The Angels dabble in a little international intrigue, Seventies style! Here’s our look at Charlie’s Angels #2 from Dynamite Entertainment.

CHARLIE’S ANGELS #2

Writer: John Layman
Artist: Joe Eisma
Colorist: Celeste Woods
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 25, 2018

Previously in Charlie’s Angels: We met the Angels as they helped Ted Gardner, owner of the Limbo Lounge, get out from under the thumb of the organized crime boss he had to take on as a partner. In fine, if elaborate, style they interrupted a gun deal at the club, forcing it to take place on the streets. On finding Ted was taken too, they followed him and took down the gun dealers there in true Charlie’s Angels fashion. But who are the two East Germans dressed all in white, and why are they so interested in our girls?

COFFEE, TEA, OR ANGELS THREE?

Charlie’s Angels #2 is hitting its stride as a five issue story. While #1 felt more like a single issue story with a few lead-ins to a longer plot, here we see more of the big picture. We start out with a variant on a classic. Stewardess goes into changing room. There is a “klonk,” sound. Two more stewardesses, two more “klonks,” and a little time, and Jill, Kelly, and Sabrina appear adjusting their stewardess outfits. While Kelly pines about Ted (from last issue) who never called her back, Sabrina and Jill discuss their current mission dealing with foreign spies and whether this seems a little unusual for Charlie. Then it’s putting the smiles on for greeting the passenger on this charter flight, Bryce Steele, undercover KGB agent.

Quick flashback to an abbreviated intro, and Charlie, in the midst of his opening narration has some unexpected visitors. The Germans (presumably East Germans?) from last issue show up at his house and knock him out.  Sometime later, he calls the Angels with their new assignment – Bryce Steele, a.k.a. Igor Stepanov, who intends to trade U.S. nuclear secrets to the East Germans. Charlie wants the Angels to get the secrets back. Sabrina does ask why this isn’t a job for the C.I.A, but Charlie just says he has his reasons.

On board the plane, there is an amusing scene where the Angels, who have been told that Steele is a raconteur and womanizer, all try flirting with him to absolutely no avail. But later he does fall for Kelly, who is still a bit teary about Ted.

The next scene takes place at a fancy estate in Vienna. Kelly is Steele’s date for the evening, Jill is a guest and Sabrina has been taken on as staff. Kelly tries to get some information from Steele, who deflects her until he excuses himself to look for a bathroom. Instead, he meets his contact by moonlight in the gardens. As they start to make the exchange, the Angels confront them. But no – it was a set up. The East German spy has brought more thugs to the party. There is a bit of a shootout, Bryce takes a bullet for Kelly, and she in turn breaks his leg. Because – spy. Then it turns out that he has been working for the C.I.A all along, using fake intel to try to figure out what the East Germans knew. At this point, Jill and Sabrina figure out there is something wrong somewhere.

ALWAYS ON THE CASE FROM FLIGHT TO FIGHT

The art in Charlie’s Angels #2 is spirited and lively, and a little angular. The lines are clean and many of the backgrounds are simple. The TV intro has been consolidated into a page, which is good – the nostalgia kick was a great intro for the first issue, but we don’t need to see that every time. The story has become a bit more serious, though. Don’t get me wrong; there is still a sense of humor at play, but it is at a different level. We don’t hear the virtual laugh track in our heads so much this time around.

The art still portrays, and pokes fun at, the Seventies. In particular, I like the party scenes at the estate in Vienna. There are ladies in slinky dresses, men in tuxes (and Bryce with ruffled shirt), and the Angels with their phones? Walkie-talkies? Remember, folks, this was a generation before cell phones, so their compact communication devices are huge – almost humorously huge to us in this day and age. And there are some great mustaches again.

We still never see Charlie’s face, no matter what he goes through in this issue. And the stylish East Germans are, if anything, slightly more stylized, but you know, they make for a great pair of villains. And they’re definitely manipulating the Angels.

BOTTOM LINE: NOT A BAD LITTLE THROWBACK

Charlie’s Angels #2 is still fairly light-hearted, but there actually is a decent amount of plot to mine, and there is something kind of fun about a setting which is modern, yet lower tech than the present day. It isn’t quite so over-the-top as the first issue, but for settling into the plot, it is comfortable and it moves along nicely.

[taq_review]

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