The only critique I’d have of Angel & Spike #14 besides beautiful, but ill-fitting art comes down to BOOM! Studios core premise rather than Thompson’s script. Angel & Buffy aren’t stories that benefit from a reboot because they’re evergreen… and also not very old. This kind of story could have been told beautifully within the confines of the established characters, almost beat-for-beat as is.

A violent creature is tearing the homeless of LA apart and its up to Angel Investigations to stop the threat. With the help of Kate Lockley it isn’t long before Angel has picked up the creature’s trail. Thompson uses a ‘creature of the week’ formula to ease the reader back into the story after last month’s one shot. The premise of the narrative is not the violent attacks but how each member of the cast reacts to them. This approach allows Thompson to illustrate his understanding of the central characters and the driving forces behind their personalities.