The Good: Moments where story hints at interesting, Sense of consequences
The Bad: Droll character work, New characters are largely unlikable, Mediocre artwork, Story meanders
The Basics: A truly disappointing Angel volume, Angel: Aftermath tells a meandering story that becomes interesting far too late and lacks the character pizzazz Angel fans are used to.
For those who might not have read my many, many reviews of books and television works set in the Buffyverse, it bears mentioning that I am a fan of Angel. I wanted that right out in the open, because as I consider Angel: Aftermath, the sixth de facto “episode” of the show's virtual sixth season, I can find very few good things to say about it. I like the concept of the virtual season, as the prior five volumes have brilliantly picked up after the conclusion of the fifth season of Angel (reviewed here!) and kept me interested by creating a story that would have been tough on a television budget. Unfortunately, with Aftermath, the reader is left feeling like they are watching a show where many of the major characters have been recast and the result is beyond disappointing.
For five hardcover anthologies, Angel and his companions have been fighting for survival in Hell. Literally. All of that changed with the fourth volume of Angel: After The Fall and readers were left to ponder a sense of null time which one has a take-it-or-leave-it feel to. Angel: Aftermath deals with some of the fallout from the events in Volume 4 and here it becomes impossible for me to write even a sentence more without revealing partially how that was resolved. That's the “spoiler” alert.
Following Los Angeles being sucked into Hell following the climactic battle that concluded the television series Angel, Angel is recognized and is something of a celebrity and savior to the people of Los Angeles. Oddly, because time was reset, several people who died in the “Hell Moment” have been resurrected, but equally as odd is that everyone in Los Angeles has the memories of the “Hell Moment.” Angel is hired to help clean up in the wake of the catastrophic events and he, reunited with Connor and Kate, begin doing just that.
But soon, Angel's natural suspicion leads him to suspect those who want the cleanup done are themselves corrupt and a shape-changing woman soon confirms there is a plot in the works. When an angel (an actual angel) pops up with a message from Cordelia, Angel and his team must learn to trust Dez, the shapeshifter, or become casualties in a long battle that is now being waged on the mortal plane.
After a tremendous plot shift like After The Fall, it seems natural that the series would take some time to find its legs and re-establish itself. Unfortunately, coming out of the “Hell Moment” is hellish for the Angel comic books and Aftermath is the storyline equivalent of landing on its face, and then having several people run over the body. Alas, Aftermath is clumsy and when it does start to get interesting, it becomes terribly unsurprising and even droll.
First, what works. Aftermath has a decent sense of consequences to the After The Fall storyline. This is noticeable first and foremost in the absence of Gunn, Wesley, Lorne and Illyria, two of whom left during the series finale and two who have post After The Fall issues they need to wrestle with. Angel and his team are reasonably shaken and when Kate shows up on Connor’s heels, she's very much a welcome return for readers. The obsession with Gwen – the electrocuting woman – continues and her return actually gives the volume any emotional heft that it might actually possess. Gwen did several things she is not proud of during the Hell Moment and as a result, she is searching for redemption, most notably from Connor. Gwen reads as real and confused and her character arc is far more interesting than Kate's.
Beyond that, though, the volume is depressingly disappointing. Dez is hardly an interesting character and when her plot is finally exposed (the preponderance of animals quickly hints to something going on in Los Angeles) the reader does not even care. Sure, she makes an auspicious entrance as a naked woman attacking Angel and then teaming up with him to set the Lords of Los Angeles hunting one another, but beyond that, it's hard to care about her. Usually, I have great empathy for torment and torture victims, but when Gwen and Kate debate how to deal with Dez, I found myself not caring one whiff as to whose approach worked; I just wanted the Dez story done. Sadly, it seems like writer Kelly Armstrong felt the same way as that plotline does end rather abruptly.
Similarly, Smythe the angel is a character that is not very easy to empathize with, even before the “secret” of what angels are doing on Earth. Aftermath fails in too many ways because it attempts to be mysterious at the expense of creating new characters the reader is likely to enjoy.
Beyond that, the hardcover anthology is problematic because of the artwork. The artwork is frequently mediocre, though the volume is color-rich and decent in that regard. Dave Ross and Stefano Martino, however either have given up or just could not get the likeness rights they needed. To wit, Kate looks nothing like the television version of the character (and I like Kate!) and even Angel is presented in a number of panels looking unlike David Boreanaz. In fact, on several problematic panels, Angel looks distinctly like he is Chinese. That's poor artwork. And whomever decided that Angel's new boss and Smythe ought to look like one another and then put them in the same panels deserves a special place in comic book hell. At the back of the hardcover volume is a cover and artwork gallery and it, too, is nothing extraordinary.
Angel is usually a complex and adult storyline in Joss Whedon's fantastic Buffyverse. Aftermath seems to understand that Angel fans want to see consequences, but Kelly Armstrong just doesn't present a decent story to have the characters wrestle with consequences through. The result is a flop from Angel.
For other Angel graphic novels leading up to and including the After The Fall series, please visit my reviews of:
Smile Time
Not Fade Away
After The Fall Volume 1
After The Fall Volume 2 First Night
Spike: After The Fall
After The Fall Volume 3
Angel After The Fall Volume 4
3/10
For other book reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!
© 2011, 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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