Posts Tagged ‘ Spike ’

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The translation of television to comic doesn’t always work too well. Whether it’s a combination of character likenesses, licensing approvals or whatever else, the comics rarely feel like the TV shows.

Alex Garner’s really rather awesome cover to Angel: After The Fall #13…

Via Whedonesque and Alex Garner’s DeviantArt page

I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t been overly impressed with some of the art and a couple of the plot twists in the current Angel book – it just feels like maybe a step too far, with LA overrun by demons of all sizes, Lorne running one part of LA, Angel being human, Spike and Illyria running another part of LA and Connor teaming with Gwen and Nina in yet another part of LA…the approach feels a little too kitchen-sink-ish to me at times.

That said, there are elements that I enjoy – I’m a fan of the idea that Gunn being changed to a vampire hasn’t quite changed him fully thanks to the whole LA-in-Hell situation. It’s along the same lines of Spike never quite shaking the romantic nature of his human side, since the vampire who turned him – Drusilla – was a little bit crazy. I like the idea that it doesn’t always ‘take’ very well. Sure, Gunn and Spike are still murderous after being turned, but they’re still themselves to a large extent – whereas Angel went straight from Liam to class-A bastard.

I’m also enjoying the return of Fred’s personality within Illyria as she grieves for Wesley being one of them. I was always a fan of Amy Acker’s character(s) on the show, and this cover is just really, really good.

Dynamite Entertainment have acquired the Terminator 2 license according to reports yesterday – off-topic, that makes me wonder if Dark Horse still have the Terminator license, and if anyone at all would want to license Terminator 3…

Anyway, incoming writer Simon Furman was appropriately enthusiastic and hinted at a crossover later this year with another of licensed property, not-very-cryptically saying:

“We’re speaking excitedly about the potential cross-over option that should
happen in later 2007, but there is much more to the story than meets the eye.”

So it’s Transformers, then? Hardly a surprise, given Furman’s pedigree on that book and the fact that there’s a movie out this year…

But that started me thinking about licensed properties that could crossover…

Buffy – Angel – This is a no-brainer, as long as IDW and Dark Horse could pull it together. It won’t involve as much manouevreing as the TV shows requred in their later seasons, and it would sell like gangbusters, especially if you got that Whedon fella involved.

Conan – Red Sonja – Again, a no-brainer. Sonja is a literary off-spring of Conan anyway, and they have quite the history and the same shared world, so can’t we all just get along?

Painkiller Jane – Darkman – It’d be the woman with no pain against the man with no face. Think of the bandages!

Army of Darkness – Red Sonja – Ash has a tendency to end up travelling dimensions and worlds, so why not dump in Hyboria for a spell? Those pesky Deadites would make an obvious ally for Kulan Gath, and wouldn’t we all love to see Sonja’s reaction to Ash hitting on her?

Highlander-Red Sonja - Throw Connor into the middle of the Hyborian Age with the Kurgan in tow and watch Sonja try to decipher his accent. Much swordplay ensues!

Buffy-Army of Darkness - I could see Ash falling under the spell of the Buffster, totally not getting that Willow’s gay, irritating Giles with his knowledge of an obscure ancient text and bonding with Xander. Awesome.

Spike-Army of Darkness – Spike vs Ash. Do I have to explain how great the sarcasm-fest that followed would be?

Buffy-Red Sonja – Well the First was a desert-based Slayer, right? Why not have her be an ally (or perhaps an enemy) of Sonja, and then throw Buffy in the mix? Two strong women fighting in loincloth bikini armor…I think this sells itself, right?

Highlander-Lone Ranger – By my reckoning, Connor – and Duncan for that matter – was around in the 1880s…so why not have him and the Lone Ranger cross paths on the trail of another Immortal? How would the Ranger deal with someone you can’t shoot or hang?

Spike/Angel – Lone Ranger – Angel, newly ensouled, hits the American west with an oblivious Spike in tow – who then runs afoul of a certain masked vigilante…

I tell you, the possibilities here are endless…

How did I miss this in my earlier recap of Wizard World LA?!?

According to a report from the IDW panel, Joss Whedon will be co-writing an Angel mini set after the series finale, making it canon. This announcement comes, of course, less than a week after the release of Buffy Season 8 #1 by Dark Horse, which seems to have broken the 100K barrier, making it the biggest non-Marvel, non-DC, non-25 cents issue in…well, a long time.

IDW has had some success with the Angel property – its first series, The Curse, had a post-season 5 Angel searching for a cure to his curse so he could make sweet, sweet love to Nina (his new hot werewolf girlfriend from the show), while the next series, Old Friends reunited him with Spike, Illyria and Gunn – complete with eyepatch – suggesting that they all survived the series-ending big fight.

Since then, however, most of the series or one-shots have been set firmly before the end of the series, so how much of these developments will be maintained for the new Whedon-penned series remains to be seen. Many of these have centred not around Angel but Spike, including the upcoming Spike: Smile Time which sees the return of the puppet-monsters from the show.

I’m sure more details will be released soon…

Genius ad from IDW.

Because the world needs more Vampire Puppets!