‘Buffy’/‘Angel’ flashback: ‘Unseen III: Long Way Home’ (2001) (Book review)
Nancy Holder and Jeff Mariotte wrap up their “Buffy”/“Angel” crossover trilogy “Unseen” by paying off most of the threads in satisfying ways and going big with the idea of our heroes traipsing through alternate dimensions. As is often the case in the Buffyverse novels, “Long Way Home” (September 2001) has ideas (alternate dimensions) and character
‘Angel’ flashback: ‘Masks’ (2006) (Comic book review)
Following the “Spotlight” series, IDW’s “Angel” comics line unveiled more stories focused on individual characters in the loosely Halloween-themed “Masks” (October 2006). The double-length one-shot includes stories about Puppet Angel, Illyria, Cordelia and Lindsey McDonald, all themed around the figurative masks people wear.
‘Buffy’/‘Angel’ flashback: ‘Unseen II: Door to Alternity’ (2001) (Book review)
Nancy Holder and Jeff Mariotte expand on their portrayal of gang warfare in Los Angeles and Sunnydale by digging into the Russian side of the Mexican-Russian conflict in “Unseen II: Door to Alternity” (July 2001), the second of a trilogy. In a backstory, the authors do some impressive writing from the point of view of
‘Angel’ flashback: ‘Spotlight’ (2006) (Comic book reviews)
After a mediocre start with “The Curse” and “Old Friends,” IDW’s “Angel” title picks up steam with “Spotlight” (2006), five issues that focus, respectively, on Doyle, Wesley, Gunn, Connor and Illyria. With the exception of the Season 1-set “Doyle,” they are set during Season 5. Rather than just throwbacks to the old days, they flesh
‘Buffy’/‘Angel’ flashback: ‘Unseen I: The Burning’ (2001) (Book review)
“Unseen I: The Burning” (May 2001), the first of a “Buffy”/“Angel” crossover trilogy, is one of the more unusual Buffyverse books so far. It’s notably decompressed, features many different storylines, and –most strikingly – digs into themes that don’t seem to be in the wheelhouse of this saga. For instance, Buffy is going after Los
‘Angel’ flashback: ‘Old Friends’ (2005-06) (Comic book review)
“Old Friends” (November 2005-March 2006), the second IDW “Angel” comic series where Jeff Mariotte is tasked with introducing us to “Season 6” – apparently without being allowed to address the cliffhanger at the end of Season 5 – is marginally more satisfying than “The Curse.” We get solid information about the fates of characters other
‘Angel’ flashback: ‘The Curse’ (2005) (Comic book review)
A little more than a year after the “Angel” TV series ended, the saga returned in comic-book form via new licensee IDW. Whereas Dark Horse’s Volume 1 told various hardboiled Angel Investigations mysteries in Season 1, and the short-lived Volume 2 made Angel into a more traditional four-color comic superhero in a Season 2-set yarn, Volume
‘Angel’ flashback: ‘Hollywood Noir’ (2001) (Book review)
“Angel” and hardboiled detective fiction are such a natural fit in book form that I almost wish every novel in the series used the style. But at least we have “Hollywood Noir” (January 2001), where Jeff Mariotte – in his second entry in the series – leans into the genre, while still writing a story
‘Angel’ flashback: ‘Close to the Ground’ (2000) (Book review)
Jeff Mariotte – who had teamed with Nancy Holder on Buffyverse guidebooks and will go on to be a reliable author – makes a respectable debut in the “Angel” novel line with “Close to the Ground” (August 2000). I like how this novel is – pun kind of intended — grounded in the meat-and-potatoes aspects
The 10 best short stories in ‘The X-Files: Secret Agendas’ (Book review)
I’ll take my fix of new “X-Files” material where I can get it, but it’s irritating that in IDW’s third volume of “X-Files” short stories, “Secret Agendas,” Jonathan Maberry and his team (if there is one) still make too many errors. The line-editing gaffes, such as “peak” instead of “peek,” aren’t as numerous as in the first