I’m a huge fan of what is known to fans as the “Buffyverse” that encompasses Buffy and Angel. When the TV shows ended I figured that was the end of my experiences with these characters, then IDW got the Angel license and it was announced that Joss Whedon would be doing a new Buffy ongoing at Dark Horse. I’ve missed most of the IDW Angel comics mostly because I have a hard time paying $3.99 an issue, but I decided to pick up some of the Spotlights for certain characters. Connor being the one I looked most forward too.
Connor was a character that I never thought was fully developed in the TV show. There was so much more that could have been done with the character but it seemed other storylines always got in the way of that. This Spotlight is set sometime after the finale of Angel. Also after the for a lack of a better term mind wipe that Connor was given boy Wolfram and Hart as a favor to Angel so Connor could lead a better life.
The issue opens with Connor at college and of course he being Angel’s son a mystery is in the works, with bodies turning up on campus. Later some fraternity thugs bother Connor and his roommate and Connor inadvertently gives away that he has super strength. After a quick explanation of what happened and telling him his whole story. The ending of the book is nothing if not predictable as most of the issue is.
This whole issue is way below the standards of the TV show and way below what I would expect in a story about Connor. Not to mention that there isn’t a vampire, a demon or even a ghost anywhere to be seen. The only mention of anything remotely supernatural is about Angel or a little part about the Hellmouth in Sunnydale. Jay Faerber is usually a writer I can count on to give a good compelling story but here he falls way short of the mark.
This is the first time I’ve seen any work from Bob Gill but I can tell you that his style is all wrong for a story like this he has too much of a cartoon feel to his art and his Connor doesn’t even look like Connor. IDW needs to put artists where their styles work best and Bob Gill should never have been put on this book
I hope the other Angel books are better than this one because if their not than Angel is doomed.
