Following the “Spotlight” series, IDW’s “Angel” comics line unveiled more stories focused on individual characters in the loosely Halloween-themed “Masks” (October 2006). The double-length one-shot includes stories about Puppet Angel, Illyria, Cordelia and Lindsey McDonald, all themed around the figurative masks people wear.
The highlight is the Cordelia story “Foreshadowing.” I hadn’t recalled if Christopher Golden – a prolific writer with Dark Horse and Pocket Books – had done any IDW work, so I was happy to see he had. In a clever twist, Cordelia sees a vision of herself attacking a young girl. But the highlight is the artwork by Steph Stamb. Though occasionally leaning a bit too much on publicity stills of Charisma Carpenter, Stamb wonderfully captures the sewer-tunnel setting with his paints.
The second-best yarn is “Unacceptable Losses,” which features Illyria but is actually a Wesley profile. With art by IDW mainstay David Messina, it’s written by Scott Tipton, who also penned the “Wesley” “Spotlight” issue. Angel and Spike worry that Wesley doesn’t distinguish between Illyria and Fred, but in a poignant final note, we realize he does: “Every night I go to bed and close my eyes and face another day without her. And then when I get up and come back here, there she is.”
Jeff Mariotte’s “Mystery Date,” with respectable art by Stephen Mooney, is a weird but fun one, as it takes place in the wake of “Smile Time” (5.14), before Puppet Angel has returned to normal. Nina and Puppet Angel go on a date, and a shapeshifter tries to pass as Angel. As with “Smile Time” itself, I entered the story thinking I’m not really into the whole Puppet Angel thing, but ended up getting some smiles out of it.
“Pencils & Paperclips,” written by James Patrick with art by Sean Murphy, is perhaps the most essential story in the batch, as it shows the first meeting between Lindsey and Eve, before we learn they are shacking up in Season 5. But it’s nonetheless the weakest story in “Masks.” Using an alias, the former Wolfram & Hart lawyer is working at an office-supply company. Or is he? His co-workers morph into demons in his mind, so it’s hard to tell what’s real, even after the story ends. Murphy’s off-point likenesses of Lindsey and Eve also hurt the yarn, although I do appreciate that these side characters get a moment in the spotlight.
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