Review: Angel: The Curse #1

Joss Whedon fans everywhere have been eagerly awaiting the first issue of IDW's Angel: The Curse, myself included. Out last week, the mini-series is written by Jeff Mariotte with art by David Messina and picks up sometime after the final episode of the television series. As the story opens, Angel is in the woods in Romania pursued by a gang of Vampires. As the sun rises, Angel takes refuge in an old castle and we find out what he's doing in the country. I'm not going to spoil it for you here, but it's a pretty nifty reason and certainly makes sense for the character.


Mariotte's writing is fun and I think he effectively captures the voice of David Boreanaz's Angel. His inclusion of a flashback from an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a great way to introduce new readers and remind longtime fans of the tortured nature of Angel. Frustratingly, Mariotte offers no clue as to how the impending fight of the last seconds of the TV series ended or who might possibly have survived. That's probably for the best as those new to Angel might be confused by talk of a past climatic battle or references to characters not central to this story. Hopefully we'll get that story in the next mini-series.

David Messina's art was pretty good and he tells the story well. My only two nitpicks with his work would be that I didn't think he really captured the likeness of David Boreanaz or of the other televised characters, but that's probably me just being too critical. Also, I was confused on his depiction of night and day as it was hard to tell the distinction in a few panels. Other than that, I liked his art very much and thought he portrayed a fitting mood.

Overall, this was a good read, even if pricey at $3.95. I would definitely recommend this to fans of the TV series and also to those that like interesting vampire tales. Four fangs out of five.