Customer Reviews

Fallen Angel (Volume 2): To Serve in Hell (v. 2)

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After Peter David re-started his "Fallen Angel" series at IDW with a stellar first arc, he offers an entertaining but very uneven follow-up. This collection is made up of two two-part stories that are tied together by a common character, and a completely unrelated one-shot.

The first two-part story tells us what happened to the Fallen Angel the moment she fell. We watch as she discovers her powers and finds her first new human connection with a little girl named Ayr. I've noticed that Peter David doesn't take the time to explain or make it clear when his stories are set. He hits the ground running, and drops clues along the way that will show the attentive reader when this story happens. It becomes obvious that this is about Liandra's first few moments as a fallen angel after a while, but David's method of letting information out is fascinating.

The second two-part story takes place back in the "normal" Fallen Angel time. Ayr comes to Bete Noire to wage a holy war while the Fallen Angel is out on business. The story was very good while it lasted, but feels extremely incomplete. Finally, the book ends with a one-shot, perhaps the best single issue of Fallen Angel yet, which features the Angel's first person account of her quest to save a blind singer who had fallen in love with her. It's a tender story that still has all of the series' trademark sarcasm and darkness, and it really examines and breaks down people's (both readers and the characters) understanding of the Fallen Angel.

Individually, each story is very well told. However, they don't really gel together, and they should. As fantastic as the one-shot is, it seemed like David was setting up a confrontation between the Fallen Angel and Ayr. Why show the flashback, why show what Ayr has become, why have the Angel see her in the last moment if you're not going to pay it off? Maybe it will happen way down the line (though I've read very far past this as I write this review, and there hasn't even been a mention yet). I just expected a climax to this plot, and I didn't get it. The standalone story ended the book on a high note, but I would have liked a bit of resolution to the Ayr plot. Maybe one day.

7/10

This is the second volume of Peter David's Fallen Angel to be put out by IDW. The trade is called "To Serve In Hell", and reprints issues #6-10.