Angel: After the Fall...help!

[RoJoHen]

I was wandering around a book store and was looking at the Buffy and Angel comics. I have read the first 5 hardcovers of "After the Fall," but I'm not sure where to go from here. Spike seems to have his own little spin-off, and I've seen various other titles, including a large omnibus entited "Angel: The End," which seems to have a lot of newer stories in it. I just want to know the proper order to read everything.

So...what comes after "After the Fall: Volume 5?"

 

[Brendan Moody]

So...what comes after "After the Fall: Volume 5?

Last Angel in Hell (volume six) and then The End, which between them include the rest of the main After the Fall/Aftermath series.

The spinoffs fit in at different points. I don't get the impression they're required reading for the main Angel storyline, but if you're curious:

*Spike: After the Fall is before the main Angel series and follows the flashbacks in the First Night storyline from the second After the Fall hardcover;
*Spike: The Devil You Know takes place some at some unspecified point after the events of the first four After the Fall hardcovers;
*Angel: Only Human follows events in Angel issue 23, the first issue from the Last Angel in Hell hardcover;
*Illyria: Haunted is between Angel issues 38 and 39, about 2/3 of the way through The End;
*and the short-lived ongoing Spike series takes place after Illyria: Haunted but before Angel 39.

 

[RoJoHen]

Thanks! I actually have read the first Spike book. I just wasn't sure where the second one fit in.

Is the series now over with these comics, or are there plans to continue?

Also, while we're at it, where does Buffy Season 8 fit in? I read the first one but never got farther than that. Are the Buffy and Angel comics happening simultaneously? Do they reference each other?

 

[Hound of UIster]

No.

I think one of the writers threw a hissy fit when DH implied that the two books were connected.

 

[RoJoHen]

I imagined that, even if they did reference each other, it would be very subtle, like when Angel makes a phone call and hangs up in an episode of his show and Buffy answers the same phone call, only to be hung up on, in her show. I figured the storylines would be more or less independent of each other.

 

[DevilEyes]

Thanks! I actually have read the first Spike book. I just wasn't sure where the second one fit in.

Is the series now over with these comics, or are there plans to continue?

Also, while we're at it, where does Buffy Season 8 fit in? I read the first one but never got farther than that. Are the Buffy and Angel comics happening simultaneously? Do they reference each other?

Buffy season 8 happens after the IDW Angel series and Spike series... and when you read it, you'll see why.

Now, how much of a logical progression the characters make, is another matter... but, a few things that have to be said are: Joss and Scott Allie haven't cleared up which one of the IDW comics are even canon. At the moment, it seems that After the Fall is most likely canon (and at least the part about LA being sucked to hell is, since it's been referenced in season 9), and the 8-issue Spike series might or might not be in its entirety; some of the things from it were written specifically to fit with season 8, to explain how some things in season 8 came about, and Joss oversaw the dialogue for the Very Special Guest in the series (if you've seen the covers, you know who it is).

All the Buffyverse comics are now back under the same roof, at Dark Horse. Season 9 consists of Buffy season 9 book and the Angel & Faith book, and both of them are a direct follow-up to season 8.

The issue of the treatment of the IDW comics is still up in the air. Apparently, the writer of Angel & Faith is the DH "IDW expert" who's trying not to contradict After the Fall, but even he just said that ATF is probably canon, unless Joss decides otherwise, and everything else is still unclear. The question might be answered when some of the characters from the shows (mostly Angel characters) who were in IDW comics appear in season 9/Angel & Faith. We know for sure that

Spoiler: season 9

Illyria, Connor and Drusilla will appear, the latter two in Angel & Faith.

 

[Admiral_Young]

ElfEars beat me to it! When you catch up RoJoHen feel free to join us in the Buffy Season Nine thread.

 

[DevilEyes]

^ Does RoJoHen even know that spoiler was spoiler? He says he's only read the first issue (or arc?) of season 8.

 

[RoJoHen]

^ Does RoJoHen even know that spoiler was spoiler? He says he's only read the first issue (or arc?) of season 8.

Just in case, I'm not reading the spoiler. When I say I've read the first issue of Season 8, I mean Book 1: The Long Way Home.

 

[DevilEyes]

^ Does RoJoHen even know that spoiler was spoiler? He says he's only read the first issue (or arc?) of season 8.

Just in case, I'm not reading the spoiler. When I say I've read the first issue of Season 8, I mean Book 1: The Long Way Home.

I was referring to something Admiral Young wrote that was very spoilery about season 8, but he has edited his post. Lots of crazy stuff happens in the rest of season 8, that's all I'm gonna say.