This is hard to review for me and was a 2.5 read but I rounded up mostly because a lot of my disappointment was in the idea of the reboot itself. I've been around the comic book world for fifty years now so I know the reboots are inevitable and often I'm left cold by them. This one almost made it.

I have a hard cover 20th anniversary volume from the library which is killing me because how is it so long already? And worse I'm pretty sure I have all these in individual comics around my place but never finished them because I just wasn't sure i liked the idea behind this reboot. Angel isn't pulled out of his angst and sent on his redemption arc by Buffy in this which I'm oddly okay with. We meet him already trying to redeem himself on his own.

What I didn't care for was there seems to be no Darla and she was important obviously. This Angel in the past seems to be almost poetic and very un-Angelus like. We do get several flash backs which have nothing to do with anything in this volume. They'll probably crop up later.

This Angel has friends. He's buddies with Lilith, yes that Lilith, Adam's first wife turned monster (though in this she seems to have existed before the world). Lilith is trying to guide him to his destiny which does include Fred, Gunn and Buffy. First up is Fred, insane but the key to stopping this arc's baddie: an internet demon.

There are things they're trying to say about GenZ and the Millennials with their social media obsessions and distorted self-image. But it's far too rushed. There could have been so much more they could have done with this before Angel stops it. And he stops it way too easily because this Angel uses magic... (I always did wonder why vampires never did use it. They have all the time in the world to get good at it).

The art is decent but there is something about this that just didn't click for me (that much I remembered from my original reading as I had all the Buffyverse titles removed from my pull list far later than I should have)

An interesting reboot for Angel’s character. I love the idea that he worked with a previous slayer and that his redemptive arc isn’t hinging on his interest in Buffy. I also love him pulling the AI crew together earlier on with Fred and Gunn. Lilith is an intriguing figure and I wonder what her true role here is, as well as whatever happened to Mara.

I don’t love this style of art, most of the characters aren’t distinctive enough. Mara looks like Buffy, and when Lilith first showed up, I thought it was just Fee-Fee the witch again. But the writing is solid.

This was so much better than the revamped Buffy. It told a new story through preloved characters while still connecting with the original atmosphere, mood and tone from the show.

really excited to see where the rest of this series goes! he’s as broody as ever, but i’m a big fan of the storyline and art so far

Five stars is a bit generous but when you love the Buffyverse as much as me, any new content feels like a total luxury. What a joy to have this wacky reboot that feels so true to the original and yet takes the plot in aggressively new directions.

The good: angsty Angel, a fun new character who guides Angel named Lilith, Fred (as a future witch?!), set up for them linking up with Gunn (!) and allusions to future relationships with Wesley and Buffy

The bad: a social media plot that felt reminiscent of I Robot, You Jane. Lord help me.

The neither here nor there: It’s very interesting to see/contemplate a redeemed heroic version of Angel whose story doesn’t begin with Buffy. (Since in the show he was like... chillin’ in sewers eating rats until he started working with her).

In short, I feel the same way about this as I do about the companion Buffy reboot. This is a lot of fun, the writers clearly love the characters, and I’m excited to see where it goes.

But like. No more

I am so glad I liked this!! It's impossible not to compare this to its partner in the Buffyverse. I'm not liking that series. Not even a little. I find it incredibly boring. Angel, however, I find interesting. I cannot express how relieved this makes me because I love the Buffyverse and I was so excited for these new reboot comics. I wanted to give this 4 stars, but dropped it down to 3 because I think part of that want was just me expressing how much better than Buffy I find this. Into the review.

From issue #0, I felt like I had a grasp on who Angel was. And my understanding of him pushed the story forward and also grew as the story moved forward. Unlike the Buffy series where I felt like I was expected to already know these characters from the TV show. This volume felt like it's own story whereas Buffy felt like a modern day AU of the original show. (Alright, I'll try and cut back on the comparisons now.) I appreciated the addition of new characters. It made the story fresh for me instead of just a wait-and-see of which TV character would make a cameo appearance next. I really loved Angel's and Helen's dynamic and was excited to see where that went. More on that later. Lilith makes a great addition as well. She gives Angel roots and a past. They have history and a shared goal to "fight darkness." Angel has already been at this game for a long time. He's not some washed up vampire torturing himself with a bad haircut and no goals until someone points him at Buffy and convinces him to clean up his act. I like that. Even the flashbacks weren't just an ode to glory days with Darla, Spike, and Drusilla (though I'm happy for that eventual tie-in, even if I'm unhappy with the latter two's incarnations in the sister comic), Angel was raising hell all on his own, at least as far as we are made aware.

Now I'm getting tired of writing this review, so I'll be brief on my dislikes. First and foremost, the death of Helen. So much potential there!!! Angel had a mentee, a partner. Someone he trusted and cared for and worked with. Then she gets her head eaten in the most anticlimactic way possible. I know it was issue #0 and it was just set up and prologue and I didn't need to read it, but I did read it damnit and I cared for that relationship! I cared for Helen, but her death was too early for me to have formed a connection to make it properly painful and to move the story forward in a satisfying way. She should have stuck around. If they wanted her dead so they could bring back just the core of the OG Angel Investigations, they should have had her die at the end of this volume. That would've given her and her relationship with Angel enough time. I still would've been mad, but I'd also be sad and it would give the arc as a whole more weight as Angel is forced to reckon with his impending new group dynamic.

The envy demon was also lame. I'm not one to mind a lame bad guy, especially so early in the game, but why did he know or care about Angel's future friend group and love interest? That doesn't seem like his area of expertise and it brought a sense of importance and destiny to the story I'm not personally fond of. There doesn't need to be some great, higher meaning to the formation of what will be (or used to be called) Angel Investigations. Personally, I think there's something special in people coming just because they happen to come together. I don't like the idea of it all being planned out and important. At least the way Lilith explained it, for her it was just that she can see past, present, and future all muddled together at the same. Instagram Demon Guy made it all fanciful and portentous. Boo, Instagram Demon Guy!!

Finally, it was a little cheesy. I'm okay with that. Some standouts were Angel telling Helen it was good of her to use her anger and then the NEXT PAGE saying anger is just fear and fear is what "they" feed on. So... Not good to use anger? The last cheesy bit was when Angel banished Instagram Demon Guy. Anybody else read the Cardcaptor Sakura books? Anyone else get some major "return to your true form, Clow Card" vibes? Especially with that pattern in the background? Just me? Okay. No biggie.

In the end, I am absolutely gonna keep reading and it might get me to continue Buffy so I'm caught up for the crossover.

I am loving being back in the Buffy/Angel-verse. It's great to see some faves in this volume and can't wait to see who else they bring in later.

Bastante bueno, aunque aún le queda para alcanzar al reinicio de Buffy, en mi opinión.

Primero de todo, tengo que decir que la historia que transcurre en el presente me ha recordado muchísimo a Yo, Robot, tú Jane, el octavo episodio de la serie de Buffy, pero modernizada gracias a la aparición de las redes sociales. Me ha gustado bastante, aunque el demonio protagonista no sea ni de lejos uno de los mejores villanos que pueda haber.

Otra cosa que me ha gustado ha sido ver a Fred y a Gunn tan pronto. Estoy deseando ver cómo desarrollan los personajes en este nuevo comienzo. Ojalá vuelvan otros también, como Doyle o Lorne. Además hay algunos nuevos como Lilith, que creo (y espero) que puede llegar a ser muy interesante.

En cuanto al dibujo, Glen Melnikov hace un trabajo bastante decente. No está al nivel de Dan Mora pero cumple muy bien, sobre todo dándole un tono más oscuro y gore con respecto al reinicio de Buffy, algo que a Ángel le pega mucho (y ya ocurría en la serie).

En definitiva, un reinicio que, aunque no está a la altura del de Buffy, promete mucho en futuros volúmenes.

Technology and vanity are lovers. Intertwined.