Angel
Issue 4. Written by Christopher Golden, art by Eric Powell, colors by Guy Major.

I just want to establish something right from the start. I love Christian Zanier. Well, not love love him. I've never met the man. But I totally adore his artwork on both Buffy and Angel, and I thought I should make that clear from the outset so that it was... well, clear. I just hate it when there are misunderstandings between us.

But why am I telling you this, you wonder? Because it is the reason that I need to give this comic kind of a bad review. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is. I find that having experienced Zanier's beautifully drawn LA skyline -- and those perfectly carved planes on Angel's face -- in the first three issues of the Angel monthly, no one else will do.

From the perspective of a life-long comic fan, Eric Powell's work is fine. Good, even: all atmospheric and suitably creepy. But just as I hate the "art" of the thrice-damned Ryan Sook (as seen in the Buffy and Spike and Dru books) for being, well... ick, I can't like Powell's work on Angel #4 because what he is drawing here is a character; what I'm looking for is an actor.

This is a debate that has, funnily enough, cropped up in the letters section of the monthly releases several times in their relatively short time span -- the issue of real life versus real art. I always try not to read the letters section in comics -- and especially so in the Buffy and Angel books because I find that Scott Allie person condescending -- but, somehow, I am irresistibly drawn to peruse the lot. I suspect witchcraft. There have been those in this section who have postulated the theory of what I call "comic-ness." Basically, that a comic character is a separate entity from the actor who only plays him on TV, and that we should enjoy the diversity that different artists can bring to the world. In principle I agree -- a different artist can bring a new perspective, even a new direction, to a book, just with subtle shadings and a quirky sense of who the characters are.

In a media tie-in, however, I don't agree. The characters should look like the actors that portray them, because, for the most part, that is why people are buying the comics. I'm not necessarily saying me, here -- hey, I like to think I'm open minded. But for the non-comic fan, who is really only buying the books because they have the words "Buffy" or "Angel" (for example) on the cover, the comic-y styles (that result in such disasters as Cordelia's freakishly flat face -- ugh), while artistic, can only be a disappointment. And the licensees have got to know this, or why else the photo covers?

Of course, just as important as the artwork in a comic book -- and some would argue more so -- is the story. And on that front, at least, I have no qualms. Christopher Golden is turning in his usual, consistently sharp scripts, and the forthcoming addition of Vampirella's Tom Sniegoski to the writing team can only be a plus. And with the return of Christian Zanier for #5 (with the cover!), I can forgive this month's transgressions.

I wonder, though: would Angel, as a comic, be able to stand on its own, independent of the TV show -- even divorced from it altogether? I mean, I bet half the people out there buying it are only doing so because it's the only place, outside of Fan Fiction, where they can still see poor Doyle in action.

Oh, did I mention what Doyle looked like in this comic? No? Well, that's okay. You just don't want to know.

-- Rachel Hyland

Angel, published by Dark Horse Comics, is currently available only through comic retailers.

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