Writer: Christopher Golden & Tom Sniegoski Artist: Eric Powell Publisher: Dark Horse
Plot: Angel investigates a series of murders designed to attract his attention.
Christopher Golden and Tom Sniegoski create another solid "Angel" story, but this one isn't perfect. While Angel and Cordelia are both in exquisite speaking voice, David Boreanaz and Charisma Carpenter, Kate Lockley is too wordy.
Kate on the show has changed. Originally, Kate saw Angel as a potential dating partner. Indeed, they met when she posed as a lonely girl looking for the right match, and the implication was that only some of her persona was an act. When she discovered Angel was a vampire, she began to distrust him not only as a professional but also as a friend. Her dialogue with Angel is far more terse. When her father is killed through his own machinations, Kate changes a second time. Elisabeth Rohm plays her as the walking wounded, as though she has a death-wish and as though she blames Angel for her father's death. None of these characterizations suit the Kate Lockley we meet in the book who unfortunately comes off as a generic supernatural investigator. All her lines and actions are sound, but they lack personality.
The characterization of Wesley fails to achieve the undertones to Alexis Denisof performance. He just manifests as something of a well-meaning twit in the book, a lesser Giles. It may be that Mr. Golden and Mr. Sniegowski simply are not yet used to writing the character, or perhaps, he's one of those writer-proof characters that requires an actor of Mr. Denisof's talent to bring to life.
The monster's revelation carries a slight let-down because Eric Powell creates such a sympathetic figure that you know for a fact that he is not the one guilty of the murders attracting Angel's attention; these bear a sense of deja vu since a previous episode of the show dealt with the subject, but the innocent monster and the period setting add a few twists.
Mr. Powell captures the distinguishing characteristics of Mr. Boreanaz's face to give his Angel a strong resemblance without losing the vital kinetic energy of the hero. Too often when an artist seeks a dead-on portrait, the action suffers, but whether in vamp face or relaxed, readers will have no trouble accepting the three-dimensional character's counterpart. The same can be said for Cordelia who though obviously not as radiant as Ms. Carpenter expresses herself with familiar body language. Kate however is as off as her characterization, and the colorist needs a more varied palette to capture Elisabeth Rohm's and Charisma's extraordinary eyes.
