#5 - Earthly Possessions Chapter 1

Written by Christopher Golden - Pencilled by Christian Zanier - First released on March 8, 2000
Synopsis - Creature Feature - Cool Quotes - References - Continuity - Goofs - Trivia - The Morgue - Cast - Points Of View

Synopsis

The Short: Finding the vilest lawyer in L.A. sounds like a pretty tough job, but Angel has done it. Kicking off a new three-issue arc, Angel, Doyle, and Cordelia face off with a new gang of demons, and allies that prove even less trustworthy.

The Long: Angel stops in at a rare used books store and buys a rare volume, only to come out and discover a large demon is threatening to beat up Doyle over a woman. Angel tries to reason with the demon, recognizing it as a civilized species, but when it bangs on the hood of Angel's car in anger, Angel knocks it for a loop and leaves. In the car on the way back home Doyle has a vision of Meredith Stuart, who is in trouble. Angel arrives at Meredith's estate, where she invites in him, thinking a Father Noe sent him. Meredith explains how her husband Sam has become abusive, and she thinks he's possessed. The next day in court Angel checks up on Sam, who is getting crooked client off. He meets Kate, who tells him that Sam used to be a good lawyer, but now he seems to revel in getting dirty clients off. Back at Angel Investigations Doyle and Cordelia talk about demons. Doyle insists not all of them are bad, but Cordelia seems adamant about not liking them. They research Father Noe and possession, but all they find are tabloid stories none of them believe. Doyle offers to contact his ex-wife to get help, as they suspect it's a vapor demon. That night Sam walks in on Meredith and frightens her, until Angel arrives. Sam seems happy to see him and knows who and what Angel is. Suddenly Sam grows a blue flaming aura shaped like a demon. The demon claims he has a great travel agent and brags about how he will tell his friends he killed Angel. Angel punches him but is burned by the blue flaming aura. The demon throws Angel into an aquarium then releases a plague of bugs at him. Angel is thrown out a window, only to suddenly find Father Noe standing behind Sam, bible in hand, commanding the demon to leave.

Creature Feature

Clive is a Yazi demon, a race of huge minotaur-like demons. Angel says they are fairly civilized, although this one is upset because Doyle was messing with his girlfriend.

We also meet a kind of possessing demon called a vapor. They come from another dimension and possess people into doing evil for entertainment. They seem to be able to possess people, give them a flaming aura and can summon a plague of insects. They can also sense fear and courage in those around them.

Cool Quotes

Unfinished.

References

Computer screen: ''Elvis Alive: Possessed by sex demon.''
Elvis Aron Presley (1935-1977) was a rock and roll singer whose enormous success changed the shape of American popular culture. Also referenced by Cordelia in Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, by Willow in Wild At Heart, and by Buffy in Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
Angel: ''When Stoker wrote Dracula, he started a pop-culture myth that eradicated any trace of truth about vampires. In some ways he actually made things easier.''
Brahm Stoker is...
Angel: ''When Blatty wrote The Exorcist, and they made that movie, it had the same effect on the subject of possession.''
William Peter Blatty is...
Sam: ''Heh-heh. That Kramer. What a goof.''
Kramer is probably...

Continuity

The three parts of this story take place around the events of Hero. The first chapter is clearly before Hero, the second chapter occurs around Hero, and the third chapter is after that.

Goofs

Unfinished.

Trivia

Angel purchases a copy of Derleth's Pre-Human Races.
Angel must have been invited into the Stuart home off camera.

The Morgue

None!

Cast

Starring:
Angel - Cordelia Chase - Allan Francis Doyle

Guest Starring:
Detective Kate Lockley

Co-Starring:
Elijah J. Carnegie - Clive - Meredith Stuart - Sam Stuart - Father Gaetano Noe

Points Of View

Mathew:

Nice to see that the they are using the comics to explore more non-human demons, although the giant minotaur guy was a bit much. I wonder what his girlfriend looks like? Or does he change into a human too? They seemed to have the characters down, although Angel was a little too happy for some of it. Well drawn interiors, although I'm a little sick of covers which just feature the stars standing there looking at the camera. Havn't we grown past that?

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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