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Angel & Faith: Season 10 #5
Angel & Faith: Season 10, Vol. 5: A Tale of Two Families
With gangs of vampires bringing trouble to the streets of Magic Town, Angel and Faith have their work cut out for them--not only protecting the citizens from the vampire terrorists but also dealing with the source of the trouble: Drusilla and the überdemon Archaeus. Having failed to gather Angel and Spike to his side, Archaeus is building his family with Dru and looking for a way to gain true control of Magic Town through Nadira and her magic . . . Angel, Faith, Fred and Illyria, and Koh will pit their newly formed family against Archaeus's brood of blood and misguided magic in a battle for London!
Collects Angel & Faith Season 10 Issues #21-#25
Collects Angel & Faith Season 10 Issues #21-#25
136 pages, Paperback
First published August 23, 2016
1 person is currently reading
211 people want to read
About the author
Victor Gischler
371 books414 followersVictor Gischler is an American author of humorous crime fiction.
Gischler's debut novel Gun Monkeys was nominated for the Edgar Award, and his novel Shotgun Opera was an Anthony Award finalist. His work has been translated into Italian, French, Spanish and Japanese. He earned a Ph.D. in English at the University of Southern Mississippi. His fifth novel Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse was published in 2008 by the Touchstone/Fireside imprint of Simon & Schuster.
He has also writes American comic books like The Punisher: Frank Castle, Wolverine and Deadpool for Marvel Comics. Gischler worked on X-Men "Curse of the Mutants" starting in the Death of Dracula one-shot and continued in X-Men #1.
Gun Monkeys has been optioned for a film adaptation, with Lee Goldberg writing the script and Ryuhei Kitamura penciled in to direct.
Gischler's debut novel Gun Monkeys was nominated for the Edgar Award, and his novel Shotgun Opera was an Anthony Award finalist. His work has been translated into Italian, French, Spanish and Japanese. He earned a Ph.D. in English at the University of Southern Mississippi. His fifth novel Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse was published in 2008 by the Touchstone/Fireside imprint of Simon & Schuster.
He has also writes American comic books like The Punisher: Frank Castle, Wolverine and Deadpool for Marvel Comics. Gischler worked on X-Men "Curse of the Mutants" starting in the Death of Dracula one-shot and continued in X-Men #1.
Gun Monkeys has been optioned for a film adaptation, with Lee Goldberg writing the script and Ryuhei Kitamura penciled in to direct.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
August 13, 2016
Victor Gischler and Will Conrad bring all your favourite Angel & Faith characters together for one final hurrah as Archaeus and Drusilla attempt to drain Magic Town of it's magic in this season finale volume.
And it really does feel like a season finale. All of the storylines and character arcs that began in the past four volumes come home to roost, from Angel & Faith's separation anxiety to Fred and Illyria's newfound strength, Koh's quest for vengeance, and Nadira and the magic's tumultuous relationship. There's a very final feeling to this last storyline, and I think in a TV-show based comic that's proven itself on the strength of its season-arranged storytelling, that's a big win.
Will Conrad has excelled at being Mike Deodato lite for years, but I think this volume is where he really surpasses Deodato - especially with whatever the hell Deodato is doing over at Marvel these days, because it's nowhere near what he used to be. Conrad's art always seemed quite stiff, but it's full of action and energy here, whilst Michelle Madsen's colors look gorgeous, blending the deep purples of the backgrounds with the characters themselves, who always pop off the page.
I was saddened when we lost Christos Gage from this series (although he got promoted to the main Buffy title, so it wasn't that profound a sadness) but Gischler is a worthy successor, playing well with the continuity of the characters and crafting a full season story that reads very well now that it's completed.
And it really does feel like a season finale. All of the storylines and character arcs that began in the past four volumes come home to roost, from Angel & Faith's separation anxiety to Fred and Illyria's newfound strength, Koh's quest for vengeance, and Nadira and the magic's tumultuous relationship. There's a very final feeling to this last storyline, and I think in a TV-show based comic that's proven itself on the strength of its season-arranged storytelling, that's a big win.
Will Conrad has excelled at being Mike Deodato lite for years, but I think this volume is where he really surpasses Deodato - especially with whatever the hell Deodato is doing over at Marvel these days, because it's nowhere near what he used to be. Conrad's art always seemed quite stiff, but it's full of action and energy here, whilst Michelle Madsen's colors look gorgeous, blending the deep purples of the backgrounds with the characters themselves, who always pop off the page.
I was saddened when we lost Christos Gage from this series (although he got promoted to the main Buffy title, so it wasn't that profound a sadness) but Gischler is a worthy successor, playing well with the continuity of the characters and crafting a full season story that reads very well now that it's completed.
July 26, 2017
At the time I picked this up I did not realize that the Angel in the title had to do with that awful Buffy the Vampire Slayer YA show. So for those of you who have been blessed to never having seen this teeny fluff show (I blame shows like Buffy and Angel for the rise of the "cute sparkly" vampires)-this is "dark" only in the way a teeny fluff show can be "dark". It's not. Really.
Still, to be fair, there is a decent story here, sort of. Angel, a "good" vampire and his band of merry do gooders are fighting some demon. The demon has a connection with Angel and some other members of his crew. Angel becomes "bad" for a few seconds and the stupid demon falls for it. Demon is defeated. Everybody is happy. Oh look Season 10.
So uh yeah...I was nice enough to give this two stars since the story is ok (even though the characters are typically YA shallow) and the art is ok as well. Thus a 2 star rating which is ok. Only read this if you are a fan of the crappy tv shows. I have no interest in any of the rest of this series and neither would I have read it had I known what it is.
Still, to be fair, there is a decent story here, sort of. Angel, a "good" vampire and his band of merry do gooders are fighting some demon. The demon has a connection with Angel and some other members of his crew. Angel becomes "bad" for a few seconds and the stupid demon falls for it. Demon is defeated. Everybody is happy. Oh look Season 10.
So uh yeah...I was nice enough to give this two stars since the story is ok (even though the characters are typically YA shallow) and the art is ok as well. Thus a 2 star rating which is ok. Only read this if you are a fan of the crappy tv shows. I have no interest in any of the rest of this series and neither would I have read it had I known what it is.
December 5, 2018
it was fun but not very surprising. could see the end coming from a mile away.
November 28, 2017
In the final volume ofAngel & Faith Season 10, the team has properly reunited (with some additional assistance, no less) to defeat the demon lord Archaeus.
Though I liked the rest of the season, the conclusion proved stronger than the previous volumes. Angel, Faith, and co. are in their best form here: concocting clever plans, watching each other's back in intense battles, throwing around jokes, and only a bit heavy-handedly reminding the reader about the value of family (the one you choose, that is).
The plot flowed smoothly and kept me interested from issue to issue, and the action sequences were particularly gripping. Volume 5's art featured some stunning spreads (several times I stopped reading just to revel in the artistic moment), and Dru's likeness (while still weaker than other characters) was much improved over Volume 4.
Volume 5 gave Season 10 a definitive conclusion, so while I'm looking forward to Season 11, I'm not as anxious for the new season as I have been in the past. That being said, I'm still enjoying my time in the Buffyverse and will keep on reading!
Though I liked the rest of the season, the conclusion proved stronger than the previous volumes. Angel, Faith, and co. are in their best form here: concocting clever plans, watching each other's back in intense battles, throwing around jokes, and only a bit heavy-handedly reminding the reader about the value of family (the one you choose, that is).
The plot flowed smoothly and kept me interested from issue to issue, and the action sequences were particularly gripping. Volume 5's art featured some stunning spreads (several times I stopped reading just to revel in the artistic moment), and Dru's likeness (while still weaker than other characters) was much improved over Volume 4.
Volume 5 gave Season 10 a definitive conclusion, so while I'm looking forward to Season 11, I'm not as anxious for the new season as I have been in the past. That being said, I'm still enjoying my time in the Buffyverse and will keep on reading!
November 27, 2017
This whole 'season' has been a whole lot of meh and this final volume is no exception. I think having Archaeus as the big bad is part of the problem as it is just...no. Not a good bad guy from a design or narrative standpoint. And the whole 'building a family' plot thread? It is kind of ridiculous and could only be resolved in the most clichéd of ways so, of course, that is exactly the way it ends. So terribly unsatisfying. Some genuinely interesting ideas and characters that I love but an utterly uninspired approach. Here's hoping Bechko changes things up for the next run.
May 14, 2018
Hmm, a strong season recently from Buffy but I felt like this Angel & Faith issue was much weaker. It felt kind of stilted and cariactured, nothing really new to add to any of the characters. I did have to laugh at some of the triptychs in the graphic panels where Drusilla, Fred, and Faith would all get depicted next to each other (three brunettes in a row!) and they'd keep using the same lipstick colour across them just to make them harder to differentiate. Some nice art work though with Drusilla's dress during the sword fight.
October 6, 2023
"You showed the magic what family means. You provide for your family. Protect them. It's about giving. To Archaeus, a family was just a resource to be exploited."
I have been putting this one off for... wow far too long. It really shouldn't take a full year to read a graphic novel. But, this being the finale of the Angel and Faith series, I definitely wanted to draw it out.
It's probably not going to come as a surprise that this graphic novel is all about family. Yeah, it's right there in the title of the thing. Two families. Those are: the family behind Angel and Faith, made up of a bunch of characters that never appeared on either of the TV series, as well as the family Archaeus has been trying to pull together ever since he lost the fight in the recent crossover in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Old Demons.
Drusilla is, perhaps not surprisingly, who he's ended up teaming with. And, through her, he has a small army at his disposal.
Angel and Faith come up with plans here, some that work better than others as Archaeus gets his feelers out sooner than expected on at least one occasion. But Angel is no newbie to deduction, even if he does finally admit to Faith that he might have been wrong. At least once.
The two of them talk about what Faith going off to see Giles meant to Angel, given he's been so used to fighting all alone all this time, and it was easier to see that she had abandoned him rather than that she had business to attend to and would come back. The Faith/Giles friendship is another of my favourite things in this comic book series.
But it definitely worked for me in the end that the finale for this series was all about the family that had been made, and what that means.
I have been putting this one off for... wow far too long. It really shouldn't take a full year to read a graphic novel. But, this being the finale of the Angel and Faith series, I definitely wanted to draw it out.
It's probably not going to come as a surprise that this graphic novel is all about family. Yeah, it's right there in the title of the thing. Two families. Those are: the family behind Angel and Faith, made up of a bunch of characters that never appeared on either of the TV series, as well as the family Archaeus has been trying to pull together ever since he lost the fight in the recent crossover in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Old Demons.
Drusilla is, perhaps not surprisingly, who he's ended up teaming with. And, through her, he has a small army at his disposal.
Angel and Faith come up with plans here, some that work better than others as Archaeus gets his feelers out sooner than expected on at least one occasion. But Angel is no newbie to deduction, even if he does finally admit to Faith that he might have been wrong. At least once.
The two of them talk about what Faith going off to see Giles meant to Angel, given he's been so used to fighting all alone all this time, and it was easier to see that she had abandoned him rather than that she had business to attend to and would come back. The Faith/Giles friendship is another of my favourite things in this comic book series.
But it definitely worked for me in the end that the finale for this series was all about the family that had been made, and what that means.
May 3, 2024
it's a shame because this season of angel and faith was just inferior in every way to buffy s10 and also angel and faith s9! part of that is the separation of angel and faith which allows angel to be more interesting of a character when paired with faith (with the loss of his team!). the archeaus plot was interesting on buffy - and then it just got... kind of boring. he wanted to reunite his family? okay boring. he wanted to take over magic town? also kind of boring. the relationship between the magic and nadira was interesting, but ended a bit lackluster; i wanted more from it i feel and the resolution of the magic went into hiding seems weird.
the final battle ended the way you'd assume with spots of brightness - dru ditching archaeus finally, the magic seeing how archaeus was trash, the town coming together, and the ending where angel and faith have a new family in london. fred and koh's addition to the team was wonderful. i was sad they lost that human guy whose name escapes me.
not really sure i'm excited for the rest of the angel comics considering the next season is just considered angel... bummer. seems we peaked in s9.
the final battle ended the way you'd assume with spots of brightness - dru ditching archaeus finally, the magic seeing how archaeus was trash, the town coming together, and the ending where angel and faith have a new family in london. fred and koh's addition to the team was wonderful. i was sad they lost that human guy whose name escapes me.
not really sure i'm excited for the rest of the angel comics considering the next season is just considered angel... bummer. seems we peaked in s9.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 8, 2025
I think we can officially say that Gischler was a bad fit for Angel & Faith, if nothing else because he seems incredibly disinterested in the titular team. After a full season of, well, it's not buildup since most of the plot was dropped in in the 19th issue from another book. I want to say a season of waffling, but let's be nice and call it world building. After a season spent world building the neighbourhood of Magic Town, we are left with a pretty typical climactic fight where the denizens of that neighbourhood come together to help our titular heroes fight the silly Demon Lord. It's all kind of disposable and boring. It's too bad. This could have been something really special. Season 9 was pretty good, but it really got squandered on the wrong writer and on being forced to play second fiddle to Buffy. Hopefully it works out for that book at least.
September 12, 2022
Gah, losing Gage & Isaacs to the Buffy side of things caused a huge dip in quality for the Angel & Faith comics. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: Gischler does not know how to write these characters. It’s particularly obvious with Fred and Drusilla, whose voices are totally lost here, but when original comics character Eldre Koh makes a big speech towards the end, I realized he really has none of them down. Certainly not Giles’ aunts or Nadira either. And Archaeus, who was such an interesting villain when he started out on Buffy, just putters out here. Plus Magic as a character, the incessant insistence of the importance of Magic Town, family vs family, and the weird Endgame moment at the end, make the whole thing cheesy and almost unintelligible.
August 31, 2017
It's hard out there for a Whedon fan these days. While I know that he's not even that involved with these graphic novel series, I find that these latest revelations of his dirty deeds are coloring my ability to enjoy these stories. As such, I'm going to likely not be reading these for a while. Too bad, because there's been some fun stuff going on in this series and the Buffy S10 books (although A&F has gotten a bit slow while Buffy has kicked into high gear this season). So it goes, I guess.
June 28, 2025
It's last call for Angel Investigations 2.0 (or is it 3.x?)...
Archaeus is making his last chess moves to rule Magic Town (and eventually everything). He's got Dru and her 'family'. Just how big it is, is still TBD. Can they get Angel to turn to the dark side?
It's a classic TV season ending episode, with a few twists and red herrings thrown in. Great way to end the series and tie up the 'new magic' card of the Buffyverse.
---
Bonus: Did I really see character growth in a few leads this season? Holy hell.
Archaeus is making his last chess moves to rule Magic Town (and eventually everything). He's got Dru and her 'family'. Just how big it is, is still TBD. Can they get Angel to turn to the dark side?
It's a classic TV season ending episode, with a few twists and red herrings thrown in. Great way to end the series and tie up the 'new magic' card of the Buffyverse.
---
Bonus: Did I really see character growth in a few leads this season? Holy hell.
June 20, 2018
I admit I'm a sucker for "family" storylines & morals that deal with created/chosen families and why they're important, so it's a huge reason I really loved this. I also love the Eldre Koh character, and I'm so happy to see the direction they've taken him. I continue to be stunned by the artwork, both the inks and the amazing colors in the Angel & Faith books.
September 12, 2019
This season was really not as deep as the first one and kinda fell short on character development. It was still enjoyable to see all those characters come together and become family. I hope next season will be more like the first one. I also hope the art will be a little better, I am tired of being confused by what female character I am seeing.
June 6, 2017
5 stars
Enjoyed the conclusion to Angel and Faith season 10. Glad that they were able to stop Archaeus. Wonder what will happen to Magic Town now. Hope Angel and Faith get together, maybe.
Can't wait to read more Buffyverse comics!!!!!
Enjoyed the conclusion to Angel and Faith season 10. Glad that they were able to stop Archaeus. Wonder what will happen to Magic Town now. Hope Angel and Faith get together, maybe.
Can't wait to read more Buffyverse comics!!!!!
March 19, 2018
An action-packed ending to the series. For some reason the characters that this series introduced never stick in my mind so I've forgotten a lot of plot points and who specific people are. Regardless, I think this volume wraps things up nicely.
August 4, 2018
What a finale!!
Everything about this was great.
The downside is it seems like the comics aren’t returning to this story. So we will never learn the fate of the personified magic being from London’s Magic Town or what will happen to Nadira.
Everything about this was great.
The downside is it seems like the comics aren’t returning to this story. So we will never learn the fate of the personified magic being from London’s Magic Town or what will happen to Nadira.
April 18, 2020
3.5 rounded down.
While it was much better than the last few volumes, it's hard to believe the whole "power of family" saves the day ending when everyone has been acting like everything but the whole series.
Otherwise, some great character beats between Faith and Angel in these latter issues.
While it was much better than the last few volumes, it's hard to believe the whole "power of family" saves the day ending when everyone has been acting like everything but the whole series.
Otherwise, some great character beats between Faith and Angel in these latter issues.
August 6, 2025
Predictable and kinda blah ending to this arc, but still enjoyed reading. The main villain Archaeus was not as bad as he could’ve been and even old big bad Drusilla seemed to be shell of her former self. Angel, Faith, and co. deserved a bigger battle!
May 27, 2017
A pretty good finale to the season, but not terribly surprising. It's always fun to see Faith and Angel kicking butt though.
July 9, 2017
Good finish. Epic battle. Dru was back. The only thing that would have made it better would have been Spike.
October 27, 2017
Fred. AND. Illyria. Need I say more?!
February 23, 2018
It all boils down to the strength of good family relationships in the end.
July 9, 2018
3.5 stars
December 23, 2018
Good and evil battle.
Part of a series where all the stories are basically good and evil fighting it out - nothing wrong with the plot/ characters/ etc., just the same as the rest of the series.
Part of a series where all the stories are basically good and evil fighting it out - nothing wrong with the plot/ characters/ etc., just the same as the rest of the series.
June 30, 2023
Just....WTF?!
December 28, 2016
I always liked Faith and thought she'd find her way.
Really like this break of series from Buffy.
Really like this break of series from Buffy.
January 17, 2017
I enjoyed the resolution to the Magic storyline, as well as being done with Archaeus. I'm not really sure what if anything I want out of this book anymore, so I think this might be a good spot to jump off.
March 11, 2017
The theme was spelled out so darn explicitly, and it was one that Angel has been through SO MANY TIMES. Also, he seemed to have forgotten about Angel Investigations, which really annoyed me. And magic as an entity was a concept I didn't enjoy.
September 25, 2016
Gischler continues to underwhelm.
I mean on the surface, this is a typical Buffy arc. Demon lord comes to town, makes trouble, and the protagonists deal with it. Except Archaeus looks like power ranger or something. And he's really not that interesting, despite his connection to Angel's history.
This writing is also really heavy-handed. Family, FAMILY, FAMILY!! It's ridiculous that Archaeus thinks the idea of family is a magic bullet, and it's ridiculous that no one immediately see the differences between the two "families".
This volume isn't exactly bad, but it isn't exactly interesting either. I was yawning through the final big fight ... then I was somewhat pleased to discover that Angel & Faith season 10 only runs 5 volumes, compared to 6 for Buffy.
I mean on the surface, this is a typical Buffy arc. Demon lord comes to town, makes trouble, and the protagonists deal with it. Except Archaeus looks like power ranger or something. And he's really not that interesting, despite his connection to Angel's history.
This writing is also really heavy-handed. Family, FAMILY, FAMILY!! It's ridiculous that Archaeus thinks the idea of family is a magic bullet, and it's ridiculous that no one immediately see the differences between the two "families".
This volume isn't exactly bad, but it isn't exactly interesting either. I was yawning through the final big fight ... then I was somewhat pleased to discover that Angel & Faith season 10 only runs 5 volumes, compared to 6 for Buffy.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews