AtF issue #9

[moscow_watcher]

Summary:
Looks like everything that happened in issues 1-5 was Angel's diabolically clever plan to destroy the evil lords of Hell-A. With Wesley's help Angel had found a file on Hagun Shaft (I use the spelling from issue 4, although in current issue it's "Hagan Shaft") in W&H archives. Turns out it's a device that serves as an instrument of suicide for immortals who want to go in style. Then he recruited Teeth aka Shark Demon to create the impression that Hagan Shaft is the most powerful weapon against superheroes. Angel's goal was to gather all the lords in one place and then activate the shafts. Still unclear what was his plan regarding the shaft sent to Illyria - the one that conveniently had been taken away by Spider - but maybe we'll find out later.

While Angel's plan gets executed, Gunn and his vampires monitor the battle. Gunn gets concerned that somebody could kill Angel before he, Gunn, kills him... but once the menace is over, he says that Angel winning the battle and reassembling the Fang Gang is exactly what he needs for his own plan.

Lorne becomes the boss of Hell-A. Angel and his team return to Hyperion. There they find Wesley's corpse in a coffin. Upon seeing it Fred turns into Illyria again. She says she tries to suppress Fred but she awakes in her when she sees faces of people she loved. "You're staying with me," she says.

Thoughts:

There is a certain "finale" vibe on the battle panels. It's an epic fight. The destiny of the whole city is at stake. There is something disturbing about the battle of such scale taking place in the middle of the season. What next? Could Lynch make the real finale bigger and better? Or it's a conclusion of one story (say, a kickass two-parter season opener) and the start of the next story (a regular episode)?

There is a lot of loose threads hanging. A wonder if Lynch will mention Hagun Shaft again - the one that is left somewhere. I wonder where is Nina whom we saw at the beginning of the battle in issue 5. But the question that intrigues me the most is why Lynch needs Wesley's corpse in his story. Looks like it's under some preservation spell. The most logical explanation is that Lynch plans to resurrect the character to make Fred\Wesley\Illyria triangle more poignant. As long as Wesley is a ghost, the situation with Fredliria isn't particularly urgent. Neither Fred nor Illyria could lay claim to him. But if\when he's back in flesh the situation becomes a real torture to all parties involved.

Possibly in the next issue the main focus of the narrative will shift to Fred-Wesley-Illyria. Maybe it's my inner shipper speaking, but it seems to me that their story has more potential than Angel's and Spike's arcs.

Gunn's plan remains as obscure as it was before the battle. It includes the orbs that suspiciously resemble The Orb of Thesula, and Slayers who either are kept in prison or trained to fight vampires. Judging by Lynch's previous comics, there has to be a big twist. I mean, B-I-G. Like, for example, a trick mirroring the Scythe spell in Chosen and creating a generation of souled vampires (so that all Slayers could find their soulmates :) No, I don't think this is exactly what happens next, but it has to be something that exceeds the scale of the battle in the current issue.

Interestingly, the psychological difference between regular vampires and regular humans becomes more and more blurry. A vampire who wants to get Gunn "into yoga or something"? Priceless.

The art is uneven. There are very beautiful panels, especially close-ups; looks like the artist used processed promo shots and screencaps. And there are very schematic, rough, offhand drawings that mostly don't work. But there is at least one that works nicely: a panel of the squad of Spike's trainees fighting demons, styled as ancient petroglyphs. Inspired.

Comments

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

I was disappointed in this issue.

I read your review but didn't comment because I would have started to persuade you that the issue is better than you think... I'm sorry it didn't work to you. Maybe it was the long wait that raised the expectations too high.
Hopefully you'll like the next issue more.