I'm not sure what to make of some of this. On the one hand, I'm uber-excited to see what Team Angel is up to and how they survived and all that jazz. On the other...I'm just SO not into Angel riding a freaking dragon and bringing Connor back. I was never a big Connor fan...

I'm so torn! Ever since Angel: After The Fall was announced I've been wrestling with to buy or not to buy. The ending to season 5 was perfect. You'd never think it had been cancelled mid-season. It was just...the perfect way for it to go out. Also, I'm not feeling the art but I'm crazy about photo-realism.

Does anyone know if this is going to be widely available in stores? (as in, will MOST carry it the same as the Buffy Season 8 comic?)

medea culpa | November 07, 10:29 CET

For some reason, I thought this came out on 11/28. And I thought the new issue of Buffy was out next week. Apparently I'm living a week ahead of everyone else.

(No, sorry, the strike is still going on.)

UnpluggedCrazy | November 07, 11:59 CET

Great interview. Not long to wait now !

Shade of Pale | November 07, 13:21 CET

That was a nice interview and we get more insight into what to expect, as well as an extra panel to look at which was nice. I'm pretty excited about this, but weary as Joss isn't as involved as he is with the awesome season eight.

vampmogs | November 07, 13:24 CET

Great interview. I love the whole concept for this series, still fighting for redemption

And after q little bit of hesitation on my part about the art, I love the new pages we are seeing. Not long to go now....

angeliclestat | November 07, 13:36 CET

Was that Spike with a ... Lornette?

*Mind boggles*

missb | November 07, 16:38 CET

Has there been any official word on who the blonde girl behind Connor is? I've always assumed the girl on his right is Gwen and I think the blonde is Harmony but i'm not sure exactly why she would be working with Connor, unless it's to get back on Angel's good side, maybe?

Loving the artwork.

RokkRage | November 07, 16:46 CET

I'm so looking forward to this. I loved Spike Asylum, and loved Shadow Puppets even more.

I think the ending of season five was the best ending it could be - for the cancelled series. That doesn't mean I'm ready to give up on the gang.

redeem147 | November 07, 17:56 CET

I've been wanting to ask this ever since Dragoncon, but I wasn't registered before. At one of the comic panels someone brought up "Angel Season 6" comics and Scott Allie was quick to say "it isn't season 6." I don't remember exactly how he described it, but he said that it wasn't the official continuing version, that JW had input on it but not the level of creative involvement he had with Buffy. Which has pretty much been stated already but I was under the impression that it IS season 6.

I am confused about that, and also that there is less of a chance for crossover than when the shows were on separate networks. I'm pretty sure I won't be picking up the Angel comics since after some initial excitement, I've had trouble keeping up with Buffy. I was all on board at first, but the not show/not movie of it all is getting to me more than I thought it would. Man am I jealous of the xfiles people.

ailiel | November 07, 17:58 CET

X-Files, Farscape, Stargate, Highlander, Babylon 5... all these old classics seem to be able to find some way of returning to live action adventures despite the shows having ended. Hopefully Ripper will be the Buffyverse's ticket back to television land.

As for this Angel comic series, it's officially NOT "season 6" according to Brian. He views it more as a single complete story arc than an actual season, if that makes sense? It is, however, the official Joss sanctioned continuation of the events of the television series. What you see in the comic really is what happened next.

RokkRage | November 07, 18:38 CET

I can't wait for these to come out!
I too had a hard time with the whole comic book thing, but Shadow Puppets and Asylum were so so good, it was unlike any experience I have had with a comic book before.

It just felt a lot more like actually being in the story, as opposed to looking at a comic book.

I am hopeful for the Connor arc. I thought the Connor thing started off as a great idea for a character, but it just went wrong on the show.

I can't wait for this, but I hope I don't have as much trouble finding it as I did Asylum and Puppets.

Xane | November 07, 18:41 CET

Sooo looking forward to this!

Especially as I'm one of the few who found season 8 to be a bit of a disappointment all round.

I adore Brian Lynch's take on Buffyverse characters, and I think he will end up doing them proud.

sueworld2003 | November 07, 18:43 CET

Brian Lynch's writing is really spot on, and Franco Urru's artwork is fabulous, so I don't see how this can be anything but awesome. I thought that this wasn't 'Season 6' because it wasn't being written like a TV show (individual stories building to a seasonal arc) but instead being totally written as a comic book. But we shall see how it all works out.

RokkRage: I figured if LA is plunged into Hell then Harmony is going to have trouble using the recommendation Angel wrote in getting a new job. Besides, I just love Harmony, so I hope it is her.

embers | November 07, 19:42 CET

ailiel: Dont worry it *is* the official continuation of the Angel story. They dont refer to it as a season cos its not (and neither is Buffy for that matter IMHO) but it is the continuation of the story in another medium. For me the Buffy "Season 8"
ttle is just that - a title to show that it is the coninuation... they didnt want to do that for Angel ), but think of it as (as Brian Lynch described) a big epic movie - or a trilogy:)
Dont take any notice of what Scott Allie says about it. I dont think he has been too gracious about the whole Angel continuation. Just my opinion of course, but he always seems to be poo-pooing it in interviews.

angeliclestat | November 07, 20:26 CET

Great interview with lots of new info.Lovce the Connor stuff.

Buffyfantic | November 07, 21:24 CET

I cannot *wait* until this debuts.

However, there's one thing that's always troubled me about the perfect, perfect finale that is being carried over into the books. I loved the lump-in-throat producing nobility of the final words and final actions of Not Fade Away. I loved the message of "never give up fighting and seeking redemption." God, I loved it. But I also never quite got why it wouldn't occur to Angel that gajillions of innocents would probably be wounded or killed as the result of the seeming suicide mission against the Circle. Angel convinced his Fang Gang to go along with taking on the Circle by arguing that it would mean taking an important stand against Evil, even if the Circle would be pretty quickly replaced by others and evil would ultimately go on - a sort of "we're here and you can't always control us every single minute even though you'll ultimately bounce back" action.

But at what cost? I always thought that the Angelverse was sufficiently gray and Angel's redemptive path was sufficiently complexly laid out that he wouldn't endanger gajillions to take a stand that, while pure, would ultimately not stem the tide of horror. I see Angel as more like Giles in The Gift than like Buffy in The Gift (in re: the whole Save Dawn vs. Save the Rest of Humanity thing.) So a key arc in the book is Angel now realizing the cost of his plan to take a stand against the Circle? Huh. I always thought he was smarter than that and would have thought of all that before.

But, whatever. I trust Brian and Joss to entertain, dazzle, and move me, and mayhap convince me of the error of my thinking. Perhaps the point is that our flawed but glorious Angel did what he has often done, something.....complicated, and after the fact is regretting some of the ramifications of what he started. That'd ring true to me. Oh, I can't wait! The pages I've seen so far from the debut issue look (and read) fantastic. Buffy Season 8, Angel: After the Fall, Dollhouse, and possibly Ripper - it's suddenly a pretty damned good time to be a Whedonverse/Buffyverse fan, no?

[ edited by phlebotinin on 2007-11-07 19:23 ]

phlebotinin | November 07, 22:21 CET

It's a very good time to be a fan! I have this slightly insane need to keep checking on my comic supplier 'just to make sure' they'll be stocking it :)

Milligan | November 08, 05:34 CET