Review: Angel and Spike #11
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Creator:Â Joss Whedon
Writer:Â Bryan Edward Hill
Artist:Â Gleb Melnikov
Colorist:Â Roman Titov
Letterer:Â Ed Dukeshire
Reviewer:Â Tony Farina
Summary
With a rogue demon on the loose, Team Spike is running out of time to save the life of an innocent boy-but Wolfram & Hart claim to have the solution. With real demons in the equation, is a deal with the devil worth it?
Positives
Where to begin heaping praise on Angel and Spike #11? Hmmm. Let’s begin with the art team of Gleb Melnikov and Roman Titov shall we? This book is dark. I mean, the subject matter is dark, but so is the art. It needs to be. It would be easy for Melnikov and Titov to just hide everything in a shadow and call it good. They decide to let the shadows gnaw at the subject of each panel and make the reader feel them closing in. It is just beautiful.
Then, when the action takes place during the day, they don’t mess around. There are two panels on the page below and yet, you can’t look away. So much is packed into those two panels that you have no choice but to spend time lingering and pondering what will come next.
Reading a comic written by Bryan Edward Hill is always time well spent. He knows when to write dialogue. He knows when to tease us with something to come. He knows when to leave his art team alone. He just knows things. He knows how to get his hooks into us. What I love best about Angel and Spike #11 is the way he kept Spike out of most of the issue and then, when he shows up with a book that has the answers, Spike just says, “Don’t ask” not only to Angel, but to us as well. He knew we wanted to know, but he tells us we can’t know. Not now anyway. It is just so good.
Negatives
Nothing to see here. If you dislike well written scripts with A plus level art, coloring and lettering, then this book is not for you.
Verdict
Angel and Spike #11 has teeth (see what I did there). I recently interviewed artist Gleb Melnikov and he said it perfectly: “Angel and Spike is a slow burn.” I am constantly on edge and yet, it doesn’t’ seem like anything is happening. The storytelling is tight. The art is excellent. The pacing is perfect. I just hate having to wait a month between issues. I am so excited to see what happens next.
