#1 - Surrogates Chapter 1

Written by Christopher Golden - Pencilled by Christian Zanier - First released on November 10, 1999
Synopsis - Creature Feature - Cool Quotes - References - Continuity - Goofs - Trivia - The Morgue - Cast - Points Of View

Synopsis

The Short: What is it with this Angel guy? Not only has the moody, square-jawed vampire got his own television show, but now he's getting the monthly comic-book treatment, courtesy of Christopher Golden (Buffy the Vampire Slayer:Angel), Christian Zanier (Buffy #12), and Andy Owens (Buffy #12). Having fled Sunnydale, and all the difficult emotional circumstances that go along with it, Angel has set up shop as a paranormal investigator in Los Angeles. With the help of Sunnydale's favorite prom queen, Cordelia Chase, and demon-spawn wiseacre Doyle, Angel has his work cut out for him! Get on the bandwagon now, so that you can say you were buying this dynamite book from the start!

The Long: Unfinished.

Creature Feature

Lloyd, Sherak and their two friends are referred to as shapeshifter demons. They are small humanoids who can merge into a variety of larger forms. They seem to have a taste for human flesh.

Cool Quotes

Unfinished.

References

Lloyd: ''... you're not exactly Mother Theresa, are you?''
Mother Theresa (1910-1997), whose original name was Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, was born on August 27, 1910 in what is now Skopje, Macedonia. For her work with the poor around the world she received the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize.

Cliff's Notes

Cordelia: ''Hello? Cliff's Notes version?''
Cliff's Notes are a famous set of literature and test preparation guides. They are often used by students to avoid reading long and hard to follow literature and still pass tests based on them. They have a web site at http://www.cliffsnotes.com/. Also referenced by Buffy in What's My Line Part 1 and Xander in Beauty And The Beasts.
Doyle: ''Look at you, Nancy Drew.''
Nancy Drew is the title character is a series of girl detective novels first published in 1930 written by Mildred Wirt Benson. Also referenced by Faith in Choices.
Cordelia: ''Have you ever once solved Wheel of Fortune before the contestants?''
Wheel Of Fortune is a television game show, where contestants guess letters in mystery words and phrases. They win prizes based on results of spinning a wheel and guessing correctly to solve the mystery. Hosted by Pat Sajak and with Vanna White as the letter turner.

Continuity

The story is set some time in season 1. The fact that they have business cards already means that it happens after Lonely Hearts, where Cordelia had the cards made up. The fact that Doyle is alive means it must happen before Hero. If I had to guess I'd say it was probably right after Lonely Hearts, since the whole team seem rather new to their job.
Cordelia's little history of Angel includes:
Becoming Part 1 - Angel meets Darla in an alley in 1757 Galway, Ireland. She turns him into a vampire.
Five by Five - Angel feeds on a gypsy girl in 1898 Borsa, Romania.
Becoming Part 1 - Angel is cursed by gypsies for killing the girl in 1898 Borsa, Romania. Angel is found by Whistler in 1996 New York and taken to L.A. where he first saw Buffy.
Becoming Part 2 - Buffy closes the portal to hell by impaling Angel with a sword in 1998 Sunnydale.
Lover's Walk - Angel talks to Buffy about why he is back in the snow in 1998 Sunnydale.

Goofs

Unfinished.

Trivia

When we see Angel's business card, the number phone number is the same as we saw in Lonely Hearts, but this time we can see the area code. The full number is (213) 555-0162.
New names for Angel: A Big Boy (by Doyle). Although Cordelia called him Mystery Guy, he was called this before by Xander in Teacher's Pet.
New name for Doyle: A Bright Boy (by Cordelia).
New name for Cordelia: Nancy Drew (by Doyle).

The Morgue

Lloyd the shapeshifter demon: In an alley, blown up by Angel.
Sherak the shapeshifter demon: In an alley, blown up by Angel.
Anonymous shapeshifter demon: In an alley, blown up by Angel.
Anonymous shapeshifter demon: In an alley, blown up by Angel.

Note: Although we don't see the death of Rita Carlson, they do show her body.

Cast

Starring:
Angel - Cordelia Chase - Allan Francis Doyle

Guest Starring:
Rita Carlson - Peter Carlson

Co-Starring:
Llyod - Sherak - Doctor Lavinia Feehan

Points Of View

Mathew:

I liked the retelling for Angel's history done by Cordelia. The demons were nice, if a little vague. Lots of useful banter, although maybe a little too much. I liked how a lot of the flashbacks are to the television series and not the Buffy comic.

Page by Webmaster Mathew - July, 2002

Special thanks to The Complete Buffy Episode Guide for inspiration and technical help, as well as Buffy episode links and all the readers of the Watcher's Diary for their feedback in making this page what it is.

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