Angel: After the Fall
The Buffy Season 8 comic book series has been a smashing success, and now IDW has begun Angel Season 6. Frankly, I had mixed emotions about "Chosen," the Buffy series finale. But I thought the Angel finale was pure genius, amazing from beginning to end. Some fans were upset about the ending, suggesting it was a cliffhanger that was meant to string fans along and not give us a resolution. But I loved it, and for me, the characters who are still standing in the final moments of the series will be the ones running into battle for all of eternity.

Now, we get a glimpse of one possibility of how it all could have gone down. Joss has said these comic books could be considered canon, and if that's the case, season 6 of Angel would have been one very, very, VERY dark season. This comic is dark, bleak, scary, and, to be honest, a little confusing. I had to read certain pages over and over to try to follow the action. Several of our favourite characters are back. Just as Buffy season 8 began in Buffy's head with her narrating the action for us, this one is in Angel's.

Oh, and Angel's final line of the television series -- "Personally, I want to slay the dragon. Let's go to work" -- is addressed in the opening pages.

I don't want to spoil the comic for those who haven't read it, but I'll definitely recommend it. Hey, it's the Whedonverse, how could I not? I do want to say one thing (and it's very positive) about the comic (I'll put it in white, and you can highlight it to read it):

Wesley is back, and anyone who has read my Angel book Once Bitten will know that I adored that character more than any of Whedon's others. I loved his development from kooky slapstick doofus to dark, serious, depressed, and troubled man. I thought his arc was handled beautifully, and when he died, my heart broke in two. So in this comic, when he first pops up in hell, all I could think of was, after everything that happened to him, this is where he ended up. He died and went to hell. And it was like a weight the size of an elephant was sitting on my chest to think that. Wesley just wanted peace, but now we know he'll never have it. Wah. That saddened me to no end... but probably in a good way, since if there's one thing Whedon can do, it's bring us serious, serious pain.

The series is only overseen by Whedon, and actually written by Brian Lynch. Lynch does a pretty good job, and I'm definitely intrigued enough by this convoluted first book to want to know what happens, and to know the backstory of how all these characters got here. The next book is due out mid-December, and it features that character we've all been waiting for. You know who I mean.