Angel: After the Fall, Vol. 2: First Night (2008)

Volume 1 of this series ended in a cliff hanger, but instead of resolving, this volume travels back to the night of the fall of Los Angeles, right where the TV series ended. It was nice to understand how people had got to the places they were when volume 1 began, but honestly now that they were there, I was ready to go forward. Wesley's story is particularly heart breaking...as ever. ( )

So what happened that First Night when Los Angeles went to Hell? This is the collection that reveals it! From Wesley's death, to Gunn being turned, it's all here with a good number of guest stars who are very important in the battle. Another thrilling adventure by Bryan Lynch that keeps the entertainment factor quite high! ( )

another great installation. i am loving finding out what happens after the tv show ended. i find the stories to be really engaging and i'm excited to see where they take it. the artwork is also really stellar. ( )

Reason for Reading: Next in the series.

Summary: After the shocking ending of Vol. 1, Vol. 2 leaves us hanging and backs up in time to the first night after the ending of the television series. This book is smaller containing only 3 comics that contain vignettes of all the characters showing us where they ended up that first night, why they are no longer all together and how they came to be in the situations we find them in Vol. 1. Angel himself is not in this volume at all, which is a little odd at first but this book's purpose is to re-establish the other characters, whom we knew so well, with the new turns their character's have taken in Vol. 1. There is also a surprise return of an old character from the series. I was never fond of this person on the show but their introduction here was very exciting and I look forward to Angel's response to seeing this person back in town. The book ends with an art gallery of covers and work by various artists, then an article by Lynch on a few stories they thought of putting in the issues but didn't for one reason or another and then finally ends with a page by page run through of notes for each issue with thoughts on what ended on the page or the ideas behind it. Very interesting stuff. First Night is a quick read and while not quite as OMG exciting as Vol. 1, definitely a great read with wonderful art especially some work by Nick Runge of Amy Acker (stunning!) ( )

Volume 2 of Angel: After the Fall is a series of vignettes all written by Brian Lynch, but drawn by a variety of artists, letting us know what happened to various characters on the First Night After the Fall.
It's interesting to see the different interpretations the artists have of the characters and the story, and fun to see the threads running through all of them.
The hardcover also includes some behind the scenes commentary from Lynch which is excellent and displays exactly why Joss chose him to take the lead on this series. ( )