Angel: After the Fall continues with issue #9 after a three issue hiatus from the main story. This issue answers some important questions, but ends up replacing those them with brand new questions and teases for the future of the series.

 This issue acts as the conclusion to the first story arc and defiantly begins a new one. There is really only one word that can sum up this issue: satisfying. Despite Angel and Co. being involved in a gigantic battle in a hellish Los Angeles, Lynch and Whedon manage to mix in a nearly perfect amount of character moments. The script of this issue absolutely captures the character’s voices. Thus far, this issue stands out as the one that feels the most like a fresh episode of “Angel”, despite being in the medium of comic books.

 What really makes this issue work is the pacing. A high-tension moment will be squandered by a joke, which makes it feel like Lynch focused on making this story character driven than plot driven. This kind of story telling is what makes this series stand out as one of the better series that are currently hitting comic book stands. New pieces of information are revealed throughout the issue, and instead of everyone sitting around a table giving out the new facts, it comes out in what feels like very natural conversations.

 The story is essentially broken up into two acts, the first being the conclusion of the battle that began in issue #5. Some of the moments were obviously going to happen, while others came as wonderful surprises that made me smile. The only problem with this arc is that I was a little confused about how Angel went about executing his grand scheme, but more information will most likely be coming out in later issues.

 The second act takes a turn that will please all fans of the “Angel” TV series. Even though it is a logical place for Angel to turn to, it still caught me off guard and had a massive amount of nostalgia behind it. The Wesley and Illyria/Fred relationship takes off once again and Wes gives some information that will once again makes “Angel” fans ecstatic and should make readers look forward to future issues.

 The artist in this issue changes from Franco Urru to Nick Runge, who penciled the Wesley story in the “First Night” arc. While it is a little bit jarring to have an artist switch following a cliffhanger ending, Runge creates wonderful renditions of the actors he is portraying. Without his talent, the final few pages of the issue would not have had the same impact. It is interesting to note that one of the villains looks nearly identical to Jack Kirby’s initial Human Torch, before his facial features could be made out. On the other hand, I would imagine it is difficult to draw a character made up of flames and have it look unique from other characters that have similar powers.

 What can now be considered a trend with Angel: After the Fall is to have an homage cover to other comics. This began with issue #5 where Franco Urru placed the characters in the same position as Michael Turner did in the variant cover of JLA #1 Volume 2. This issue had a variant cover draw by Alex Garner that is a clear homage to The Incredible Hulk #1, drawn by Jack Kirby. It is a fun trend that I hope sporadically continues with future issues.

 For those who have not been reading this series so far, this is a good jumping on place as it begins a new story arc. The only thing that was missed from this issue was having the big cliffhanger ending, but some of the information that was let out still adds a lot of anticipation to see what Whedon and Lynch have coming next. Buy this comic.