Angel Comics Move from IDW to Dark Horse
“I’ve always regretted letting Angel go in the first place,” Dark Horse senior managing editor Scott Allie explained in a press release. “So we’re really excited about getting him back, as well as all his supporting cast. It’s necessary for how Joss wants to handle season nine, details of which will start spilling out in the months to come. Right now, we’ve got to wrap up season eight, and IDW still has a good long run of books before season nine starts.”
It is not unusual for television shows to translate into comic book form, a tradition that dates back at least a half-century, and recent years have seen the likes of NBC’s Chuck and ABC’s Fringe joining the fray on DC’s Wildstorm label. Even Buffy and Angel were first published by Dark Horse during their glory years of the late 1990s and early 2000s but eventually fell to the wayside when both series left the airwaves. Such publications, however, are often the work of comic book writers not directly associated with the television productions and while they keep the integrity of the original source material, the products are usually not officially associated with the ongoing storylines of the shows themselves.
All of that changed in 2007 when Joss Whedon decided to continue Buffy the Vampire Slayer in comic book form and serve as “executive producer” of the series. He also recruited a long list of writers from the original television show—including Jane Espenson, Steven S. DeKnight, Drew Goddard, Drew Z. Greenberg and Doug Petrie—to write the actual issues. Using the title Buffy Season Eight (the actual television show ended after seven seasons), the comic book became a huge hit as Buffy fans longed to see their favorite television show carry on even if it wasn’t on the small screen.
Although IDW had been publishing its independently produced Angel series for two years at that point, the company also approached Whedon in 2007 to see if he was interested in officially continuing Angel as well. Due to time restraints, Joss Whedon was unable to be as directly involved as he was with Buffy but still shared his thoughts on the series with comic book writer Brian Lynch. Whedon had enjoyed a short series featuring the character Spike that Lynch had written and after a brief spat of e-mails between the two, the creator was willing to relinquish season six into Lynch’s capable hands. Entitled Angel: After the Fall, the series lasted for a total of seventeen issues and was as much of a success for IDW as Buffy was for Dark Horse.
While IDW continued to publish Angel comics when After the Fall ended, they did not include Joss Whedon’s involvement. Potential conflicts subsequently arose in early 2010 when Angel was revealed to be the masked Twilight in the Buffy series at Dark Horse and it became apparent that Whedon was taking the character in a different direction than IDW. With plans for a Buffy Season Nine in 2011, logic and necessity eventually dictated that the rights to Angel comics return to Dark Horse to alleviate any future confusion.
The news may appear to be positive for fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel on the surface, but in reality it has been met with a limited degree of controversy since it was officially announced on August 19, 2010. An unfortunate sidebar developed two days earlier when a hint of the move was leaked in a Buffy comic—Dark Horse senior managing editor Scott Allie had written a one-sentence announcement that Angel was returning in the back section of that issue. It was an unintentional and unfortunate slip-up on the part of Allie, especially since Dark Horse and IDW planned on jointly announcing the change later in the year. Dark Horse had similarly snubbed IDW earlier in 2010 when the “Angel is Twilight” news first broke—the Angel publisher was unaware that the star of their comic would be playing such a prominent role in the Buffy series.
Such missteps on the part of Dark Horse were honest mistakes and ultimately served as mere distractions to the real issue at hand—that fans of both Buffy and Angel are ardent supports that have a personal attachment to the characters. Although the character of Angel initially appeared on Buffy, the vampire-with-a-soul eventually earned a spin-off series that lasted for five seasons independent from the original show, giving Angel the series it own unique fanbase. Through the course of over a half-decade, IDW served that fanbase well by issuing over eighty comic books—some officially tied to Joss Whedon’s vision but most independent from—and a fair share of those IDW fans immediately worried that Angel would now take a back seat to Buffy once it returned to Dark Horse.
In the end, Angel is the creation of Joss Whedon and IDW respected his right to continue the narrative in the manner that he himself envisions. In a very professional and gracious interview with Buffyfest, the company’s editor-in-chief, Chris Ryall, remarked as much when he commented, “I would never want to keep the characters out of the hands of their creator. So in that respect, I understand and can live with it.”
All is not lost for IDW, however, as they will retain the right to reissue the enormous back stock of Angel comics it has already published as well as have the opportunity to bring closure to their current storylines while lining them up with the narratives being told by Dark Horse. Of special interest is the eight issue Spike miniseries being written by Brian Lynch that will be considered “canon” and lead directly to the point of that character’s appearance in the Buffy Season Eight comics.
As for Dark Horse, the return of Angel means that all of Joss Whedon’s creations—including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Serenity, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and Dollhouse—are now under one comic book roof. The company’s commitment to Whedon, along with its direct and personal relationship with the television auteur, also means that fans of his immense storytelling abilities will continue to be entertained for the foreseeable future and beyond.
Anthony Letizia (August 25, 2010)
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