Summary: Volume 3 picks up where Volume 2 left off - the whole gang helping Angel battle the demon lords of L.A. After they extricate themselves from that situation, and hell freezes over (literally, in this case), most of the rest of the book is spent with Angel tracking down Gunn, and then the two of them working through their issues... although not necessarily in the most productive way. Meanwhile, everyone learns a little bit more about what's really behind their trip to hell. The hardcover rounds out with Betta George's "on-set diary", and a series of fan Q&As with Brian Lynch.

Review: I don't know about this one. It may be me - I was pretty tired when I read this - but something about this just didn't work out. It felt like none of the pieces fit together... the panels didn't flow into each other, the dialogue didn't scan, and the explanations didn't quite make sense... like all of the words were in English, but they weren't put together in a way that meant anything. It was disconcerting reading something that typically relies so heavily on the familiar patterns of speech built up by the characters and have it be so disconnected and foreign-sounding. There were some nice surprises, and a few good WTF moments, but since the bulk of the story focused on two of my least-favorite characters, combined with the comprehensibility problems, led this issue to be a bit of a let-down for me overall. 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Meh. People who still find Gunn interesting will probably be of a different opinion, but I could take or leave this one. ( )

i wanted to like this one more than i actually did, especially because there's a lovely reunion between Angel and Cordy that reads so right. but something really went wrong with the artwork. possibly rather suddenly, given that the usual artist, Franco Urru, is listed on the front cover, but not on the spine or interior. the panels that seem finished look pretty good, but a lot of the faces clearly remain unfinished, the likenesses all too often just aren't, the shading is often so excessive it obscures expression, and i had to continually turn back to previous pages to find out who was wearing what, in order to identify speakers. it was like they rushed it into print before they finished it, and frankly, i'd rather have waited till they were done. ( )

The third volume of the continuing series. This one picks up right where Volume One left off.

And is it good? Do you want to rush out and get your grubby little hands on it? Hell, yeah. FIRST NIGHT was a bit of a tangent, but we're back to the story at hand. There are shocking revelations! Poignant moments! Witty banter! Scenes that are gonna make you whisper profanities in tones of reverent awe! It's classic Angel.

On the downside, I did have a little trouble with the pacing. I didn't feel like the story flowed as smoothly as it could've, and some of the paneling didn't quite work for me. I'm still not sure whether this was Lynch and Urru's fault or mine. I read this as part of a 24-hour Read-A-Thon, and I wasn't entirely coherent by the time A:ATF3 got to the top of the pile. I've since reread a few of the parts that really tripped me up, but I'm not sure if they made more sense because I was less out of it or because I already knew what was supposed to happen. Hmm.

All in all, though, this was pretty awesome. I'm eager to get my hands on the next volume; I can't wait to see how Lynch, Whedon and Urru wrap up this first leg of Angel's latest adventure.

(A slightly different version of this review originally appeared on my blog, Stella Matutina). ( )