generating all of the sympathy here. At least Xander is quick to apologise for his poor taste in words.

Dracula on the other hand still continues to get irritated by Renee. Okay so she’s accusing him of selling his powers for profit but she has no loyalty to Dracula so in my opinion she’s got every right to antagonise him. Much as I love Xander, he’s being reverted into a butt monkey here with the way he keeps attempting to placate Dracula.

However while Dracula might not have sold his powers, he still lost them in a way, thanks to a bit of gambling that went wrong. Renee might be disgusted by him but Dracula really does lose his rag when he threatens to slit her throat. Xander, it’s here you really should be sticking for Renee.

Another thing about Dracula is his loathing of Buffy. Yes, the very woman who rejected and humiliated him but at the same time, he’s willing to help. Thankfully not because of whatever bizarre attachment he might have to Xander but more because of his anger of cheated by the Tokyo vampires. Dracula’s racist reaction even towards them takes Xander by surprise. Clearly he’s never seen Celebrity Big Brother 2007.

As for Aiko she has a good time following both Toru and Raidon in an effort to see what they’re up to and not get caught at the same time. That might have helped if neither one of them didn’t know that she was on their tail. I’m guessing that Aiko might the only slayer around if she’s doing it alone.

Of course Raidon and Toru are more focused on their recent acquisition and the little issue of a spell. Toru is insistent that another vampire keeps working on it and while there does seem to be a fair amount of goading with them; they both take delight in knowing that Aiko is following them.

Raidon might be a bit worried about Aiko but Toru decides that perhaps it’s time they gave the girl a little something to see. Of all the things she could see, I’m intrigued to know what Toru has up his sleeve because from what we’ve seen, Aiko’s a pretty strong slayer.

As for Buffy, she spends the flight to Tokyo pretty much just scowling before Willow gives us an insight into what Buffy is thinking. Unfortunately this is the same old thing that we’ve seen and heard a million times before – Buffy’s alone, Buffy’s got the weight of the world on her shoulders and Buffy’s not gay.

To counteract with all of these questions, here’s my two cents. Buffy’s alone – yeah because after eight years she still won’t let people in. No-one is choosing to ignore her, it’s Buffy ignoring them. Buffy’s got the weight of the world on her shoulders – I’m sorry but no she doesn’t. She’s not the slayer anymore, she’s a slayer. The world is every slayers burden now. She should be using that fact to connect with her team, not disengage from them.

As for the Buffy’s not gay bit – well duh! Satsu already knew that before and after sleeping with Buffy so Willow dropping that nugget was as useless as the other ones she dispensed in this episode. Satsu might be in love with Buffy but she seems clued up to know that they’re never going to have a relationship.

As for Willow asking Satsu what Buffy is like in bed, maybe I’m being a stick in the mud but that one bothered me. Why the hell would you want to know about your friend’s sexual prowess? It made Willow come across as a bit creepy. Thank God Satsu actually told her to mind her own business.

Last but not least, Aiko got the rough end of the deal. All her clever work and stealthy spying on Raidon and Toru and she becomes a victim of that vampire sect’s scheme. It turns out that with a ring and the scythe, a slayer can be reverted back into a normal girl. It makes a fair amount of sense that the scythe could reverse the process.

Toru takes ultimate fun in this by breaking Aiko’s jaw, taunting her and then to cap it all off, just killing her. Knowing that their little spell actually works, the next thing the psychotic gang decide to do is to take it globally. Oh Buffy, you are so screwed but after some of the ill judged humour of this issue, this is a good way of saving things.

Also in “Wolves At The Gates Part 2”

The cover for this issue is nice. You’ve got Xander, a creepy castle and two female vampires.

Butterfield: “What has become of the mighty Dracula?”
Dracula: “I told you to leave me be, Butterfield. I assure you, I’m fine. I don’t require help from you or from anyone.”

Dracula has some interesting pictures hanging up on his walls. There’s a battle picture, maybe it’s of Vlad The Impaler?

Dracula: “Oh. Very well. Come inside, manservant. Your moor can wait in the stables.”
Xander: “Wha –no. No, no, no, no. She’s not my moor. That’s … ha …that’s terrible, Master. This is … this is Renee. She’s my, um …uh … she’s with me.”

Xander: “I’m just saying. Maybe it’s for the best. Hey you could go look for that Albanian boy.”
Renee: “I’m not leaving you alone with this guy.”

Andrew lists Dracula’s powers as transmogrification, piercing hypnotic stare, impervious to stakes and romantic undertones.

Slayer: “This is seriously his worst lecture since his one on that weapon from Krull.”
Andrew: “Hey I heard that! And it’s called the Glaive, thank you very much.”

Buffy: “Are those Kabuki demons?”
Aiko: “They were Kabuki demons.”
Buffy: “Those things are vicious.”
Aiko: “You’re telling me. I think one actually scratched me.”

That’s a funny exchange because you can see one of the Kabuki demons cowering in a corner crying. Aiko is certainly a brutal slayer.

Xander: “Thanks, you look good too.”
Dracula: “Oh you’re just saying that because I complimented you.”
Xander: “No – I’m not, I promise.”

Dracula: “That’s preposterous.”
Renee: “Or maybe you sold your powers to the highest bidder.”
Dracula: “Manservant, your moor is on snide comment away from a swarm of bees.”

As soon as Dracula uttered “oh balls”, he all of a sudden became Spike. Believe me when I say that isn’t a good thing.

Raidon (re Aiko): “One block back. South side of the street. She’s good – she knows to keep a distance but she’s keeping a close eye on us.”
Toru: “Well then. Let’s give her something to see.”

Dracula (to Xander/Renee): “I loathe Buffy Summers, her whole army makes me want to retch and I’d just as soon see them wiped off the map once and for all. However. Nobody steals from Dracula.”

If you read the letter page, there’s a response from the winner of the Issue 10 guest spot. It’s a really touching letter.

Willow: “Good. Now. What’s she like in the sack?”
Satsu: “What?”
Willow: “Do you know how long I’ve wondered about this? Don’t hold out on me sister.”

Satsu: “I’m not telling you anything.”
Willow: “Oh yes you are. Did she make that high pitched squeal? I call it her ‘shoe-sale noise’.”

The latest Angel issue “First Night” also got released this week but I’ll review that issue next week.

Toru (to Aiko): “Shoot. I just broke your jaw, didn’t I? That’s unfortunate. I was hoping you could tell me what it feels like to be a regular girl again. Must be terrifying.”

This issue takes place exactly from where the last one left off.

“Wolves At The Gate Part 2” wasn’t the best issue we’ve had so far. Some of the humour falls a bit flat, some of it borders on being offensive (even though I doubt that was Drew Goddard’s real intention) and there’s not enough time spent on the real action of the piece.

Rating: 7 out of 10.