A wonderfully promising continuation of ANGEL | Angel After the Fall #1: Season 6 Chapter One

The Canon Continuation of Angel | Angel After the Fall #1: Season 6 Chapter One | Joss Whedon, Brian Lynch

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	• Angel After the Fall #1: Season 6 Chapter One Joss Whedon, Brian Lynch IDW, 2007 average customer review:based on 4 reviews view larger image
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A great start

A little confusing. I will admit I had to go to wikipedia to clarify a couple things after I read this. But besides that this is a great read. Old characters that you haven't seen for a while make a reappearance, new interesting characters show up. I can't wait to see where this series is going.

A wonderfully promising continuation of ANGEL

Warning! Spoilers ahead!

By any standard BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER was one of the most innovative, influential television series in the history of the medium, while ANGEL was one of the finest spin offs ever. Not content with helping to rewrite what was possible in television, Joss Whedon has now played what is certain to be a major role in establishing new rules for what is possible in the comic book. Before continuing BUFFY in his comic version of Season Eight, there had never been a canonical (i.e., written and produced by the original creative force) continuation of any major television series. (In contrast, while there is currently a BATTLESTAR GALACTICA comic book series, it in no way involves the work of Ron Moore, without whose involvement the series could not be considered canonical.) BUFFY Season Eight has been a tremendous success, both in terms of critical acclaim and in sales. As a result, there has been talk of other critically acclaimed series (if not always widely viewed) being continued as a comic book. Rob Thomas, for instance, is currently talking with DC about continuing VERONICA MARS as a comic.

But as great as it has been for BUFFY to continue as a comic, in many ways there was more of a need for an ANGEL comic. Joss Whedon had largely been able to end BUFFY as a TV series when he had wanted. There was no especial need for it to continue, though fans of the show certainly are glad that it did. But ANGEL was a different matter. It ended well before Joss Whedon was finished spinning stories about our favorite vampire (vampires, when you add in Spike) with a soul.

We knew something about how they planned on proceeding in Season Six. Joss and other writers and producers like David Fury and Jeffrey Bell had indicated that Angel, Spike, and Illyria would have survived the huge final battle that ended the series, albeit offstage. We were told that Fred would have returned when Willow, in a guest role, would have cast a spell that would have brought back Fred, while leaving Illyria alive as well (and providing Amy Acker with a tantalizing dual role). We were told that there was talk of an episode in which Angel and Spike would have dressed in drag. And we were told that Gunn would have become a vampire, a victim of the final battle of Season Five. So far it isn't clear what if any of the preceding will be used in the new ANGEL comic. But it does seem so far that they are moving in completely different directions.

This first issue in the series does not try to answer all the questions we had at the end of the TV series. There is, for instance, very little said about the big battle. We do see that Angel, instead of killing the dragon he said he wanted to slay at the end of the finale, has adopted it as a sort of pet. But mainly what we see are the mystical and spiritual consequences of defying Wolfram and Hart. Instead of bringing down the evil law firm from hell for good, they instead have asserted their legal rights over Angel. And their agent in enforcing their contract is none other than Wesley, who had, of course, died in the finale. But as we learned in the series, death is hardly a hindrance to fulfilling the claims that Wolfram and Hart has on anyone.

We learn just a smidgen about some of the other characters. Like the horrid Connor (why couldn't he just have died? -- though I must admit that some of my hatred of Connor has dissipated through the excellent work of Vincent Kartheiser on the great AMC series MAD MEN) and Gunn. Did I mention that Wesley is now a ghost? There was no mention of either Spike or Illyria, but since Spike is on the cover of issue #2 we'll catch up on him shortly.

All in all, I couldn't be happier with the first issue. There are, by the way, a bewildering number of covers. I opted for what I believe is one of the alternative covers, a beautiful photo of David Boreanaz dressed largely in black against a solid black background. I'm not a comic collector so I don't care much for covers, but I liked this.

Joss Whedon will very shortly be ending his stint as writer of THE RUNAWAYS (my favorite Marvel comic series). He will continue work on BUFFY Season Eight, ANGEL Six, and will begin work on a comic version of FIREFLY. And with his new series with Eliza Dushku (DOLLHOUSE), he will be one very busy man.

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The Canon Continuation of Angel

Let me just start by saying how wonderful the eighth season of BtVS is. It's something that we fans have wanted for a long time, and it's coming along better than I could have dreamed of. However, in this fandom, there is something more powerful than want. And that's need. Since the first airing of "Not Fade Away" so long ago, the Buffyverse fandom has had a seemingly insatiable need to find out--despite how good an ending NFA was--what happened to our beloved characters. Now, three men--Joss Whedon, Brian Lynch, and Franco Urru--are giving us that opportunity. Today, the twenty-first of November, the first issue of Angel: After the Fall came out and, with a copy of the comic in my hand, I am beyond ecstatic to give you my review of this story that we've needed for so long.

The story starts off with Angel doing what he's always done best; helping the helpless. Lynch gives us the first monumental plot twist on the second page of the comic. Remember that Dragon? You know, the one Angel kinda wanted to slay? Well, turns out our fanged hero had a much better idea, after finding out that he and the Dragon had a lot more in common than sharp teeth. Angel teaming up with the Dragon could have been silly if done by another writer, but Lynch pulls it off with ease and keeps the story going. Angel's dialogue and inner monologue are precisely on point, capturing that dry wit (and don't forget that bitter undercurrent, of course) that other writers--comic, novel, and fanfic alike--have rarely been able to capture. The biggest thing that has been missing from the previous IDW Angel comics was an in-character Angel, but it's clear from the first page of this comic that we won't be having that problem here. Joss Whedon sure as hell picked the right dude to carry on this tale.

After Angel sends the people he saved off to a safe-house run by some familiar faces (that looks like it's going to be a great arc for those characters at the safe-house), he hops onto his Dragon's neck and flees the scene, giving us an aerial view of Los Angeles, which looks a bit different that we last saw it. You'll have to read the issue to find out about that. Needless to say, LA is in a bad situation. But, even with the world on his shoulders, our favorite vampire (well, one of our two favorites) keeps on fighting. Only thing is, he's kinda stuck. Wolfram and Hart still has him on lock, and he seems to be operating out of the ruins of the old law firm, simultaneously trying to save people from the W&H friendly demons and holding back his passion to kill said demons, fearing that if he were to act out again, things would surely worsen for the people of LA. It makes for a very, very interesting inner conflict.

A few of the other main AtS characters get character arcs that start here, though it would be a spoiler if I were to mention who survived "Not Fade Away" and who didn't. As for the art, Franco Urru is the right man for this. His demons are bad-ass, his vampires even bad-assier, and his interpretation of all the main characters that we see in this comic is very satisfying. I admit having a little trepidation at the fact that Urru doesn't always add great detail to the faces of the characters, but the work he has turned out in this issue is beyond what I could have hoped for. The splash page with Angel flying on the Dragon over LA is a beautiful piece of art that has been my desktop for God knows how long. The reveal at the end is so shockingly violent, so gritty... Angel's facial expressions are perfect... Everything in here just adds so much to Brian's already awesome story, that I truly couldn't imagine any other artist doing this book. The following should suffice: This is the strongest "season premiere" that Angel has ever had, by far and away. I am happy to give this issue top marks in every category.

10/10 Classic

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The City of Angels goes to Hell in Season 6 of "Angel"

It stood to reason that if Joss Whedon was going to give not only his blessing but his creative in put into a comic book version version of what would have been the eighth season of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" that we would get to see Season 6 of "Angel." However, in terms of expectations there is a considerable difference between the two comic book ventures. Given the series finale of "BtVS," the question was what would Buffy and the gang do in the brave new world they had created where there was now an army of Slayers and not just a pair of Chosen Ones. We would expect the new "season" to begin as each new "BtVS" season did, at the end of the summer. But that is neither our expectation nor out hope when it comes to the "next" season of "Angel." That is because when last we saw our hero and his friends right before the final cut to black they were about to attack a horde of monsters despite the fact that not only they were outnumbered, but Wesley was dead, Gunn is fatally wounded, and it is raining heavily. So when I picked up issue #1 of "Angel: After the Fall" today, the burning question was what happened next, and by "next" I do not mean the next year or the next month or the next week or the next day. I mean the next second, although if it was the next minute I could let that slide, although part of my has liked the Rorschach ending where you can come up with your own "what happened next."

That being said, issue #1 does not pick up right where we left off, but an unidentified period of time "later." The story is plotted by Whedon and Brian Lynch ("Spike: Asylum (Spike)"), with Lynch doing the script and the illustrations by Franco Urru. Those of us who came to terms with a Whedon-less television universe after the cancellation of "Angel" by paying rapt attention to what Joss had to say about the sixth season that was not to be will recall that that was a grand conceit planned, and that is explicated here as seen by the "After the Fall" part of the title. So, if you are looking for answers as to what happened to the others making that last stand in the rain drenched alley way by Angel's side, then you are going to have to go farther than the first outing of this 12-issue mini-series (but we do find out about that dragon that caught Angel's eye). Only half of that quartet appear in Chapter One, and it will not surprise you to see who is going to be the cover boy for issue #2 in an inducement to get us to keep reading. The thing is, that point is moot because "Angel: After the Fall" constitutes canon, which means my daughters and I will be reading it from start to finish even if the end of the world as we know it manifests itself by Whedon and his cohorts jumping the shark (or, in this case, a giant telepathic fish).

My best guess is that most fans of "Angel" will be disappointed that their questions are not immediately answered and/or that Whedon, Lynch, and Urru have gone off it directions other than what they had envisioned when spinning out the what-happened-nexts in their own mind. But by the same token I expect them to be intrigued by the incongruous situations that present themselves in this first issue. I am not overly enamored of the art here, but that has been a constant with me for not all of the Whedon-based comic books but pretty much any attempt to draw "real" people form television shoes and movies. I had to go back and read the last half of this issue again to make sure I understood what I was seeing in the last panel, a shocking revelation that certainly implies one thing that happened back in that alley way. The Cover A art is by Tony Harris, which also appears sans text on the RI Virgin Cover. Urru did the Cover B variation for "Angel: After the Fall" #1 but there is also one by David Messina for the New Dimension & Time and Space Toys Exclusive Cover and then Messina and Patrick Brower also did one for a (ready for this?) Graham Crackers Exclusive Cover. Those are just the initial covers, because there will probably be new ones for each reprint run of this first issue, if things go well.

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THIS IS IT! The official "SEASON 6" continuation of the ANGEL series! When last we saw Angel and company, they were charging into battle against Wolfram and Hart's Senior Partners and facing down endless demons in a dark and rainy alleyway. Now, IDW Publishing is proud to present the story of Angel: After the Fall, as presented by Angel co-creator Joss Whedon, with a creative team hand-picked by Whedon himself, the Spike: Shadow Puppets team of Brian Lynch and Franco Urru. Picking up where Season Five of the fan-favorite TV show ended, the first issue in this maxi-series looks at who lived after that climactic battle, who died, and what happened to all of Los Angeles in its wake. Acclaimed artist Tony Harris (Ex Machina) and Urru provide special covers for each issue of this momentous series. Issue 1 features a full 27 pages of story and art!

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