‘Angel’ #1 Joins The Dynamite Stable This August

by Erik Amaya

Everyone’s favorite mopey vampire detective is back in his own comic book series this August.

Dynamite announced Friday the imminent launch of Angel #1. This extension of its new Buffy the Vampire line comes courtesy of Buffy comic writer Kelly Thompson, as previously announced and mentioned in an interview with Comicon’s Rachel Bellwoar earlier this week. Joining her for this title are artist Giulia Giacomino, colorist Lee Loughridge, and letterer Jeff Eckleberry.

As Buffy fans known, Angel is a vampire cursed to retain a soul. And if he ever experiences a moment of “perfect bliss,” he will revert to his demonic “Angelus” persona. Granted, our own Benjamin Hall will tell you over in his Characterization in the Buffyverse column that the two personas are closer in temperament than Angel would like to think. Following an unsuccessful relationship with Buffy Summers (very long story), he relocates to Los Angeles and becomes a private investigator (of a sort). He’s soon joined by Buffy’s hostile friend Cordelia Summers and a smattering of curious people and creatures.

But as the new comic series begins, Angel and Cordelia are back in Buffy’s home turf of Sunnydale And as Dynamite states in their press release, “what if in trying to set something right, chaos follows? This is that story.” No doubt, it will lead to Angel brooding on the topic.

As Thompson mentioned in our chat, both Angel and Buffy will be intertwined in their initial story arc. Both also follow from on a shocking event that will “set the table” for both titles.

In an additional statement, she added, “”Starting with a big universe-defining event book opening feels risky and like a big ask of the readers, but for the idea itself to be done properly — for all the character moments and action set pieces, and emotional tumult to land, we really needed the page real estate … And the idea demanded most of the main cast from both books to be involved, which is something that can easily tip a book over — but combining the two books for the first arc and telling one big interconnected Buffyverse story gave us the room to do the concept justice.”

Covers for the first issue include works from David Nakayama, Clayton Crain, Meredith McClaren, and Meghan Hetrick. Additionally,a series of “Icon Covers” starts here with “remastering gorgeous works by Jenny Frison.”