Buffy took season eight to the pages of the comic book world and now Angel’s done the same. The pluses—well lets face it both Angel and Spike have faces made for being drawn.
In the last televised episode of Angel the broody vampire with a soul managed to kill the inner circle of demons at the earthly head of Wolfram & Hart (a demonic law firm, as in made up of demons, run by demons and specializing in demon/supernatural based dealings) and to put it mildly the senior partners were a little peeved. So peeved that they sent all of Los Angeles to Hell, literally. After the Fall starts there, with Angel doing his superhero bit, albeit with a few surprises, like Wesley’s ghostly self being trapped in a contract with Wolfram & Hart, Illyria and Spike being lords of their own demonic territory and Gunn…well I should stop there. But the surprises don’t stop there, and the whole gang is back, having been tried by fire (and fire-breathing dragons) and found who they are, even if their physical shapes and social presences have been significantly changed.
If you hated Angel and you’ve had more than enough of the Twilight broody pretty-boy vampire, skip this one. But if you loved the show, or love noir-paranormal-action you’ll find this graphic novel to be full of great art, killer pacing and one of the best vampire heroes to be found.
I don’t think I liked Angel as much as I like Buffy, not because of the noir-mystery feel (which I adore) but because of the cast. (I never did like Cordelia and Angel’s obsession and the second to last season’s “Cordy becomes a higher being” plot annoyed me.) But I have to say I’m glad to see them all here (plus some) cast in fantastic art with the same dry, sarcastic wit and the same jumbled mess of problems. This is definitely one series I’ll be following.