The storylines of the Angel and Buffy comics appear to be ready to intersect, and I’m anticipating the match-up! But first, we have to deal with Angel and Fred and their journey together.
Note: This recap may contain spoilers!
We start off the issue with Angel dreaming of himself attacking innocents. Now that we’re clued in from the Buffy comic, we understand why he’s having those dreams. I like the through line there, and the potential of what it might mean when he and Spike meet up again. He’s got plenty of stress, as does Fred, so they’re both owed a nice vacation away to disconnect from the world for a while and just enjoy the sights around them. Though, it does take some convincing on Fred’s part to make Angel see reason in this request.
Their journey takes them to Galway, Ireland, which has the direct connection to Angel. Well, it’s a bit of a dark connection considering he was responsible for the massacre of 1753. The town still notes this historical event through a walking tour, and Fred’s interested in taking part. Seems kind of morbid, but history fun is Fred’s thing. She goes to check it out while Angel’s left behind in their room to try and figure out the dreams that he’s been having. Who knew that Fred’s little trip would play such a big part in their vacation-turned-case?
While Fred’s out on her adventure, Angel starts poking around the hotel and finds that the hotel’s bellhops have been hidden inside a room, where they are being held prisoner and forced to perform their duties under duress. Meanwhile, the tour guide of Fred’s group puts some sort of spell on them all, and only Fred is unaffected. This is key in discovering that she is something much more powerful than a regular human, and will catch their interest.
So, with the tour guide and the hotel owner in cahoots, there’s a mystery to be solved. What are they doing with the bellhops? And what are they doing to the tour groups? Angel and Fred theorize that it has to do with fear. They are witches, creating fear in both the bellhops and the tour groups, and then gathering it up to feed on. So, with this in mind, they go searching for the witches. There’s a brief fight with the bellhops, but eventually they get to the witches behind it all.
Too bad the witches thought they had the upperhand when it came to Fred, though. Illyria briefly comes out, proving that Fred doesn’t have complete control over the situation. Despite that, Fred and Angel win their fight, so that’s a matter for another day. As we end the issue, we have Fred left behind to deal with both her dual personality and to research the deaths Angel has been dreaming about. Angel is headed to San Francisco to deal with Archaeus, teaming up with Spike and the rest of the gang. This is going to be… interesting.
Rating: 3 / 5 Stars
