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Angel & Faith #3 – Review

It's Halloween! How about a comic with demons and other spooky stuff? It may only be tangentially related to the holiday, but Angel & Faith #3 is as close as we're bound to get. Also, it's good. Sounds like a celebration to me!

We're starting to get into this series' run in earnest at this point and, once again, I am impressed by how well writer Christos Gage is able to keep the story moving along. Angel is still hitting the streets of England, looking for a way to revive Giles, and Faith is along for the ride. This is the issue in which they finally hit pay dirt on that goal, as they track down a demonic club owner known to possess a source of panacean demon blood. Amidst the action and clever dialogue, Faith is still the focus for our character development. We get plenty more introspective moments from her as she struggles to balance her badass hot chick image with her new role as a sort of badass hot chick Jiminy Cricket.
Angel & Faith #3
A new source of information is added as well, with the introduction of ex-Archmage Alasdair Coames. I immediately got the impression that, if he does not turn out to be evil and betray everyone (always a possibility in the Whedoverse), he will definitely be a recurring character. Basically, this is the go-to guy for all of the book research we always saw Giles or Wesley doing, plus a font of grandfatherly advice. He can't do magic anymore, but his home is full of ancient tomes and magical strays, probably the most compelling set of images from artist Rebekah Isaacs in this issue. The character definitely fits the concept of the kindly old sage, hiding his power in his mysterious home. With Faith constantly seeking a father figure, I am curious to see what kind of relationship, if any, will develop between these characters.

There are some more teases to the idea that the existence of vampires is now common knowledge, thanks to vampire-celeb Harmony. I thought this was a nice touch to show that, despite not being in the U.S. with the rest of the Scooby Gang, this book is still set in the same universe.

Just as we start to see some resolution with the search for the blood story, the super-powered psycho twins that Angel mentored as Twilight burst on to the scene. I don't know how the next issue is going to tackle this fight, but it promises to be pretty interesting. Angel and Faith haven't had any problems taking down random demons so far, but these guys are not the same deal. Of course, we'll have to wait until the next issue to see how that all works out, but the set up is strong and warrants praise for this issue.

Angel & Faith #3 keeps the series going strong. The book hits a really nice balance, where there aren't any big new surprises, but the story is kept tight. If you like a good comic, then check it out. If you love the characters, then you can't miss it. Happy Halloween.
Rating
8.0

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