ANGEL: AFTER THE FALL – Review

WARNING – Minor spoilers below.

So, as much as I’ve dug the Buffy Season 8 comic, nothing has had me so excited as this first issue of Angel, Season 6. For the uninitiated, ANGEL, a spinoff of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, was cancelled a few years ago. The writers only had 2 episodes to finish up the entire series, and they did so with panache, but in a way that left a lot of people (myself especially) screaming at their televisions that more was wanted.

This year, Joss Whedon, the guru and creator of all things Buffyverse, started Buffy, Season 8 – which was initially intended to be a lead-in to a buffyverse TV movie trilogy… but when talks imploded with FOX, Joss decided the comics would be used to tell the whole story. They’ve been fantastic.. a real treat, and it fills that Buffyverse void.. cuz it is considered to be as Canon as the show.

However.. Buffy had a true ending, and you didn’t wonder much waht happened next – you just wanted more.

ANGEL had room for alot of questions as to the next step – you did leave the show wondering What happened next… and you never got that answer. Then, one day, the writer for the ANGEL comics (not considered to be in any way Canon) ran into Joss in a coffee shop and approached him. Joss sat down with the guy and using the plans for what was intended to be ANGEL’s 6th season, plotted out a comic book version of the story.

SO.. while Buffy was never supposed to have a season 8, Joss has written a story that is extremely satisfying. ANGEL was, however, supposed to have a season 6, and in “ANGEL: After the Fall”, here it is.

The comic opens a while after the ANGEL finale (The actual “exactly what happened right after” story will be told in another comic – “ANGEL: First night”, this april). And we immediately see that the stakes have been raised. LA is literally in Hell, and ANGEL is trying to save people from being devoured and enslaved by the Demons who are now running the town.

We see the fates of Major and Minor Characters, and the tone matches the show exactly (better, in fact than the match made by Buffy S8). The dialogue is smart.. not the whip smart Joss Dialogue (Joss did story only) that BUFFY S8 has – but still dark, brooding, and also funny. It feels a LOT like the show.. and that is a good thing (many, including me, believe it is a far superior show, especially seaosn 2 onward). The art is quite good.. a little to comic-booky for me.. (BUFFY S8 has really real looking people, these are more archetypical) – and the layouts are impressive.

The issue builds and then ends with a bang so welldone, you are ready for the screen to snap black and say “Executive Producer: Joss whedon”. And if you’ve watched Joss shows.. you know that’s a good thing.