Friday, May 20, 2011

IDW's Angel - Reading Order

In five days, my first comic book hits the stands. It's called ANGEL: YEARBOOK, and it's a collection of stories based on Joss Whedon's classic television series Angel. The book includes stories and art by all of the creators who have worked on IDW Publishing's Angel title through the years, including Brian Lynch, Peter David, Scott Tipton, Stephen Mooney, David Messina, Franco Urru, and--among others--me. I'm doing a countdown to the release of the book on my other blog, Buffyverse Comic Reviews, but I figured I'd do something here as well.

IDW has put out such a wealth of Angel comics in the past five years that some fans have mentioned now knowing where to start. Here's a suggested reading order of everything published since Joss Whedon and Brian Lynch started telling the official, post-television series Angel story.


Angel: Barbary Coast
NOTE: This takes place before Angel the Series


Spike: Asylum
NOTE: This takes place during the fifth season of Angel

Spike: Shadow Puppets
NOTE: This takes place during the fifth season of Angel


Angel: After the Fall Volume 1
NOTE: This takes place after the final episode of Angel


Angel: After the Fall Volume 2 - First Night



Spike: After the Fall
NOTE: This takes place before Angel: After the Fall but should be
read as a flashback, as it spins off of the events of Spike's flashback in
Angel: After the Fall Volume Two


Angel: After the Fall Volume 3


Angel: After the Fall Volume 4




Angel Volume 5: Aftermath

Angel Volume 6: Last Angel in Hell
NOTE: The events of this book take place before, during, and after
Angel: After the Fall. The individual stories will make the timing clear.


Angel: Only Human


Angel: The John Byrne Collection
NOTE: This is a collection of all of John Byrne's Angel stories, three of which take place
before Angel the Series and one of which ("Music of the Spheres") takes place
after Angel: Only Human.

Angel Volume 1: Immortality for Dummies


Spike: The Devil You Know


Angel Volume 2: The Crown Prince Syndrome


Illyria: Haunted
NOTE: This series begins at the same time as Angel: The Wolf, the Ram, and the Heart
and Spike Volumes 1 - 2.

Angel Volume 3: The Wolf, the Ram, and the Heart


Spike Volume One: Alone Together Now


Spike Volume Two: As of Yet Untitled


Angel: Yearbook
NOTE: The stories in this volume are very diverse; some take place
before Angel, some take place during the television series, and some
take place during the events of the on-going comic book.

Before Brian Lynch and Joss Whedon set things off with Angel: After the Fall, IDW Publishing was already telling great ANGEL stories. The following list is a pre-After the Fall collection of Angel and Spike series.

Angel Volume One: The Curse
Angel Volume Two: Old Friends
Angel Volume Three: Spotlight
Angel Volume Four: Auld Lang Syne
Spike - a collection of three one-shots by Scott Tipton and Peter David
Spike vs Dracula
Angel: Masks

Scott Tipton, writer of Illyria: Haunted and Angel: Auld Lang Syne, also adapted three Angel episodes into awesome comic books. Those are:
Angel: Smile Time (the hardback includes Smile Time 1-3, Spike: Shadow Puppets 1-4, and a story from Masks)
Angel: Not Fade Away (the TPB includes NFA 1-3 and the script for the televised episode)
Angel: Hole in the World (the TPB includes Hole in the World 1-5 and another short Fred/Wesley-centric comic by Scott Tipton)

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for the wonderful post! It will sure make my life a lot easier as I try to catch up on my ANGEL readings.

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  2. I'd suggest maybe even starting with "Angel: Yearbook" for a few reasons, not least of which being the whole biased thing--I did write part of it, so I do want as many people to read it as possible. But also, it comes out this Wednesday, it's a collection with a bunch of short stories that is super easy to dive into, AND it features a great Wesley tale (and you seem to be on the Wesley loving side of things).

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  3. Nice and very Helpful post i, ll keep try to catch up on my angel reading .

    ReplyDelete
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