It’s an IDW kind of week. Part 4 of the five part intro storyline for our angelic heroine, and issue 2 of everyone’s favorite vampire and his decades-spanning rivalry with the vamp lord. Whad’ja think?
PAD
(Updated: I’d been under the impression I’d opened up an X-Factor #5 thread previously. Apparently not. So you can comment on that here as well.)
• 
Well, it looks like I may have missed, for now, Spike/Dracula #2 and X-Factor #5. But I did get, and was very impressed with, Fallen Angel #4 (and yes, that IS a nice cover).
It was a bit of a shift initially, going from being given litlle bits and hints during the DC run, to the huge, consisten revelations here. But it has been very good, and interesting, learning the truth about Lee (even if it has meant, of course, the end of any of our imaginings of a connection to Linda/Supergirl); and I’m very curious to see what mental state Lee will be in, and what direction she’ll be headed, after the end of this arc.
A few highlights of the issue, and questions raised:
Page 1: “Liandra, do you have any idea how LONG you’ve been here?” “Couple days… a week…” “A year and a half.”
MALACHI was the killer’s guardian angel? (And does this imply anything about the quality of his guardianship?)
“Oh. Wait. I CAN!” and the panel, one page later, with the statue of Lady Justice collapsed on Newsome’s body, wings snapped off.
And what about the storm, which seemed to almost deliberately knock Jude from Juris’ boat, and back to Lee? Hm, I wonder who could be behind that…?
Oh, and Lee’s “Will you please stop shaking me” line, third panel of page 21 – if I keep looking at the issue, this post could go on and on, I suspect. Let me just sum up by saying – thank you for another great read, Mr. David. Can’t wait for the next issue!
I get my comics by mail every two to three weeks, so I just got Spike vs. Dracula #2.
Peter, I’ve been a fan of your work for longer than I care to think about, but I think this may be one of my most favorite books you’ve ever written.
Oh, I figured out who “Eddie” was right away — even before I read the name Eddie — ’cause I’m a big ol’ geek for the biopic about him, which I’ve seen maybe a dozen times. And you tied into that so perfectly, all the while remaining tru to the Spike and Dru we know and love from Buffy and Angel.
Seriously, Dru’s line about Lugosi reminding her of her daddy was absolute freaking genius when you pause to consider the metatextual significance of it.
Outstanding stuff, sir.
Oh, yeah, and I’m still loving Fallen Angel and X-Factor, too, of course. But SvsD #2 just really hit the spot!
“Seriously, Dru’s line about Lugosi reminding her of her daddy was absolute freaking genius when you pause to consider the metatextual significance of it.”
Yeah, that pretty much went past everybody. Drusilla, who was played by Juliet Landau, said that Lugosi reminded her of her father, and Juliet Landau’s father, Martin Landau, played Bela Lugosi in the movie “Ed Wood,” which also featured Juliet Landau, and Ed Wood was in the comic “Spike vs. Dracula” as a character. So it all wraps around.
PAD
Just wanted to say that I LOVE Fallen Angel – have from the beginning. I liked the possible Supergirl references but Lee has been made into a fantasmic character all by herself. My only extremely minor compliant thus far in the IDW run is that Asia hasn’t made a return yet. He was by far my favorite supporting character. =) can we expect something with him in it soon?
I’m very late in the game to comment on this, of course. I enjoyed Fallen Angel, like I always do.
X-Factor #5 I did’t particularly enjoy, and I’m *really* trying to give this book a chance because 1) I usually love your writing and 2) the book contains characters to whom I have a longstanding attachment.
Nothing happened to enrich or round out characterization for any of the characters involved in XF #5. That’s how I feel in a nutshell. The whole thing seemed fairly pointless to me.
Sincerely,
Annie
San Francisco
a too late comment about the issue of DC vs. IDW Fallen angel:
In the DC series Lee main characteristics was cool (if biiter) and tough. In the beginning of this series we find her in poor shape, depressed and relatively weak. It is like some seasons of Buffy (usually in the beginning and in the end) in which we find her more depressed and apparently less capable of facing the threats before her. You keep waiting for the moment she’ll be back in form and really kick ášš (which she eventually does). I think it is a good plot device. But in Buffy, even if the season’s first chapter had her depressed and weak, she still had a chance in the same chapter to show her cool and toogh character. In the new Fallen Angel it took longer.
Beyond that the pacing of the story is slower. This has two causes. One is the fact that what we have now is a long exposition (+ flashbacks). The other is that the current art has a more static feel to it (at least in the first two issues).
these are the reasons for the different feel of the story. I admit I enjoyed issues 1 and 2 less, but by issues 3 and 4 things were picking up, and I’m looking forward what will come next.
PAD seems to have taken a different approach and pacing in teling the story in this arc than in the DC series. As a result of that the immediate feel of the series at the beginning was different. I hope it works out in the long run.