Angel Season 6

"Dark Overseer of everything west of Beverly Hills."

We're dumped right into the mix without any explanations whatsoever. There's no indication of how long it's been. But what is clear that Wolfram & Hart took a terrible revenge for Angel and co's stand. Wolfram & Hart sent the entire city of LA to hell. Now the city is overrun and ruled by demons. The last surviving humans have only a few champions and even Angel doesn't know of anyway out of this mess. However Angel did befriend the dragon and now he flies around on it killing demons.

That's the good part of this issue. The bad part is, the art is hideous. It's vague scrawls that bear no resemblance to the characters, people have to name them before I knew who the hell anyone was. Worse than that is the fact that fraking Wesley is still around.

An okay read. I'll read issue 2 but if the art doesn't improve I'll drop it. Seriously the artwork is hideous.

Comments:

• No Spike (praise the Lord).
• No Illyria (mmmm).
• No Eve (Thank God)
• No Lorne or Harmony (mmmm)
• But Wesley is alive and is the successor to Lilah and Eve as the representative of the Senior Partners.
• Connor is back and he's hanging out with Gwen and Nina.
• And the cliffhanger ending of issue 1 is: Gunn's a vampire.

This issue is mediocre and the artwork is only slightly less ugly then it was in issue 1. After the ending to the show, it is disappointing to see how everyone ended up. Spike, Illyria and Gunn all hate Angel now. Plus there is no indication of how Angel can ever get the city out of its utterly bleak situation.

Comments:

• Were all the skanks in thongs necessary to the plot?
• Gunn has gone seriously insane and bloodthirsty as a vampire. He hates what he is but he still has minions and a plan.

I have to admit that Angel season 6 just isn't grabbing me. Why? It could be the slllooowwww storyline, the ugly artwork or the fact that every character is now hateful. Or maybe it's all three.

This issue did nothing for me, even the big cliff-hanger ending: Angel's human didn't do anything. How did Angel stop being a vampire? Did he get the Shansu? Or is it a part of Wolfram & Hart's punishment? Why does everybody hate Angel now? Why did the gang fracture?

I'm giving it one more issue, seriously it's make or break time. Give me a reason to care people.

After three somewhat lacklustre issues, the 'After The Fall' comic picks up. Angel recalls how he first learnt he was human. On the night he and his gang made their last stand he jumped off a building to join in a fight only to break every bone in his body. Ouch. Now he uses Wolfram & Hart magic to heal his wounds and pretend he is still a vampire. Lorne shows up, he is the Demon Lord of a neutral Stepford like town. Also Groosalugg shows up to assist Angel. Meanwhile Gunn breaks into Wolfram & Hart to steal a photo of the old gang and then he blows up the building and Wesley fades away. Good, I think I'll stick with Angel Season 6 for now. It's finally got interesting.

Comments:

• Who turned Gunn?
• What is the deal with Spike and Spider?
• What will Angel do without his base of operations?
• Is Wesley gone for good?
• Why is Illyria suddenly such a lame character?
• Where is Lilah?
• Is Eve dead?
• Is Lorne still a good guy?

"Does no-one stay bloody dead in this world?"

The gang's all back together, sort of for the big showdown with the hell-lords. As the battle rages, Gunn watches noting he helped manipulate the gang back together and then at the height of the battle, Illyria reverts back to being Fred and that little cliffhanger isn't being resolved til issue 9. Good.

Comments:

• Eve is dead.
• No mention of Harmony.
• Why does Lorne say Fred is in Heaven? Wasn't it stated that her soul was destroyed by Illyria's resurrection?
• Why oh why did they bring back Wesley?
• Spike's hanging a lampshade comment on the endless resurrections in the Buffy/Angel universe only points out how daytime soap opera the whole concept is.
• Where is Lilah?
• What is Gunn planning?

In issue one, we get 3 tales about:

• Spike: loves Fred, gets Illyria. Beats up demons.
• Connor: broods about his three fathers (Holtz, Angel and fake memory father) as he remembers everything about his life. His memory of Holtz protecting him in the hell dimension is sweet, if warped. Then Connor gets captured by demons who know who he is.
• Lorne: told in musical format, this tells of how he created the sanctuary in Silverlake.

Interesting, the Connor story is the best. The vile snotty punk that blighted season 3&4 has been transformed into an interesting, sympathy character. Will the upcoming issues tell who vamped Gunn? What became of Harmony? Wesley's recruitment by Wolfram & Hart? How Angel become human? What happened to Anne, Gwen and Nina?

Wesley: Dear old dead Wes is tempted by visions of Lilah (or is it Eve, the art is making it hard to tell) who reveals he is dead, Wolfram & Hart own him and he works for them now. Wesley is kicked out onto the streets of LA and told to watch Angel. Wolfram & Hart know Angel is mortal and they are using Wesley to win the fight against Angel. An okay tale. Who was Lilah/Eve talking to? Who is the big bad?

Kate: Yes Kate's back. She saves Connor from the demons. How the demons know Connor's paternity isn't explained. Kate is no longer a cop but Angel has inspired her to fight the good fight. So she has a bunker filled with more guns, ammo, swords, knives and explosives than a compound full of survivalists would have. Kate's out to fight the good fight. So Connor decides, yeah he'll do that too. This is very good one, it's good to see Kate again. Also it is revealed that Gunn is preparing his army of vampire minions for something. And he's preparing them by making them train to the death against captive slayers.

A good issue. 'Angel: After the Fall' has really stepped up. Who is behind Wesley's resurrection? Did Kate survive after the first night? Where did Gunn get slayers? What is Gunn preparing for? So much plot potential in this one. See you next month for issues 8 and 9.