As with the first issue, in reading Fallen Angel, I get the sense that there's more going on than we're being told. The main stories are sort of archetypal crusading loner hero stories, a little darker than I usually expect from Peter David but otherwise well-constructed but unspectacular tales. What draws my interest are some of the mysteries surrounding the setting and the lead character, and given that I've already sussed out one of the things that's only being hinted at, I'm concerned that David may play out the mysteries for too long, rather than getting around to some of the twists located in the background which are where my true interests lie. However, for all that, Fallen Angel is still a strong book with a tone much different than prior David projects, and I'm willing to stick around for a few issues waiting for him to pull back the curtain on the intriguing background elements.
Like Outsiders, Fallen Angel seems to be benefiting from a maturation of the type of super-hero comics that DC is willing to have outside of their imprints. Certainly David has added a sexy element to this book that I was surprised to see, with Lee's references to "blowing" someone (which leads to a bit of a groaner gag at the end) and her sex not love affair with Doctor Juris, and along with the generally darker, morally ambiguous tone of the book, it helps to make it feel more for an older audience, without entirely leaving a younger audience behind. Fallen Angel hits that teenage and up mark that the Ultimate line has aimed so successfully for in recent years pretty well.
David is slowly building an interesting setting and cast of characters here, and the introduction of weaselly, charming and scummy drug dealer Asia Minor was another success. He reminds me somewhat of one of the supporting characters from Warren Ellis's Transmetropolitan, undoubtedly on the shady side of the law but likable nonetheless thanks to a compelling personality. Having Lee work with Asia, and flirt with his competition, helps to establish her role as a sort of ambiguous third force in the city of Bete Noir, although David does hedge his heroic bets a little with her triumphant flourish at the end.
Lopez and Blanco's art is interesting, but it does seem a little too fluid in style. Depending on the page, the work sometimes reminds me of realistic work from Darick Robertson, shadowy and abstract work by Phil Hester or even the straightforward work of someone like Jim Calafiore. It's all good work, but it does result in a sort of weird variance in tone, and a little more consistency of style would help the book gel considerably for me.
One thing that is very noticeable, and generally commendable, about Fallen Angel is that David is telling accessible, done-in-one style stories with compelling characters. David has a tendency to write epic stories that become impenetrable as they go along, and so far he's avoiding that with Fallen Angel. The downside to this change in writing is that there are very interesting questions about the nature of his setting and some of the characters (I'm dying to know how Hitler became Lee's best bud and bartender), and these more accessible stories so far are preventing him from delving into the more complex material.
