ANGEL (2019) #3 review

Angel #3 is available now where all good comics are sold!

Synopsis

Darkness has possessed another innocent…and Angel has no choice but to fight them. Trapped in an empty hospital with nowhere to go, Angel needs to find a way to save the host from this deadly and elusive demon, or have yet another life on his conscience. Will his new ally Fred Burkle be able to help him…or is she the reason he’s battling this monster in the first place? The next exciting chapter of the pop culture reimagining that made headlines worldwide continues from Bryan Edward Hill (Detective Comics, Killmonger), Gleb Melnikov and series creator Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Marvel’s The Avengers).

Review

Angel is continuing to prove itself as one of the most compelling comics in BOOM! Studios roster with issue #3. Having already knocked it out of the part with its zero issue and subsequent #1 and #2 now we find ourselves deep in the action as Angel faces his past and his future.

Writer Bryan Edward Hill is continuing the dual storylines as we seen further flashback moments mixed in with the present day storyline.

The story of the past remains, for much of this issue, the more high concept. It’s images feature more saturated colours as well as much more intense action scenes. This is where most of the blood and gore is as Angelus wreaks havoc across the globe.

But that’s not the only reason this flashback story exists. Where Buffy the TV series gave us small glimpses of the character across his four seasons on the show, here we’re getting to spend some solid time understanding just what kind of creature Angelus was.

It helps to punctuate the present day action as we have a much greater understanding of his motivations to atone for his past.

But that’s not to say there isn’t plenty going on in the present day as well. The introduction of Fred to story has helped cement that Angel won’t be following the continuity of the series. But this issue does also give us a much better idea about the direction it will be going.

Lilith has proven to be a very interesting foil for Angel. We’re still not sure which side she is on but here she certainly seems to be masterminding his direction of travel.

Her rather lofty amount of exposition gives us a sort of first meeting between Buffy and Angel as well as predicting a rather bleak future for Willow. All this and then we get the amazing image of Angel’s body melting away as he goes after the villain of the piece.

It’s excellent writing and paired with some incredibly imagery that I could gush about for hours.

Gleb Melnikov’s art is simply perfect for Angel. It’s dark and shadowy but laden with excellent fine detail in background and facial expressions. The colours by Gabriel Cassata seem perfectly chose to amplify the visuals and it creates a perfect storm of conditions for the vampire with a soul.

Angel never looked or read so well.

Verdict

Angel continues a groundbreaking opening arc which is revolutionising the character and the wider Buffyverse as a whole.

9/10

Angel #3 is written by Bryan Edward Hill with art by Gleb Melnikov and colours by Gabriel Cassata. Cover art is by Dan Panosian.

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