Angel & Faith 10.04 "Where the River Meets the Sea, Part IV" - Released 7/2/14 (DH)

[Buffy Summers]

"Where the River Meets the Sea, Part IV"
Writer: Victor Gischler
Penciller: Will Conrad

Angel's taking some beatings in Magic Town, while Faith is dishing them out, whether they're deserved or not. The two remain a world apart, dealing with a demonic rock god and a city preyed on by the magical powers exploding inside it.

Source: Wikipedia

 

[Kean]

We're 4 issues in now and I have to say I am not enjoying this at all. Each issue is about 70% exposition. The Faith side seems to be getting a bit more interesting but the Angel side of the book is woeful. Apart from Angel there isn't one interesting character for Angel to interact with and this latest "twist" is not going to cut it. Just yet another character from the verse we don't want to see him with, all the while the members of the AI team are just left hanging. Gage's writing is a huge loss.

 

[white avenger]

(A)ll the while the members of the AI team are just left hanging.

Yeah, you'd think that there would have been at least some mention of them by now, just some throw away comment to acknowledge that Angel still remembers his son and the remnants of the group that had been the closest thing to family he's had in the last couple of centuries. It's almost like he and Spike were the only ones to escape hell in the Dark Horse reality.

 

[Kaleidoscope]

I'm generally liking this series, but Angel and Faith on their own doesn't quite cut it with me, although that might be the point of the two seperate stories, that they are kind of making it on their own ! I didn't find myself wanting to do a reread, so I suppose that that could be a sign of declining interest. Faith looking for Riley could be interesting, if handled right - not fussed about Amy's inclusion and I found myself hoping that the mystery lady might be Drusilla, but I suppose they covered that ground in Season 9. I thought that Brandt might be interesting, but we haven't seen enough of him and I'm still not fond of Nadira's characterization because in effect, she's a completely different character. I'm happy to buy a few more issues, because I think that there is potential, especially if there is any chance of Illyria turning up.

 

[thetopher]

Certainly A&F seems to be following a similar pattern to Buffy seasson 10, as in the fourth episode has things happening, we get a big fight, a bit of resolution to the plot and then an escalation of the threat (with the intro of the 'behind the scenes' villain).

Big, and exciting, fight (nicely drawn and staged) with Pearl. Angel isn't the most powerful guy in town but he's awfully resourceful, and so Pearl is down but not out.

Angel vs. The Pixies (sounds like battle of the bands.) was unbalanced the other way, and the neutralizing of Corky was surprising, I kinda liked him. (I know know what he reminds me of- if anybody has read Top Cop's 'The Darkness'? Corky reminds me of one of the 'darklings'- ugly, obnoxious and crude! 🙂)

Didn't see the ending coming- I was surprised. On the one hand it makes sense that witches should be drawn to magic town, if there's 'raw magic' everywhere, but I honestly expected Amy's anger to be directed at Buffy- who actuually broke the seed and effectively 'killed' Warren. (or turned off his life support anyway.)

Then again maybe Amy's over it and has other things in mind.
Looking forward to seeing these two square off, my can be tricky and is pretty good at using a person's personal demons against them. (see 'The Killer In Me')

Faith only gets about three pages, and its all fairly generic 'leaving without a fuss' stuff. It does show Faith's genearal lack of direction, lack of self-belief and her attitude to quitting when she's 'not wanted'
But the ending was intruiging- Riley is missing, that would give Faith something to invest in, righting a wrong from her past. She's all about redemption. Did I mention that I like this twist? I'm suitably intrigued by the prospect of seeing these two meet again. 🙂

I'm liking the artwork- London looks suitably noir- but I'm glad we're leaving the rather generic looking California behind. The jungle beckons!

 

[Mylie]

I started season 10 tonight and now I just finished this issue. I've been enjoying it a lot so far despite all my worries about Gage leaving. It's not perfect but it's a promising start for the season. I was also worried I wouldn't enjoy the separate storylines but so far it's been handled well.

Not a fan of Amy's appearance though...

oh and I'm so impressed with the artwork. Angel actually looks like Boreanaz this season!