|
Editorial Review Product Description
In possibly the craziest Angel volume yet, we find out what happened to Gunn, Drusilla, Angel, and Spike in the aftermath of the Fall, which includes comas, insane asylums, a comic con, and even Angel's movie adaptation. With stories by fan-favorite writer Brian Lynch and a two-issue arc co-written by Drusilla herself, Juliet Landau, this collection shows you just how insane Angel's world can get. ... Read more Customer Reviews (7) 
Spike (magicked into becoming Angel): "First we should walk in a line. Slow, proud, sullen, important. I will take the lead."
After the epic glum and gloomy that was the After the Fall arc, things lighten up quite a bit. A patch of temporal reset, thanks to sly trickeration on Angel's part, and Los Angeles is back from being consigned to Hell. The twist now is that Los Angelinos remember what had happened, and they now regard Angel as their hometown savior. They treat him as a big celeb. This being Hollywood, there's even a big budget motion picture in the works, with Nicolas Cage tapped to play the brooding vampire with a soul (and, in the movie, Spike is a girl).
ANGEL Vol. 6: LAST ANGEL IN HELL collects ANGEL #23-27 and the ANGEL: LAST ANGEL IN HELL Annual. The opening story concerns a de-vamped Gunn recovering in the hospital and squirming around in a huge bed of guilt and remorse. Because of his vile acts in the hell dimension, Gunn has become a target for a slew of cheesed-off demons. Not that Gunn is defenseless, not with Illyria covering his back. This sets the stage for the Gunn/Illyria-centric "Only Human" arc. Note that this is, frankly, the only story that's truly relevant in terms of continuity in the Angelverse. The rest of the trade feels pretty much like filler.
Comes then a tale featuring Drusilla, that peculiar and unhinged vampiress. I'm not a big Drusilla fan; it's probably why I wasn't as enthused by her confusing misadventures in the insane asylum. Juliet Landau - who played Drusilla in the Buffy television series - co-writes the thing.
"Boys and Their Toys" is next, and it's probably the funniest Angel story since "Smile Time." Angel and Spike attend a sci-fi convention, and if that premise doesn't prep your funny bone, I don't know what will. There's some bit about Angel's search for a missing flaming sword which is supposed to be up for auction somewhere in the con (this is the same sword that killed him during the After the Fall arc, so you can see why he'd want to keep tabs on it).
Lifting a plot device from the "Halloween" episode from BUFFY (Season 2), a magic spell is cast which causes the con's attendants to become whatever costumes they're wearing. Now here's the inspired bit: Spike, for reasons explained in the story, has disguised himself as Angel. Writer Brian Lynch indulges in mass fan boy skewering in this one, gleefully mines the comedy out of this situation. If you think Spike's made fun of Angel in the past, wait 'til you get a load of him being all Angel-y and broody and martyr-like, all the while the real Angel (who didn't dress up as anything) stands around, being all bemused and peevish. It's hilarious! And can I just mention how awesome Groosalugg is? Also, Spike is reunited with his pal Jeremy (from the SPIKE: AFTER THE FALL mini-series).
Lastly, the ANGEL annual presents the comic book adaptation of the Angel movie. It's all very meta. It's also not very good. Brian Lynch, in some interview, maintains that the changes in the comic book adaptation are those that would've been made were the After the Fall arc actually made into a real film. Whatever. I thought this story was tired. And Rotten Tomatoes probably would cop a squat over that movie. Probably because it'd be directed by Uwe Boll.
Good news is that I've finally gotten used to Franco Urru's artwork. If I squint really hard, the figures on page somewhat resemble the television characters. I will say that Spike, more than anyone, always looks recognizable. Now who the hell is this Stephen Mooney artist guy? (Because he's actually not bad.)
great follow on from angel's TV demise
Yet another strong storyline in graphic novel form that extends the story from the end of series 5, where the TV show left off.This is a great product and a must have collectable for any fan of Buffy or Angel.
Comedic interlude
This volume of Angel is like one of those comedic/light hearted episodes that Joss Whedon liked to throw in during a season. The Angel/Spike adventure was very funny but the Drusilla story just didn't do anything for me. I'm not sure what it added to the character and I've no real idea where Drusilla now stands in the Angelverse. The first story sets up the Gunn/Illyria Only Human book. The final story is a Hollywood version of After the Fall. It's funny but not as much as it could be. Finally I'm not sure what this volume did for the overall series. It didn't seem to follow up on the previous volume but as I said it was more a standalone lighthearted break.
Return to form
After the extreme disaster that was Angel Volume 5, this is a welcome return to form. The book consists of 4 stories.
1: Gunna and Illyria doing some soul searching--4 stars. The artworks leaves something to be desired in that it doesn't convey the story all the clearly. The writing is very well done, however.
2: Drusilla (slightly before "the fall")--5 stars. Juliet Landau captures the character perfectly with her writing. The art is pretty good too. One of the two main highlights of this volume.
3: Angel and Spike at a comic/sci-fi convention--5 stars. If you enjoy Spike making fun of Angel (with a twist in this story), you'll love this story. The artwork is pretty good, the writing is superb. In my opinion, the funniest Angel story since Smile Time.
4: Last Angel in Hell (an extremely bastardized version of Angel's after the fall storyline as it might be revamped by Hollywood).--4 stars. Don't expect to see any of the regular gang here, as this is what Angel's story might look like after a team of idiotic Hollywood producers put their imprint on it. Pretty funny.
For any discouraged after volume 5 (very understandable), rest assured that none of Armstrong's writing from that story line has any serious impact on this set.
Very funny, but what was the point?
The story arc presented in volume 5 was no where present in this volume. Instead we get a bunch of random side quests with no real connection to each other. The first part is just a build up for Angel: Only Human. The next part is a crazy Drusilla story that confused the hell out of me. The last 2 do share one thing in common and that is the movie adaption of the first 4 volumes. One being just a quick scene from it at a comic con and the final short story was the final act of the movie. None of these move the arc forward started in volume 5. Only one out of the 4 have Angel in it. Even though I was disappointed that this stalled the story I am giving this 4 stars because it entertained me through out. The dialog was witty and had me busting a gut at some parts. The comic con was my favorite because it introduces us to the movie that stars nick cage as Angel, Hurly as gun and Spike is Angel's female love interest. Also it brought back the device that turns you into what ever custume your dressed in. Spike's transformation is worth the price of this graphic novel alone. I thought the movie was really funny but by the end I could not help thinking "what was the point". In closing you should get this knowing that it's a collection of random short stories which are very funny but does not move the plot forward.
... Read more |
