- ↳ Note: This article is about the comic meta-series. For other uses, see Angel.
Angel comics may refer to one of two closely related terms:
- Comics in which Angel is the main and/or title character.
- Comics based on the Angel television series, which a publishing company is allowed to create, because they have bought a license to do so from 20th Century Fox, who hold the intellectual property rights to Angel.
In many cases these two terms overlap.
Other meta-series in the Buffyverse are the Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Fray, Tales, and Spike comics, some of them involving crossover events with Angel.
History[]
In October 1998, Dark Horse Comics published its first Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic, based on the license for the television show. In the summer of 1999, before the Angel television series was created, Dark Horse Comics published a three-issue miniseries, Angel: The Hollower, with Angel as the title character. In November 1999, a day after the sixth episode of Angel had aired, Dark Horse Comics published the first issue of Angel as an ongoing series. This series lasted seventeen issues and was followed by a four-issue miniseries, Long Night's Journey, which was published over the course of nearly a year. After this, Dark Horse Comics decided not to renew the Angel license. Senior managing editor Scott Allie later described: "I've always regretted letting Angel go in the first place."[1]
In 2005, after the Angel television series had already ended, IDW Publishing took up the rights to the Angel license and began publishing several miniseries and one-shots, some of which were set after the Angel series finale "Not Fade Away." The work of one of the writers of these miniseries, Brian Lynch, impressed Joss Whedon so much, that they collaborated on the a canonical seventeen-issue continuation of the television series, After the Fall,[2] which disregarded the continuity of their previous continuations. IDW Publishing chose to continue the Angel series beyond the initial seventeen issues, although the canonicity of these later issues is uncertain. Furthermore, several spin-off miniseries and one-shots were also created.
A conflict between writers and publishing companies arose over using the Angel character as the villain in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight comics from Dark Horse Comics, which eventually led IDW Publishing to relinquish its license in 2011. Dark Horse Comics subsequently picked the license up again, bringing both licenses back to the same publishing company. In 2011, Dark Horse Comics started publishing the twenty-five-issue Angel & Faith series, which ran parallel to Buffy Season Nine. In 2014, Dark Horse started publishing Angel & Faith Season Ten, which ran parallel to Buffy Season Ten. In 2017, the solo title returned as Angel Season Eleven with twelve issues, parallel to Buffy Season Eleven. These stories were wrapped up in Buffy Season Twelve finale, when it was revealed that both comics' license was moving from Dark Horse after 20 years.
In 2019, the 20th Century Fox-owned publishing house Boom! Studios picked up the license of the comics from Dark Horse, debuting in the same year the Angel ongoing series, spin-off to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer reimagining series. It was renamed Angel + Spike from the ninth issue on, then canceled at its seventeenth issue. In 2022, Boom! Studios published the limited series Angel, taking place in yet another reality.
Stories[]
Main series[]
- Angel (Dark Horse series) (1999–2001) (17 issues)
- Angel (IDW series) (2007–2011) (44 issues)
- After the Fall (2007–2009) (17 issues)
- Angel & Faith (2011–2013) (30 issues)
- Angel & Faith Season Ten (2014–2016) (25 issues)
- Angel Season Eleven (2017) (12 issues)
- Angel + Spike (2019–2020) (17 issues)
- Angel (Boom! series) (2022) (8 issues)
Miniseries[]
- Angel: The Hollower (3 issues)
- Long Night's Journey (4 issues)
- The Curse (5 issues)
- Old Friends (5 issues)
- Auld Lang Syne (5 issues)
- Smile Time (3 issues)
- Not Fade Away (3 issues)
- Blood & Trenches (4 issues)
- A Hole in the World (5 issues)
- Barbary Coast (3 issues)
- Illyria: Haunted (4 issues)
- Only Human (5 issues)
- Spotlight (5 issues)
- Hellmouth (5 issues)
One-shots[]
- Masks
- Angel vs. Frankenstein
- Last Angel in Hell
- Lorne: The Music of the Spheres
- Angel vs. Frankenstein II
- Yearbook
Shorts[]
- "Point of Order"
- "Lovely, Dark and Deep"
- "The Nepalese Switcheroo"
- "City of Despair"
- "Angel"
- "Haunted"
Collections[]
Angel (Dark Horse series)[]
Trade paperback:
Omnibus:
Legacy edition:
Angel (IDW series)[]
Trade paperback:
- The Curse
- Old Friends
- Only Human
- Spotlight
- Auld Lang Syne
- Smile Time
- A Hole in the World
- Not Fade Away
- Barbary Coast
- Blood & Trenches
- The John Byrne Collection
- Illyria: Haunted
- Angel 100-Page Spectacular
- Team Angel 100-Page Spectacular
Hardcover:
- After the Fall, Volume 1
- After the Fall, First Night
- After the Fall, Volume 3
- After the Fall, Volume 4
- Aftermath
- Last Angel in Hell
- Immortality for Dummies
- Crown Prince Syndrome
- The Wolf, the Ram, and the Heart
Omnibus:
Angel & Faith Season Nine[]
Trade paperback:
- Live Through This
- Daddy Issues
- Family Reunion
- Death and Consequences
- What You Want, Not What You Need
Hardcover:
- Angel & Faith Season Nine Library Edition, Volume 1
- Angel & Faith Season Nine Library Edition, Volume 2
- Angel & Faith Season Nine Library Edition, Volume 3
Angel & Faith Season Ten[]
Angel Season 11[]
Angel + Spike[]
- 20th Anniversary Edition
- Hellmouth
- Hellmouth (hardcover)
- Hellmouth Gift Set
- Hellmouth Deluxe Edition
Angel (2022)[]
Artbooks[]
- The Curse Cover Gallery
- Old Friends Cover Gallery
- After the Fall Cover Gallery
- The Portraits 100-Page Spectacular
- The Covers
- Panel to Panel: Seasons 8 & 9
References[]
- ↑ "Angel Returns to Dark Horse Comics." Dark Horse Comics, August 19, 2010.
- ↑ Emmett Furey, "Brian Lynch talks 'Angel: After the Fall'." Comic Book Resources, November 6, 2007.