Dark Horse; $18.99

In Angel & Faith Season 10 Volume 2, Faith was working for Kennedy and Deepscan in Suriname, South America where Riley Finn had gone missing. Faith and Riley’s wife Samantha found him held captive by vampires. They battled the vampires and saved Riley’s life, giving Faith the long overdue chance to apologize for deceiving Riley years ago at UC Sunnydale.

Meanwhile in Magic Town Angel was confronted by Amy the Rat who wanted nothing more than to use magic to return her dead boyfriend Warren to the living. Overpowered by Amy, Angel turned to Magic Town residents for help and found it in the form of Nadira, the former slayer who was mutated into a magical seer when magic was unleashed in season nine.

Angel & Faith Season 10 Volume 3: United picks up with the shocker on the last page of the previous trade: Fred is back. A shocked Angel comes face to face with his friend who had died at Wolfram & Hart when a powerful Old One called Illyria filled Fred’s body, killing the young woman. Angel learns that when the new seed of magic ignited it reset some things and Fred may be one of them. But, that doesn’t mean that Illyria isn’t inside of Fred trying to force her way back out.

Faith has returned to Magic Town to work for a clinic that combines magic and science to help those mutated by magic when Angel and Faith resurrected Giles. Her first day leads her to meeting with Inspector Brandt, a cop working the Magic Town beat, who is also trying to help the clinic. She learns that Nadira is still alive, which reunites her with Angel.

Their meeting is short-lived when former frenemy Eldre Koh turns up. The demon is on a quest for vengeance, looking for his lost friend Illyria. After learning more about Koh’s mission, the duo must face the strange circumstances that have brought their old ally’s return.

“United” was written by Victor Gischler with art by Will Conrad and Cliff Richards. “Fight or Flight” was written by Kel McDonald with art by Conrad. Colors were provided by Michelle Madsen and covers and chapter breaks by Scott Fischer.

Having Angel and Faith back together has been highly anticipated for the team book. They work well together, understanding each other’s dark sides and never ending quest for retribution. The addition of so many magically altered people separates the story from early Angel incarnations, which were more firmly rooted in our world. However, many in these new stories were human, making them much more complicated than just good or bad demons. This volume tells another complicated story in the Buffy mythos, blurring the lines between good and evil, right and wrong. It’s a must read for any Joss Whedon fan.

–Amanda Sheriff