The whole process of liasoning with 20th Century Fox and Mutant Enemy fascinates me (far more than Angel: The Curse did, it must be said). Cheers for the link.

Simon | November 07, 22:30 CET

I finished The Curse wondering what the point in it all had been, Angel's wanting the happiness clause removed was out of character, it was a story that didn't need to be told, there wasn't enough story to fill out the 5 issues and they padded it out with far too much fighting, I was always dissapointed with how quickly I got through each issue as there was never much to it. I look forward to the next series with the hope that a more familiar setting and more of the characters we know might produce a more interesting story. Definitely looking forward to Spike Vs. Dracula I really liked Peter David's one shot.

[ edited by Ghost Spike on 2005-11-07 21:31 ]

Ghost Spike | November 07, 23:31 CET

I think the Curse was Ok...but I agree that the story seemed to have little point. I will buy the next series as I am hoping for the return of Spike and Illyria, and Gunn too if it is really him. From the description though, I am starting to feel that the reader will not really get a good picture of what happened in the alley...but I can understand the dilemna Marriote has if Joss is keeping some of that info off limits. One thing I hope we don't see is a regression for Spike...I wasn't liking the sounds of the story so far, but I do realize that Jeff warned that things are not as they may seem. I guess I'll just see what happens. I do want to keep supporting these comics in hopes that we will get more later but in all honesty, I really only care about the Spike parts. I enjoyed the Spike one shot, and am looking forward to the Spike series about Dracula....very cool I hope !!!

kathylovesspike | November 08, 04:32 CET

The first thing I thought of when I finished #5 was "Wow, I wasted $20." There was no purpose to this story, other than making money. They also managed to take one of my posts from the IDW message boards and post it as a letter in Angel: The Curse #4.

AuburnTiger | November 08, 06:21 CET

I've not read The Curse because it really never caught my interest, which is a shame because I am a big fan of AtS. To me, The Curse always seemed to be like just another comic using these characters and set in their world but not part of the "official" continuation of their stories (out of respect for the artists involved I'll refrain from using the 'double-F word' but it's often crossed my mind). I realize that's perhaps unfair and that such stories do have their place - they're just not for me.
I tend to agree with AuburnTiger's assessment regarding the purpose of this story. Gary Miller of Comixfan evens asks straight up "Why continue?" Jeff Mariotte makes several good points in his response, that there are always fans who want more (and rightfully so), that the fans will wait for Joss and that both The Curse and Old Friends are deliberately vague on the subject of 'what happened' because Joss is keeping open his options to tell new stories (and until we actually see such Joss-penned stories, I don't think there's any reason to accept at face value whatever jokey, teasy comments on the subject that Joss makes at fundraisers, conventions and the like).
However, it does seem to come down to money. Taking an optimistic viewpoint, though, at least these stories are in the hands of folks who are clearly fans of the characters and their worlds. As to why the stories that we're getting from these folks tend to (for now) underwhelm and uninspire...I just don't have the answer to that one friends:-) I just sincerely hope that I am proven wrong on my initial assessment of Old Friends and that this whole business of 'things not what they seem' amounts to more than just a spell, hallucinations or mere flashbacks - I'd really have to be convinced that such a tactic wouldn't be contrived and/or pointless. Time will tell.

gorramit | November 08, 07:55 CET

That's exactly how I felt, Ghost Spike. I kept buying them each month because I thought eventually there would be a point or at least a plot point worth reading, but it never happened.

I'll probably give Old Friends a chance because I'm an AtS fan, but having discussed the subject with gorramit on more than one occasion, I agree with his assessment that it sounds like some sort of shape-shifter, dream/nightmare or spell scenario.

[ edited by samatwitch on 2005-11-08 22:37 ]

samatwitch | November 09, 00:36 CET