Top 5 Reasons You Need to Read ‘Angel: After the Fall’

‘Angel’ was a spin-off of ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ that aired on The (then) WB from the fall of 1999 to the spring of 2004. For those who are not familiar with its premise, the show was about a vampire (before they sparkled) named Angel who had his human soul restored by gypsies as a form of punishment. The show dealt with Angel seeking redemption and, along with his investigation team, attempting to “help the helpless.”

Now, the show was a bit shaky during its first season - while surely entertaining, and showcasing a handful of the series’ best episodes, it seemed to have trouble finding its footing as it sought to establish itself as a separate entity from ‘Buffy’. However, by the conclusion of the first season, it seemed the show had finally found its direction. By its fifth (and unfortunately final) season, ‘Angel’ had become one of the best shows, with one of the best ensembles, on television period. In fact, it ranked second (only behind ‘Smallville’) in ratings of all The WB’s shows. For that reason alone, ‘Angel’ should have never been canceled. And yet, it was.

The series finale titled ‘Not Fade Away’ ends with this epic encounter pinning Angel and his team against an army of demons (and a dragon!). Well actually, it ends literally one second before that. Yep, there is no battle sequence, no final resolution. The show concludes very openly, as if to say “the fight never ends,” which is essentially what ‘Angel’ is all about. And while I am in no way undermining the poetic brilliance of that conclusion, the fact that there was still so much story to tell left fans wanting more.

Luckily, more is in fact what the fans got with the release of ‘Angel: After the Fall’ in the Fall of 2007. Here I will explain the Top 5 reasons why every fan of ‘Buffy/Angel’ needs to read this comic:

1. Joss Whedon is involved: With the almighty creator’s involvement in plotting the overall story arc, as well a seal of approval that it is in fact a canonical continuation of the television show, there is no reason why (beyond a resistance to reading) that a fan of the television series should not pick up this comic.

2. Brian Lynch knows how to write: Not only is Brian Lynch an avid ‘Buffy/Angel’ fan, he penned the comic ‘Spike: Asylum’. After reading the first issue of ‘Asylum,’ Joss Whedon felt he had found someone who had a “penchant for capturing the voices of the Buffy-verse characters” and was fully capable of continuing the story of Angel.

3. Bigger, Badder, and Budget Conscious-y-er: Without the constraints that a television budget would bring, ‘Angel: After The Fall’ is able to create a grander vision of Angel’s world, and showcase stories that would have been too difficult or too costly to film. This is especially important considering the scale of the events that follow ‘Not Fade Away’.

4. Many of the characters from throughout the entire series (main and secondary) are present: Furthermore, Lynch uses them respectably. In fact, one character (whose name I will not mention) that had Dawn-like levels of un-likeablity during his/her tenure in the show, is very likable and helpful in the comics.

5. It has a much more appeasing conclusion than ‘Not Fade Away’: For those who deemed ‘Not Fade Away’ the best “first half of a series finale ever,” you’ll be able to find the closure you seek by reading this comic. In fact, if you chose not to read the stories that followed after this arc, this is a very nice pay-off ending for fans of the television show.