Boys and Their Toys, Part Two

"Boys and Their Toys, Part Two" was the twenty-seventh issue of the Angel comic book series.

Synopsis
As teddy bears dance around and super heroes face off with super villains, Angel tries to convince Spike that he is not Angel. Spike ignores him and starts to fight and mope at the same time. Jeremy has been turned into an actual Kung Fu Master and ignores Angel too. Angel runs to the auction room, believing the thing causing the transformations is in there and runs into a flaming guy calling himself Explodo, the man that explodes. Angel tosses Explodo into the auction room, blowing it up and sending him backward onto the floor. Spike bends over him asking why he is on the ground and that the battle isn't over. Angel gets up and says they have to find the source and shut it down, but not to harm anyone because they are not responsible for what they are doing. He tells Kung Fu Jeremy to stay with him and for them and Groo with SpAngel to split up and cover more ground. He drives off the teddy bears by telling them that they should go into the bathroom and practice hugging for a group of orphans that are on their way there. He tells SpAngel to remember that there will be a bathroom full of demons to deal with once they reverse the spell.

Outside the building, a muscular looking demon with pink tentacles wrapped around his head kills an escaped member of the convention after finding out what is going on in the building. Back inside, Angel tells Jeremy to look for statues or anything glowing or chanting. Jeremy says that Angel is wise and that when Spike was in moments of weakness, he would think about what Angel would do, then he'd do it. After blaming him and mocking him, that is. They are interrupted by a group of zombies emerging from a room labeled "Zombie Hullabaloo". Meanwhile, Groo and SpAngel face off with big headed green aliens. SpAngel thinks the aliens are scared and need help and tries to comfort one of them. This apparently offends his allies and they prepare to shoot him and Groo, but are saved by a super powered convention attendee. By now, Angel and Jeremy have fended off the zombies and Angel has an idea on how to stop the spell. But at that moment, the muscular pink tentacle demon shows up. Angel knows right away that this is a real demon and charges it only to be punched in the face. Hard. The demon is amused that Angel has such a big reputation and yet can be defeated so easily. Angel asks the demon why he didin't try to find the sword if he wanted to kill him. The demon says he was sent to kill Spike, but if Angel is worth anything, he would gladly take him prisoner and sell him to the highest bidder.

SpAngel's voice comes out of the overhead speakers, inspiring the super powered attendants to honor the hero they dressed as and to find the source and destroy it for all that is good and just. Then the super heroes and super villains attack each other again. Angel stabs the tentacle demon with a pen and escapes. The demon asks himself "Was I just felled with a pen? All the powers running about, he took me down with a pen? Reputation is well deserved, I suppose." Groo and SpAngel meet up with Angel and Jeremy. Angel sees a small boy dressed in Jeremy's wizard costume and asks him to do a summoning spell to find the object causing the transformations. The boy agrees only after Angel promises to buy him any object on any table on the main floor of the convention. The guys that performed the spell boast that they were responsible for everybody getting powers and that they are their gods, until the Janus bust vanishes, then re-appears in Angel's hands.

After thanking the boy, Angel calls SpAngel and tells him that everything will be back to how it should be soon. SpAngel once again speaks into the overhead speakers, asking anyone who is still flying to land before they come crashing back down. Angel then smashes the Janus statue. Later, everybody is still fighting, but in a less ground shaking way. The spell casters say that they should have hidden the bust in a space vacuum. Groo engages the demons in the bathroom with the flaming sword and a pink hoverboard, daring them to try and take them from him. Angel tells Spike about the tentacle demon that was after him. Spike says it won't be easy to track him, especially since Angel didn't bother to tie him up or anything, but is glad to know that someone out there wants him dead. He asks Angel if freaking out over every single person's safety is what it's like to be him. Angel starts to reply "I've seen you in action, Spike. I know you, and I hate to admit it as much you'll hate to hear it, but.." to which Spike interrupts by saying "Get this straight, Angel. I'm not you. What I mean is...I lend a hand if I'm bored, but...but...Never gets easier, does it?" As they walk past an advertisement poster of the movie Last Angel in Hell, Angel responds "I want to say yes, Spike. I really do.".

Continuity
The story was set after "Aftermath", but before "Immortality for Dummies".

Individuals

 * Angel
 * Spike
 * Jeremy Johns
 * Groosalugg
 * Connor
 * Kate Lockley
 * Buffy Summers
 * Xander Harris
 * Andrew Wells

Locations

 * Los Angeles

Behind the Scenes

 * The spell and bust of Janus that was used to turn everyone at the convention into their costumes was the same type used by Ethan Rayne in "Halloween".
 * Angel's line "Lets go to work" is a reference to Angel's famous last words in the Angel television finale "Not Fade Away". Stephen Mooney did the artwork for both Boys and Their Toys and the adaptation comic Angel: Not Fade Away; the "Let's go to work" scenes are almost identical in layout.
 * There are several noticeable items and costumes at the convention. They include: An R2-D2 statue and two Stormtrooper outfits from Star Wars, a Cylon costume from Battlestar Galactica, an Autobot Matrix of Leadership from Transformers, the pink hoverboard from Back to the Future and a Mr. Spock costume from Star Trek. Other objects and costumes from Superman, Marvel's Spider-Man and The Fantastic Four can also be seen throughout the comic.
 * SpAngel calls the events going on a "Harmonic Divergence". This could be perceived as a reference to both his ex-girlfriend Harmony Kendall and the Season Eight comic issue named after her.

Collections

 * Angel: Last Angel in Hell (Volume Six)