For Andy

Angel: After the Fall #6 to #8
Joss Whedon, Brian Lynch, et al.

Tonight I'll post my thoughts on the three special issues that came out of Angel: After the Fall. This refers to issues #6 to #8, aptly titled First Night. The link above brings you to the second compilation of the series available on Amazon but I have no idea whether that includes one or two other issues after these three, given that I read the single issue comics and not the compilation. Still, I encourage you to get the compilation as it's quite impossible to find single issues of these earlier releases nowadays. Much of that encouragement also are meant for fans of the show, obviously. While I would love everyone to encounter the genius that is Joss Whedon and the stories of Brian Lynch, starting with these comics won't help if you haven't seen the show Angel and it's precursor, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Anyway, First Night takes a look back at the lives of the characters on that fateful night of the series finale Not Fade Away. There's that part of Spike and Illyria (something I briefly mentioned when I discussed the other miniseries, Spike: After the Fall). And then we start with Connor's story. What happened to him after he left Wolfram and Hart, after Angel urged him to leave the city as fast as possible. While his memory was manipulated under a pact on Season 4, it seems he's starting to remember the bits and pieces of his past - that Angel indeed is his father, that he was somehow raised in the Hell dimension, and that a part of him wants to go back and help.

We also encounter Wesley after his death and the ties that bind him to Wolfram and Hart. Here we see a pretend-Fred (well, gee we all know it's a pretend-Fred) trying to manipulate the ghost of this former Watcher into doing Wolfram and Hart's bidding. We get to see Gwen on that fateful night, seeing the attack on LA from afar and deciding to go back after a hairy situation with her power made her electrocute her date.

The turning of Gunn is also painted in its garish details. The vampires have a plan for him. But Gunn isn't one for plans unless he can dip his own hand into it. And dip into it he did.

Kate is back! Not the down and defeated Kate of the second season leaving the show after a botched suicide attempt and Angel helping her in the end. The Kate we see here is different alright. More like a Rambo-Kate with a cache of weapons. She, of all people, encounters Connor on the streets of LA and they hit it off quite ok. It tugs at the heart the way Angel's words with Kate way back made a difference with her and funny that she's relating all that to someone she doesn't know as his son! Ooops!

There's also that part narrated by two normal, regular inhabitants of LA and how the see the onslaught of demons in their midst. All these and we get a glimpse of George as well, in captivity. The telepathic fish yes. Betta George actually. And Gunn's plan has a lot to do with him.

While these three issues aren't as good as the surprises of the first five issues (granted, these are stories that took place prior to the first five) I liked it that different artists drew the different stories. It grounds the present-day tale. Made me look forward to the battle more eagerly.

Finally, although this part occurred in the 6th issue and not on the 8th, there's Lorne. How he came to be the Lord of Silver Lake even after he vowed in that final episode never to come back. His section is the sort of catchy one, where thought bubbles and panels come in rhyme. Lorne is a singer, you see. An empath demon. He can see you future if you sing just a few lyrics. Heck, even a few bars of humming can make him read you better than Nostradamus! In that last episode I gave him a heartfelt thanks and understood very well his reasons for leaving, for not joining in that final battle scene with the rest of his friends. It broke my heart, what Angel asked Lorne to do.

My heart is also sad for a different reason. Andy Hallet, the guy who ably played Lorne in the series died of heart failure yesterday and I just learned it this afternoon. He was 33. I could go on and on about how great his character was on the show and up to now in the panels of Lynch's story but there's a certain sadness that he's gone. Doubly sad that his family and friends will be missing him so much.

Sigh.

Double sigh.

I'm still sad that Andy passed away. He must have been a very good guy. You know what they say, only the good die young.

I end this with Lorne singing songs in my head. To all Angel fans out there, let's all fondly remember the actor who played our favorite demon from Pylea.

Lorne came alive because of him. He will be missed.

Midnight DJ

Kitty and the Midnight Hour
Carrie Vaughn

I've chanced upon this series through bloghopping. It seems there's a book tour for the latest release of Carrie Vaughn's Kitty Norville series (2 books at that) and everyone's excited. Hmmm, I told myself that if the series is quite easy to read then I'd probably get over my book reading slump, something I've had (hahaha, like I make it sound sickly) for the better part of the year though it's not as obvious at it looks considering that I count single issue comics in the fray. Or that technically I've read a lot already. Still I consider myself in a slump since I haven't gone through books like I normally do. Or books I really want to read for that matter. But I digress.

So I picked this up a couple or so days ago. I finished it within hours.

What is it all about? Kitty Norville is a DJ on a midnight shift in Denver. Goodness, to play records for a living! But one slow, slow night sans music requests before 1990, Kitty ended up discussing an extended coverage of Bat Boy, a tabloid fodder. Eventually a caller suggested he's a vampire. Thereafer, callers started pouring in regarding the existence of creatures that is considered otherworldly. A world that is quite familiar with Kitty, actually. You see, she's a werewolf.

She morphed from playing records to discussing the strange world out there, taking in callers with problems ranging from being a vampire slave to confronting a husband who's a werewolf. The show became a hit, her paycheck more than doubled and though her pack didn't like it one bit she continued with the program. Until one day that Kitty admitted on air that she is indeed a werewolf. Thing turned pretty topsy-turvy from there.

In a world quite similar to the kind that Harry Dresden of Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files inhabits: where things that go bump in the night can be pretty scary and not mere figments of one's imagination, Vaughn writes up a tentative heroine that is not the norm in the otherwise vampire-filled fiction of late. Well, my perceived vampire-filled fiction of late I mean. It's not everyday that I read about a werewolf as the main character.

Kitty is a tentative heroine learning the ropes of the wolf pack. She's been a werewolf for three years after an attack. And it's interesting to learn about pack rules from a point of view of, technically, a cub. And when there are werewolves, can vampires be far behind?

It's a peek at a world where creatures we try to think of as fiction actually live among us. And when they come out and admit their existence, we see how the community reacts. From the "I knew it" to "Burn in hell ye abomination" stuff. Oh and there's politics also, both from Washington and the ones between and among werewolves and vampires.

And unlike other paranormal fiction that emphasizes much too much on heated lovemaking scenes, it's refreshing to read that there's less of the moaning and sighing in the pages of this book. Don't get me wrong, there are love scenes alright. But it's not the main thing. It's quite cool that the main character's love angle is not at the forefront. Or more like close to non-existent at this point.

I cannot point a finger yet as to where exactly this series is heading. It's urban fantasy alright but it's not exactly a paranormal romance or a crime book. It is indeed interesting; there's a bigger world out there that Kitty has yet to see, characters and sinister deeds hinted at. The first book focused not just of Kitty's coming out as a werewolf and her relationship with her pack, but of her helping out solve a crime which I think is a one-time thing. Still, there's her job at the station.

It's quite an easy read as most paperbacks are. And I like Kitty. She's fresh. She knows she's a werewolf now and is coming to terms with that. She's also very human and learning her strengths and weaknesses as she goes through life. I'm reading the second book now.

I also like it that Carrie Vaughn loves dogs. Hahaha!

Other interesting points of view:

Amber Stults
Bookgasm
Booking Mama
Books and Other Thoughts
Cindy's Love of Books
Dark Novels
Janicu's Book Blog
Jenn's Bookshelf
Love Vampires
Monsters and Critics
My Friend Amy
Paperback Frenzy
Sam's Book Blog
The Book Zombie (Kitty Norville #1 to #5)
The Novel Bookworm
The Written World

If I missed yours, leave a link to your post and I'll add it above.

Weekly Geeks 2009-12

This image is prominently displayed at my sidebar blog because I've committed to linking posts of the same books I reviewed when Dewey first brought up the idea in Weekly Geeks #2 last year.

And I'll reiterate that commitment with this post.

This week's Weekly Geeks is a repeat of that. Ergo, I'm repeating my commitment as well!

If you've reviewed any book that I have, do let me know via comments or e-mail, and I'll add your link to my review.

As simple as that. Here's a link to all my reviews so far. I'll try and keep that updated. I doubt if I'll have a lot of book thoughts in the coming months but for now that's the list. I'll put the link in the sidebar as well.

Feel free to look and do let me know if you already rambled about a book I have in the comments and I'll link you post, promise. I've been doing that for almost a year now.

I also put up a Google Custom Search widget at my sidebar too. It will cough up results from this blog alone so type away a book title or author and hopefully it'll work fine.

I think I've rambled on long enough. And welcome to new Weekly Geeks out there committing to this endeavor.

Knee-Jerk

Th1rteen R3asons Why
Jay Asher
Read by Debra Wiseman and Joel Johnstone

This is a story that begs to be listened to since I read more than a handful of reviews from the blogosphere since last year. I know the basic premise: a girl commits suicide and then a box of tapes is sent to the thirteen people she blamed for that decision. That alone compels you to sit back and think; what would make a girl kill herself and blame thirteen people after the fact. You ask yourself why suicide? You try to contextualize vile behavior in those thirteen people but without knowing who they are, without reading their stories you're at a dead end withholding judgment. That alone would make you want to get hold of a copy considering the positively glowing reviews online.

I don't know what made me pick up the audiobook instead. Gut tells me it's better listened to than read and I was right. This from someone whose audiobook collection is basically nil. But going through the story in audiobook format is just perfect. Just perfect. Because you're basically hearing Hannah Baker's story as is, like she's talking to you and as if you're Clay Jensen listening to it from Tony's stolen Walkman. But I'm getting ahead of the story.

Clay Jensen is the main character and we hear the story from his and Hannah's points of view; his, because the story starts when he gets the box of tapes on his front door, Hannah's, because you're practically hearing the seven tapes she sent out.

Let's deal with the positives first.

I haven't read a lot of books on suicide and I think that it's a brave and serious topic to consider in telling a story that mirrors teenagers nowadays. And the story is truly compelling. It's like a punch that takes the breathe out of you, particularly that first moment when you hear Hannah's voice in your speaker and you sit dumbfounded like Clay Jensen in the tape's introduction. Asher gets it right, writing in the perfect tone of someone going through a very difficult time in their highschool life. You feel the anger, the confusion, and the rapt attention even. You're reeled in to Hannah's voice and you can't stop yourself.

I have to give kudos to the voices: Debra Wiseman and Joel Johnstone. They became Hannah and Clay. I had a picture of Hannah in my head talking to me. I had Clay traveling through town, going through the spots in Hannah's map. There's something about a spoken story that begs attention. Rapt attention. It would've been a different experience had I read this. There would've been some inflections in the tone, the pauses, some aspects in Hannah's telling that I probably would not have picked up.

But while the writing is perfect for the story and so is the telling, in the end I didn't like it and I'll tell you why.

I was waiting for Hannah's redemption to the very end of her suicide tapes and I didn't get it. She remained that self-centered, misguided, vengeful bitch she started with. And yes, I'm probably the only one who's going to tell you that. And she left thirteen people believing they had, one way or another, stuck a knife at her and let her bleed. To some aspect, figuratively, yes. Why redemption? I want to understand her, really. While I get what she has done, I don't understand her at all. Misguided, you see. And self-centered. Selfish? Probably. I mean who wouldn't want the world to revolve around their concerns in highschool, right? Who wouldn't want to connect? And I counter that with who wasn't a topic of rumors in highschool, whether true or not? Who wasn't hurt? Who didn't keep secrets? Who hasn't pretended way back then? Who wasn't insecure? Who wasn't bullied? Who wasn't ignored? Who wasn't left to pick up the pieces of one's broken self?

To me when the cd played its last notes I thought this isn't exactly about a suicide but about guilt. Knee-jerk guilt about all those teeny tiny things you thought you did wrong way back and now it all comes back to haunt you. That's not to say that we never did anything wrong at all. We all did (and I dare ask those who didn't to cast the first stone). It could've been as simple as rejecting someone or positively embarrassing them. Could've been worse.

I know what it feels like to want the world to revolve around you, for people around you to see you, understand you, believe in you, rescue you if you really want to. But the world doesn't turn that way. It turns and turns and turns unmindful of the fact that some people are jerks and some aren't. That some people are nice and some deserve to be skinned alive. That sometimes you're popular for the right reasons and at times for the wrong ones, and at times you're relegated to obscurity. And yet, highschool is that perfect place where you let words, thoughts, actions roll off you if you want to. It's that perfect place where you shut out voices that crumble whatever's left of your shaken soul. It's that perfect place to choose your battles and let slide others. It's that perfect place to take responsibility for your actions and learn from it.

Highschool is that complicated time of your life where everything is as raw as can be and yet you want to make your mark in it. It doesn't matter whether you're the prettiest girl in school or the nerdiest of nerds, the jock or the future president. You want to make a mark. You want to belong. You want to be understood. You want to connect.

But as in all things, just because you want it so doesn't mean it will happen. There are and will be jerks in this world who would make your life difficult. There are and will be pretend-friends who would sell your soul to the nearest bidder. But there are and will be people who look upon you with care and loving attention. There are and will be people out there waiting for a chance.

And Hannah sadly, never gave the world a chance.

One thing that riles me is that she never really took responsibility for her actions. Never. Up to the thirteenth person in the tape, the poor fellow she thought would save her from the act, I was shaking my head and thinking "Poor, poor guy." He didn't deserve that. He didn't deserve the tapes. And probably some of those included as well. Heck, nobody deserves those tapes at all.

And from the way she told her stories, she never really wanted help even if she recognized that she had a problem. Those who have given counsel before know that you can only help someone who wants it. Hannah didn't want help. If she did, she would've gone to that one person who would surely understand her. And no, not Clay. Not Tony. But Mrs. Bradley. There were no rules in school that would've prevented her from seeking Mrs. Bradley. Yet she didn't.

Hannah believes she's entitled to be heard even after death. This sense of entitlement arises from the blame game she concocted early on. But like I said, she's a misguided, self-centered, vengeful bitch. She doesn't deserve the airtime.

More than thirteen positively glowing reviews of the same book:

Becky's Book Reviews
Bookroom Reviews
Booktalks -- Quick and Simple
Debbie's World of Books
Em's Bookshelf
Epinions
Librarina: Great Books for Tweens & Teens
Out of the Blue
Reading Too Late
Revish
The Book Zombie
The Hidden Side of a Leaf
The Loud Librarian
The Story Siren
The Zen Leaf
Twenty Thousand Leagues
Young Adult Book Reviews

Geek Country

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Junot Diaz

His real name is Oscar Cabral De Leon but someone kept calling him Oscar Wao when he dressed up as Oscar Wilde in a costume party and that somehow stuck. He's an immigrant to the United States of America from the Dominican Republic, a third world country once plundered by a dictator. And like other immigrants in the land of milk and honey, he has a story to tell. Except that he's not the one telling it.

The narrator for most parts is someone who likes to think of himself The Watcher. To those not into comicbooks, The Watcher is a Marvel character and all he does is watch. Observe. Not meddle. Of course with that statement it may seem to appear I know who he is. In fact, I do. Hahaha! I've encountered him before in the pages of a Marvel comicbook. One down from the many geeky references to Oscar's life in the States. I wish I could say I know all of them. It's more than just a story with a hundred or so geeky references that make you feel like you've won a quiz or something for recognizing some of it.

Maybe I'll just tell you what it means to me, reading something like this.

It's a story not just of a boy in search of that one true love (well, at least someone who would reciprocate that love) but a story of his relatives, parents and practically a nation haunted by the ghost of a much-feared dictator and his minions.

I connected with Oscar on some levels. I love reading. I (used to) love playing video games (and will welcome the chance to do so, again and again but I don't have a working console now, hahaha). I love watching anime. I love watching science fiction and fantasy. But I'm more social than him. As far as histories of our people go, I'm not an immigrant but I know what it feels like to come from a third world country with a history of colonialization by the Spaniards as well as occupation both by the Japanese and the Americans, to grow up in a shadow of a dictatorship. Maybe that's why reading the atrocities committed to Oscar's family seemed familiar, shockingly so. I read that all the time in our local history books. Plus, reading Spanglish text didn't bother me a bit, in the same vein that I speak Taglish most of the times. The more than 300-year reign of Spain here in the Philippines sure helped in recognizing Spanish words, some of them found their way into the vernacular. That and my 12-units of Spanish tucked under my belt. I wish I could speak it fluently (in my dreams) though. But I digress.

It's in part distilling that history into Oscar and Lola, the siblings who found their way to the US, and the obvious difference between the two of them. What it feels like to be an immigrant, what it feels like to both belong and not to. What it feels like to be them with all the bitter history they carry. Oscar and Lola are just two sides of an immigrant's story.

Recognizing tidbits of a geeky past is not what the story is all about but a vehicle used to get to the end. Although of course it made me smile when Sauron was mentioned, or made me laugh out loud when Macross was referenced, particularly that part where Rick Hunter and Lisa Hayes finally got together. What is the point exactly? It's a reexamination of the effects of that scarred history to a nation and its people. Some left for greener pastures abroad like Oscar and Lola. Some stayed behind like La Inca. But wherever they go, whatever they do they all carry that history with them. It's a burden alright and it's easy to understand why Lola tries to escape and do whatever she wants. Or why Oscar wallows in depression.

We all have our nation's history on our backs, one way or another. Whether or not we recognize it for what it is is another matter. Thank goodness for Junot Diaz for giving a voice to the people of the Dominican Republic. Read it and learn. Read it and live.

Other interesting, well-written points of view:

57th Street
Asking the Wrong Questions
Asylum
Care's Online Book Club
Gauchotexts' Blog
Grave Error
Jessica Rules the Universe
The Book Lady's Blog
Things Mean A Lot

If I missed yours do let me know so I could add a link to your post above.
-----
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao won the Pulitzer Prize for 2008, the National Book Critics Circle Award for 2008, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, The John Sargent, Sr. First Novel Prize, and probably a whole lot more. This is my ninth book for the Book Awards Reading Challenge.

Big in Japan

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Wolves at the Gate
Drew Goddard, Georges Jeanty, Joss Whedon

I don't have a copy of the collected third installment of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Season 8 I linked above. What I've read are the single issue comics so I'm going out on a limb here and assume that this volume includes the first two Whedon-penned stories titled Anywhere But Here (#10) and A Beautiful Sunset (#11). Two stories written to tell us where the characters are at the moment, sort of, to address some issues raised in the first two arcs. The first deals more on uncovering some of the things kept secret among friends and a warning to boot. The second is the first time that Twilight and Buffy met. And Twilight practically defeated Buffy in hand-to-hand combat it's a good thing he hasn't planned on killing her. Yet.

If I'm mistaken that these two stories are included in the compilation, I do apologize. I've stopped myself from reviewing single issues of the two series (Angel and Buffy) and decided to simply ramble about them per arc or something akin to it based on the compiled versions I see on Amazon. I mean I'm having a hard time separating the Angel issues yet (hence I've been rambling more on Buffy). Besides, I know it's going to break my heart posting about those last few Lynch issues of Angel so I'm bidding my time.

Anyway, I'd like to focus more on having Drew Goddard back. God I love him. Hahaha! He has written some of the best episodes of Buffy and Angel onscreen. Having him for this third major arc in Season 8 is like an "Oh no" situation. He's more than familiar with the characters but you want to be wary of the twists and turns not just of the story but of your heart's reaction to it. And as always he never fails to amaze me - with the humor and the drama. Sigh.

Vampires attacked Buffy's fort in Scotland. Unlike the run-of-the-mill vampires we usually see, these ones could morph themselves into wolves, or panthers, or bees, or fog! I mean how could you stake a vampire in fog form, right? And they stole a very important weapon of Buffy - the scythe - the first weapon of the first slayer that was magically used in the seventh season of the show. And these vampires are based in Japan, with a sinister plan indeed that involves not just Buffy's defeat but all existing slayers of the world!

Oh and Dracula's back. Yes, Dracula. Fans know he appeared in the show. And in the lull after the series ended on tv and before the comics began it seems that Xander (Dracula's former Sunnydale slave, hahaha) spent a few weeks in Transylvania nursing his broken heart over Anya's death in the finale. Xander's back in the castle to ask Dracula's help. And in the end the Buffy plus the other slayers, Willow, Xander, Dawn and uh, Dracula are battling the goth vampires and a powerful witch in the streets of Japan.

It's the funniest arc so far probably to counter the drama of hearts breaking yet again for some characters. Although it is rather alarming that Twilight can beat the crap out of our golden-haired Slayer of all slayers. Can't wait for the next arc, really. Except that I'm getting close to the fact that soon, I'll be waiting for the monthly installments of the series. I mean, the good thing about starting this quite late is that I get to read arcs in one fell swoop. Hahaha! No worries, I'm still at least three or four issues behind from the latest release.

Fans won't get disappointed, as usual. Fun and laughter included plus the title of this post is relevant only to those who have read this, which made me laugh again while I'm typing this. But do have a box of tissue handy. You just might need it.

Other interesting points of view:

Cerebrate's Contemplations
Conversations with Dead People
Filling My Mind with Geh
Stella Matutina
Zeno's Library

Single-issue points of view:

Buffyverse Comic Reviews of BtVS S08 #10
Buffyverse Comic Reviews of BtVS S08 #11
Buffyverse Comic Reviews of BtVS S08 #12
Buffyverse Comic Reviews of BtVS S08 #13
Buffyverse Comic Reviews of BtVS S08 #14
Buffyverse Comic Reviews of BtVS S08 #15

Do tell me if I missed your posts so I could add your link above as well.

Have Faith!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: No Future for You
Brian K. Vaughan, Georges Jeanty, Joss Whedon

Finally, we get to see Faith.

Faith is the other slayer. I mean the other active slayer prior to the events of Season 7. She found a good friend in Angel and before BtVS' last season she's in Los Angeles, incarcerated for the murders she committed. If you're a big fan of Angel, then you know how Wesley asked her to escape from prison and eventually rescue Angel from himself. I mean from the Angelus alter-ego. Then she headed off to Sunnydale to help tie up the series finale.

She's the opposite of Buffy in more ways than one: a brunette to Buffy's blonde, trash-talking as opposed to Buffy's suburban upbringing, a wild child as opposed to sweet, likeable Buffy. But deep down they are the same - as all girls are - in wanting to know her place in the world.

In the greater scheme of Buffy's mission to train the awakened slayers (in the first major arc titled The Long Way Home) Faith was never mentioned except a nod there from Xander himself using her catchphrase "Five by Five." For one thing she's a convicted murderer and has to lie low because hey, she escaped, remember? And she's been lying low in Cleveland, helping out Robin Wood's Gunn-like posse when she can. The last time we saw the two together these two were uh, almost-together. And it's probably the first time that we saw an emotional side of Faith, connecting with the the son of a former slayer to boot! But back to the story. She's rebuffing Wood. And she's reminiscing about her painful past.

Then she gets an assignment of sorts. Giles, Buffy's Watcher offers her a way out. In exchange for a new identity and a passport to anywhere she must undergo a secret mission, so secret that even Buffy doesn't know about it. All she has to do is kill a rogue slayer. A rogue slayer who's been killing a lot and enjoying it. Why Faith? Because Faith has killed before, I mean has killed another human being before (demons don't count, it's the slayer's job to kill demons). And Faith is someone too familiar with the gray areas of ethics she seems to be the perfect fit for the job. But is she, really?

Brian K. Vaughan takes the cudgels from man-god Joss Whedon himself and pens this emotional, four-issue ride to Faith's psyche. Like Brian Lynch, Vaughan manages to inveigle his way into fangirls and fanboys of the two shows, writing a compelling tale of Faith's history and present-day ruminations while working with Giles on a secret mission.

One of things I love about BtVS and Angel are the dichotomies. You have Angel/Spike for vampire with a soul. Then there's Buffy/Faith for the slayer. It's not exactly a question of right versus wrong although in some cases it feels like that. And this arc, like what Spike did to me during his run on the show BtVS, made me see Faith in a much better light, made me appreciate better her presence in the slayer scheme of things. Or something to that effect. I guess it shows I like scarred characters best.

I can't wait to read her further adventures if there are any. Also, I can't wait to read the unfolding storyline on that cryptic mark found in the first arc and again mentioned here on Faith's arc. The main villain it seems is named Twilight. A darkly ominous name at that.

As always, do watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer series. Also Angel. Those are lovely boxed sets indeed. Saw from Memory's website that My Friend Amy is giving away the first two seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer for her blog anniversary. Do join and get yourself sucked into Whedonverse! And then get the comics.

Other interesting points of view:

Cerebrate's Contemplations
Conversations with Dead People
Filling My Mind with Geh
Graphic SF Reader
Stella Matutina
The Hermitage
Tim Jones: Books in Trees
Zeno's Library

Single-issue points of view:

Buffyverse Comic Reviews for BtVS S08 #6
Buffyverse Comic Reviews for BtVS S08 #7
Buffyverse Comic Reviews for BtVS S08 #8
Buffyverse Comic Reviews for BtVS S08 #9

If I missed your posts please let me know so I can add your link as well.

I Want to Hold Their Hands

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

I know this is going to sound strange, but would you mind being my girlfriend for the next five minutes?

I love this book. I love this book. I love this book.

I'm still sleepy. I think I finished this past 4AM, stayed in the afterglow of a lovingly written story for about an hour or so then tried to sleep. Then I had to wake up early to catch the live airing of The Amazing Race at 8AM and now I simply stare at my copy and then type the words: I love this book. I.LOVE.THIS.BOOK.

It's a love story, I know. Stop with the rolling eyeballs. It's a love story and it has punk music, live bands, bar scenes, kissing almost-strangers on a whim, leaving them cold, exes, Oreos, writing lyrics and God knows what else. I'm not doing the book any justice but know this: I love this book.

Three weeks, two days, and twenty-three hours ago Nick was dumped by his girlfriend Tris. He's a bassist for a queercore band named The Fuck Offs. He saw Tris in the crowd while playing and near the bar he saw her again coming near him. That's when he asked the girl beside him to be his girlfriend for five minutes. Then they make out. Except that the girl, Norah, is no stranger to Tris. And when Norah realized that the stranger she kissed is Tris' ex Nick, the story takes off!

Then I remember. Tris called him NICK. Noooooooooo. That's him! NICK! The Hoboken boy! The guy who wrote all the songs and poems about her, the best goddamn boyfriend the rest of us at Sacred Heart never had....

Told in alternating chapters from Nick and Norah's points of view it's more than just a story of that first kiss and the sparks between them. For one thing, there's the untold Story of The Ex to be hurdled first and both Nick and Norah have them. And all throughout the pages there's the music. With references from The Cure to The Smiths, Green Day to eh Lucinda Williams, The Sound of Music, Belle and Sebastian, Michael Jackson and even up to The Beatles in the last few pages you just gotta give in and be teenager once again. Or wish you were. Or wish you feel you were. There's something about those years where you think you could do anything. Or feel anything. Our feelings then (well obviously I'm way, way past my teens, hahaha) were more heightened, more raw, more gullible, more honest and yet more deceptive if I may so, because the feeling of rejection is all the more real and scary. Then again, I don't know what is it about adulthood that somehow tones down those intense feelings. Or maybe we all just learn to pretend more. Or maybe it's just me. Hahaha!

"I'm confessing I don't know if I'm ready for this."

"What is 'this'?"

Being open. Being hurt. Liking. Not being liked. Seeing the flicker on. Seeing the flicker off. Leaping. Falling. Crashing.

"Norah. I don't know if I'm ready for Norah."

"There's no such thing as ready," she says. "There's only willing."

It's a book you'd like to dip in highlighter ink because all words are perfectly placed. Seriously. Perfect timing. Perfect thoughts. Despite moments of corniness you cringe and yet understand so very well. You see where they think alike, you see where they differ but you don't exactly mind as long as they get together. Like a few chapters on you're wishing like hell they talk more. Because their thoughts are addicting; transporting you back to feeling what they were feeling, hoping for something akin to what they are having now.

I know you probably think I'm a horrid bitch from the planet Schizophrenia, but I'm honestly trying not to mess with your head. I'm just messing with my own head and I seem to have dragged you along for the ride. I think you're nice to me and that scares the fuck out of me. Because when a guy's a jerk or an asshole, it's easier because you know exactly where you stand. Since trust isn't an option, you don't have to get all freaked out about maybe having to trust him. Right now I'm thinking about ten things at the same time, and at least four of those things have to do with you. If you want to leave right now and drive home and forget my name and forget what I look like, I wouldn't blame you in the least. But what I'm trying to say is that if you did that I would be sorry. And not just sorry in an I-apologize-I'm-so-sorry way, but sorry in a sad-that-something-that-could've-happened-didn't way. That's it. You can go now. Or we could stay for Where's Fluffy when Toni's set is over. I think they're playing a surprise show here tonight.

It's the kind of book halfway through you know you won't be disappointed. Or you'd probably hunt and kill the authors afterward if they screw it up somehow. Gut tells you that the two authors knew where this is heading and you just couldn't wait for the ending. And yet holding back at the same time because surely you wouldn't want it to end yet. You want to stay in the wee small hours of the morning getting to know Nick and Norah more. You don't want the sun to break out and bathe them in light and yet you know you have to let them go soon. I already told you I love this book.

Sigh.

My copy of the book is the movie tie-in version with the photo of Michael Cera and Kat Dennings on the cover playing Nick and Norah obviously . It also has a handful of glossy photos inside. I saw Michael Cera on Letterman promoting the film awhile back but I don't know if I want to watch the film. A part of me does; wondering how everything translates and yet knowing that a lot of things will change in the adaptation. Heck, the photos alone are proof of some changes. I'm loving the book so much I also don't want to be disappointed with the film. And while I like Michael Cera (goodness, he seems perfect for the role - he's brainy, he's musical and can totally play the pining for the girl part) I agree with Fyrefly that I somehow don't see him as a bassist in a punk queercore band. Has anyone seen the film after reading the book? Any thoughts?

I'm sorry I'm rambling. But I love, love, love this book! It's probably my favorite so far this year. So yes, read it! You won't regret it one bit.

Other interesting points of view, both good and bad takes on the book:

5 Minutes for Books
An Adventure in Reading
Average Girl Reads
Bart's Bookshelf
Books Lists Life
Books and Other Thoughts
Bookshelves of Doom
Dear Author
Dreaming Out Loud
Em's Bookshelf
Fyrefly's Book Blog
Goddess Librarian
Jenny's Books
Jen Robinson's Book Page
Just Add Books
Just Listen Book Reviews
Laina Has Too Much Spare Time
Life in the Thumb
Living the Fictional Dream
Out of the Blue
Slayground
So Many Books, So Little Time
The Book Muncher
The Book Spot
The Heart of a Mother, The Soul of a Reader
Ticket to Anywhere

If you also rambled about this book previously, kindly leave a link and I'll add your post above as well.

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Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist won the Cybils Award in 2006 for Best Young Adult Fiction. This is my eighth book for the Book Awards Reading Challenge II.

All Hail Spike!

Spike: After the Fall
Brian Lynch, Franco Urru

Remember this quote from Spike from a previous post?

Listen, mate. I didn't rise from the ranks of prisoner to prisoner with benefits to protector back to prisoner with benefits to lord, just to have you come and muck it up. I did my time on Planet Big Bore. I fought your good fight. But it's over.

The team of Brian Lynch and Franco Urru came up with this four-issue miniseries that provide details to Spike and Illyria's whereabouts after Angel's last episode on air titled Not Fade Away. Since I already mentioned that my favorite vampire with a soul hands down is Spike, it seems fitting that I ramble about this first before I continue with the rest of the After the Fall storylines.

I'll start with the first scene in Angel After the Fall #6. It starts with Spike's soliloquy on top of a building after the barrage of demons in Not Fade Away. Here we learn that Illyria reverts to Fred and is something that baffles even this vampire. The show is clear on Fred's death to begin with. Only her memories are retained by Illyria since Fred's body was used as Illyria's vessel in her resurrection. So why is it that Illyria is morphing into Fred unconsciously?

In the demon-infested streets of LA Spike takes Illyria with him in an effort to protect her when she morphs into Fred. If she's Illyria though, she is powerful as hell even if technically, she's not as powerful as she once was. Illyria is a primordial demon goddess, you see.

Weeks after Not Fade Away, Spike and Illyria tries to help the survivors. Hiding out in a theme park they didn't know that a group of female demons are observing them from afar. Headed by a sharp-dressing, pixie-faced, red-haired demon named Non they soon overcame Spike and Illyria's safety lair and apparently turned all human survivors into zombies. Because that's the power of Non - sucking the lifeforce out of humans! Yeah, something like Dementors except that they don't exactly kiss their victims.

With Spike imprisoned, shackled and tortured, Non learned of his connections with Gunn and falsely assumed Gunn's interest in helping his former associate. But Gunn is a vampire now and doesn't think Spike is a player in the future. So Non decides to do away with both Spike and Illyria.

The thing with a miniseries titled Spike: After the Fall is the obvious result that Spike would probably survive the plans by Non to dust him. Also, since this story occurred way before the panels of Angel: After the Fall, it is again obvious that Spike and Illyria survived Non. The only thing missing is the answer to the question what happened then and what about Non?

If you already like Spike since his first appearance in Buffy the Vampire Slayer with too-yellow hair and bad poetry, this four-issue story will make you like him even more. Moreso if you're like me and love his character to bits.

And the greater scheme of things that is Angel: After the Fall will make more sense if you delve into this four-issue side story. It's more than just First Night issues of After the Fall (a little taste of the stories of the different Angel characters right after not Fade Away).

Again, for fans this collection is worth it. Then again I already made it clear I'm loving every bit of the Lynch stories in this continuing saga of Angel, Spike and the rest of the cast of the show. A caveat: given that I've missed the show since it's cancellation, it's quite possible that I'm not being objective about my adoration. Then again, can you actually be objective when it comes to adoration?

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The Amazon link above takes you to the compiled hardcover edition of Spike: After the Fall. Get it! I read the four single issue comics so I'm probably missing out on some introductions and other stuff that compiled editions have. The good thing about reading the single issues is that I get different covers for all four issues. The bad thing is that the compiled editions probably compiles all the covers, including the alternate ones. Hahaha!

Buffy's Back

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8: The Long Way Home
Joss Whedon, Georges Jeanty

Well, she's been back since 2007 so this is pretty much a belated reading of Buffy's return albeit in comics, something I blogged about a couple of years back whether or not I'd get the monthly comics of Season 8. I read the first issue way back and it's only now that I get to post about the first major arc in the slayer's return. This is pure Joss Whedon with art by Georges Jeanty and the lovely, lovely covers done by Jo Chen. This volume collects the first five issues of Season 8.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans know that Sunnydale is no more. On the last bus out of the damned town, Buffy and the rest of the surviving characters head on out to nowhere on the series finale. This time it seems that the group is back and they are indeed a formidable force in ridding the world of demons. I mean hey, that's the job description of a slayer, right?

This is what we know: Buffy and what's left of the Scoobies have a fort in Scotland. A number of slayers are there, training hand-in-hand with Buffy and going out on missions. Xander is the head of security, monitoring slayer movements and missions. It seems there are about two thousand slayers all over the world after the magical mojo of the show's last season on air. Hmmm.

Buffy and a handful of slayers discovered a demon hideout where serious magical stuff is being done. The human remains found in the hideout bore a cryptic sign on their chests that looks much like a sunset (see the cover featured here, the sign below The Long Way Home. In what was left of Sunnydale, military officials are branding Buffy and the slayers as terrorists. And they discovered a witch willing to help them search (and destroy) our favorite cheerleader. Fans are shocked to see Amy in the final panel. At least I was.

Oh yes, before Claire Bennet of Heroes fame, the foremost cheerleader on tv is Buffy. Oh well, formerly a cheerleader that is, much like Claire Bear. And while I won't miss Heroes if cancelled (moreso the whining character that is Claire), I'll always have time for Buffy reruns, replays and rereads on any media. But I digress.

With the help of Amy, an army of zombie-like creatures attacked the fort in Scotland. Amy bewitched Buffy with a true love spell and while in a dreamstate Buffy met with Ethan Rayne who actually tried to help her this time.

Willow arrives on the scene and is somehow trapped into a spell forcing her back to where Amy is: in Sunnydale alright. But while Amy is after the blood of our golden-haired slayer, someone else is after Willow. Someone I thought I'd never see again. *Shudders in recollection*

Whew. Oh yes of course that's not all. Gee, let's not get into the portion where Dawn is actually a giant. Hahaha!

Like I said, pure Whedon magic all throughout the pages. As an introduction to Buffy's return we're treated with the usual Buffy conundrum: the professional versus the personal, the sisterly ties and squabbles, the relationships with new and old characters, the choices one makes and all that empowerment stuff. There's also the history of the entire BtVS run what with Ethan Rayne showing up, Angel and Spike also featured in the dreamstate (hahaha), and mentions of Giles and Andrew.

Also, there's the obvious trouble a-brewing. The military this time is more than just the Initiative of past season. There's a big magical mojo behind all the cryptic sign. Much bigger than Amy's powerful witchcraft. Probably much bigger than anything Buffy encountered so far. Then again, she died remember so what could be more powerful than that, what, killing her again? [Aside: I still think that the most powerful season of BtVS - the season of Glory - is the best not just because of her death but all the character interactions that led to that point. But that's just my humble opinion.]

There's an extra story here titled "The Chain" which is basically the fifth issue of the series. It tells the tale of one of the slayers who awakened in that final season of Buffy and is now tasked to act as her double. Buffy needs a double (or more) because of all the threats to her life. And in this story, the double is tasked to meet with the fey folk because of an impending attack by the demons.

All in all, more than a satisfying return for a much beloved series. I'm sure fans squealed with glee two years ago. Belated but I'm squealing with glee now! Oh and how about that nod to Serenity! Buffy wearing a Serenity t-shirt made me smile indeed!

Other interesting points of view:

Bright Lilim
Buffyverse Comic Reviews
Cerebrate's Contemplations
Conversations with Dead People
Filling My Mind with Geh
Graphic SF Reader
MentatJack
Stella Matutina
Zeno's Library

Single-issue points of view:

Buffyverse Comic Review for BtVS S08 #1
Buffyverse Comic Review for BtVS S08 #2
Buffyverse Comic Review for BtVS S08 #3
Buffyverse Comic Review for BtVS S08 #4
Buffyverse Comic Review for BtVS S08 #5

If I missed yours please let me know and I'll add a link to your review above as well.

Breakup Comedy

Animal Husbandry
Laura Zigman

Today I shed my pretend-geek mantle and delve once again into a love story. Sort of. Rather, it's a story on the after effects of a breakup. Let's get started, shall we?

Jane Goodall, no not that Jane Goodall, is a booking agent for The Diane Roberts Show, a serious late-night David-Susskind-esque talk show taped in New York (well, that's her words, haha). There she met Ray Brown, the new executive producer. It started as an office romance except that it's hidden because Ray is officially engaged to a vegan named Mia, named and yet she never appeared in the actual pages. But that's not the meat of the story. The meat is, by the time Jane has fallen deeply and utterly in love with Ray Brown and is all set to move in with him to a new apartment, he suddenly and inexplicably dumped her. This is where the fun begins. Well, the fun begins early on but the obsession starts from there.

In a tale told in recollections, quotes from the Kama Sutra, scientific articles and/or news clippings, chapter introductions that somehow feels like taken from a thesis and all that drama, Jane tries to find the answers to her heartbreak and takes the readers with her on her emotional, funny, obsessive-compulsive journey to understanding the opposite sex. Using a scientific platform (only 3% of male species pair bond), Jane Goodall dissects the now-dead relationship, evaluates Ray as objectively as possible, add the actions of the office lothario Eddie Alden in the mix and she ends up with the Old Cow-New Cow Theory.

You cannot help but laugh at the story's obsessiveness and yet you understand it every bit. Getting your heart broken is definitely not a walk in the park and you go through moments of what other people think as insane and yet they are simply coping mechanisms. Jane Goodall's attempt at coping is hilarious and heartbreaking. Something anyone who has been rejected can relate to. And well, that's practically anyone in the world, right?

This is the novel where the film Someone Like You is based on. Now's the time to segue into that.



I've seen the film years ago. Heck, I even own a copy of it and probably have seen it five times or even more. Oops, did I just admit to that? Jane Goodall is played by Ashley Judd. Ray Brown by Greg Kinnear. And Eddie Alden by Hugh Jackman. But those who've read the book first and then seen the film after would've noticed the major difference between the adaptation. And while I normally prefer the books over their movie counterparts, I like the film a lot better. Let me count the reasons why.

The film has more meat into it. While taking all the obsessions of Goodall's character, the film explores the other characters deeper not to mention changing some of the plot to account for more tension much later on in the film. The script added a married sister in Jane's story which somehow balances her obsession over her Old Cow-New Cow theory in the end. The talk show host Diane Roberts became a central figure as well. Joan, Jane's bestfriend morphed into Liz (played by Marissa Tomei). And although the other bestfriend David is nowhere in the film his role was amply filled by Eddie Alden's presence in Jane's life.

This is not to say that the book is not satisfactory. It is and somehow I liked it that it ended differently from the film version. The novel version had that raw feeling all of us who suffered heartbreaks understand so well. The Jane of the book speaks to us from the heart, a heart that's been broken to pieces. The Jane we could all relate with. The Jane that in the end finally got over a breakup months after the fact. And while the film version captured that moment as well, a romantic comedy won't have much of a pull without a happy ending, right? And Hugh Jackman is simply delicious in the film you simply can't have the same ending as in the book. Seriously.

Read the book. Watch the film. Plus, I learned another tridecalogism: allelomimetic. Hahaha!

The Big Fight

Angel: After the Fall #4 and #5
Joss Whedon, Brian Lynch, Franco Urru

Or at least the start of it. Ok people, spoilers below so keep out! Oh, I mean uhm, back away as slowly as possible and thank you for dropping by just the same.

Oh and I'm not kidding when I say there will be spoilers. I think not just spoilers, ok?

It comes down to this: Angel challenging the demon lords for Los Angeles, a city now populated by demons from Hell save for some survivors protected mostly by the series' known, not-quite known and even new characters: Connor, Gwen and Nina somewhere in LA. Spike, Illyria and the girls of Spider in Beverly Hills. Lorne and his two muses in Silver Lake. Gunn is bent on revenge after being turned as a vampire in the onslaught that occurred right after Not Fade Away. He has a sinister plan that is yet to unfold. For now he observes in a distance after blowing up the entire Wolfram and Hart building to smithereens. He blames Angel obviously, for his current state of undeadness, but the anger is long brewing if you consider the entire run of the series but more particularly the last season when he felt that as the "muscle" of the group he had nothing more to offer after the pact made with Wolfram and Hart. Rather, that's how I see it. Hahaha!

And our first vampire with a soul isn't exactly a vampire anymore. Angel is human. For months Wesley (oh well, the ghost of Wesley) has been magically healing Angel's wounds. Angel also wears a glamour to hide the fact that he's just a puny human against the beefy, smelly, stinky, warty demons he's been battling the past three issues.

There's a catch. Angel isn't supposed to be killed. Wolfram and Hart forbids it. You see, the Shansu prophecy is important to them considering that it mentions a vampire with a soul there as a major factor in tilting the balance between the fight of good and evil. And yet, as in all case of cryptic prophecies, it wasn't mentioned whether or not Angel will tip it for good or evil. Thing is, the demon lords of LA don't exactly care for that. Seriously how could you, considering that LA is teeming already with demons?

Still, Angel pursues his brave, heroic yet utterly stupid plan and decides to go it alone. He said goodbyes and thank yous and appeared on the streets of LA waiting for another onslaught. It's like seeing that last scene of Not Fade Away again except that now, the dragon is on his side and well, it appears that he's all alone in all this.

But he's not.

In yet another dramatic fashion, the characters we love appear in the middle of it all: Spike, Illyria, Connor, Gwen, Nina, the Groosalug even (remember him - Cordelia's intended in Pylea - and he initially appeared on the fourth issue helping Lorne in Silver Lake), Spider's girls. They stood by Angel and frankly it warms the heart to see that. It's an "Awww" situation but not quite considering that they're in the middle of a terribly lopsided battle and yet I couldn't help smiling.

This is what makes Angel special. It's not just a fantastic story about a vampire with a soul fighting the good fight, helping the helpless. It's fun to see that; how creative people can get with sinister demons of all shapes and sizes and how the gang tries to solve a problem at hand (on the tv show). Underneath all that, it's a story about relationships, about being human in this seemingly hopeless world. And it's not just Angel with his two hundred-year old guilt. There's both Wesley and Connor with their father issues. Fred back then and her brains of a genius. Illyria now coming to terms with her relative smallness in a world that does not remember her. Gunn and his quest for revenge both then and now. Spike and his quest for goodness. Well basically they're just like us; people with their own sets of problems, issues, concerns thrust in situations that could make or break them. Sometimes they do break. Most of the times they rise above the occasion. But that's what living is all about.

That's the beauty of the show and admittedly of this comics. It's faithful so it's heartbreaking than ever. And yet funny as well you snort in between sobs.

Sigh.

What happens next? Well, this one ended with a cliff hanger. It's the first time that Illyria saw Wesley as a ghost. And right in the middle of battle she morphed back into Fred. Uh-oh!

Third

Angel: After the Fall #3
Joss Whedon, Brian Lynch, Franco Urru

The third issue of After the Fall gets pretty bloody from the start. Illyria fights with our dashing hero and yet senses something is different (You're half of what you were) thereby cementing hints dropped from the first issue onwards. The big reveal comes at the end but in the meantime it seems that memories of Fred are still trapped in Illyria's head and that somehow stopped her from killing Angel right there at Spike's lair.

Angel then challenges all the demon lords for LA. It's a brave and totally stupid plan. But since when's Angel's IQ a factor, huh? Remember when Cordelia refers to Angel's IQ shooting up when he's Angelus? What is it about evil that jacks up the IQ points question, if I remember it correctly.

But yes, that's Angel's plan. Challenge all the demon lords for LA. He's trying to get back LA from hell. Noble, brave and stupid indeed. One man against all the demon lords? Oh dear, a hint there alright.

So continues my fascination with the story.

I have to get this out so late in the game; Brian Lynch gets it, gets the whole Angel story down from the big picture down to the teeny tiny details. And that's what makes this series heartbreaking, particularly if you've read the entire run Lynch has written so far. I have and it made me teary eyed. Oh hell, I cried okay. It's as if the entire five-year run of the tv show isn't enough to take everything out on our tall, dark and brooding hero. And well, reality-wise, life doesn't give you roses after going through a difficult patch, right?

I will plead ignorance if Lynch actually wrote a script for the show's run. I mean I don't exactly take note of the writers, I just know that some are way better than the others. But Lynch gets the voice down to pat and makes it appear easy. The dropped hints, the understated humor, the signs of bigger things to come. All that without losing sight of the different relationships the characters have with each other, not to mention introducing new characters along the way.

The artwork continues to dazzle me. The likeness is apparent. Lovely, lovely drawings indeed. Characters come alive or eh, stay dead on the panels.

Oh and I changed Brian Lynch's link from above. He apparently has his own blog. If only Joss Whedon keeps one. Whedonesque is a great source for all things Joss, a site I try to stay away from everytime they talk about the release of the monthly Buffy and Angel comics two years ago. Hahaha!

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The Amazon link above takes you to the first volume of Angel: After the Fall which compiles the first five issues of the comics. Get it, get it, get it!

The Other Vampire

Angel: After the Fall #2
Joss Whedon, Brian Lynch, Franco Urru

With a soul, that is. Spike. That's his name. I love him, really. A touch more than Angel even. Yeah, to think I'm a fangirl of the show called Angel and yet I love Spike more. Sigh. And yet that doesn't sound surprising for most Spike followers out there, starting from his first appearance in Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a sinister vampire sired by Angel's sire Drusilla. But that's more than a hundred episodes of Buffy ago!

The second issue of After the Fall is somehow done with the introductions. It's like watching a series opener and then by the second episode you're somehow back in the flow. Or at least to where it is going. And finally, we learn that Spike survived Not Fade Away. Given that he's a vampire it doesn't take much to survive an onslaught of demons. That and he's a champion too! But I'm getting ahead.

There's more on the Gunn angle here considering that he's the last character featured on the previous issue. He managed to imprison that big, telepathic fish named uh, George. And Gunn has a plan because he's angry. You won't like him when he's angry. He won't turn green but it'll be worse.

After the events of the first issue, Angel is out to warn his son Connor from a backlash from demons angry at him for killing the son of demon lord Burge. But arriving at Westwood he learned that there's a vampire out there killing demons and leaving cryptic, primordial Sanskrit written in blood. Is there a new player in town? Angel seems to think it's Illyria. Like who else writes (or speaks) in primordial language, right? And so he visits Spike, Illyria's last known companion. Given that Spike is, get this - demon Lord of Beverly Hills - verbal and not-quite verbal jabs are sure to follow!

With an entourage full of scantily-clad, magical maidens it appears that Spike has turned his back on all things good:

Listen, mate. I didn't rise from the ranks of prisoner to prisoner with benefits to protector back to prisoner with benefits to lord, just to have you come and muck it up. I did my time on Planet Big Bore. I fought your good fight. But it's over.

And just as Angel starts punching him to death, Illyria appears and is all set to make mincemeat out of our tall, dark and brooding Angel!

Time to put that "To be continued..." bubble.

As of this post I have read and finished 18 single issues of Angel: After the Fall already. Well, I think the last couple of issues are subtitled Aftermath. I'll probably move on to Buffy Season 8 soon (I borrowed fifteen single-issue comics though I've read the first issue when it came out two years ago). I'll just tie this series up first so yes, expect more posts on Angel in the coming days.

To all fangirls and fanboys out there, I'm sure you're loving this incarnation as well. I'm just glad I had the opportunity to peruse them at all! Oh and yes, go get the DVDs and then read this series too! And Buffy also! Because to be sure, Angel won't make much sense without watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer first. I take that back. I mean, you'll miss an important history of Angel if you don't see BtVS first. Plus there are those crossover episodes to consider too!

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The link to the Amazon site above takes you to the first volume of Angel: After the Fall compiling the first five issues of the comics. I don't think the single-issue comics of the first ten or so issues are still available for sale considering that it's been released in 2007, I think.

Welcome to Hell-A!

Angel: After the Fall #1
Joss Whedon, Brian Lynch, Franco Urru

I love Joss Whedon. I do. He's a genius. He can screw your mind, tear your heart to pieces, eviscerate every part of your entrails until you're gasping for breathe and can take no more. And then he does something outrageous like say, make you laugh the next minute and so you forgive him; because his take on life is spot on and yet geeky still. You laugh, you cry, you long, you hate, you feel empty, you feel full. All those and more, including the awkward pauses. I mean gee, no one else comes close! Who else uses a vampire with a soul as a fine specimen for living and atonement, right? Of course others will disagree. Like I care. I'm a fangirl.

Eight years worth of Angel lore on TV and finally I get to sink my teeth into this not-quite two years after the fact. And I call myself a fangirl?

My complete and total adoration of Joss Whedon notwithstanding, I do have a lot of misgivings in reading something by someone I don't know. This story, while plotted by JW himself (I mean seriously, who else can?) is written by Brian Lynch. Will he be able to capture Angel? All that backstory? All that drama? More than a hundred episodes of history? Also, how do you translate something from tv to comics? Characters so alive in your mind (and your dvd player, hahaha) and yet you want them to grace the pages of a two-dimensional medium? I'm already familiar with the cast I practically followed their career after the show ended, somewhat.

I shouldn't have worried. And so the canon continues.

It's a few months after Not Fade Away, the last episode of the show. Angel is doing what he's been doing for quite sometime now - fighting the good fight, helping the helpless - in the streets of LA now populated by demons unleashed by that evil, evil law firm Wolfram and Hart. Angel has a dragon now, the same dragon seen in that last episode. And you notice something different from him as well.

LA is Hell. There are demons in all shapes and sizes, both literally and figuratively of course.

Where are the others?

We see Wesley and he's a ghost. It seems his contract with Wolfram and Hart goes past death, like Lilah's. So yes, Wolfram and Hart is still there. The firm is adamant on ensuring Angel's continued survival because yes, the prophecy more than a handful of episodes ago still is foremost in their minds.

We see Connor with a handful of characters we're all familiar with: Gwen, the high-voltage lady thief played by Alexa Davalos in the show, and Nina, Angel's last girlfriend who's also a werewolf.

And as we flip the last few heartbreaking pages of the first issue, we see Charles Gunn and our hearts start collectively breaking yet again.

Of course all this rambling won't mean a thing to those who haven't seen an episode of Angel. Or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It won't matter that I was blown away by this first issue. A part of me has been missing the show for three years now and tv nowadays has yet to match my unending love for this series. This issue is water to a parched throat. But I'm being dramatic. Let me be objective.

As an introduction to the continuing saga of Angel it's a worthy start. Bits and pieces of what transpired after Not Fade Away are here. Obviously the demons are taking over LA but the survivors are there. You long to know what happened with the rest. You try to take in every bit of detail from the brilliantly illustrated pages - because my goodness, they leap with life! As much life as let's say seeing a large, telepathic fish lying on top of a bed. Or the many demons fighting for lordship in Westwood. It's funny and yet it's not. Then there's that likeness of the drawings to the actual cast of characters on the show; it is eerie and yet satisfactory.

Also, that crazy dialogue is back. The snappy repartee, the morose brooding and all that. It's there. And while you read it and take in the action, they come alive in your head and you see them again. You both love and loathe the idea but in the end would settle for love. Because once they're back in your head it won't take a minute for them to plunder your heart yet again. You know you will be affected by it and yet you can't stop. You just have to know what happens next, at all cost!

Like I said, I'm a fangirl.

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*The link to Amazon above takes you to the first compilation of the series which consists of the first five issues.

Serendipitous Explosiveness*

Midnighters: Blue Noon
Scott Westerfeld

Right at the heels of the events occurring in the second book, this final installment in the trilogy forges ahead and that magical blue time continues to wreak havoc in the lives of the midnighters and well, the residents of Bixby, Oklahoma and beyond! Dramatic? Yes. Dark? Doubly so. But then I already expect that from Westerfeld.

The five young adults are back: Rex and Melissa are tight as ever, Jessica and Jonathan not quite as they used to, and Dess is the lonely polymath tagging along them. But that's not the tragedy of the story. The thing is, in the middle of a morning pep rally at school the blue time suddenly enveloped Bixby, Oklahoma. Cheerleaders suspended in somersaults, all teachers and students frozen in time, the wall of sound became a deafening silence like a scene straight from a science fiction movie. Save of course for the five midnighters in separate parts of the bleachers. Using her power as a mindcaster, Melissa can sense that the darklings are getting excited, happy, giddy even if it's possible for eh, darklings to be that way. Something is coming and it's way bigger than anything that the lore can provide them.

I'll turn off my fan girly attitude for a minute to say that while I consider this a fitting end to the story, I find it a bit rushed. This is what I wrote in my Facebook right after I finished it:

While I'm sure Scott Westefeld is bound to disappoint me one day, I never expected it to be this book. It's not like the last installment is bad. It just wasn't good enough for me considering how I adored the first two books.

Still, I like Dess' character best. To think I hate math. Hahaha!

I wrote that four days ago. In hindsight I shouldn't have said I was disappointed. Let me explain. This isn't a bad book. Like I said earlier it's a fitting end to the story. I just didn't like that it felt rushed. One minute (well, one book ago) the darklings had a sinister plan of capturing a midnighter for their own purpose and the next minute (this last book) there's this time warp that would rip the blue time away from its fantastical hidey-hole it somehow negates the abduction in the second book altogether. It somehow doesn't add up. Or maybe it's just me. And yes, I can be a bit of a nag when it comes to the nitty-gritty. Then again, what do I know about the time frame for darklings, right? There I said it!

That being said (and my apologies if that somehow is a spoiler of sorts) it is a good read. You feel the tension between the characters as they try to cope with the changes in the blue time. You understand the sisterly bond between Jessica and her younger sister, Beth as the latter tries to uncover the secrets that the former is keeping from her. I mean, how exactly would you explain the blue time anyway to someone who's not a midnighter? You root for Rex as he goes through the changes in his life after the events of the second book. And yet, beyond character study of all five midnighters, you know that there's a bigger picture involved - the ripping of the blue time - and how this will affect them and their loved ones. You applaud their maturity, their tenacity and at the same time you pray that they go through this unscathed, or at least less than the usual uh, damage. But prayers go unanswered somehow as this is not a cotton candy fairy story and darklings won't try the cutesy-patootsie route.

Aren't you intrigued enough to get all three books at once? What are you waiting for? Go now!

Here are other interesting points of view:

Amanda at 5-Squared
Scholar's Blog Spoiler Zone
The Book Geek
The Literary Detective

Let me know if you also rambled about this book and I'll add your link above.

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*Title of this post is taken from a list of tridecalogisms available in the Midnighters' page.