Angel & Faith Vol. 5: What You Want, Not What You Need TPB

Released by: Dark Horse Comics
Released on: February 19, 2014

Finishing out the “9th Season” of the storyline in the Buffy-verse this TPB collects issues #21-25. The story has Angel set on resurrecting the recently-departed watcher Giles. But all magic has recently gone out of the world and, thus, makes this a much more difficult task. He's enlisted the slayer Faith's help but she's apparently lost quite a bit getting to this point. Add to that the fact that the “Big Bads” have stolen all remaining magical items in the world in order to usher in an apocalypse, and the stage is set for one big ol' showdown.

Whistler and the brother-sister team of Nash and Pearl are the Big Bads and the objects of interest for Angel and Faith. However, Angel's so distraught over Giles getting killed he wants to risk everything to try and bring him back to life, even in a world without magic. They go to Alasdair, an old friend of Giles and a collector of occult items. He's using a cloak for his magic items so he still has some that might be usable in this ceremony. Spike is with them initially but, upon hearing that Dawn's in trouble, he takes off, leaving Angel and Faith to deal with this on their own. They, in turn, bring in Giles' aunts, Lavinia and Sophronia who used to care for him.

Everyone has misgivings about this but they also all want Giles back badly enough to proceed. However, once they start, the emanation of the magic spell draws the Big Bads to them. Pearl and Nash take on Angel and Faith while Whistler ransacks the place. But despite the attack the spell is successful and Giles gets resurrected. The only problem is that, because the aunts imagined him as a young man - before they ruined his life - and so he comes back in his 10-year old body.

Giles is understandably frustrated as well as comedically aroused by Faith slinking around. But he's soon on to the task at hand as his mind/soul are still the adult version of him. And, apparently, his soul had been trapped inside Angel's body, giving him access to that host's whole life. Now, Giles sees himself in a new light and he's not entirely certain he really belongs in this world anymore. Yet, being Giles, he's all about getting a haphazard plan in place. And their plan here is to stop the Big Bads from unleashing basically Hell on earth. The team finds them located in Hackney and so, with arms and spells, the small band sets off to stop the apocalypse.

Angel and Faith confront the Big Bads on a rooftop, giving them ample time to monologue back and forth, mostly about the morality of Whistler's plan. He's trying to distill magic into its purest form, to get it back into this world and not let it explode and destroy the entire country in one shot. But, as Angel soon reminds him, his plan is going to wipe out one-third of the planet's population. So Whistler reveals his full demon form and the two of them begin their boss battle.

A new, surviving slayer named Nadira shows up to lend help. But she's too hasty, too full of hate and had been Faith's charge so she's more of a distraction. They end up fighting Pearl and Nash but it's clear Nadira's out of her league with them and is soon out of the picture. Meanwhile, Giles, Alasdair, Lavinia and Sophronia are making their way to the fight. They get the others some help, with Giles and Alasdair able to hit Nash with a fireball and cause him to drop the magic orb at the center of Whistler's plan.

As it falls to the ground, it release some of its magic on the civilian bystanders watching all this take place. They immediately begin to morph into horrible magical beings, half-human and half beast, or have some random magical powers assigned to them. The Big Bads are pleased with this but know that the orb is growing in power and, for their plan to succeed, they have to get it into the upper stratosphere. Fortunately for them, Pearl and Nash can fly. Unfortunately, the orb is down among the body-shifting mass of people.

This development allows the rest of the team - protected by some old rune stones - to search out the orb. The aunts soon know they probably won't find it and, instead, set about helping the suffering humanity around them with kind words of strength and comfort, calming everything down just as they apparently had to do during The Blitz. Faith finds the orb but at the same time as Nash and Pearl and so their fighting resumes - giving enough distraction for Giles and Alasdair to make off with it instead. But just as they're figuring out who gets to take the power of the orb out with themselves Nash shows up and runs away skyward with it.

The battle seems lost as he heads up with the orb but, at the last minute, the severely-wounded but-still-fighting Nadira manages to jam a dagger into his back, giving Faith the opportunity to pound it home and finally kill him. Pearl goes spiraling off, leaving just the team to do something with the orb. But demon-Whistler still has plans for it so he and Angel fight and argue more about it. And, being Angel, he's eventually able to offer up the good parts of humanity and what's wrong with Whistler's plan enough to get him to stop. Unfortunately for Whistler, that involves absorbing all the orb's expanding energy, killing him almost instantly but saving the rest of the world.

In the wrapping up of the story, order has been restored and the injured are getting treated. The team worry about whatever happened to Pearl, too, betting she'll be back. The aunts are being hailed as heroes as well. Nadira is in ICU but somehow still alive. Yet she's an example of the cost to Faith of what she's sacrificed and given up on in life. She gets an opportunity to train other slayers and decides to take it, leaving Angel behind, knowing it's for the best. Giles decides to accompany her as well, to get back with Buffy and do his best there with her. That leaves Angel, back to “helping the helpless” yet again.

This TPB also includes a cover gallery and sketchbook for this series. And it seems a fitting end to this series by writer Christos Gage and artist Rebekah Isaacs. The scale is just as big as any other in the Buffy/Angel universe and the well-informed characters are consistent with their existing selves but also gain new developments and move forward, too. If you're a fan of anything in this particular world then this series is definitely for you.