Angel & Faith #22 & 23, by Christos Gage (writer), Rebekah Isaacs (artist), Dan Jackson (colorist), Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt (letterers) - Those are some disturbing looking people at the bottom of that cover. Good work, Whistler! Certainly doing a bang-up job saving the world.Giles is alive! And 12 years old! His aunt's - feeling guilty about their role in his becoming a Watcher - wanted him to have a chance to start over at 10. Giles was able to exert just enough control to be a little older. He still has all his memories, even of his time stuck in Angel's body. I'd suggest he seek therapy for that alone, but he's British, and they repress, don't they. Stiff upper lip and all.
Giles is not happy that they've been focused on bringing him back, rather than stopping Whistler. He's also not happy that he can't drink or smoke, can't reach the top shelves, has two aunts treating him like a dress-up doll, can't control his body when in close proximity to Faith, and of course, isn't happy he has to be around Angel. Well who is? All that aside, they set to planning, because Whistler about to release his magic cloud seeding. Nadira tails them to the fight, and promptly gets herself killed because she fought like an angry idiot. Faith and Angel avoid death, but can't stop Whistler. Fortunately, Giles does make Nash drop the magic sphere, but it breaks and doses the people on the street below. Who promptly start mutating in horrible ways, as seen on that cover up there.
I thought the gag about Giles having the standard (hetero) teenage boy response to Faith was pretty funny, though a part of me says I shouldn't. But it's not like he's doing it intentionally, he's as embarrassed about it as she is, and it really is funny to see this intellectually middle-aged man dumped in a body barely into adolescence, and struggle to deal with it. I would actually like to see Buffy's reaction to this (I already know Spike's would be to fall over laughing). As for the fight, it's a somewhat tense affair. Angel's outclassed, Nadira's fighting wild, Faith's too busy worrying about Nadira. I do hope Faith isn't going to mope and brood about this. Or go on a destructive rampage of revenge, for that matter. Just stab Nash in the face about 5 times and call it good. I'm not clear on how Pearl and Nash intend to spread the effect across the globe. Unless Whistler was going to do the same spell multiple times in different locations. I had thought one was enough, but maybe not.
Isaacs gives Kid Giles such great body language. All flailing arms and shouting. the way he clutches at his head, we can see why his hairline was receding (though it's a miracle he hadn't torn it all out from years of dealing with Buffy). The page where he's standing on tiptoe on a chair to look through his books, wearing what I presume are some of Faith's clothes (the Red Sox shirt has to be hers). There are certain mannerisms that resemble older Giles, the frequent exasperated looks, to be sure, but shrunk down, exaggerated somehow. When he discusses why he's 12 with Alasdir, the eye rolling feels typical for Giles, but the addition of the thrown up hands in more like a kid, demonstrative, not reserved like he'd be as an older guy.
So yes, very curious to see how things with New Adventures of New Young Giles play out.
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