OK Guys, if you don't want to be spoiled don't read on.
Comic opens with the Giles flashback. he is fighting off a demon that is trying to use a little girl as its host. Giles can't kill it so instead he binds the demon to the little girl by sacrificing one of his greatest memories: the day he fell in love with Jenny. Having done that the demon is rendered dormant until Giles can kill it completely or until he dies. Ten guess for where this is going? So with Giles dead the demon is now back and looking to party. Enter Angel who has been reading Giles' watcher diaries. Having spent months essentially catatonic, this story shakes Angel back to reality and he and Faith go and try to stop the demon. Whilst they are fighting it some of its blood gets on Angel and he then takes on Giles' memory. This shakes Angel up a lot and looks shook afterwards. Having saved the girl he and Faith leave. Faith goes to a club and Angel retires back to Giles' apartment.
On the way to the club Faith encounters Nadira (who nearly stakes Faith in the process-very reminiscent of Bad Girls and the poor Deputy Mayor). The girls are friends and Faith has been trying to help the other slayers adjust to this new magicless world. Nadira tells Faith about how her cell was killed by this brother and sister duo Nash and Pearl. More to the point, she tells Faith how Twilight watched over Nash and Pearl as they slaughtered the slayers. Faith looks sick. Nadira tells Faith that her sole purpose in life is to kill Twilight. Faith continues to look sick.
Next we find Whistler in some pub (I'm assuming it is supposed to be in London too) and he is talking about the mess the world is in right now and how Angel ruined everything by not seeing Twilight through (i.e. not establishing the new Universe he and Buffy created). He says that he has always been about balance (Um...he has????) and that in order for the balance to be restored Angel has to be killed. It is then that we see he is talking to Nash and Pearl, who have just slaughted the entire bar. Neither they nor Whistler seems to care. They happily accept the challenge of taking Angel out.
Back at Giles's place Faith all but implores Angel to tell her that what Nadira said wasn't true. That it was a double...or cosplayer! (LOL) But Angel can't do that any looks like he is about to fall apart again. He says he can't remember that sistuation in question because Twilight took more and more control towards the end, but he goes on to say that whether he was in control or not he could have done more to fight it. Asked more questions about what he was doing. He concludes he has more blood on his hands than Angelus ever could.
Faith then says that it is good that Angel wants to continue Giles' work but he has to stop obsessing over every detail of his life if he wants to take his place. At this Angel is kind of taken aback. He insists that he could never take Giles' place. Instead he is going to bring Giles back to life.
The End.
What I liked:
The characterisation is on point.
The premise is brilliant and it fits Angel and Faith wonderfully. You just know there is going to be some great stories in this.
The art is fantastic.
Gage's script is great and there is some nice one liners.
What I don't like:
The continued wishy-washyness on A) Twilight's control of Angel and B) The level of responsibility he has for what happened. If feels like they are back tracking one minute and then rushing back in to say it is all his fault the next. They really need to pick one.
The Whistler bit makes very little to no sense and it basically has served to retcon his whole character. For a guy who seemed genuinely concerned with the horrible life Buffy had in front of her when she was called, he didn't give a hoot that a room full of people lay slaughtered around him. I'm getting extreme Skip vibes from him right now.
The conclusion Angel comes to about bring Giles back feels a bit like a curve ball and comes out of nowhere. It
