Angel & Faith #17

A somber graveside scene sets the stage for "Death and Consequences, Part Two" as Angel and Faith stand amid a rain-soaked funeral gathering, white fabric trailing from Angel's coat while Faith holds a grieving young woman nearby — and a headstone reading "Rupert Giles" sits surrounded by white flowers at the center of it all. The weight of loss is palpable in every brushstroke of Steve Morris's cover, where black umbrellas, red roses, and a crowd of mourners in dark glasses complete a tableau that feels genuinely mournful rather than melodramatic. Writer Christos Gage and artist Rebekah Isaacs were crafting some of the Buffyverse's most emotionally grounded storytelling in 2012, and this issue promises no shortage of consequence.