Whedonesque : Comments on 15008 : (SPOILER) Angel: After the Fall #2 preview at Newsarama.

Sorry NekoDono, the same pages were posted last week.

http://whedonesque.com/comments/14979

Yup, I did a search. But it looks like there's one extra page this time.

So there is, very cool.

I am the new lord of Westwood!

Got caught up in the moment.

[ edited by Pointy on 2007-12-18 16:27 ]

And it's a between page too (also, these are in the right order). Angel going from Connor's gaff to Westwood is now slightly less of a jump-cut because we're shown his car.

The more I see of these pages, the more I like them. The colours work really well, still conveying the hell-dimension aspect while not becoming too muted or indistinct (feel a bit bad putting everything onto the first colourist - maybe they were rushed or whatever - but it is what it is, apparently the colourist was changing for issue 2 and, presto, now the colours look better).

Saje | December 18, 18:31 CET

Y'know, to me, Spartacus should probably have included some kind of "no crucifixion waver" in his declaration. "I'm Spartacus ! Unless you're going to kill me in one of the slowest, most painful ways possible, then it's definitely one of those other guys, maybe that fella with the wonky beard, never really liked him...".

Saje | December 18, 18:36 CET

Off-topic but the voices heard in that scene weren't those of the extras shown mouthing them. (hey, I don't even have issue 1 yet and it's killin' me just to keep quiet here)

DaddyCatALSO | December 18, 19:30 CET

And it's a between page too

A bold departure from the entertainment industry's proven release-things-out-of-order strategy. What are they thinking?

Pointy | December 18, 19:39 CET

Uh, Saje?

Y'know, to me, Spartacus should probably have included some kind of "no crucifixion waver" in his declaration. "I'm Spartacus ! Unless you're going to kill me in one of the slowest, most painful ways possible, then it's definitely one of those other guys, maybe that fella with the wonky beard, never really liked him...".

Say, what?

barboo | December 18, 19:50 CET

I am looking forward to John Byrne doing the artwork for one of the After The Fall one shots. He's one of my all time favourite comic book artists.

Simon | December 18, 19:52 CET

That's really happening!? I hadn't heard about that!

Dan Corson | December 18, 20:19 CET

Is that for real Simon ? Hadn't heard that but that's pretty big (and cool). Now if they can just get Brian Bolland for the other one ...

Say, what?

Heh, Pointy's "I am the new Lord of Westwood" sent me off down 'Spartacus' Lane (you know the bit at the end when everyone claims to be Spartacus in an effort to cover for him ? "I'm Spartacus" ... "No, i'm Spartacus" etc. ?). In retrospect, maybe slightly, um, non-linear ;).

Saje | December 18, 20:23 CET

From a recent interview with Chris Ryall:

Q:Can you tell me about the art team for "After the Fall?”

A:I can — the artist on the book is Franco Urru, the same artist who illustrated Brian's Spike: Asylum and Spike: Shadow Puppets series. He's an Italian artist who came to me through our other Angel artist, David Messina. And he's talented and dedicated and just one of my favorite people.

So this really is the dream team of talent to work on the project. We also have award-winning guys like Tony Harris and Andrew Robinson providing some covers for the series, too. Each story in the Angel: First Night one-shot will be illustrated by a different artist, including Franco, David Messina, industry legend John Byrne, and some other talented folks, too.

Link:

Simon | December 18, 20:55 CET

I recently retrieved a bunch of my childhood John Byrne X-Men comics from my basement. Excellence.

ETA: Epic and cinematic, like John Cassaday's artwork in Astonishing.

[ edited by Pointy on 2007-12-18 18:08 ]

Pointy | December 18, 21:06 CET

I got to write a story John Byrne is drawing! That is a pretty great feeling.

I love issue 2 of A:ATF. Lots of reunions in store...

Brian Lynch | December 18, 21:39 CET

Lots of reunions in store...

Aaarrgh, !*! spoiler alert !*!, some of it will take place in a shop of some description !

(yep, super-cool, John Byrne = Legend, congrats Brian)

Saje | December 18, 21:46 CET

Man.. John Byrne... I'm speechless!

Dan Corson | December 18, 22:26 CET

I love the Nina dialogue and characterization (were-breasts aside) because her halfway state between human and monster plays well with the werewolf-as-humanity's-bestial-side metaphor. Have fun playing with John Byrne, Brian!

Pointy | December 18, 22:44 CET

Heh, Pointy's "I am the new Lord of Westwood" sent me off down 'Spartacus' Lane (you know the bit at the end when everyone claims to be Spartacus in an effort to cover for him ? "I'm Spartacus" ... "No, i'm Spartacus" etc. ?). In retrospect, maybe slightly, um, non-linear ;).

Ah, that's not in the book. Didn't see the movie. (One more for Netflix queue).

barboo | December 19, 00:02 CET

Lots of reunions in store...

Aaarrgh, !*! spoiler alert !*!, some of it will take place in a shop of some description !

LOL It took me a couple of seconds to get this, but, hey I got there! *wide grin*

*tries to count the minutes until issue arrival* Mmmm, Spike..

Mirage | December 19, 01:30 CET

Showing my hideous ignorance: I have no idea who John Byrne is. I can't wait to find out.

What I also can't wait for? Issue #2. So excited. I've read issue #1 many times by now and it's really grown on me. It's great. I hopehopehope that my comics shop gets enough copies of this issue - unlike the last time.

phlebotinin | December 19, 04:26 CET

Aaarrgh, !*! spoiler alert !*!, some of it will take place in a shop of some description!

I still haven't gotten that yet.

I'm not gonna go look, I'm not gonna go look. I swear, I'm not gonna go look.

It comes out tomorrow, right?

menomegirl | December 19, 04:31 CET

John Byrne? Uh...wow. Can't believe I hadn't heard that before. Nice.

One thing this added page has definitively proven is that Brian gets the comedic evil demons down pat. See also: The desk line and Kr'ph in #1.

(And Saje, I thought your Spartacus thing was funny.)

UnpluggedCrazy | December 19, 07:37 CET

I too laughed at the Spartacus bit. And phlebotinin, check out this and this to get an idea about John Byrne. Though he's been in the business for, like, ever he's probably best known for his classic run with Chris Claremont during the heyday of The X-Men, including the brilliant "Days Of Future Past" and "Dark Phoenix" arcs.

Haunt | December 19, 08:03 CET

Thanks for the tip on John Byrne, Haunt. After doing some searching from the links above (they took me to wonky places), this worked to be out a shorter route. I didn't know much about him, but based on the quality of the work shown and his obviously colorful personality, it seems like he'll bring a lot of imagination and vitality to the look of the Angelverse. I'd love to know which one-shot character's story he'll be doing.

Reading into his history a bit, I have to say that the so-called "Byrne Curse" gave me slight pause. We are dealing with an apocalypse here, after all. ;)

[ edited by Wiseblood on 2007-12-19 08:34 ]

Wiseblood | December 19, 11:33 CET

(And Saje, I thought your Spartacus thing was funny.)

No, I thought your Spartacus thing was ... Wait a minute ... ;)

(if you haven't seen the film though it makes zero sense - in real life BTW Spartacus seems to have been a classic case of balls over brains cos y'see, he made it, he got his "army" to freedom after a series of tactically brilliant battles and could've crossed out of Italy over the Alps but he turned back to re-engage the enemy. Men eh, what're we like ? ;)

Saje | December 19, 13:33 CET

Thanks for the referrals, Haunt and Wiseblood. Byrne's work looks great. A bit strange about his "curse" and his seemingly controversial character, but as long as the art comes through, I think we're in for a real treat.

phlebotinin | December 19, 19:18 CET

You made me laugh again, Saje.

UnpluggedCrazy | December 19, 19:34 CET

I just got issue #2. Obviously I won't discuss its contents until there's an appropriate thread, but I will say two things: (1) many aspects of it rocked, and (2) the quality of the paper used is startlingly lower. No more sturdy glossiness between the two covers. Weird.

Really looking forward to discussing the issue.

phlebotinin | December 19, 22:13 CET

menomegirl,
"In *store*"

in real life BTW Spartacus seems to have been a classic case of balls over brains cos y'see, he made it, he got his "army" to freedom after a series of tactically brilliant battles and could've crossed out of Italy over the Alps but he turned back to re-engage the enemy.

That wasn't in the book either.

barboo | December 20, 01:31 CET

Yeah, it'd be kind of hard to explain (cos ultimately, only he can) and certainly makes his "martyrdom" a lot less heroic (though in real life he was probably killed in battle and NOT crucified anyway - which brutal though his death no doubt was, still sounds like a win to me ;).

A documentary I saw seemed to suggest that it might be at least partly because, after they escaped, he'd basically have been nobody again, and he wasn't happy with that idea. Or maybe he just had such a big chip on his shoulder about the Roman Empire that he really wanted to stick it to them, no matter what ? (he wasn't born a slave in real life either, he was apparently actually a soldier in the Roman army that was sold into slavery for some reason - which I could see might foster a bit of resentment ;)

Saje | December 20, 02:19 CET

Actually, I have to correct myself - it might have been in the novel - it was long enough ago that I read it, that all I really remember is bits and pieces. I think in the novel Spartacus does die in the final battle - the last person to survive and be crucified is a Jewish slave named David. And his (Spartacus') wife is bought but then set free by a Roman and released to live in among one of the "Barbarian" tribes.

On the other hand, the "I am Spartacus" bit, at least according to Wikipedia, is quite famous.

But yeah, the real story is probably, as so often the case, far more interesting than the Hollywood version, to the extent that it can be known.

barboo | December 20, 18:50 CET

December 18 2007