It's a pity that this arc isn't leading into the Twilight story. I wouldn't care normally and I'd be happy to see IDW do their own thing, but it feels like a bit of a wasted opportunity if they're sending him into an apocalyptic future when we know Angel was in one directly pre-Twilight.

Also, the more I read about Willingham, the more he just comes across as a consumate unprofessional. It sounds like he really did just ditch IDW halfway through an arc.

And not that I'm complaining, but these guys sure do a lot of interviews, don't they? This is the seventh in about as many weeks.

[ edited by Matt7325 on 2010-10-10 07:17 ]

Matt7325 | October 10, 06:14 CET

Hmm. So this can either be really good or really bad. I don't think there's going to be anything in the middle with this series. I mean, the story sounds like it could be amazing if it's executed properly. If it's not, then it'll just be cheesy and over the top. I'm hoping for the really good.

jesse | October 10, 06:15 CET

Bummed that Kate is leaving, I adore Kate.

Also bummed that James' timeline does not make any sense at all. Who the heck were all those other angels during "Aftermath"?

Although, I suppose James makes exactly as much sense as Jasmine did.

That being said, I love Laura and Connor and Gunn and Eddie Hope, so this will be fun. Will be said to say goodbye to the IDW-original characters.

Ravenwing263 | October 10, 06:49 CET

Is this the future that featured Angel and Spike in After The Fall? That greatly intrigued me, did that.

Simon | October 10, 08:27 CET

This all sounds great, but... Kate's leaving?! No! ;_;
She needs some lovin'. For reals, lovin' from a good writer.

With all the new covers we got, and this interview, I'm excited big time. This finale arc is gonna be a great place to start reading again, and also finish, I think.

Fred_Sonja | October 10, 10:59 CET

Ugh, time travel. It never, ever makes sense.

goingtowork | October 10, 13:02 CET

http://www.mtv.com/videos/interview/581731/angels-final-arc-and-dark-horse.jhtml#id=1649591

Same info as the Buffyfest interview, but now as a fun and exciting video interview from MTV Geek.

Andremthefoozle | October 10, 18:31 CET

Is there a comprehensive timeline anywhere, especially for the IDW comics (for both the current run and the pre-"After the Fall" stuff) ? The Angel and Spike Omnibus collections are relatively cheap and I'D like to read what I missed finally (also, just in case of the slight chance that Dark Horse may utilize anything that happened in the IDW books--also, since I read the current ongoing, I figure I should know the origins of Betta George in Spike: Asylum, at the very least). Also gonna pick up Angel: Barbary Coast and Blood & Trenches.

Has the first Angel vs. Frankenstein one-shot been collected in any of the trade paperbacks or hardcovers yet ?

What I'm mainly looking for is what the best order to read the Angel and Spike stories would be (and Gunn & Illyria's--I'll check out "Only Human" too). Aside from the books that focus on Angel's past, I know the pre-Angel-"Season 6" comics weave in and out of Angel Season 5 (with some having been written before "After the Fall" came out, implied to have happened after "Not Fade Away", but now not properly fitting anywhere).

A friend just finished Buffy Season 7 last week, is onto Angel Season 5, and I've been lending him the comics like Fray and the Buffy Season 3 & 4 bridge "Haunted" at the optimal times to read 'em. Would like to be ready with the Angel comics and Buffy Season 8 order when asked for 'em, maybe omitting the really sucky ones.

[ edited by Kris on 2010-10-11 20:56 ]

Kris | October 11, 20:55 CET

Kris, this site should be of some use to you.

http://buffycomics.hellmouthcentral.com/

Simon | October 11, 21:01 CET

Angel vs. Frankenstein has not been collected. The sequel comes out this week, and there are eventual plans for a John Byrne ANGEL collection.

patxshand | October 11, 22:35 CET

Simon, that site is awesome, huge thanks. I searched on Google earlier today, but only found a couple sites (one called "Steve's", but it was really incomplete). BuffyComics is even more impressive for admitting when something doesn't fit, as with the Angel mini-series "The Curse", "Old Friends", and "Auld Lang Syne" (though you can view them as alternate-Season 6, I suppose, or regard them the same as the pre-Season 8 Dark Horse comics that don't fit).

This'll make choosing which ones to read when a lot easier and hopefully make for a less disjointed reading experience (though I realize I would've been reading 'em in published order if I'd chanced the pre-"After the Fall" IDW comics and kept up with the latest spin-offs).

pat, thank-you for the heads up about Angel vs. Frankenstein. Guess I'll either wait for a TPB or download, then own later. Don't think can wait for the Byrne collection for what he's put out so far though.

My comic shop and local book store(s) are gonna do well off me this week.

Last question: Was the Angel: Masks one-shot comic (featuring a bunch of short stories) ever collected anywhere ? I didn't see it listed in the contents for the IDW Angel Omnibus. If it was uniformly horrible, maybe I'll just skip.

Kris | October 12, 00:44 CET

The John Byrne collection will have the two Frankensteins, the Lorne Story, and Blood and Trenches, so it'll be easy to snap all those up if you can wait for it.

One of the stories from Masks (the puppet one) was put into the Smile Time/Shadow Puppets hardcover, but the rest haven't been. I wish they'd find somewhere to put them, it's the only comic that hasn't been collected.

Matt7325 | October 12, 04:38 CET

Tipton's ILLYRIA short from "Masks" is collected in the "Hole in the World" TPB.

patxshand | October 12, 13:46 CET

Ah. That's kind of a mess. Would probably have to wait for special edition hardcovers or re-releases of the omnibuses for more comprehensive collections (though they did stuff a lot into the omnibus for both Angel and Spike, very nice).

Thanks again for the info, guys.

Kris | October 12, 21:42 CET

Collecting the various shorts in the respective hardcovers/TPBs they wound up in kinda makes sense to me. The Puppet Angel one follows directly from "Smile Time," and the Illyria one super fits into "Hole/Shells." I do hope that the remaining stories (there were two more, right? Cordy and Lindsey?) end up getting collected. The Angel omnibus would've been a good place for that.

patxshand | October 13, 15:21 CET