ANGEL - AFTER THE FALL - VOLUME ONE

IDW

Plotted by Joss Whedon and Brian Lynch

Scripted by Brian Lynch

Illustrated by Franco Urru

Angel created by Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt

Angel is copyright 2008 by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved. Copyright 2008 Idea and Design Works, LLC. The IDW logo is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. All rights reserved.

In the graphic novel Angel - After the Fall - Volume One, writers Joss Whedon and Brian Lynch continues Wheedon's TV show Angel after the show's final season, Season Five. The city of Los Angeles has been sent to Hell by the demonic law firm Wolfram & Hart. Angel has lost his vampire powers as a result, although he has become friends with a dragon - who likes dropping off his cars. While Angel continues to try to help people, Angel's team has been scattered - and not all of his team have fared well at all.

With Angel being produced as a series of graphic novels, instead of as a TV show, creator Joss Whedon, writer Brian Lynch, and illustrator Franco Urru are able to expand on Angel's world in ways that were not possible with the limited budget of a TV show. There are more crowds of exotic demons, monsters, crowds in general, as well as dinosaurs. As Los Angeles has become hell for some time since the start of the graphic novel, the normal native humans in Los Angeles appear to have accepted what has happened to their home. Many of the surviving humans are fighting for their own survival, including a surviving cop in an arena. Gangs of demons are at war in this hell realm competing for control of Los Angeles.

While generally you can tell who all the major characters were from the show through the artwork, there were a couple of minor characters that I had no idea who they were until I read the Original Proposal that is at the end of the book. Even then, I can not tell which character is which as they were originally such minor characters and these characters look pretty much alike. I like what they have done with Wesley, although I do not really like the fact that he still has a job with Wolfram & Hart. You can tell the evil law firm Wolfram and Hart still has plans for Wesley and Angel. I am not too crazy about what has happened to Gunn, but I am looking forward to what they will do with Gunn in future graphic novels as there is potential for good storytelling to be done with him now. There is also an art and sketch gallery, as well as the script with the author's notes, at the end of the book.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

9-11 SEPTEMBER 11TH 2001 THE WORLDS FINEST COMIC BOOK WRITERS & ARTISTS TELL STORIES TO REMEMBER VOLUME 2

DC Comics

Written and Illustrated by Various Writers and Artists

Except as noted, Copyright 2002. All rights reserved.

"The Real Thing" Copyright 2002 by
Will Eisner. All rights reserved.
STATIC SHOCK: "Wednesday Afternoon" Copyright 2002 by Milestone Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
ASTRO CITY: "Since the Fire" Copyright 2002 by Juke Box Productions. All rights reserved.
I PAPPARAZI: Copyright 2002 by Pat McGreal, Stephen John Phillips and Steven Parke. All rights reserved.
SCENE OF THE CRIME: "Still Life" Copyright 2002 by Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark. All rights reserved.


In the graphic novel 9-11 SEPTEMBER 11TH 2001 THE WORLDS FINEST COMIC BOOK WRITERS & ARTISTS TELL STORIES TO REMEMBER VOLUME 2 various comic book writers and artists tell stories about 9/11.

I purchased this book when the book first came out soon after 9/11, but it was too painful for me to read at the time. After all these years, I have just finished reading the book. These are wonderful stories, most of which are 2-4 pages long. Some of these stories are painful to read and they have powerful images. As a result they still make me tear up, but the stories have a positive attitude behind them. For a graphic novel, there are hardly any "super-heroes" in the book and those super-heroes that are depicted are usually in the story after the fact of the event. In one story depicted, Superman laments that he is not real and can not do anything.

When I recently started to finally read this book, I did not realize the 10th anniversary was coming up. I think it took that long for me to heal enough for me to read the book without it becoming too painful. To finish the book just in time for the 10th anniversary is a poignant coincidence. I only got Volume 2 of the series at the time because the cover appealed to me more than Volume 1 did. The cover is reminiscent of an old Justice League of America cover with a boy and his dog looking up at a billboard of super-heroes. Superman and his superdog Krypto looking up at a billboard of real-life heroes is a much more poignant cover than the cover for Volume 1. God Bless Them All.

Originally all proceeds for this book went to various 9-11 charity organizations, which are listed at the back of the book. I do not know if this is still true that proceeds still go to the charities if one buys the book today, or how well the response was, but it was a very generous gesture by a united comic book industry after a terrorist attack on our home shores. With contributions from the comic industry's writers and artists, which includes such people as Neil Gaiman, Michael Moorcock, Stan Lee, Sergio Aragones, and Will Eisner - the father of the graphic novel, this is a great book to have in your collection.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - THE LONG WAY HOME

Dark Horse Books

Script JOSS WHEDON

Pencils GEORGES JEANTY

Copyright 1998, 2007

In The Long Way Home, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 begins in graphic novel form written by Joss Whedon and pencils by Georges Jeanty. The graphic novels of Season 8 are the official continuation of the Buffy series and has Buffy leading and training several squads of new Slayers to fight the supernatural. In The Long Way Home,  the Military consider Buffy and her army of Slayers too dangerous, since she destroyed her home town, and brings back an old enemy to take down Buffy and her Slayer force.

In a continuation from the TV series, the graphic novels of Season 8 begins with The Long Way Home. Not constrained by a television budget, a more epic and graphic scale can be depicted in the visual story telling. The Slayers are more of an army now than they were in the last season of the TV series. Dawn has turned into a giant, Willow returns, and Xander is in command of Slayer Central. The closest to a normal life Buffy has is dealing with her sister-turned-giant. The graphic novel does mention other Buffys who were created to protect the original Buffy from being a target, including the Buffy in Italy running around with The Immortal, mentioned in the last season of Angel and in the book Queen of the Slayers. The last issue in the graphic novel begins a new story, in which Giles appears, that obviously continues in the next novel.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STAR TREK - THE ASHES OF EDEN

DC Comics

Co-writers - Judy & Gar Reeves-Stevens
                   - William Shatner

Penciller - Steve Erwin

Inker - Jimmy Palmiotti

Colorist - Gloria Vasquez

Letter - Willie Schubert

Copyright 1995 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

In this graphic novel, based on the book The Ashes of Eden  by William Shatner with Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens, Captain James T. Kirk - after a long career of service - elects to leave Starfleet to retire but is then recruited by Romulan/Klingon woman Teilani to save her world from her parent's people. Meanwhile, Kirk's old Starfleet rival Admiral Drake is determined to do away with Kirk as Drake persues a secret agenda about Teilani's world.

Teilani's world has a dark secret in space being the experimental colony of both the Romulans and Klingons. Kirk becomes seduced by Teilani as he seems to have found the secret to the fountain of youth in his new home and a purpose in life again. While on a classified intelligence mission, Checkov gets upset at his old friend Captain Sulu of the U.S.S. Excelsior that Sulu did not tell him he was secretly Chekov's backup. Sulu and Checkov reluctantly join forces as Admiral Drake recruits them and the rest of the Enterprise crew to go after the rogue Kirk, unbeknownst to them that there was secretly a link to their intelligence mission and Admiral Drake. The artwork by penciller Steve Erwin, inker Jimmy Palmiotti, letter Willie Schubert, and colorist Gloria Vasquez captures the images that were described in the book.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STAR TREK - COUNTDOWN

IDW PUBLISHING

Story by Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman

Writers Mike Johnson & Tom Jones

Artist David Messina

Copyright 2009 by Paramount Pictures Corporation
Copyright 2009 by CBS Studios Inc.

In Countdown, the graphic novel collection of the four issue comic books, is the prequel to the movie Star Trek. The graphic novel shows the origin of Nero and why he was so determined to destroy Spock and Vulcan as an unstable star becomes a supernova that threatens Romulan space and soon Federation space.

It is great to see The Next Generation crew after Star Trek: Nemesis try and stop Nero. The crew has grown as characters and is basically the last you will see of them as Star Trek moves onto a different direction in the reimagining of the franchise. The developement of Red Matter to stop the supernova turns the nova into a singularity as Nero gets pulled into the singularity by it's gravitational field and winds up in the updated Star Trek movie universe. The art by David Messina captures the likenesses of the actors. There is also a gallery of several of the characters that were depicted at the end of the graphic novel.

See movie review:

Star Trek

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.