Thursday, July 24

Angel: After the Fall 1-10 Review


Angel: After the Fall started November 21, 2007 and I think it is a good series. Like some critics have said, that the first issue is a bit confusing to new readers. For years, fans have been crazy mad to find out what happened to our friends at the end of season five where they met an army from Wolfram & Hart in a rainy alley. The series doesn't start at the same moment but some time after it. Los Angeles has been sucked into hell and unbeknownst to the rest of the world. There is a giant magical wall holding everyone prison. And our friends have changed significantly since we last saw them. Wesley is a ghost, Illyria is shifting back and forth to Fred, Connor is a hero, and Spike is helping him, when not trying to protect people from Illyria, who can also make time loopy again. Also in for the fun is Angel's ex-girlfriend Nina the werewolf from Season Five, Gwen the lighting lass from Season Four, Groosalugg from Season 2-3, and former cop Kate, from Season 1 & 2--but she hasn't seen Angel yet. Nor does Angel know she has interacted with Connor. And Angel and Gunn? Um... Gunn is a vampire out for revenge on Angel... who is now human.

It is not called Season Six like the Buffy continuation because Joss Whedon wished to separate the two. He said he was used elements he was planning to use for Season Six in this, but it isn't exactly what he was meant to be for Season Six. The dragon Angel wanted to 'get' has become his friend and a character from the comics has joined the canon--Beta George, a psychic fish. The overall plot of 'After the Fall' is Angel trying to challenge the 'Lords of L.A.,' who are all in control of LA and are demons. Two of the lords are Illyria and Lorne--who has made a safe haven. Meanwhile, Gunn plots his revenge. Illyria doesnt appear until the end of Issue 2 and Spike until Issue 3. Spike lives with Illyria in Beverly Hills with a group of warrior women, one is called Spider.

Spoilers:
Issues 6-8 are called 'First Night,' which details the adventures of most of our characters after everything went to hell like Lorne, Connor, Spike, Illyria/Fred, Kate (her only appearance is in Issue 7) Wesley, Gwen and Gunn. So because they are sent to hell and both the sun and moon are out, everyone's powers are wonky such as Illyria, Gwen (she got a cure in season 4 which is now defunct), and Nina (who is between werewolf and human). Also, Connor has feelings for Gwen. And Spider, who might have had sex with Spike (not so clear), was seen flirting with Groo. Angel is revealed not to be a vampire at the end of Issue 3, Illyria reveals she can turn into a 'real' Fred to Wesley at the end of Issue 5. Illyria revealed to Wesley, who still has his corpse in case there is a loophole out of his contract with Wolfram & Hart, that Fred is still inside her in Issue 9. It still hasn't been explained how Angel became human but it did show Gunn finding out he was turned into a vampire, and the night in the rain in the alley hasn't been shown yet.


After Issue 10, there is a spin-off 4-issue comic called Spike: After the Fall, only the first issue has been revealed so far. Spike is seen taking care of a group of people, along with Illyria, which kills anything in her path and then suddenly turns into Fred. Also, it seems it is showing the beginning of how Spike and Illyria met the women (and Spider) to take over Beverly Hills.

The art is beautiful in all the comics, even though they stray away from it in different styles for "First Night," which gets a bit questionable. The writing is just as great as the show. Even though the mood is pretty low in Issue 1, the momentum picks up.