Angel : Aftermath

A lot of fans of the Angel comics were sad to see that Brian Lynch was ending his run as writer, since he and Joss Whedon started this comic up, and it was great to have him at the helm again. The question is who could possibly follow up Lynch, and the answer was Bill Willingham. Whoever made this decision should get a prize, because Willingham’s whimsical interest in the supernatural and heroism (from Elementals and the brilliant Fables series) fits right in with Whedon’s sense of humor and imagination. He is joined on his run by artist Brian Denham, and the series will pick off where it left off.

The Fall has come and gone and now Angel and his crew are famous in LA for their role in saving the city. Angel #28 starts a new storyline called "The Crown Prince Syndrome" and stars Connor for most of it. Angel’s miracle son is surprised to find three demons from his past Hell world trying to kill him, and while he fights them he considers his past and reconciling the two sets of memories he has. This is all common knowledge to most Angel fans, so it is a little weird to be rehashing everything. People who have been reading the comics so far know that Connor is Angel’s son by Darla, and that he was raised in a Hell dimension. Angel made a deal with Wolfram & Hart to give Connor a better set of memories and a better life. The monsters are giant lizards and he is about to get the drop on him, when strangely dressed strangers come to help him.

They treat him like he’s a royal prince, and as a teenager this is probably the quickest way to rub his ego. He’s the miracle child, the son of two vampires, and so this leads him to take the leadership role when he gets back to Angel Investigations. Gunn, Spike, Illyria, James, Kate and Dez are all there, and so is George. No one knows where Angel is, and they banter about him running off after some girl. They discuss if it’s because of his "I cannot be with you!" drama, and it’s hard not to snicker. Girls just love the broody, angsty men! Spike babbles on about a story of his in Vegas that no one cares about, and he sulks that everyone is talking about Angel. Soon he’ll be going "Angel Angel Angel!" to the tune of "Marsha Marsha Marsha!"

The important part is that no one seems to argue when Connor decides to inherit his father’s position as leader. Really? No one? Alright. Then the comic flashes to Innovation Labs where Angel is strapped up in a top secret place, animal blood coming to him from feeding tubes, and he is bored. That is an amusing reminder of when Cordelia became a higher being and was seen whining in the skies about being bored. No one knows where Angel is yet, but they’ll soon get concerned and kick this storyline off for real. At the end of the comic there is an extra story about a man named Eddie Hope, who seems to be a demon of sorts that is collecting baddies who got out of Hell into the city. It will be interesting if he comes into play for the actual comic, because he seems like a character with real potential.

It’s not a bad beginning, and the art is colorful and interesting. The switch from the brighter base with the main characters to the dark shadowy labs was really interesting. It made a sharp contrast and really set the mood well. It also takes very clean artwork to show each of the characters in a detailed enough way that the reader knows instantly who is who. Willingham is a great storyteller, so it is worth checking out this new storyline to see where he is taking the Angel gang.