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Women of a Certain Age is the tenth issue of the Angel & Faith comic book series. Written by Christos Gage and illustrated by Chris Samnee, it was originally published on May 23, 2012, by Dark Horse Comics.

Synopsis[]

Angel and Faith are forced into battle, less by choice and more by circumstance, when two mysterious women from Giles's past call on the unlikely duo for help. But that's only the beginning of Angel and Faith's troubles as the ladies settle in for the night!

Series writer Christos Gage (Avengers Academy) and guest artist Chris Samnee (Thor), the creative team of Vertigo's Area 10, reveal more about Giles's past and further Angel's quest in bringing the Watcher back from the dead![1]

Summary[]

Angel and Faith return to the estate after a nightly patrol. Faith shows annoyance at Angel's concern over her feelings, but, instead, he warns there is someone inside their house. They crash inside wielding their swords only to find two unfamiliar women greeting them. They introduce themselves as Lavinia and Sophronia Fairweather, Giles' great-aunts, pointing out that they were in the portrait on the wall. Faith claims she thought his entire family was dead and that Giles never mentioned either of them to her. Sophronia tells her that they were in the will: "All occupants of the country home may remain." — which Faith admits she thought he meant the horses.

With an appearance much younger for great-aunts, Lavinia explains that magic use runs in her family, but not all of them use it for fighting and "being a big bore." Instead, the two sisters use their magical expertise to retain their youthfulness. Angel tries to tell them that he ultimately killed Giles, but Sophronia cuts him off. They don't particularly blame him because he was possessed and Giles was fully aware the consequences of dying in a life of magic. Angel tries to explain that he is in fact guilty because of his bad decision making, but they remain uncaring.

Faith takes the opportunity to put them upstairs, but she is interrupted by an intrusion of demons in their home, looking for the sisters. They turned out to sell their souls to demons on many occasions for fashionable products and beauty essentials, so their time is up. Angel and Faith are launched into a fight against many creatures while the sisters argue back.

After about ten minutes of no other demons coming to fight them, Angel assumes the flood has stopped. Faith continues her talk with Giles' aunts, wanting to know their history since he had their portrait on his wall, meaning he didn't totally despise them. Reluctantly, Lavinia and Sophronia abide.

England, 1962. An eight-year old Giles plays with his toy plane, practicing being a fighter pilot. Edna Giles argues with her sisters, refusing to allow them to use the Shard of Stronnos. She mentions the Council would never allow it, but Lavinia and Sophronia persist. Mr. Giles reluctantly agree with his mother. Edna elaborate on her son's protests by mentioning that they are not responsible with their magic, and they refused to tell them what they were going to use Shards of Stronnos, one of the more deadlier weapons that can turn matter into dangerous energy. They get into a fierce argument, only to be stopped by the appearance of a light demon.

While the demon brags about energy being able to be turned into matter, he mentions the Fairweather sisters intentions are to bring their lovers back to flesh. Edna quickly takes action and tries to get the Shard to stop them, only for it to fall out of her reach. Giles picks it up and allows it to work its magic, giving the light demon a solid body. Edna takes the opportunity to ax it. Giles is startled while Sophronia proudly realizes he inherited their skills with magic. Mr. Giles decides that this was a sign of his future destiny as a Watcher, wanting to enroll him in the Watchers Academy immediately. Sophronia protests against this, wanting to teach him their own magics, but Mr. Giles dismisses them, assuming it'd be for superficial means. Edna roughly handles them the Shard, angry at them for causing too much damage already.

Back to the present. Lavinia explains that they were against Giles being robbed of his childhood so early, wanting him to have at least a few more years of carefree youth before starting his Watcher training. They heard what Watcher school was like for Edna and hated the idea of him having to endure such horrors at eight. Nonetheless, they felt an obligation to their nephew and had at times even performed a spell or two with him for his benefit.

Angel confesses that he was planning on resurrecting Giles but is surprised to discover that the sisters already knew. They say they had heard things, reminding him that they are shallow but not stupid. Lavinia gives Angel the Shard Giles used a boy, stating that he will need it as it retained his childhood before completely and totally losing his innocence. Sophronia believes this entire attempt to be crazy, seeing it was being too risky. Faith tries to agree, but Sophie decides to go to bed.

Angel offers them the guest room, but Lavinia does not want to deal with Sophie's snoring. Lavinia chooses Angel's room. Once inside, she expressed her relief that she is able to finally talk to him alone. Angel uncomfortably assumes she has some type of interest in him, but Lavinia clarified she wants to talk with him about Giles. She tells him not to change his mind no matter what, fully and completely supporting his plan unconditionally, reasoning that both them and the world needs him.

Meanwhile, Sophronia is alone with Faith, claiming the opposite. Sophronia believes that Angel has the best of intentions, but, if he goes too far, she wants Faith to be the one to stop him before he makes an even larger mess of things.

Alone in the room, Lavinia admits that she knew Giles would be against this, but she refuses to have her nephew die so easily without a fight. If anyone could do it, Angel could. Meanwhile, Sophronia, also alone, states that, if Angel did anything horrid to the world or Giles, Faith would stop it. She claims Giles would say that they are still using people in this situation, but they are only nudging them along on completing their roles. She concludes that Giles watched over people for too long, and now it was their turn to watch over him.

Faith wonders how much longer Giles' aunts will stay with them. Angel replies it would be longer than they want them too, only to be interrupted by a knock at the door. Irritated, Angel walks to the door threatening that, if they aren't away by the time he opened the door, he will snap their neck and kill them. However, he trails off mid-sentence when he opens the door. Willow, with the Scythe in hand, responds: "Uh-huh. Kinda your wheelhouse, isn't it?"

Continuity[]

  • Faith claims she believed the occupants of Giles' country house mentioned in his will were horses, which she told Buffy in Last Gleaming, Part Five
  • Edna appears as an adult, being first seen as a child in Tales of the Vampires.
  • Sophie blames Angel for the end of magic, but he claims this to be false. Buffy was the one who broken the Seed of Wonder in Last Gleaming, Part Four.
  • Lavinia mentions Giles wanted to become a fighter pilot. He once admitted this to Buffy in "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date."
  • In the flashback, Lavina snaps at an eight-year-old Giles for almost ripping her dress with his toy, and Sophronia states that he should've been named "Ripper." Giles would later adopt this nickname once delving into dark magics in his late teens/early 20s ("The Dark Age").
  • After accidentally containing the light demon, Giles' fate to become a Watcher is ultimately decided quite swiftly by his father. This event permanently creates a strain on their relationship, seen in Daddy Issues, Part One.
  • When Angel threatens to snap the neck of whoever is behind the door, Willow retorts: "Kinda your wheelhouse, huh?" This is a reference to how Angel murdered Giles (Last Gleaming, Part Four) and Jenny ("Passion").
  • Willow's whereabouts are revealed since she left Buffy and took the Scythe with her in Slayer, Interrupted.

Appearances[]

Individuals[]

Organizations and titles[]

Species[]

  • Demon
    • Cacodaemon (Only mentioned)
    • Golgothian phlegm beast (Only mentioned)
    • Light demon (Only in flashbacks)
    • Mucoid
  • Human
  • Vampire
  • Zombie (Only mentioned)

Events[]

Locations[]

Objects[]

Death count[]

  • Unidentified demon, beheaded by Angel.
  • About twenty demons, killed by Angel and Faith (mentioned).
  • Light demon, accidentally given a body by Giles and axed by Edna (in flashbacks).

Behind the scenes[]

Production[]

  • Women of a Certain Age marks the debut of Sophronia and Lavinia, who are characters from the now defunct project Ripper. Their likeness are based on Anthony Stewart Head's daughters, Emily and Daisy Head, who would portray them originally.[2]

Collections[]

Pop culture references[]

  • Faith blows off Angel's concern about her feelings after seeing her father, saying: "Damn, when did you turn into Oprah?" This was a reference to the famous show host who got people to talk about their problems on TV.
  • After a demon bursts into the house, Sophronia comments, "How dreadfully Monty Python," referring to the British comedy group that lasted from 1960–1983.
  • Lavinia wore a minidress designed by Mary Quant, a British fashion designer known for her influence in the 1960s Mod fashion.
  • Sophie mentions the musician Jim Morrision, saying he was apparently a failed resurrection project.

Gallery[]

Covers[]

Cover artwork[]

Preview[]

Quotes[]

Angel: "I... appreciate that. But it's not as simple as being possessed. I made choices—"
Sophronia: "Dear boy, when you live by magic, you are likely to die by it. Rupert knew that and had made peace with it. If you must be guilty about something, there's always your hair."
Angel: "Um, well, there's only one guest room. Kind of small. You could share the master bedroom... Faith, you can have mine."
Faith: "Y'know, I missed the part where Giles left this place to you."
Lavinia: "I'm so glad we finally have a moment alone together."
Angel: "Uh... I'm kind of... Well, not seeing anyone, exactly. It's more that I'm... freaked out by you. "
Lavinia: "Oh, that's adorable. My dear Angel, if I wanted to shag a corpse, I'd have gotten married."
Sophronia: "How awkward. I just realized this must be the place where you and Rupert used to... Well."
Faith: "What? I wasn't sleeping with him!"
Sophronia: "No, of course not. Middle-aged men leave everything they own to young ladies out of fatherly affection. But that's beside the point. There's something important I need to discuss with you. This plan of Angel's... He means well. But I don't have to tell you, he's playing with damp dynamite. You're clearly the level-headed one. Let him play the 'Tortured Soul Seeking Redemption' if he likes. But if it looks as though he's going to make a dog's breakfast of things... it's down to you to stop him, my dear, whatever it takes."
Lavinia: "Oh, Rupert. I can feel you scowling at me. Come now, love. We held our noses and let you get old. But I'll be buggered if we'll permit our nephew to die like some commoner who slips in the bath. Not without a fight. If there's a way to bring you back, Angel will find it. We'll see to that."
Sophronia: "And if he must be stopped before he does something horrid to you, or the world I suppose, we'll see he is, courtesy of Faith. I know what you'd say. That after all these years we're still using people. But all we're doing is helping them play the roles they so desperately want. You watched over people long enough, dear boy. It's time to let your aunties watch over you. "

References[]

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