It’s not a great issue of Angelic. It’s an all right issue, but it’s kind of an action-packed bridging issue. Spurrier’s just setting things up for next time. There’s trouble brewing with the flying monkeys. The flying manatees are lying to Qora, the good flying monkey girl. There are weaponized cats, who aren’t friendly.

The action is paced quite well. Even though the issue isn’t a substantial read and Wijngaard mostly impresses just because he can keep up with the story, it’s got a good pace. You keep turning pages, expecting something significant to happen.

And it doesn’t. There are all sorts of hints at significant things, but they aren’t the same as substantial moments in the comic.

I was hoping Angelic would be smooth sailing after its bumpy start and solid second issue. It appears it’s going to be bumpy throughout though.

CREDITS

Heirs and Graces, Part Three; writer, Simon Spurrier; artist, Caspar Wijngaard; letterer, Jim Campbell; publisher, Image Comics.

Turns out all Angelic needed was some teched-out manatees to turn the book around. Young hero Qora is alone on the beach, waiting to be married off to an icky priest monkey. She just wants to keep her wings (she loses them at marriage). The manatees show up and offer her a deal–help them save their god.

Their god is a malfunctioning drone scanner robot thing; doesn’t matter.

Spurrier paces out the issue beautifully. The back and forth between the Mans (manatees) and Qora is great, with the young Monk (monkey–Spurrier doesn’t go too far off with the dialect and its eclectic nouns). And then the second half, with a Mans and Qora questing, is even better. Spurrier’s able to draw their characters out right away, all nature introduction stuff. Deft.

Lovely art from Wijngaard. He’s got a lot of concise detail, but with thick, emotive lines. Gives the book a lot of its feel for the talking heads. Manatees. Whatever.

Angelic just got a whole lot better.

CREDITS

Heirs and Graces, Part Two; writer, Simon Spurrier; artist, Caspar Wijngaard; letterer, Jim Campbell; publisher, Image Comics.

Angelic is simultaneously new and familiar. It’s post-apocalyptic, no people, just genetically altered animals. The villains are flying dolphins who hunt the winged monkeys. The winged monkeys live in a patriarchal society with a cult-like religion controlling everything. They look like Wizard of Oz winged monkeys, talk like Planet of the Apes. Well, writer Simon Spurrier gives them their own vocabulary with modified words, which they presumably learned themselves (because in being genetically modified, they learned to speak?).

The lead is a female monkey who doesn’t want to get her wings cut off, which is what happens to female monkeys when they have to become broodmares for some dude. The lead, Qora, is going to be broodmare for one of the high holies. She’s not thrilled. So she goes down to the sea shore to sulk and is attacked by a cyborg cat.

The cat’s real messed up. It appears to want pets.

And then she discovers the world is not what it seems.

Lovely art from Caspar Wijngaard. Spurrier’s writing is compelling enough; he pushes it with all the vocabulary, as the story doesn’t have enough weight to support it (yet). But Wijngaard makes up the difference.

Angelic’s all right.

CREDITS

Heirs and Graces, Part One; writer, Simon Spurrier; artist, Caspar Wijngaard; letterer, Jim Campbell; publisher, Image Comics.