Well folks, Angel, much like Buffy before him, gets renewed for another season. Angel Season Six entitled “After the Fall” gives us the rest of the story following the gang’s stand against the the Circle of the Black Thorn, and their new lives, in Hell. Joss Whedon, Brian Lunch and Franco Urru unite to continue the tale of everyone’s favorite vampire with a soul. Here’s our review for the first three issues of the series.
Angel: After the Fall #1-3
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Taking place months after the events of “Not Fade Away”, the entire city of Los Angeles has been sent to Hell and carved up and divided among demon lords. Angel does what he can to save humans he comes across with remaining resources at his disposal and his new pet dragon, but must also live with the knowledge he’s responsible for sending the entire city to Hell. Our hero seems lost, and unsure of his new role is to be in this new reality. The reasons for this uncertainty aren’t immediately evident, but watch closely and you’ll find clues to the surprise revealed in issue #3.
Angel’s pals show up as well. Connor, Gwen, and Nina are all doing their part and have started a sanctuary for humans. And Wesley, the only “surviving” employee of Wolfram & Hart, is a ghost and a lone voice of logic in a world now devoid of any. Whether Angel can trust him, or Wesley can trust himself, is another question which needs to be answered. But Angel and Connor’s group aren’t the only heroes around. Gunn is running his own posse, though he’s a bit more bloodthirsty than before (if you get my drift).
This is certainly a different way to take the series, and one which probably wouldn’t have been possible with the limitations of a television budget. I’m not sold completely on Urru’s artwork and the soft glow and muted edges which he gives to the characters, but he does a good job envisioning Los Angeles in Hell. This is a dramatic first chapter to what hopefully will live up to the promise of the television show.
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Issue two finds Angel and Connor both dealing with the fallout from the death of the demon lord of Westwood, who, unknown to them, was taken down by their old pal Gunn, and the possible consequences of Angel killing the son of another demon lord at the end of issue #1. More of the new Los Angeles is revealed and we begin to get a better understanding of how things work in the new Hell-ish L.A.
The evidence left behind at the death of the demon lord of Westwood sends Angel, mistakenly, to question the demon lord of Beverly Hills (you might remember his as Spike). The banter between the two, so well used in Season Five, is present from their first scene together here. And the slug fest between the two in front of the bevy of beauties is pretty good too.
This issue also includes a pretty disturbing scene between Gunn and Beta George showing us how ruthless, and possibly quite insane, vampire version of the former hero can be. What exactly Gunn’s new role will be in this new reality is still to be determined.
This solid second episode gives us a little more info on the rest of the gang and starts to explain what they’ve been up to since Angel got them all sent to Hell. Urru’s artwork continues to puzzle with odd takes on the looks of both Gwen and Nina (neither of which are immediately recognizable – and don’t even get me started on Illyria). Spike however comes off just right.
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Angel’s arrival and into Beverly Hills has caused an interruption and a battle with Illyria, who doesn’t like to see her favorite pet (Spike) messed with. The result is Angel getting his ass kicked all around Spike’s mansion, much to Spike’s amusement, and then watching Illyria take on his dragon (which could have gone on a little longer for me).
None of that however is as painful as realizing that Spike’s been on the up and up and been a hero in Hell as Angel has been sitting on the sidelines. This new found knowledge and guilt of course makes our hero go out and do something very brave, and insanely stupid. He leaves to pick a fight with all of the demon lords of Los Angeles at once for a winner take all. And, much like the first two issues of the series Whedon saves us a nugget of insight for the final page revealing just how hard Angel’s got it now.
The issue also contains some unexplained time-looping during Angel’s battle with Illyria. Whether this is some weird Hell-ish side-effect on her powers or something more substantial, we’ll have to wait and see.
Although only three issues in to this new season we’ve been given quite a bit including the whereabouts of most of heroes (did Lorne hightail it to Vegas before L.A. got swallowed up?) and a building understanding of what this new existence is like. As I’ve said, I’m not quite sold on the art, but the story has been good enough so far to keep me interested. The real test is how the next few issues begin tying together these characters and moving the season forward to a climax and conclusion.