Angel: After the Fall, Vol. 6: Last Angel in Hell

Angel: After the Fall (collected editions)

by Brian Lynch (Writer), Franco Urru (Artist), Stephen Mooney (Artist)

In possibly the craziest Angel volume yet, we find out what happened to Gunn, Drusilla, Angel, and Spike in the aftermath of the Fall, which includes comas, insane asylums, a comic con, and even Angel’s movie adaptation. With stories by fan-favorite writer Brian Lynch and a two-issue arc co-written by Drusilla herself, Juliet Landau, this collection shows you just how insane Angel’s world can get.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Vampires, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Horror, Urban Fantasy

192 pages, Hardcover

First published May 25, 2010

About the author

Brian Michael Lynch is an American film and comic book writer.

Reviews

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like this volume has a good balance of emotion and silliness which is a staple for the Buffyverse. I loved the Drusilla story. That was definitely such an interesting look at her character. I also loved the fact that it was co-written by the actor that played Drusilla in the series, Juliet Landau! The rest of the volume was bordering on the silliest stories to come out of the Buffyverse! The 'Angel movie adaption' was hilariously ridiculous. It was so dumb, just so dumb. I felt like this was a closing of a chapter for these characters and I am so excited to move forward and see where they go from here.

[The_Mad_Swede · Rating 1 out of 5]

This volume collects Angel #23–27 and the Angel: Last Angel in Hell Annual.

As some of you may remember, I concluded my review of volume 5 by stating that I was "definitely interested to see where this comic is going," but quite frankly, volume 6 is quite the let-down. While Brian Lynch is back in the writer's seat, the assortment of stories he delivers does not deliver at all. Everything set up in the previous volume seems entirely forgotten, and instead, Lynch returns to milk out something more from his very good After the Fall arc, and all I can say is that the udder seems quite dry by now.

The first story in the collection is "Become What You Are". It is illustrated by Franco Urru and is a slow paced aftermath type story involving Gunn and Illyria. Not bad per se, but more than anything else the set up for a Gunn and Illyria miniseries, which is not included in this volume. As such, it therefore fails to truly deliver.

The second story out is the two-parter "Drusilla", based on a story by Juliet Landau (who also co-scripted the piece with Lynch) and illustrated by Urru. Now, in theory, this sounds like a pretty good set-up, but the result is quite atrocious. The story only involves Drusilla (no Angel, no Spike, no Connor, no Gunn, no Illyria, no Lorne, etc), who is in an asylum, where some stuff happens. And that's basically it. There is in fact no real story here. Just a lot of characterisation of Drusilla, who quite frankly becomes quite dull when not bouncing off any of the other Buffy or Angel characters.

Oh, and I did mention it was a two-parter, right? After a weak opening in "Become What You Are", "Drusilla" takes the volume south in a hurry.

Third out is the Stephen Mooney-illustrated two-parter "Boys and Their Toys" and this is the one story in the volume where Lynch delivers at least a little entertaining reading. Angel and Spike visits a comic convention and an invocation to Janus sets up a similar situation to the Buffy episode "Halloween" (from season 2), with a greater focus on superheroes and comics-related material (sometimes a bit to meta- and over the top). Still, despite some flaws this does feel like an Angel story, and that much feels good at this point.

The TPB ends with "Last Angel in Hell" (Mooney once again on drawing detail here). Here Lynch delivers the Angel "movie" that has been discussed in the "Boys and Their Toys" story. This "movie" (clearly cast with Nicolas Cage in the lead) shows the complete misunderstanding in the public perception of what actually happened in the After the Fall arc, and also possibly serves as an ironic sting towards the film industry and their way of adapting material. But if the overly metafictional and over the top elements were the big downside to "Boys and Their Toys" (which I would argue), at least that story was not all about that. "Last Angel in Hell", however, wallows in the stuff and the result is tedious.

I am still interested in seeing where Bill Willingham of Fables fame has taken the Angel series after this, but this volume has left me with a sour taste in my mouth that may well cause me to delay even picking up the next volume for a while further (and before reading this one, I was all set to pick it pretty soon).

All in all, I cannot really recommend it at all. What little good there is in here simply is not worth your time and money.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume was better than the last, but mostly not that great. There's four stories here. The first, with Gunn and Illyria, is a post-After the Fall storyline. It does little other than to catch us up on those characters. Next is a Drusilla story, co-written by Juliet Landau. I was surprised by how much I ended up liking it. It is a very strange story, but since the entire thing is filtered through Dru's perceptions, that's to be expected. The third story is an overly long Angel-and-the-gang-at-a-con thing. I admit that Spike's impression of Angel was mostly hilarious, but the rest of the story... Well, I could have done with less of it. Last up is the Hollywood adaptation of the After the Fall storyline, with typical Hollywood attention to detail: Spike has become a woman, and Angel's ex-fiancee. Funny at first, but since it's meant to be a bad Hollywood "blockbuster" film, I ended up getting tired of that, too. Still, it's way better than the last volume had been, possibly because it completely ignores everything that happened there.

[A Voracious Reader (a.k.a. Carol) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really? I mean, really? *deep disappointed sigh*

*Book source ~ Library

From Goodreads:
In possibly the craziest Angel volume yet, we find out what happened to Gunn, Drusilla, Angel, and Spike in the aftermath of the Fall, which includes comas, insane asylums, a comic con, and even Angel’s movie adaptation. With stories by fan-favorite writer Brian Lynch and a two-issue arc co-written by Drusilla herself, Juliet Landau, this collection shows you just how insane Angel’s world can get."

WTF did I just read? This has got to be the worst volume yet. I would give it a 1 if I hadn’t liked Drusilla’s story arc and the Comic-Con story. Those two are awesome! The rest can just suck it because Grrr Argh! The artwork is very nice though.

[TJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m rereading some Buffyverse comics, and even though this volume is part of the “are they or aren’t they canon?” period of IDW Angel comics it’s on my list of ones to revisit. Anything in the ‘verse written by Brian Lynch is worth reading again, and the ties to After the Fall are super interesting. Also, the comic con story is just plain fun! 5/5 stars

[Risa · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75+

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the city of Los Angeles settled into normality once more, a doctor in a mental health facility supervises a patient who has delusions of having lived for over a hundred and fifty years and of being a vampire. Perhaps it isn't the best idea in the world to let Drusilla out of her padded cell. Finally, Angel attends a comic convention where he sees how Hollywood has dealt with the events of the Fall.

Beautiful artwork - as expected by now - and a great story by Juliet Landau about her character. Readers should get a kick out of the comic of the movie 'Last Angel in Hell' starting someone who may be drawn to beat a resemblance to Nicolas Cage.

[Hayley (Gory B Movie) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had my doubts about Last Angel in Hell. It is not confirmed canon but many fans argue that it should be. I finally decided to go ahead and read it to see for myself. This volume includes four stories: an epilogue to Angel: After the Fall, a two-part Drusilla tale, Boys and Their Toys, and Last Angel in Hell. My conclusion is that these stories are largely unrelated and do not affect the canon Buffyverse. If any of these stories sound interesting to you, then I would recommend hunting down the comic for that particular story as opposed to spending money on this hardcover volume.

Angel After the Fall: Epilogue (Issue #23): brings closure to anyone wanting to know what happened to Gunn and Illyria at the end of After the Fall. Currently, this issue has no direct connection with the rest of the Buffyverse, so you can skip it and not miss out. It’s a slow read and I would only recommend it to anyone wanting to continue on with the non-canon Angel comics as this issue sets up Only Human.

The Drusilla story (Issues #24-#25): interesting because Juliet Landau (the actress who played Drusilla) co-wrote it with Brian Lynch. It’s a neat bit of fandom and there are photos of Landau included at the end of the comics. Urru returns as illustrator though the result is disappointing. Vamp face aside, Drusilla scarcely resembles her television counterpart. However, the coloring is impressive, featuring a desaturated look to emphasize the red blood and the blue of Dru’s dress and eyes. I wanted to like these comics more than I did, I do love Drusilla but there is very little story here. Unless you are a die-hard Drusilla or Landau fan, I’d skip it.

Boys and Their Toys (Issues #26-#27): a fun geek fest. Angel and Spike search for an important artifact at a comic book convention. There are loads of fun references to all things geeky. Also, an epic zombies verses vampires verses kung fu master fight and Angel in drag. These issues are good for a laugh but I thought the characters, particularly Spike’s friend Jeremy (from Spike: After the Fall), were inconsistent with the established storyline.

Last Angel in Hell (Angel Annual #1): the comic adaptation of a fictional film loosely based on Angel’s exploits in Angel: After the Fall. While the confirmed canon (Brian Lynch’s Spike Series) references the film, you don’t need to read this issue to follow the Buffyverse storyline. But highly recommend that you do. Last Angel is a hilarious parody of action films complete with Michael Bay style explosions on every other page and loads of movie references. Nicolas Cage plays Angel, Spike is a woman, Gunn is Jorge Garcia from Lost, and George is the dog from the I Am Legend movie. Lynch has fun with classic movie clichés like the lone-wolf-loose-cannon cop. He also pokes fun at his own work, particularly Angel: After the Fall. “Kind of a cop-out wasn’t?” said one character about the ending. Yes. Yes, it was. I also loved the fictional ads for the Last Angel in Hell cereal and the Doublemeat Palace kid’s meals. Last Angel is a must-read for action movie fans or anyone looking for a fun read!

UPDATE 10/30/2024:
I enjoyed this much more the second time around. I really appreciated the epilogue story and how it resolved Gunn's story arc. I also appreciated the Drusilla story much more. The art is incredible. It is still light on story but my opinion has changed on how it depicts Dru. The story does not delve deep into her character but what we are given works well. Bumping this up a half star to 3.5 (rounding up to 4 stars).

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

So Lynch is back, and the writing immediately takes a turn of the better. Unfortunately, this volume is plagued by two larger issues. First, it fails as part of the ongoing Angel comic because it totally ignores volume 5. Second, it fails as a continuing comic, because this is a random assortment of stories with no real continuity between them. So, good stories, bad volume 6.

Gunn (23). Nice to finally see Gunn after After the Fall, even if this mainly a setup for a mini-series by a less-skilled writer [7+/10].

Drusilla (24-25). As delightful as it is to have Landau contributing to the comic, the slightly interesting look at Drusilla in a mental hospital at the start of this arc turns into her killing and killing and killing.I was very bored by the end. [3/10].

Comic-Con (26-27). Probably the best of the batch because this arc does such a good job of emulating the show; it could be an episode. It also really spotlights the Angel-Spike dynamic and is darned funny at times. There's no depth here, but it's still a fun read [7+/10].

Last Angel (Annual). The Last Angel movie, hinted at in the Comic-Con arc, is another fun lark, but it drags by the end. You can only take so much laughably bad, before it turns cringingly bad [5/10].

[Gary Pryke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very brief review...

After The Fall - Epilogue: Become What You Are
2/5 - A rather pointless story which only seems to exist to team up two of the characters.

Drusilla
2/5 - I was looking forward to this but it doesn't really have much of a story considering it lasts two issues. Also I have to admit I wasn't entirely sure what Drusilla was doing in an asylum, why no-one realised she was telling the truth, and why her killing people wasn't much of a problem.

Boys And Their Toys
3/5 - Entertaining and kind of a sequel story to a classic Buffy episode.

Last Angel In Hell
4/5 - This is essentially "After The Fall - The Movie"...Genius! Also love the little touches of it being clearly sponsored by a well-known buffyverse brand and the little adverts for action figures and such.

Overall this volume is not amazing but "Last Angel In Hell" makes it for me so i'm giving it 4/5 and considering everything else just a little extra.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This had some read-out-loud-to-the-girlfriend-even-though-she-doesn't-care moments.
Specifically, Bryan Lynch writing his entire After the Fall story arc as a cliche-soaked action movie starring a gun-toting Nicholas Cage. It's so bad it's good. But also bad, so I had to scrub my brain out a little.
Also, solo adventures starring Dru and Gunn & Illyria.

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, that's more like it.

This sequence was pretty damn close to everything I liked about Angel. Very tongue in cheek, self-mockingly-referential, and funny as hell. The art got a lot better, too.

[Lynda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Except for the movie adaptation, I loved this book.

[Cornerofmadness · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boy that third star seems almost generous. If I had been collecting this as it came out monthly I might have stopped. It's like the last volume with Kelly Armstrong didn't exist. This thing is by Brian Lynch, the original author (basically volumes 1-4) and the original artists who do a better job than they did in volumes 1-4, less muddy, colored better too.

To be fair, some of this isn't bad. Some of it is plain old fashioned bad story telling. But this thing is all over the damn place. Let's unpack it a bit.

Chapter one - We find out how Gunn gets out of the hospital, now that we're back in LA's proper plane and he's no longer a vampire. The art here isn't bad but man Gunn looks like a pouty woman, a naked one too. His mental dialogue with himself is also all over the place, despondent and unpleasant until Illyria puts in an appearance and that's the last we see of them for the rest of the hefty volume.

Chapter two is... why is it in Angel? This is a Drusilla story written by Juilet Landau which is cool and it's mostly good (there needed to be a bit more editing to make it more coherent because some of it was out there and not just Dru out there). I love Dru and I love the idea that Juilet wrote this but it seems odd it was shoehorned into Angel's comic book.


And the next two are just...kinda BAD. To be fair, Chapter three had it's moments. The team, Angel, Kate, Connor and Groo are at a comi-con to get a real magical sword and end up at a viewing of the Angel: Last Angel in Hell movie which is simply so bad Angel can barely look at the Nicolas Cage look alike playing him (in love with a gender bent Spike). And we end up with a spell that causes everyone to become who they are cosplaying.

That could be fun. Parts of it was, especially since they meet Spike at this thing and he and Angel dress up as each other to avoid being noticed by the bad guys only to have Spike turn into Angel (the bad movie Angel) BUT instead of Kate and Connor we have some character from the Spike comics in this (who I don't know and don't care to) who added absolutely nothing. It would have been so much more amusing to have Kate and Connor witnessing Spike as Angel and Angel's mortification but those two are completely forgotten. Literally they're in two panels and forgotten. Now that is just bad storytelling. So thanks for handing the funny lines to some stranger.


Chapter Four was pointless. One star all the way. I'd have wanted my money back for those comic issues. It's nothing but the bad Angel movie. That got old fast.

I only have one more volume of the graphic novel set to read and honestly with this erratic quality and slapdash story telling I can see why there wasn't more than there was. sigh.

[Adam Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

Woof.

A complete and utter mess that doesn't know what it wants to be.

We begin with a follow-up to volume four. Gunn and Illyria's stories get somewhat wrapped up, along with Spider Anne from Spike: After the Fall. It's fine. The art is okay, the story is coherent. It's a bit disappointing that it ignores all of volume five's story but it's ok. 3/5

The next section is an update about where Druisilla has been, written by Juliet Landau, who played Druisilla on Buffy and Angel. It's an interesting concept but it could have used more editing. There are clearly ideas being expressed that just didn't make it to the page. 2/5

The third part is a Comic-con satire that imagines it's funny and more informed than it is. I just couldn't bring myself to care about anything that happened. 2/5

Finally, there was a joke in the previous storyline about an Angel movie where Spike is gender-swapped, Gunn is whitewashed, Nicholas Cage plays Angel, and all the facts are wrong. So we get to see that movie here: Last Angel In Hell. This is another Who Cares. Where did the story from volumes one through four go? What about the new story in volume five? What is the purpose of this detour?

If you're a big fan of Angel, maybe....maybe...MAYBE read the first two stories in a store or library and then return them to the shelf.

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This graphic novel was perfection. From the first chapter about Gunn and Ilyria. I can't pick a favorite character from the Angel series but Gunn is a top contender. I actually enjoy Ilyria quite a bit even though they did kill Fred and that is quite a big strike against them. I am glad to see Gunn up and about and I can't wait to see what happens with him next. The second chapter is all about everyone's favorite unhinged vampire: Drusilla. I definitely have to say that Drusilla is my favorite of the Fanged Four and I am glad she got a run in these comics. I would love to see more of her. This chapter also has to have some of the most beautiful artwork I have seen so far in this comic line. Chapter three has Angel and Spike together again dealing with some shenanigans at a knock off Comic Con. This one was so much fun. I love any interactions between Angel and Spike. I just want an Angel and Spike buddy cop show. Plus the Groosalugg is there and a sneak preview for the movie that was made about L.A.'s time in hell. The fourth chapter is that movie in it's entirety. And this movie... *chef's kiss.* It's got Angel as played by Nicholas Cage, I think. Gunn caring around a giant machine gun. Fred with a tech suit called I.L.L.Y.R.I.A. And female Spike, who seems to be a mix of Buffy, Darla and Spike. It was just one hell of a hot mess fanfic and I loved everything about it.

[Aubrey · Rating 1 out of 5]

After the complete mess that was volume 5, I had more hope for this one - seeing as it got back to the original writer/artist (Lynch/Urru). I even had hope in first starting it, because this volume essentially ignores everything that happened in volume 5. And yet, I think volumes 5 & 6 are a great example of a series that should have stopped a while ago. If ended at Volume 4, it would have been a pretty good run.

This volume was a mash up of random stories that just didn't need telling. I slightly enjoyed the Drusilla story, written by Landau herself. The first story regarding Gunn and Illyria was okay, but again I really could care less for Gunn. The third story, taking place at a con, was a bit relived of the Buffy Halloween episode. The last story about the movie adaption of Angel's After the Fall story just went on way too long. Since it was meant to be some big blockbuster Nick Cage cookie cutter half ass written Sharknado type movie that gets it all wrong, it did just what those kind of movies do. It bored me. No wonder I never ended up reading this one back when I was reading the series in 2012, I had more sense in me then.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is the weakest of the 6 volumes in this series. I very much enjoyed the first two stories; Become What You Are, the tale of Charles Gunn's coma and Illyria's protection of him and Drusilla, which involves Dru being in a mental institution, written by Juliet Landau. I thought the over the top zany Boys and Their Toys and Last Angel In Hell were a waste of words and art. Just my humble opinion. I recommend this book just for the first half, though I'm sure many will enjoy the second half more than I did.

[Thereysa Tabert · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first two chapters were good, especially the chapter about Drusilla (which is why I even gave it three stars, without this chapter it would of been 1 star). However, the third chapter was just plain silly, at first it was funny but then we got the picture and it just kept dragging on. The fourth chapter was the absolute worse, Last Angel In Hell was stupid and unnecessary, it literally didn't wrap the story up, instead they just added a silly chapter (with made up characters using character names we know) that had nothing to do with anything... Very disappointed.

[kangeiko · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a review of the whole of “Angel: After the Fall” and I really, really cannot express how much I hated this. The plot was nonsensical, the characterisation was straight up assassination, and the art style was so weird I couldn’t tell who the characters were meant to be half the time. The rest of the time, I was too busy being distracted by the unnecessary bared midriffs and thong lines on all the female characters - and that’s when they weren’t straight-up naked eye-candy. What the actual fuck was anyone involved in this unholy mess thinking???

[Ross · Rating 2 out of 5]

If this is the end of 'After The Fall', then this should be a smoking crater at the bottom of a cliff...

Brian Lynch came back to helm issues 23-27 and the annual. Basically to tie up the last of the loose ends of the 'After The Fall' stories.

- Drusilla gets a moment to shine (hell is other people [or in your mind])
- Gunn wakes and has a 'talk' with Illyria
- Spike and Angel go to a ComiCon convention to check the movie based on their time in Hell
- The full 'Last Angel In Hell' movie adaptation is included

[Miki · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant set of stories, most of the main Angel characters are back in this volume, including Gunn, Illyria, and Drusilla, and we learn their fate during and after LA went to hell. A priceless episode is set in a comic con with cosplayers turning into the heroes/villains of their costumes (Spike has a particularly ironic fate in this), and the hilarious final part of the volume shows the movie adaptation of the now legendary story of how Angel and the gang fought and won Hell in LA.

[Highland G · Rating 1 out of 5]

Three stories.
One short continuation bit that was just ok.
A Drusila slaughter/mental health arc with no other characters and no real the in.
A terrible reimagining of the comic so far is released as a movie, arc/ comic movie.
It’s just a mess, art sucks, writing sucks. I have no idea how this got published, never mind into a hardcover. Damn things must have been tight at IDW to let this garbage out.

[Edward Petersen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately the movie adaptation issue blew past so-bad-it's-good, right into just terrible. All the time I was thinking, I could be spending my time reading something that furthers the story of the characters I care about. This is a long walk to eventually hear Spike's inevitable joke about being adapted as Angel's love interest.

[Drululu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me ha divertido mucho! Entre que el dibujo es mejor, aparece Drusilla que siempre es top escrita por Juliet Landau, aparecen otra vez los personajes de siempre (no como en el anterior volumen) y la parte de la peli y la convención es unas risas, ha sido un volumen muy entretenido.

Eso sí, no veo la relación con el anterior y me genera la duda de por donde va a ir la historia.

[Sammi · Rating 3 out of 5]

obviously not as good as the previous volumes, but enjoyed the dru story and the comic con one shot (mostly because anytime spike can be a central player to the story and I get to laugh about it, you know I’m in)

the movie adaption was almost too dumb for words and i know they were feeling themselves with it but woof a waste of time.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Comic-Con story (complete with Captain Stupendous instead of Captain Marvel) and the adaptation of the movie within this based on the events surrounding LA being in Hell were just good fun. I guess Nicolas Cage plays Angel in the movie? It sure looks like him.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has got to be one of my favorite Angel trades. First of all, Drusila is a great story!

But I think that Brian Lynch's Boys and Their Toys might be one of my favorite all time Buffy or Angel stories. It's spot on and the characterization is excellent. It's hilarious!

[Love_booksforlife Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I like the format of individual stories, like volume 2, I wasn't a fan of most of these. Dru is okay but her story was a bit too much for me. I liked the convention one for the first part of it but it went on too long

[stories_and_roses · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was actually quite good! I really enjoyed the ridiculous movie version of Angel (&Spike), along with Spike’s brief foray into being Angel (symbolic of character growth) and the interesting subplots regarding Drusilla, Illyria, Gunn, and Spike’s villain.