Angel: After the Fall 1-5 by Joss Whedon and Brian Lynch

***SPOILERS***

***SPOILERS***

A lot has changed since Wolfram and Hart sent Los Angeles to hell. First things first, Angel has a dragon. He’s still defending people from the baddies, but that’s a lot harder since demon lords control the city and have enslaved all the humans. Wesley, who died in the TV show, has been brought back (in ghostly form) to serve as Wolfram and Hart’s earthly representative. And, this is a big one, Gunn is now a vampire (he was turned during the big battle) with a major thirst for revenge. Nina (the werewolf/Angel love interest from season 5) returns, along with Gwen (the electro-girl who made a few cameos in the TV show–it took me a while to remember who she was). The major action of volume 1: Angel kills a demon lord and starts a war (that’s a new one ) and Gunn defeats an evil glowy skeleton only to feed on the girls he just saved.

In volume 2, Angel, Connor and Gwen beat up some demons, Gunn tortures a fish (Betta George) for information and we finally learn what Spike’s been up to since the Fall. Ends up he’s gone Hugh Hefner (at least on the surface). Really, he’s been helping hundreds of people while in service to his “lord,” i.e. Illyria.

In volume 3, the demon lords of L.A. make a deal with Angel. He will fight a champion from each lordship. Win, and Angel gets control of all of L.A. Lose, Angel dies, hell gets a little bit worse, the usual. Oh yeah, and big bombshell in this one: Angel is now human!

Some old friends come back in issue 4. Namely, Lorne (everybody’s favorite green lounge singer) and the Groosalugg (Cordelia’s short-time lover from another mother…I mean dimension). Oh, and Gunn blows up Wolfram and Hart headquarters.

The big battle kicks off in issue 5. Angel’s friends break the rules and come to his aid. The cliffhanger? Illyria sees ghostly Wesley for the first time since the Fall, and she turns back to Fred mid-battle.

Like the TV shows, Angel: After the Fall is not as good as Buffy Season 8, but well worth the read for die-hard fans. I know some people will disagree with me on this, but, in my opinion, TV Angel never quite lived up to Buffy. It had a lot of good things going for it, but it lacked the humor and timelessness of the Bufster.

Anyway, my fav part is the whole Illyria/Wesley dynamic, but the Gunn becoming a vamp and plotting to kill Angel is pretty cool, too. As for the Angel is human thing, it seems kind of random (and like too little too late). I mean, I know earlier in the series there was always the hope that Angel would turn human and he and Buffy would live happily ever after. But so much has happened since then. I don’t know if I can even see Buffy and Angel together anymore.

DweebMeter: 4/5

Links

Angel: After the Fall on Wikipedia