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Angel (2001) #1-4
Angel: Long Night's Journey
Angel, Los Angeles's resident vampire detective, searches for a kidnapped child and stumbles upon a force of unspeakable evil and unimaginable power who has an old bone to pick with Angel. A Graphic Novel. Original.
104 pages, Paperback
Published August 20, 2002
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September 18, 2012This came as a surprise to me as I didn't actually dig Angel that much, but the book was really good. Unlike the show, (in my opinion Angel was to Buffy what Voyager was to Deep Space Nine) this actually pokes a stick in the direction of questioning the underlying premises of the show, maybe with an eye to working something up thematically. At first I was like, okay explosions, monsters, destruction - all good but pretty bread and butter stuff. Then big mystic baddy comes out of nowhere and goes, "Cursed with a soul? What's up with that?" before the obligatory ass-kicking commences. It leaves you with a tantalising amount of both satisfaction and a desire to know more. Basically *SPOILER* the gypsies tried to curse another vampire, but it didn't take. The questions posed are a) why? b) what makes Angel different, and c) whose soul has Angel got? I find that an awesome question to pose, much smarter than anything the show had to say in all its years of running.
The only time anything even remotely interesting was posited was Wesley saying something to the tune of "Your a man inside a demon Angel, not the other way around" and, when called on whether it was his genuine belief by another character later, simply said, "It's what Angel needs to believe." Now, not to go on a rant about the show (*draws breath before going on a rant about the show*) but it lacked a basic focus or direction, insight into the characters and themes. There were a number of lost opportunity as the characters chased after time-lapsed babies, shagged their enemies and generally bickered with the dullest baddy of all time - a corporate law firm (yawn!). Firstly, what is Angel? Simple question you might answer, he's a vampire with a soul. Okay, but what does that mean? Is he the man he once was, just dead and craving blood? Is he simply a demon with a conscience? What is it to be a vampire in the Buffyverse? You drink vampire blood at the point of death and what? Your soul leaves and your body is transformed into a demon which just happens to share your neural pathways and hence memories? Are you still you, just with your soul removed and a wicked thirst for blood? Are the terrible things Angel does/did when evil still his actions, driven by the same lusts and desires that he feels ordinarily? None of this was explored in the show. I'd be really interested if they took the Angel-What-Are-You? thematic bomb lit in this book and ran with it. I'd read that.
The only time anything even remotely interesting was posited was Wesley saying something to the tune of "Your a man inside a demon Angel, not the other way around" and, when called on whether it was his genuine belief by another character later, simply said, "It's what Angel needs to believe." Now, not to go on a rant about the show (*draws breath before going on a rant about the show*) but it lacked a basic focus or direction, insight into the characters and themes. There were a number of lost opportunity as the characters chased after time-lapsed babies, shagged their enemies and generally bickered with the dullest baddy of all time - a corporate law firm (yawn!). Firstly, what is Angel? Simple question you might answer, he's a vampire with a soul. Okay, but what does that mean? Is he the man he once was, just dead and craving blood? Is he simply a demon with a conscience? What is it to be a vampire in the Buffyverse? You drink vampire blood at the point of death and what? Your soul leaves and your body is transformed into a demon which just happens to share your neural pathways and hence memories? Are you still you, just with your soul removed and a wicked thirst for blood? Are the terrible things Angel does/did when evil still his actions, driven by the same lusts and desires that he feels ordinarily? None of this was explored in the show. I'd be really interested if they took the Angel-What-Are-You? thematic bomb lit in this book and ran with it. I'd read that.
July 12, 2015
The only thing I have didn't like was the way they made Angel's vampire face look. It didn't look anything like him.
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