Blood & Trenches: A Review

What's black and white, and RED all over?

No, not a newspaper! (check the spelling, people) It's Angel: Blood & Trenches!

Blood & Trenches is a four issue comic series written/drawn by John Byrne, and tells the story of Angel's time in Europe during WWI.  The story begins with our hero learning of terrible monsters ravaging troops in Europe.  Angel travels to France to try and uncover what's really going on.  What follows is a non-stop, action packed, black/white romp across northern Europe.  Vampires are feeding on soldiers, but not just feeding, they're siring them, seemingly recruiting them for some bigger, broader plan.  Angel is determined to uncover the plan, and along the way, meets up with a few familiar faces.

What to look for in Angel: Blood & Trenches: 

While reading Blood & Trenches, be on the lookout for certain canonical features.  I won't give any specific details away, but I will say that there are lots of great references to previous Angel encounters (or in this case, future encounters).  Angel awkwardly teams up with a semi-familiar figure, Colonel Geoffrey Wyndam-Price.  That's right; Wesley's granddad (and not a robot this time).  We also have the pleasure (or not-pleasure, rather) of being reintroduced to another Buffy/Angel crossover character, Kakistos.  Kakistos did a stint on Buffy, and then was featured again in the Xbox game, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds.  Kakistos proves to be just as formidable a foe for Angel.

What makes Blood & Trenches so great?

I especially like the aesthetics of this series.  The entire spread is colorless, except for a super-vibrant red-orange used to color blood.  Think of it as a violent coloring book with words and way better pictures.  Also, it's really good to read something about Angel from before he loved and lost the Buffster.  Don't get me wrong, I love Angel & Buffy just as much as the next fan, but all that regret gets kinda annoying, y'know?

So, after all is said and done, Angel: Blood & Trenches makes for a great read.  I think it's definitely one of the better IDW Angel-centered series out there (aside from After the Fall, of course).  Check it out if you haven't already.  It's well worth your while.

And be on the lookout for a hardcover collection of Blood & Trenches, coming soon.