OMG thank you for telling! And thank God I've only bought one of those before.


Are these collected anywhere else?
I want to make sure I don't buy doubles(some are recollected) or miss out on some extras though buying single issues(of course, some extras have extra material that isn't recollected).

So is the Lorne special or Yearbook collected somewhere?

Does the John Byrne collection have some extras? Otherwise I will buy Angel vs Frankenstein 1&2 seperately.

Is Masks collected somewhere else other than the Smile Time hardcover? I know that one has no extras, other than a art gallery.

Spike Lost and Found, Spike Old times & Spike Old wounds are collected in a omnibus simply called Spike. Does it have extras? Or are they collected somewhere else?

[ edited by Skytteflickan88 on 2012-08-06 14:51 ]

Skytteflickan88 | August 06, 14:12 CET

According to my count (via Wikipedia) there are 53 canonical Angel titles and another 15 canonical Spike titles. While I'm not at all sure of that figure, I'm pretty sure I remember hearing that only some of the advertised "over 150 Angel and Spike books" exist in the same continuity as Buffy Season 8. Is there a definitive list somewhere?

Bishop | August 06, 15:01 CET

Only Angel after the fall(that is the "real" Angel After the fall with 17 issues, not all 44 issues of the main series) has been confirmed by Joss Whedon as canon(The editor of the canon Buffy books have also said that the IDW books "count", whatever that means). So it depends how you define canon. Do you mean Angel After the fall and everything posted afterwards?

So no, no definite list. But, here's some canon-ish books, in my opinion:
-Angel After the fall.
-Spike After the fall(written by the same author as Angel ATF)
-Spike Asylum and Shadow Puppets(has newcharacters that appear in Angel ATF).
-#23 of the main series, since it's by the same author as those previously listed, and it's called the epilouge for Angel ATF
-The 8 issue series by Brian Lynch since DarkHorse and IDW worked together on it, and it shows characters appearing in buffy Season 8.

Skytteflickan88 | August 06, 16:47 CET

Here is my reading list of Angel IDW series in order. These were all published to "fit" with Buffy Season 08 and 09 with the exception of Asylum and Shadow of Puppets. I added them even though they were made before hand since some of the characters were reintroduced later.

The only ones that are offical are the 5 After Fall Books and the Spike series. All others were made without Joss. Anything not on this list were either published before the Season 8 concept or were considered "outside" the universe timeline.

With the exception of Aftermath Vol 5, I would strongly recommend all the books!

Angel: Barbary Coast (prequel to the "Angel" series)
Spike: Asylum
Spike : Shadow Puppets
Angel: After the Fall Vol. 1
Angel : After the Fall Vol. 2
Spike: After the Fall
Angel: After the Fall Vol. 3
Angel: After the Fall Vol. 4
Angel: Aftermath Vol. 5
Angel: Last Angel in Hell Vol. 6
Angel: Only Human
Music of the Spheres (Collected in Angel: The John Byrne Collection)
Angel: Immortality for Dummies Vol. 1
Spike: The Devil You Know
Angel: The Crown Prince Syndrome Vol. 2
Illyria: Haunted
Angel: The Wolf, the Ram, and the Heart Vol. 3
Spike Vol. 1
Spike Vol. 2
Angel: Yearbook (Collected in Angel: The End)

A_Leaf | August 06, 17:42 CET

@A-leaf

The only IDW books Joss actually had a hand in was Angel After the fall and another non-canon(I wish i had the article where Joss discusses its canon status) series published before Angel After the fall. And that was actually over at Dark Horse.

And since there was very little cooperation between IDW and Dark Horse, it's like they exist in alternative universes. They weren't published to "fit" each other. Dark Horse and IDW just worked together on Angel after the fall(Joss co-wrote) and the 8 issue Spike series by Brian Lynch(not sure if Joss, or only Dark Horse's editor was involved).

If you would like some sources, I could find then after looking through some Q&A's. I wonder where you got your info, since it's very different from my understanding on the matter.

Skytteflickan88 | August 06, 18:04 CET

The "Only Human" and "Illyria: Haunted" miniseries are both missing from the sale for some reason, although available elsewhere on the Comixology site.

I'm inclined to accept the Brian Lynch stuff as kinda sorta vaguely canon, although there's nothing in the Dark Horse books that explicitly require it. (Can't say I've read much of the rest, I gave up on the series as it was so expensive and the artwork not to my taste.)

Does the canon status even really matter though - my favourite of the IDW books is the Illyria one-shot by Peter David and Nicola Scott, which came out a while before After the Fall.

[ edited by daylight on 2012-08-06 19:03 ]

daylight | August 06, 19:02 CET

@daylight

To me, canon matters because I want to know the characters well. That includes knowing what did or didn't happen to them.

It can also be confusing, not knowing what the writers count as canon or not. It adds levels to a story, knowing if a writer takes certain comics into consideration or not. I wouldn't want a writer saying "Angel hates dragons" in a future Angel & Faith issue, because that writer hasn't thought of Angel After the fall. That would be confusing.

But I loved Spike: Asulym & Shadow Puppets way before it became canon-ish, so when it comes to enjoying a good story, canon doesn't matter. It's not like Dark Horse are likely to refer to any non-Angel After the fall comics.

Skytteflickan88 | August 06, 19:21 CET

Sure, but the Buffyverse has plenty of unexplained contradictions and continuity errors just going by the TV shows alone...

My attitude is generally "it's canon, until it's not".

[ edited by daylight on 2012-08-06 19:54 ]

daylight | August 06, 19:53 CET

@Skytteflickan88

Yeah that's basically what I meant. IDW tried to keep it cannon and not contradict, nothing to do with Joss. There's an article where IDW was saying they tried to keep everything alligned with Darkhorse (without any actual collaboration) and were blind sided by the fact(spoilers!) that Angel was Twighlight.

A_Leaf | August 06, 20:30 CET

hmm interesting canon arguments i like seeing these as i mainly like to own the canon books as find it makes more sense as everything kinda ties together then

whedonfandavid | August 06, 21:29 CET

@A_leaf

Ok, I see. And agree completely.

And that must have been nice to find out. "Let's see what's being said about one of our best selling titles online. Whaaaaaaaat!?!"

Skytteflickan88 | August 06, 21:34 CET

These were such great books. It's a shame that the conversation is still dominated by debates about "canon." If anyone gets Yearbook, I hope you enjoy my small contribution to what I consider the greatest fictional world of our time. Thanks IDW and Joss for making it happen.

patxshand | August 06, 22:31 CET

@patxshand: Sorry to have derailed the conversation into canonical considerations, but since 99 cents/issue can rack up pretty quickly, I'm trying to be selective!

And thanks to everyone for your help.

Bishop | August 07, 01:49 CET

Skytteflickan88,

I mostly agree with your list of titles.

Angel: After the Fall #1-17 are the only IDW Angel titles that are accepted as being fully canon.

However, I am willing to accept all of the Brian Lynch written books as being mostly canon: Spike Asylum #1-5, Spike Shadow Puppets #1-4 (since characters from these books made it into the canon After the Fall storyline), Spike: After the Fall #1-4, Angel #23-27, Angel Annual #1, Spike #1-8, and "This One Time" from the Angel Yearbook. Taken together, all of his Angel stories create a good bridge between the fifth season of Angel and the Eighth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Since Lynch wrote After the Fall, I view him as being a Mutant Enemy writer and therefore put more weight behind his stories than most others, like how I can accept something like Dark Horse's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Haunted" series as being at least near-canonical since it was written by Jane Espenson and doesn't contradict any other canon material.

pacer | August 07, 06:57 CET

@patxshand

I agree with you, IDW run with Angel was great. It's a shame some won't touch the stuff because they are not "official". Yearbook was a great coda to the series btw :)

A_Leaf | August 07, 14:33 CET

Does anyone have any other recommendations for IDW Angel stories that aren't on my list? I'm going to try to pick up that Illyria one shot.

Side note: Is anyone else sad that no one wants to touch Lorne? I understand they want to honor Andy Hallett but I really miss the character.

A_Leaf | August 07, 14:39 CET

@A_Leaf

I would recommend everything, but if you end up liking the Spotlight:Illyria one, and like Spike asa a character, Spike vs Dracula is a must read, by the same author. Auld Lang Syne is also one of the better pre-After the fall stories.

Skytteflickan88 | August 07, 15:19 CET