After the fall #6 - First night
Apr. 4th, 2008 11:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
roginOk, I’ll go through it part by part.
Spike’s story is barely more then an intro, but interesting nonetheless.
We see that all his wounds are healed, when L.A. is transferred to hell. Strange. Maybe the same force restored Fred inside Illyria. I don’t know what to make of it.
Does Spike think he died in the beginning? I’m not sure. If so I think his ramblings about giving up championship make sense. After all Spikes motivations always were totally different from Angel’s. I never got the impression that he fought just to be the good guy or to atone either. Spike sure is sorry for what he did without his soul but I don’t think he wants to measure up his bad deeds with good ones. Spike was evil as a demon because it was his nature. A nature he overcame on his own by achieving a soul. Getting the soul was an act of freeing himself from a predestined career as a villain. He wants to decide for himself now, not fulfill another role.
When he took up the champion gig it was to impress Buffy and in S5 to compete with Angel. With Spike it’s always about the people around him. He fights because he loves to do it and for those he loves. With everyone gone and him on his own in hell it’s quite ok that he would “retire” and just look to make the most of the situation (The dawn line was made of brilliant, heh) . Of course the second he sees someone he likes all that goes all down the drain.
That he took the elevator only showed that he was a little thrown of his game by the whole hell gig. For Spike being the cool guy is a century old carefully crafted mask to hide the inner dork. That he forgot to be cool when he saw Frellyria down there is adorable, I think.
From the moment he has someone to fight for he’s back to being the champion. That’s perfectly Spike for me. And hopefully he’ll get an interesting plotline in Spike: After the Fall
For the art: Hm. For my liking Messina’s lines are to hard where Urru’s are a bit too soft. I’ll just stop nagging. It’s nice art.
Now on to Connor:
After the Fall-Connor is the best version of him yet. After reading his inner monologue about his three fathers I’m even more convinced of this. It’s just perfect. He’s still very twisted but in the end the fake memories gave him the stability he needed to deal with the real ones. They gave him perspective and a sense of self-irony (see the Oedipus-line ^^).
They also enabled him to finally see Angel for what he really is: His biological father who has faults and good sides like everyone else. Before the new improved childhood, Connor never seemed to grasp the concept that Angel genuinely loved him. The love he got from his fakerents makes it possible to accept Angel’s. So cheers for less fucked up Connor!
What I found a bit strange was the scene where he threw up because he suddenly remembered everything. I thought he already did that? I’m interpreting that the memories were blurry before and hit him with full force when he was transported to Hell A., maybe because of the restoring/healing thingy or because it reminded him of Quortoth.
The artwork by Stephen Mooney: I disliked that he used so many shadows. Some of the faces looked terrible (the first shot of Cordelia mad me want to run and hide). On the plus side he did a brilliant job with Connor’s facial expressions. The pictures fit the voices perfectly. I liked the mad glare on page 13 best, it was pure destroyer.
Lorne’s story:
I loved that it came in verses. Lorne needs to be on the bright side and by the end of S5 he had the most tragic story of them all. Lorne is a very adaptable person. He is used to deal with shitty developments like the hostility of his home dimension, the transport in to this world and the destructions of Caritas. The only thing that really got to him was to make him a murderer, to destroy his own pacifist integrity, his good karma. It’s nice to see him getting it back. Lorne makes the world around him a better place, even if it’s hell (or better H-E-double hockey sticks, loved that one). The parallels to caritas are obvious and wonderful. Again he created a place where humans and demons live in peace in a world where it’s all about the fight between good and evil.
The only thing I disliked was that sorceress who came a bit out of the left field. Huh? She makes Lorne’s slice of heaven and then she sods off? That’s a bit of a lame explanation for silver lake.
The art by John Byrne: Was fun and thus fit the story. Nothing I need to see more often though
Betta George was a fabulous narrator of course and I wish him a soonish rescue.
The issue leaves me wanting more, which is always a good thing!
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no subject
Date: 2008-04-05 02:37 am (UTC)Connor's part was my favorite. And I agree this is the best version of Connor. When he remembered everything (I don't he really felt it before, he said in the finale that it was like a dream, like everything had happened to someone else) I actually felt like crying *hugs Connor* and I just loved when he was like dad no 1 would this, dad no 2 would do that... poor messed up boy.
After the fall is brilliant, :)
*smooches*
no subject
Date: 2008-04-05 01:10 pm (UTC)Connor really was awesome and I agree his memories must be much stronger now.
After the fall is brilliant, :)
Word, I hope there is a lot more of it to come.
*kisses*
no subject
Date: 2008-04-05 01:04 pm (UTC)She makes Lorne’s slice of heaven and then she sods off?
Yeah. I'm kind of hoping there's more story behind this that we'll discover later. Maybe even that the sorceress isn't as benevolent as she seems here...
no subject
Date: 2008-04-05 01:23 pm (UTC)Can it be that the transfer into hell restored something to everyone of the characters?
Angel got his humanity,Connor his full memory.Inside Illyria, Fred was restored. Lorne got his groove back.
Spike would be worst off if he only got his wounds healed, but maybe there is something we don't know yet. After all Spider said something like him being "the single best thing about this world", which makes perfect sense from my perspective as a total fangirl but otherwise it seems there would have to be more to it.
I hope we we'll learn more about the dubious sorceress. I'm not really fan of super powered beings just jumping in.
no subject
Date: 2008-04-10 10:48 am (UTC)Yes, the artist uses Amy Acker's screenshot from Lullaby, from the scene when Connor is born.
no subject
Date: 2008-04-05 02:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-05 02:19 pm (UTC)*waves hi to new face*
no subject
Date: 2008-04-06 05:04 am (UTC)Seems like they all got something during the transport
Hmmmmmmmm, interesting point - I never quite thought of it like that but now that you mention it .....
As Angel got his humanity back, maybe Illyria got her powers back?
no subject
Date: 2008-04-06 09:09 am (UTC)or maybe Fred was restored inside her.
It could have something to do with leaving the contract with W&H. Maybe they all got things back that they lost to them. Angel got the shanshu, Connor his memories, Fred's soul, Lorne's groove (whatever exactly that maybe).
Then it would also make sense that noting changed for Spike. He never worked for them.
no subject
Date: 2008-04-06 02:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-06 05:19 pm (UTC)from your angel community
Date: 2008-04-07 05:23 pm (UTC)Re: from your angel community
Date: 2008-04-07 06:31 pm (UTC).didn't Connor already remember?
Stormwreath told me that Brian said that Connor is hit by the full force of his memory now. From his birth to the present, far more accurate than one would usually remember.
My current pet theory is that all of them got something back that they lost in the deal with W&H. Angel's shanshu, Connor's full memory, Fred's soul and so on.
Re: from your angel community
Date: 2008-04-07 07:50 pm (UTC)Re: from your angel community
Date: 2008-04-08 08:05 am (UTC)Maybe we'll get a peak behind the curtain in the comics but I think they love the limitless opportunities too much to ever reveal what they are exactly.
Re: from your angel community
Date: 2008-04-10 10:59 am (UTC)Great theory! And, to develop it a bit, I'd love to add that they all get enhanced abilities. Angel got back his humanity and turned human. Connor got back not only the usual human memories, he has got superhuman memories of everything that ever happened to him. Lorne got back so much groove that his singing now inspires regular people to slay demons. Fred returned enhanced by Illyria's power.
But as it happens in RL, their extra powers brought them a lot of trouble.
Re: from your angel community
Date: 2008-04-10 06:22 pm (UTC)ETA:...and Gunn got corrupted. Maybe the magic reversal makes him so unnaturally interested in being the good guy.
Re: from your angel community
Date: 2008-04-10 09:41 pm (UTC)Interesting idea. I wish we knew more about Gunn.
OTOH, I noticed that on BtVS the attitude to vampires became more relaxed. In issue 13 Dracula is Buffy's ally against "really bad" vampires. Relatively good vampire Gunn could be another concession to fans' desire to see vampires as complex and tormented as humans.
Re: from your angel community
Date: 2008-04-11 10:28 pm (UTC)I think they are trying to make them a bit more multilayered but still very evil. What I like most about Vamp-Gunn is that he wants to be good but that this wish is so twisted by the demon that he ends up an extra cruel vampire. A bit like a religious fanatic.
It's so amazing how Gunn became one of the most interesting characters in AtF.
Re: from your angel community
Date: 2008-04-11 10:42 pm (UTC)Yes, absolutely unpredictable and fascinating!