You watched the show, now follow it through the graphic novel and comics.

The storyline stays true as Whedon is each step of the way. The illustrations vary as they often do in comics, some good and some bad but at least the story is consistent and entertaining.

This is a fantastic read for Angel and Buffy fans alike. ( )

Summary: After The Fall picks up some time after the big battle that ended Season 5 of Angel. It turns out that the senior partners Wolfram & Hart weren't too happy about Angel & Co.'s part in that fight, and as punishment, they sent the entirety of Los Angeles to Hell. The gang's all there... although most of them have undergone some pretty heavy changes from when we last saw them on our TV screens. Regardless, they're still fighting the good fight, which currently involves trying to wrest control of L.A. from the various demon warlords who hold power over demons and mortals alike.

Review: Eh. This Joss Whedon TV-to-comics spin-off thus far is not wowing me nearly as much as Season Eight of Buffy. On the other hand, I was much more into Buffy than I was into Angel as TV shows, so it shouldn't be surprising that the same pattern holds true in the graphic novels. One of my main problems with Angel was the systematic assassination (literal and figurative) of the characters that I most liked in favor of storylines that I didn't particularly care about. And, while a lot of things have changed between the end of the TV show and the beginning of After the Fall, and while a lot of those changes are very interesting and could potentially play out in very cool directions, I was kind of going into this book with strained patience... which was not fully mollified by the directions taken by the story in this first volume.

Lynch, for the most part, does a good job with the writing. People sound like themselves, and although the speech patterns on Angel weren't quite as idiosyncratic as they were on Buffy, the dialogue matches up with the characters without any noticeable flaws. Likewise, the artwork is fine - everyone is very recognizeable as themselves, with the possible exception of Nina (who wasn't really on the show enough to make a huge visual impression). The drawings and the panelling are all well-done, and dramatic, and dynamic, but they're just not really to my taste - I think it's the air-brushy style of painting that I don't care for.

Overall, I'm going to keep reading; I've got enough invested in these characters that I want to find out where this story is going, but so far, it's not bowling me over the way I'd hoped. 3 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Only for those who have watched all five seasons of Angel and want more; for those people I think the way you feel about Angel the graphic novel is going to depend largely on how you felt about Angel the show. ( )

(Amy) Like many fans of the TV version of Angel, I had a sort of whiplash at the ending brought about as a result of the abrupt cancellation of the show in its fifth season. I was not entirely convinced by the sequence of events leading up to the apocalyptic battle (with dragon!), but was willing to forgive that in light of the rush job that they had to do to get there. I was, however, desperately curious to find out What Happens Next.

Despite this, I put off buying the comics for a long time, thinking maybe I should wait until the end of the Season Eight storyline in the Buffy comics before starting this one, to bring the timelines into sync, just in case. Well, I gave up on that, so here it is. And y'know what? It kinda sucks.

OK, that's overly harsh. It's sort of like the abovementioned last few episodes, though, in that you can see Joss's ideas lurking in there, but they're obscured - in the case of the episodes, by the fact they had to put too much story into too little time; in the case of this graphic novel, by what I can only surmise is bad writing.

Still, I'll be buying and reading the second one soon, because I still want to know what happens next, even though this fairly crucial TV-to-comic transition phase was pretty badly botched. Dear Joss: Being involved in the plotting phase is not enough. Please to be writing the scripts yourself.
( http://weblog.siliconcerebrate.com/ze... ) ( )

The art is great, the writing is strong, and it's wonderful to see the continuing adventures of some of our favorite characters. I usually turn to graphic novels for stories more fun and upbeat than this, but after "Not Fade Away" there isn't much chance for that, I can't blame them for doing something different, and there are certainly plenty of moments where the humor shows through (Nina and Spike in particular have some great panels). But while the comic replicates the optimistic nihilism of the show at its darkest, it's never as intelligent as the show at its best, which means the adventures in apocalypse-land ultimately fail to resonate as strongly as they should. Still, a very well-executed exercise in apocalypse porn with several intriguing plotlines. ( )

If you haven't seen the fifth season of Angel, don't read this review. ANGEL: AFTER THE FALL is the first story arc of season six of the television series, and in reviewing it I'm going to assume that you know how the series ended.

That said:

ANGEL: AFTER THE FALL begins about two months after the end of the TV series. Wolfram & Hart has plunged Los Angeles into Hell. Angel has broken away from his gang and is moping away all by his lonesome, until an old friend encourages him to take the first step along the path towards becoming what he once was.

I've been very impressed with all Joss Whedon's comic book series continuations thus far, and this one is no exception. It's another strong offering from a talented creative team. Lynch's dialogue is spot-on; he's captured the cadence and rhythm of each character's speech so perfectly that you can hear the actors in your head as you read. Urru's artwork is clear and precise; almost everyone is instantly recognizable. (I had some problems with Gwen and Nina). The paneling is dynamic, and helps the story flow along smooth as you please.

And the story itself? It's classic Angel. It's tense and exciting, funny and heartwrenching. Sometimes it's bloody difficult to read. Lynch and Whedon take the world we think we know and turn it upside down. They surprise us. They shock us. They make us laugh. They reaffirm our belief in these characters and their story. And they take us on one hell of a ride.

I'm reluctant to say much more than that, as so much of my own enjoyment of the book stemmed from all the little surprises that cropped up. Suffice it to say that I highly recommend this to Angel fans. Others, you'd do better to watch the series before jumping on in.

(I've also got a longer, ramblier review up on my blog, Stella Matutina). ( )