A few months ago Josh Whedon launched a new Buffy The Vampire Slayer comic book that has become the official season eight for the television show. I’ve been reading it every time I go to Borders and so far it’s, eh. Not great, not bad, it’s just there. But it has been successful for Dark Horse, now the folks at IDW who owns the rights to Angel has announced a new official season of Angel in Comic Book form. Read the entire news release below.
When TV fans last saw Joss Whedon’s vampire-turned-savior Angel, he faced off against endless demon hordes as he and his friends charged forward into a heart-stopping, series-ending cliffhanger. Who lived? Who died? And what happened to Los Angeles in the aftermath of the epic battle?
Fans need wonder no more: IDW Publishing this month releases the debut issue of Angel: After The Fall, the official continuation of the TV show, overseen by Angel co-creator Joss Whedon. Working with a hand-picked creative team, Whedon will mastermind the 12-issue maxiseries told as a monthly, year-long saga. Whedon will co-plot the entire story with series scripter Brian Lynch, while art will be handled by Franco Urro, Lynch’s collaborator on IDW’s Spike: Shadow Puppets limited series, also spinning out of Season Five of the TV show.
“Angel and his friends took a stand because he thought it was the right thing to do,” says Lynch. “They fought the good fight, even though they were probably going to lose, even though they were facing insurmountable odds. But that’s the thing about insurmountable odds: surmounting them can be quite a bitch. The series begins to tackle the fallout of Angel’s stand, and what it cost everyone near, around and close to him.”
Acclaimed artist Tony Harris, who has worked on Starman and Ex Machina, will provide special alternate covers for the debut issues, along with monthly covers by Urru, Andrew Robinson, and others yet to be announced.
“This is the story we’ve wanted to tell since we first started publishing Angel comics three years ago,” said Chris Ryall, IDW’s Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. “More to the point, it’s a story fans have been dying to see, and neither they nor I ever wanted to tell this tale without Joss. So it’s great to have his participation, as well as the great work by Brian and Franco, to proper deliver this epic saga.”
The series kicks off in November with a special 27-page story and a preview of a new Brian Lynch zombie comic, and will be shipped monthly thereafter. Along the way, IDW will also release some one-shot stories that tie in to the larger storyline. The first of these will be the April 2008 release Angel: First Night, which details the events at the end of Season Five’s final day as they affected some lesser-seen characters from the show.