Angel

When the latest Spike miniseries, Spike: Asylum, debuted in late 2006, it captivated many fans, including one in particular who would write Brian Lynch a special note of praise. That “fan”? Spike creator Joss Whedon. And the note of praise? An offer to work together to continue Angel’s story beyond “Not Fade Away,” the final episode of Angel: Season 5. You know, the episode that saw Angel and company about to engage in an apocalyptic battle in a Los Angeles alleyway.

Before that tale is told, though, Brian is once again teaming up with his Asylum artist, Franco Urru, to bring about another Spike adventure. An adventure that just might see Spike “puppetized” in the same way that Angel was in the classic Season 5 episode “Smile Time.” Spike: Shadow Puppets is a four-part adventure guest-starring Lorne, some returnees from Spike: Asylum, and a cast of thousands. Thousands of ninja puppets, that is.

Brian was good enough to share a bit more about Spike: Shadow Puppets as well as the upcoming Angel series... and as a special bonus, below the interview, you get an exclusive look at the first five pages of Spike: Shadow Puppets #1, along with some commentary from Lynch, too.

Newsarama: Spike: Shadow Puppets, on top of everything else, is quite the team-up between Spike and Lorne. The two never really had much to say to each other in the TV show, but their interplay in the comic feels right, and works really well. What made you think they’d pair up so well?

Brian Lynch: It kinda came about while I was writing Spike: Asylum and needed someone outside of the rehab facility to help Spike. Since it was established that they were near Las Vegas, I thought Lorne was an easy one to bring in. Once I started writing Spike and Lorne’s dialogue together, I noticed how well they play off each other. I think it’s because they’re two of the funnier characters from Angel. They both enjoy taking the piss out of other characters, so if they were in a situation where they had to hang out, it was only natural they’d start digging at each other. Halfway through issue one of Shadow Puppets, the miniseries definitely becomes a "buddy picture" with Spike and Lorne being thrown together and not enjoying it. Of course, like all good buddy pictures, they form a bond by the end. Around issue three, in fact, there’s a downright "nice" moment between them... until Spike realizes it’s a nice moment and goes out of his way to mess it up.

NRAMA: The covers seem to give away the fact that Spike, and possibly Lorne, too, get "puppetized" just as Angel did in the "Smile Time" episode. But there are some unexpected surprises and guest-stars in this series, too, aren’t there?

BL: Oh yes. A few Angel favorites pop up briefly in issue two, and one of the big bads working behind the scenes at Smile Time: Japan is definitely a crowd favorite. Puppet Spike is awesome and Puppet Lorne is even more awesome, but let’s just say that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Puppetizing Angel characters. I hope Diamond Select Toys is paying attention; we just handed them their product line for the next few years.

NRAMA: Cuter: puppies or puppets? Discuss.

BL: Puppet puppies. Definitely. No wait, I’m gonna change my answer. Let’s think this one through: the cutest puppy ever? One of those little wrinkle dogs, probably. Sharpei, I think they’re called. Damn cute. But the cutest PUPPET ever... I’d have to go with Kermit’s nephew Robin, who is WAY cuter than a Sharpei... answer: Puppets are definitely cuter. Even the Smile Time puppets are cute as hell. They’re murderous demons, but they’re so adorable.

NRAMA: Following this 4-part tale, your next comic-book effort seems to be a dream gig for many people, and certainly for Angel fans: you’re working alongside (figuratively, I mean, you’re not crowding him at his desk) Joss Whedon and picking up Angel’s story where it left off with the finale of the TV show. We’re talking about the project that’d had the working title of Angel: Season 6, a story Joss has dubbed “After the Fall.” How’d such a thing come about in the first place?

BL: He begged and begged and begged, until I relented. That’s the story I tell the ladies, anyway. The true story is, I ran into him the day before Spike: Asylum #1 came out and told him about it. A few weeks later, he e-mailed Mr. Chris Ryall and said that he enjoyed the series and that he was thinking about a post-series Angel book, and he thought I’d be right for it. I was shocked and elated. We met for breakfast, traded ideas (his were better, mine were mostly of the "what if Angel and I went to a Bachelor Party? Can you imagine the fun that would be?" variety). He also indulged me in my geeky questions, Angel and otherwise.

NRAMA:I know there’s not much you can say now, but will you please tell us everything? Who lives, who dies, who ends up wearing an eyepatch, and so on?

BL: All the lead characters die. Or should I say, have died, when the series begins. The series is basically two new characters at a diner talking. At first the topic of conversation is this vampire with a soul that got killed in an alleyway fighting a dragon, but eventually they move onto discussions about the upcoming weekend, fixing their boat, complaining about their boss. It’s pretty awesome, a real slice of life. I wish I could really tell you about Angel, but come on, you wanna be surprised, no? I will say that the whole thing feels very, very epic... but still full of those character moments that people have come to expect from Mr. Whedon.

NRAMA: How do you and Joss go about plotting out the return of these (well, some of these) beloved characters? Who does what? BL: Trading e-mails back and forth. I come up with an idea, he molds it into what is called a "good" idea, I work on it some more, he works on it some more...it’s really fun. Basically it’s like when I was younger playing with Spider-Man action figures, but I have Stan Lee playing right next to me.

Spike: Shadow Puppets #1 by Brian Lynch and Franco Urru (with variant covers by David Messina) will be available in June. Diamond Code APR07 3783.