In Perfect Harmony is the fifth issue of the Angel & Faith comic book series. Written by Christos Gage and illustrated by Phil Noto, it was originally published on December 28, 2011, by Dark Horse Comics.
Synopsis[]
It's a dark and foggy night in London, and Angel and Faith are about to encounter a most unexpected visitor. Superceleb vampire Harmony Kendall returns! When a stalker threatens to expose one of Harm's misdeeds, she solicits the help of wayward heroes Angel and Faith. With her little pups, her friend Clem, and her Hollywood entourage by her side, Harmony is taking the UK by storm![1]
Summary[]
Faith and Angel are in the Giles residence, and they hear a knock on the door that reminds Angel of when people used to come into Angel Investigations asking for his help. He opens the door and remembers why he quit: it's Harmony and Clem. Harmony looks happy to see Angel again, and Faith doesn't recognize them. Clem and Angel make the necessary introductions to Faith, and Angel invites them into the house.
Harmony says she needs Angel's help to investigate someone blackmailing her. She shows them a tape with the video of someone having sex with her. Angel closes his eyes, while Faith wonders what the problem is since those things usually help "chicks with no talent." Soon, the video shows Harmony siring the man.
Harmony explains the man was dying from cancer and he asked Harmony to make him a vampire. Also, that was a long time before she became famous, and a Slayer killed him. However, now Harmony is the leader of Reform Vampirism, with rules against siring. Angel still isn't convinced to help, but Clem explains how things have changed because of Harmony's influence; if anything happened to her image, plenty of vampires would stop listening to her and start killing humans again.
The four go to Harmony's apartment, and Clem gives Angel an envelope. Angel comments there is no postmark, and Harmony explains it came with a flash drive and the tape was hers; she made it when her show had been canceled, thinking it could help her with her career, but she hasn't used it since. Faith asks her who had access to her private stuff, and Harmony starts naming a long and broad list of people, so they try to narrow it down by thinking about who would benefit from Harmony's tape exposure. Clem gives them Harmony's hate letters, and Angel recalls that these days vampires who still sire are not hard to track down: the newly sired rise as zompires.
They go out and find some vampires and zompires. Angel readies himself to attack them, and Harmony does not understand what this has to do with her problem, but she quickly agrees they must stop them when Angel gets mad at her. Faith notices Clem brought Harmony's dogs with them, and he explains they couldn't find a babysitter for them. The vampires see them and order an attack, so Faith and Angel take the zompires and ask Harmony to take care of the vampires. The vampires understand that Harmony's dogs are her weak spot and go after Clem, but he defends himself by beheading the vampires.
They leave two vampires to interrogate. They ask about the tape, but one of them declares he's a fan of Harmony and has all her other twelve sex tapes. The other vampire gets mad at him and reveals he has also left a hate letter in Harmony's apartment in hopes of seeing her naked there. Faith dusts the second vampire while the first one comments that a sex tape of Harmony siring a man would make anyone rich. Angel and Faith understand the blackmailer has to be somebody who really hated Harmony to decide not to sell the tape to the press.
Back to Harmony's place, they try to narrow the list down, but Harmony isn't much help. Angel asks her to tell them the people she has killed or sired, but she confesses she has no idea of their names; unlike Angel, who seems to remember every single one he has killed and sired. Harmony argues that, because of her, people and vampires now live in harmony, and, unlike Angel, she was able to adjust to the new world. She decides to help Angel, instead of paying him, by improving his image. She asks her assistant to start a rumor about Angel wanting to take some good humans with him in the Twilight dimension and bury what really happened. Angel tries to say that was his intention. Harmony suggests they film a sex tape together, but Angel refuses it immediately. Harmony says he denied it due to losing his soul in a moment of perfect happiness, so she tells her assistant to do the best she can with what she has.
Faith seems to like Harmony's idea; she has no guilt about what she did before and makes more difference than they have ever done, and, besides Clem, they were all murderers, so maybe they should think of letting go of their past. Angel asks Faith what she is scarier: thinking too much about what they have done or what they would become if they forgot. Faith realizes the idea would be a waste of time and decides to take things into her own hands.
They go to bars, parties, and cemeteries for information, but nothing helps. Angel decides the best idea is for Harmony to go ahead and release the tape herself. Faith recommends she comments, "I was bad but I've changed," and Harmony likes the sound of it. Clem then reacts, telling her not to do this, and that he will find the blackmailer. Harmony wonders if he could do that, and Angel says yes because Clem is the one blackmailing her. Clem tries to justify himself, saying Harmony doesn't value him and doesn't pay him even the minimum salary, but Angel tells him to reveal his real reason. Clem declares he is in love with Harmony and has tried to tell her many times. Since she couldn't understand it, he thought of the blackmail, trying to look like a hero to her, but didn't expect she would seek Angel's help. He then becomes miserable for losing the woman he loves and his best friend.
Harmony tells him he didn't lose her, but she doesn't love him and only dates tens; if Clem gets a magazine cover with her with the kind of face he has, it would be the worst thing for her career. But she will give him a raise. Angel believes Harmony can't keep on pretending that some things never happened, but Clem agrees and is happy with her words. Harmony once again tells Angel that letting go is a good thing, and he should try it too. She gives him her assistant's plan to improve his image in an envelope as a payment and tells him to move on with his life.
Angel and Faith watch Harmony and Clem leave. Faith asks Angel if he has learned anything from that, and he replies he's learned all famous people are crazy. He throws the envelope in a trash can and leaves. Faith takes a last look at the dumped envelope and follows Angel.
Continuity[]
- Clem claims Harmony should've won Dancing with the Stars, the reality show Spike mentioned in Last Gleaming, Part Five as Harmony having ruined.
- Angel introduces Harmony as Cordelia's friend in high school ("The Harvest"), having dated Spike ("The Harsh Light of Day"), and his former secretary ("Conviction").
- Faith says that everyone but her slept with Spike; she learned Buffy had slept with him in "Dirty Girls." Also, Angel was implied to have some sort of sexual history with him in "Power Play."
- Harmony argues that she helped Angel during an apocalypse, but he corrects her saying she ran off, referring to her betrayal in "Not Fade Away."
- Angel and Faith call the newly risen vampires since the end of magic "zompires," using the name Xander created for them in Freefall, Part Three.
- Angel's public image is said to be worse than Buffy's, who is blamed among Slayers for the end of magic (Last Gleaming, Part Five).
- Harmony suggests they start a rumor about Angel's intentions for Twilight at the events of Twilight, Part Four, but he argues he had planned all along to bring the good people over.
- Harmony believes Angel rejected having sex with her because of his "moment of perfect happiness" clause. However, Angel can have sex without losing his soul, as seen in "Reprise" and "Power Play."
Appearances[]
Individuals[]
- Angel
- Cordelia Chase (Only mentioned)
- Clement
- Rupert Giles (Only mentioned)
- Harmony Kendall
- Faith Lehane
- Spike (Only mentioned)
- Buffy Summers (Only mentioned)
- Superbia
- David Tennant
Organizations and titles[]
- Angel Investigations (Only mentioned)
- Harmony Kendall's dogs
- Slayer
- Watcher (Only mentioned)
Species[]
Events[]
- Apocalypse (Only mentioned)
- End of magic
Locations[]
Objects[]
- Blood
- Harmony Bites (Only mentioned)
- In Perfect Harmony
- Soul (Only mentioned)
- Stake
- Stake bracer
- Watchers Diaries
Death count[]
- One zompire, staked by Angel.
- Another zompire, beheaded by Faith.
- Two vampires, beheaded by Clem.
- One vampire, beheaded by Faith.
- One vampire, staked by Angel.
- One vampire, staked by Faith.
- One vampire, staked by Harmony.
Behind the scenes[]
Production[]
- Phil Noto debuts as a guest artist in the Buffyverse comics.
- In Perfect Harmony follows the trend of stories titled after Harmony: "Disharmony," "Harm's Way," Harmonic Divergence, "Harmony Bites," and "Harmony Comes to the Nation." It will continue with Day Off (or Harmony in My Head).
- Harmony talks with the actor David Tennant, one of the real-life celebrities to be inserted into the Buffyverse.
- Angel, Faith, Harmony, and Clem walk by the Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square.
Collections[]
Pop culture references[]
- Angel mentions the writer Raymond Chandler, his fictional character Detective Philip Marlowe, as well as another fictional Detective Sam Spade.
- Harmony was on the reality TV dancing show Dancing with the Stars and is currently a judge on the reality TV talent show Britain's Got Talent.
- Clem compares Angel and Faith to Olivia and Elliot, characters from the drama crime show Law & Order.
- Clem says Harmony's dogs mauled Cesar Millan, a famous dog trainer.
- Harmony has a section in the magazine Us Weekly about how much she loved her dogs.
- Harmony mentions the animal cruelty organizations P.E.T.A and A.S.P.C.A.
- Harmony quotes the philosopher Lao Tzu and the journalist Brenda Ueland.
- Harmony mentions knowing the actor Charlie Sheen and the record executive Simon Cowell.
- Harmony alludes to David Tennant's "TARDIS" in reference to his role in Doctor Who.
- Faith relates Harmony giving advise to "Steven Tyler telling kids not to do drugs," referring to the Aerosmith lead singer who suffered alcohol and drug addiction in the 1980s.
- Harmony says Clem is the "Gayle to her Oprah," referring to Oprah Winfrey and her best friend Gayle King.
Gallery[]
Covers[]
Cover artwork[]
Preview[]
Quotes[]
Faith: "I love that I'm supposed to be the slutty one when everyone but me has nailed Spike." |
Angel: "Y'know when you started this story, I didn't think it was possible for me to care any less. But here we are." |
Harmony: "Oh! My! God! I stuck by you through an apocalypse!" |
Angel: "No, you ran." |
Harmony: "Only after everyone else!" |
Harmony: "Everyone just sees me as an object." |
Angel: "But he's right. I didn't realize how... famous you are. Sorry, that stuck in my throat. That could make someone a millionaire. There's no need for blackmail." |
Faith: "Then it's personal. Whoever's doing this wants to make her squirm." |
Angel: "Looks like we have to make that list of people who hate her after all." |
Faith: "Dibs on the top spot." |
Angel: "What, the P.R. thing? Don't know, don't care. There's always been people who hate me. Usually with good reason. I don't see how this is any different." |
Faith: "I guess..." |
Harmony: "Have these people not heard of Photoshop?! I look twenty-five!" |
Faith: "But look at her. She has zero guilt about anything she's ever done. And she's making more of a difference than we ever did." |
Angel: "She's a narcissist with no soul or conscience. She's a killer." |
Faith: "Yeah well, we're all killers here." |
Harmony: "Letting go. You should try it. Superbia's image rehab plan. Guaranteed to work. Move on with your life, Angel. 'The only reason to look back is to check out your own ass.' Harmony Kendall." |
Angel: "Well. That was..." |
Faith: "Uh-huh. So, any takeaways from all that?" |
Angel: "Yeah. Famous people are crazy." |
References[]
- ↑ "Angel & Faith #5 (Steve Morris cover)." Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved on October 8, 2017.