|
|
Nerd Alert!
November 26, 2007
Like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel is back. In comic form. (Frankly, I'd have preferred in pog form.)
Last week, the first issue of "After the Fall", the continuation of Angel as a comic book series masterminded by Joss Whedon hit the shelves. On Thanksgiving eve, Sean and I were nerd alerting all over the place, hanging out at New England Comics before seeing Blade Runner: The Final Cut. I made the big stink I always do about how Angel must have died in that alley fighting the dragon in the series finale, "Not Fade Away", and how I'll never read this so-called season 6.
So the other day I read issue one of season 6. I hated it. Hated, hated, hated it.
I was already predisposed to hate it because I hate continuing something outside its original medium. I've always felt things like Star Trek and Star Wars novels don't count. (George Lucas and every Trek TV and movie producer agree.) For those that enjoy them, great. But I can't get into them.
I didn't intend to pick the comic up because I always felt the end of the Angel TV show was pretty great. I was satisfied with the way Angel went out, back against the wall, fighting the good fight for redemption and justice against all the monsters of Hell. It was a poetic ending honoring what the series was all about. I'd have loved nothing more than if Angel got a season 6 and beyond on television. For me, continuing the series in comic form just doesn't work. Felt that way when I read Buffy #1 too.
Still, I buckled and read the comic because it's Angel and I loved Angel. I gave it a try. I wanted to see what "season 6" would have been about. The ideas were interesting:. Los Angeles being cast into Hell. Wesley's ghost still under contract to Wolfram and Hart. Connor, Gwen Raiden, and Nina the Werewolf working as a team to keep the innocents safe. That's neat. Gunn becoming a vampire? Echh. Still, I'd have loved to see that shit had the series continued. But it's just not the same as a comic. It's not as good by any means. The artwork sucked. The characters didn't even look like the actors.Without David Boreanaz and those actors playing those characters and without live action, it's just not Angel. It's just "official" fan fiction. I just couldn't get into it. I won't be buying another issue.
For me, Angel is over. It will never come back. I miss that show but I can always see Angel, Cordelia, Fred, Wesley, Gunn, Lorne, and the rest on DVD whenever I want. The comic isn't the next best thing to the television series. To me, it's a poor substitute.
And that goes for Buffy as well.
|
