The Good: Plot and character actually progress. Moments of story.
The Bad: Artwork is frequently unremarkable, Story contains too many familiar conceits, No verbal spark.
The Basics: A side-story in the Angel Aftermath saga, Gunn and Illyria journey to Texas, fight demons and learn about themselves in a poorly rendered trade paperback anthology.
There comes a time for all things to end. In truth, I thought Angel (reviewed here!) was killed before its time and so, I have been eagerly reading the virtual sixth season of the show in its graphic novel form. Sadly, with Angel: Only Human, the plot seems like it has been done before and while the last moments of the book are edgy, the book largely falls flat for serious readers of Angel. This makes it possible for readers to think that the time has truly come to put a stake in the series.
In the book series so far, Los Angeles was sucked into Hell following the climactic battle that concluded the television series Angel. With the resolution to that storyline, Gunn and Illyria find themselves each in dark places and in one another's company. This provides the setup for Angel: Only Human, which is now anthologized by IDW Publishing and is a fairly mediocre trade paperback anthology. In fact, it is so unimpressive that this becomes the first Angel season six anthology to not be presented in hardcover first. This anthology contains all five issues of Angel: Only Human along with one of the least inspired cover and artwork galleries to date.
While hanging around, Gunn and Illyria receive a call on Fred's answering machine from Fred's mother and father. Without further conversation, they hop in Gunn's truck and head for Texas for a family funeral. Illyria claims this is to better understand humans so she might be better at blending in and the like. Gunn accompanies her to smooth things over with Fred's family and to prevent and deaths from Illyria. However, upon arriving at the Burkle's, Gunn and Illyria discover a group of demons who are being slaughtered by a militant group of evil demons called the Scourge.
Confronting the Nazi-like Scourge, Gunn and Illyria are alarmed to discover that their slaughter of the other demons is being used to summon another Old One, like Illyria. Baticus, it appears, was once tormented as Illyria's pet and it now arrives on our plane of existence with many of Illyria's powers thanks to the Scourge's use of the same device which was used to incapacitate Illyria in Hell. While Illyria does battle with Baticus, Gunn must save the lesser demons from the Scourge to prevent Baticus from becoming a permanent fixture on Earth!
Angel: Only Human is a story that is something of a necessary evil. Readers want to know what happened to Gunn and Illyria after Los Angeles was rescued from Hell and how the experience changed and shaped them. In that way, Only Human succeeds. The story fills in the blanks nicely and gives both Illyria and Gunn some moments when they truly grow. Gunn has flashbacks to the first encounters he had with vampires and how he was trained by his grandmother to be a slayer. Illyria wrestles with meeting people from Fred's past and works to disguise her nature – though not her physical alterations of Fred's body – better. But while Illyria actually seems to move in an actual direction, Gunn finally recovers from his experiences by returning to his more absolute self. This, unfortunately, is a place he grew out of by the middle of the second season and it seems odd that after all he went through in the After The Fall storyline, he would revert so extremely in this volume.
As for the story, what is most noticeably lacking in Angel: Only Human is the verbal spark which made Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel unique. Instead, this book reads like any of a hundred different fantasy-horror stories and the lack of spark drags the story down and makes the reader feel cheated by the experience. If we wanted average supernatural story, there are plenty of other places to get the fix. But fans of Angel tend to want more. It is only in the last moments, as a result of the reverted Gunn that the book surprises the reader at all. It is too long to go without the pitter patter of good banter and a real flair for language.
Sadly, much of the book is wasted in reversals which are not surprising and giant battle scenes where Illyria battled Baticus in her human body (Fred's). The battle scenes might be fine, save that the artwork in Only Human is downright terrible. While Scott Lobdell's script might have lacked zest or spark or anything truly remarkable to differentiate it, the artwork of David Messina does not render it well at all. For starters, the big battles have a very static sense to them. There is not a strong sense of movement, so panel to panel the book reads like snapshots and erratic ones like that. While great comic art might contain no movement in a panel, panel to panel there is often a sense of flow and an obvious sense of physics to it. Sadly, that is lacking in Only Human.
In fact, Messina cheaps out with far too many of his drawings in this book. Gunn is recognizable as Gunn solely because he is the only black person on the page in many scenes. This is especially problematic during the flashback sequences when Grandma looks more like Gunn than young Gunn does! As well, the shape, nature and even any frightening aspect of Baticus is lost on the reader as it is rendered as just another giant demonform which is shown in smaller parts (i.e. piercing Illyria) when its scope cannot make for a good panel. Just as Gunn is frequently more a “Gunn type,” Illyria is rendered more frequently as the only woman (or only person in red) on the page and as a result is an unimpressive version of the Old One.
The art is no better in the cover and sketch gallery section. In fact, some of the “process sketches” look terrible from the beginning making the reader wonder why the comic company thought they might look good on the full spread.
The result is a trade paperback anthology that is more likely to disappoint than impress Angel fans. The book has its moments, but more often than not, it is lackluster and poorly rendered. Angel fans deserve better.
For other Angel graphic novels leading up to and through Season Six, please visit my reviews of:
Smile Time
Not Fade Away
After The Fall Volume 1
After The Fall Volume 2 First Night
Spike: After The Fall
After The Fall Volume 3
Angel After The Fall Volume 4
Angel: Aftermath
4.5/10
For other book reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!
© 2011, 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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