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Angel: Season 11
Angel: Season 11, Vol. 1: Out of the Past
Angel, a reformed vampire cursed with a soul, is tormented by a vision linking his shameful past to something very big—and very bad—that is coming. As Angel and his friend Fred begin trying to solve the mystery, the goddess Illyria gives Angel some insight and incentive. Then she really gets involved, and Angel discovers that it might be possible to change the future by changing the past.
Taken by Illyria, Angel and Fred find themselves in Illyria’s ancient past. The goddess claims it is a mistake, but when she discovers just when they are—in the middle of a battle between her past self and another god—she’s not ready to leave without attempting to change the battle’s outcome.
With no choice, Angel must help both past and present Illyria in a battle for their people and their land…
Collects Angel Season 11 issues #1-#4.
Taken by Illyria, Angel and Fred find themselves in Illyria’s ancient past. The goddess claims it is a mistake, but when she discovers just when they are—in the middle of a battle between her past self and another god—she’s not ready to leave without attempting to change the battle’s outcome.
With no choice, Angel must help both past and present Illyria in a battle for their people and their land…
Collects Angel Season 11 issues #1-#4.
104 pages, Paperback
First published August 9, 2017
2 people are currently reading
169 people want to read
About the author
Corinna Sara Bechko
199 books134 followersCorinna Bechko has been writing comics since her horror graphic novel Heathentown was published by Image/Shadowline in 2009. Since then she worked for Marvel, DC, Boom!, Image, and Dark Horse, among others, on titles such as Planet of the Apes, Star Wars: Legacy, Savage Hulk, Aliens/Vampirella, Invisible Republic, and Green Lantern: Earth One. She was recently short-listed for the Aeon Award for her prose short Sooterkin. She is a zoologist by training.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
April 19, 2017
This title confuses me. Angel and Faith have just reunited for good in the finale of Season 10, we got a sense of an epic upcoming adventure, and then Dark Horse just cancels their series and introduces Angel solo title instead. Faith is nowhere to be seen. Why? And for what? You'd think that this new series must at least kick ass, right? Wrong. Oh dear god, so wrong.
So... Angel and Fred/Illyria, completely out of the blue and for no reason at all, travel through time to some prehistoric era when Illyria was still a young and powerful fat blob with tentacles who ruled some ancient civilisation. So they run around a lot and then fight some aliens and ancient gods. This sounds like bullshit already, right? And it is. This series is not relevant to anything that is or was going on in the Buffyverse, it doesn't serve any purpose, it doesn't add anything to anyone's character... It's useless. Absolutely useless.
Corinna Bechko is an awful writer. Not only did she come up with the stupidest story, she also doesn't understand Angel, Fred OR Illyria. She writes them as some generic dumb characters in a Michael Bay-level brainless action film. They have no personality, no self-awareness, no sense of humour. The dialogue is clunky and cringe-worthy, completely opposite to what Joss Whedon's Buffy and Angel shows were famous for.
Even the artwork by Zé Carlos is bad. His action scenes, environments and monsters look fine, but the characters... Do these look like handsome and broody David Boreanaz, or sweet and charming Amy Acker? Or do they look more like the victims of some horrible disease? You decide.
Overall, this is easily the worst Dark Horse Angel comic to date, maybe even worse than some of those non-canon old IDW comics. The good news is, you will miss absolutely nothing if you skip this series entirely. You don't need this comic to read Buffy Season 11, or any other Buffyverse comic in existence. So there's that. My advice? Stay away from this heaping pile of crap.
So... Angel and Fred/Illyria, completely out of the blue and for no reason at all, travel through time to some prehistoric era when Illyria was still a young and powerful fat blob with tentacles who ruled some ancient civilisation. So they run around a lot and then fight some aliens and ancient gods. This sounds like bullshit already, right? And it is. This series is not relevant to anything that is or was going on in the Buffyverse, it doesn't serve any purpose, it doesn't add anything to anyone's character... It's useless. Absolutely useless.
Corinna Bechko is an awful writer. Not only did she come up with the stupidest story, she also doesn't understand Angel, Fred OR Illyria. She writes them as some generic dumb characters in a Michael Bay-level brainless action film. They have no personality, no self-awareness, no sense of humour. The dialogue is clunky and cringe-worthy, completely opposite to what Joss Whedon's Buffy and Angel shows were famous for.
Even the artwork by Zé Carlos is bad. His action scenes, environments and monsters look fine, but the characters... Do these look like handsome and broody David Boreanaz, or sweet and charming Amy Acker? Or do they look more like the victims of some horrible disease? You decide.
Overall, this is easily the worst Dark Horse Angel comic to date, maybe even worse than some of those non-canon old IDW comics. The good news is, you will miss absolutely nothing if you skip this series entirely. You don't need this comic to read Buffy Season 11, or any other Buffyverse comic in existence. So there's that. My advice? Stay away from this heaping pile of crap.
September 7, 2017
Positively dreadful. You'd expect this to pick up where Angel / Faith Season 10 left off but nope. It feels like it was written by someone who's never read previous seasons of the Buffyverse or even seen the show. It's lacking any kind of humor nor does it build off of previous stories. Angel and Illyria go back to prehistoric demon times to right a mistake Illyria made ions ago. God, it's awful. And the art is amateur hour at best. Joss Whedon should be embarrassed to even have his name associated with this.
Received an advance copy from Dark Horse and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
Received an advance copy from Dark Horse and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
September 15, 2017
Angel: Out of the Past was (thankfully) short so it didn't take much time reading it. The story isn't that memorable, with Angel and Fred going back in time to help Illyria destroy another god.
Well, what to say other than this graphic novel really didn't turn out the way I expected it to do. I was charmed by the lovely cover and then I was seriously disappointed with both the art and the story. OK, the story was not totally bad, but at the same time was it not totally good. I have never been a big fan of Fred, and reading a whole graphic novel about her and Illyria was not really my cup of tea.
I gave the graphic novel 3 stars at first, but as I was sitting down to write this review did I ask myself did I enjoy it enough to give it 3 stars? I mean the art was cringeworthy, they didn't even look like the characters from the TV series. And, neither was the art that appealing. It was just not the kind of art that I like, too sloppy.
I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through Edelweiss for an honest review!
Well, what to say other than this graphic novel really didn't turn out the way I expected it to do. I was charmed by the lovely cover and then I was seriously disappointed with both the art and the story. OK, the story was not totally bad, but at the same time was it not totally good. I have never been a big fan of Fred, and reading a whole graphic novel about her and Illyria was not really my cup of tea.
I gave the graphic novel 3 stars at first, but as I was sitting down to write this review did I ask myself did I enjoy it enough to give it 3 stars? I mean the art was cringeworthy, they didn't even look like the characters from the TV series. And, neither was the art that appealing. It was just not the kind of art that I like, too sloppy.
I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through Edelweiss for an honest review!
August 5, 2017
[Read as single issues]
This series confuses me. It's meant to be Angel Season 11. It reads almost like a series written for other characters, with Angel and Fred/Illyria then thrown into them instead. It works to a degree, but Angel in prehistoric times fighting dinosaurs and demons is not what I expected to find when I read this series. With Angel & Buffy back at Dark Horse together, I'm surprised that they're so separate in terms of storytelling. These first four issues also don't seem to make much headway with the actual plot, so it's all a detour which again is an odd way to open a series.
The art is by Geraldo Borges, who has been popping up over at DC for a while now to do fill-in issues of different series. His style is pretty much in-house comics stuff, so there's really not much to say.
'Not much to say' really sums this up, to be honest. A very weird start to season 11, especially if it's only 12 issues like Buffy is this season.
This series confuses me. It's meant to be Angel Season 11. It reads almost like a series written for other characters, with Angel and Fred/Illyria then thrown into them instead. It works to a degree, but Angel in prehistoric times fighting dinosaurs and demons is not what I expected to find when I read this series. With Angel & Buffy back at Dark Horse together, I'm surprised that they're so separate in terms of storytelling. These first four issues also don't seem to make much headway with the actual plot, so it's all a detour which again is an odd way to open a series.
The art is by Geraldo Borges, who has been popping up over at DC for a while now to do fill-in issues of different series. His style is pretty much in-house comics stuff, so there's really not much to say.
'Not much to say' really sums this up, to be honest. A very weird start to season 11, especially if it's only 12 issues like Buffy is this season.
April 26, 2017
The idea of Angel and Fred/Illyria having their own adventures sounds AWESOME... But not this like! The entirety of this story is so NOT logical, especially not in terms of the established continuity and mythology. Illyria should not be able to travel that far back in time. This is not how time travel works in this universe! Illyria does not have half of the powers she's been shown using in this book; or at least they haven't been mentioned before. I know there's "new magic" and "new rules", but this all just seems like lazy writing and plotting. It feels like it could be a decent story if done in another universe with different characters. This just isn't a story that was meant to be told in the canon Buffyverse -- maybe fan fiction? Also, this just wasn't the story that needed to be told or that fans wanted. It has absolutely nothing to do with the previous seasons, which had so much left hanging last time around. I'm 100% for more focus on Fred/Illyria, especially since they didn't get the attention or explanation they deserved last season, but this story is just some fan wank. The writer does a decent job with Angel's voice and even Fred's, but butchers Illyria's. (I HATE that Illyria is suddenly 100% female and refers to herself as such. Goddess?!) This writer just suffers from lack of grasping the universe and its rules. They were too worried about telling the story THEY wanted to tell, one that didn't mesh with these characters. Honestly, I blame the people who hired them. They straight up should have known this was not the way to take this season, and even then, they should have told the writer "no, you can't write that" over and over throughout their scripts. So much is just so out of place and out of character, and does not make sense in continuity. We deserved a season focused on Angel and Fred/Illyria, but not like this... How can you do a season focused on Fred/Illyria and completely ignore how she came back to life? How can you ignore Illyria's sudden personality glitches both last season and this season? It's just so lazy! I'm tired of laziness. These characters deserve better. Side note, the art is alright, sometimes, so there's that.
June 22, 2017
Better than After the Fall but I think I prefer Angel & Faith. That said, I'm a total sucker for Angelus and Darla era so I'm interested to see what part 2 brings!
January 7, 2020
Pointless addition to the Angelverse that throws away all the good ideas developed previously in the Angel and Faith series. No Faith. No Magic Town. No humour. No real understanding of the characters. No tie-ins to Buffy season 11. Quite possibly written by someone who has never seen an episode of Angel and drawn by someone who has never seen a human. Damn my completist nature which means I need to trawl through the remaining volumes.
May 16, 2017
This didn't make any sense and managed to be boring. Very disappointing after previous story lines.
January 9, 2018
This story seemingly came out of nowhere. I am v. confused. I actually was hoping this would connect to the Buffy S11 storyline somehow with the Brexit influence...lost opportunity.
January 12, 2018
What the fuck was that?
April 9, 2025
Buffy season 11 is currently set in a concentration camp for magical people, and up to this point Angel and Faith have been living in London in the sectioned off magic town. What a fantastic opportunity to show two versions of a hateful reactionary government. You have Buffy struggling against a genocidal regime, as Angel lives in an apartheid state. That could be really powerful! No, you fool! Angel will clearly be in Ireland with Illyria. Faith? Who?
So to start off this comic, Angel is brooding when he suddenly has a vision from the powers that be. Fred wants him to take it seriously, his visions are important. Wait, what’s that you say? The visions are more of a condition, not something someone just has? And Angel has had exactly one vision and it was very clear that was the only one? No, shut up, he has visions now. They run into a tear in reality during an exorcism or something, and Fred suggests that their problem might be in the past and that Illyria could take them there. Angel doesn’t know Illyria can time travel even though she could do that in both the show and earlier comics.
It’s been awhile since I read a comic that is so immediately terrible on the first page. I paused halfway through the first issue to write the above. This is going to be an endurance test.
Angel sees a spider run up a wall and immediately chases it. Why? Well, in his vision he saw demonic looking insects and spiders are kind of similar to insects. Well, they’re small. Uh. So he climbs in the wall and finds a reliquary which he immediately desecrates taking out a small bowl. Certain that that’s what he needs, he and Fred head back to the hotel. Its video game logic; he can interact with it, it must be important. In the real world I can actually pick up all small objects and so I know that my ability to pick them up doesn’t make them relevant to my life. Once back at the apartment a rift or something shows up and Illyria takes Angel back in time. I do not want to read another 11 issues of this. I hope it gets a little more tolerable.
So the plot here is that Angel thinks a case he’s on is tied to his past as Angelous, so he gets Illyria to bring him back in time but she goes too far and they wind up on primordial earth when it was ruled by demons. It’s not inherently a bad idea, but it is very bad. It feels like an Angel story written by someone who has never read the comics and roughly remembers the show from 20 years earlier. She remembers that there’s visions, but not who gets them or even what they’re like. She remembers Illyria but not much about her. It’s dreadful. And there’s no explanation for all the plots and setting of Angel & Faith that have been dropped, including the & Faith of it all. A part of me feels bad for Faith, but she’s lucky to be spared of this.
Buffy season 11 is better than its ever been, Angel is worse than any part of this franchise has ever been. Just amateurish garbage.
So to start off this comic, Angel is brooding when he suddenly has a vision from the powers that be. Fred wants him to take it seriously, his visions are important. Wait, what’s that you say? The visions are more of a condition, not something someone just has? And Angel has had exactly one vision and it was very clear that was the only one? No, shut up, he has visions now. They run into a tear in reality during an exorcism or something, and Fred suggests that their problem might be in the past and that Illyria could take them there. Angel doesn’t know Illyria can time travel even though she could do that in both the show and earlier comics.
It’s been awhile since I read a comic that is so immediately terrible on the first page. I paused halfway through the first issue to write the above. This is going to be an endurance test.
Angel sees a spider run up a wall and immediately chases it. Why? Well, in his vision he saw demonic looking insects and spiders are kind of similar to insects. Well, they’re small. Uh. So he climbs in the wall and finds a reliquary which he immediately desecrates taking out a small bowl. Certain that that’s what he needs, he and Fred head back to the hotel. Its video game logic; he can interact with it, it must be important. In the real world I can actually pick up all small objects and so I know that my ability to pick them up doesn’t make them relevant to my life. Once back at the apartment a rift or something shows up and Illyria takes Angel back in time. I do not want to read another 11 issues of this. I hope it gets a little more tolerable.
So the plot here is that Angel thinks a case he’s on is tied to his past as Angelous, so he gets Illyria to bring him back in time but she goes too far and they wind up on primordial earth when it was ruled by demons. It’s not inherently a bad idea, but it is very bad. It feels like an Angel story written by someone who has never read the comics and roughly remembers the show from 20 years earlier. She remembers that there’s visions, but not who gets them or even what they’re like. She remembers Illyria but not much about her. It’s dreadful. And there’s no explanation for all the plots and setting of Angel & Faith that have been dropped, including the & Faith of it all. A part of me feels bad for Faith, but she’s lucky to be spared of this.
Buffy season 11 is better than its ever been, Angel is worse than any part of this franchise has ever been. Just amateurish garbage.
June 22, 2018
SO MUCH FUN! Our library system was sadly lacking Season 11 and on request they have thankfully rectified that :) This is very different in tone to concentration-camp-Buffy over in the USA and a lot more playful (despite the possibility of world ending doom). Hmm, is there something maybe developing between Angel & Fred? They have known each for a long time and been working together on/off since L.A.
In order to investigate the coming big-bad they must travel back through time. First stop is prehistoric demons and seeing the 'real' version of Illryia. The second stop involves current-Angel v.s. young Angelus; also, pirates, zombies, Darla, and another volcano. Looking forward to #three!
Note: fun story and concepts but not the most accurate graphic representations of Angel; bit more luck with Fred but that's a bit hit & miss as well.
Note: A fun coffee-in-bed weekend read but I was confused why Faith wasn't present? Is this the period when they're on the outs because of what happened with Giles??
In order to investigate the coming big-bad they must travel back through time. First stop is prehistoric demons and seeing the 'real' version of Illryia. The second stop involves current-Angel v.s. young Angelus; also, pirates, zombies, Darla, and another volcano. Looking forward to #three!
Note: fun story and concepts but not the most accurate graphic representations of Angel; bit more luck with Fred but that's a bit hit & miss as well.
Note: A fun coffee-in-bed weekend read but I was confused why Faith wasn't present? Is this the period when they're on the outs because of what happened with Giles??
September 12, 2022
Well I am REALLY confused by this turn of events.
“Remember that lame Angel & Fred Ireland adventure one-shot in season 10? Well let’s make season 11 ENTIRELY that. Except then we’ll make Illyria throw them in the past. Because of a flower? And some bugs? And cause she has personal shit to deal with.”
“What about Faith?”
“Eh, no one cares. Let’s not even MENTION her. Just throw in an aunts cameo for good measure.”
“What about Magic Town? What about all the shit going on across the pond in Buffy season 11?“
“Not important. Prehistoric demons!”
“Ok, well this will at least be related to previously mentioned Illyria drama, right? Her guilt over killing Eldre Koh’s family maybe?”
“Nope! New Illyria drama! Unrelated prehistoric demons!”
“Okay, we’ll at least get someone who can really write Fred this time, though? And keep Conrad, or get an equally good artist?”
“Nahhh. Fred can just sound like everyone else. And look like everyone else too. And we’re definitely hiring this guy who can’t draw Boreanaz for shit.”
“Remember that lame Angel & Fred Ireland adventure one-shot in season 10? Well let’s make season 11 ENTIRELY that. Except then we’ll make Illyria throw them in the past. Because of a flower? And some bugs? And cause she has personal shit to deal with.”
“What about Faith?”
“Eh, no one cares. Let’s not even MENTION her. Just throw in an aunts cameo for good measure.”
“What about Magic Town? What about all the shit going on across the pond in Buffy season 11?“
“Not important. Prehistoric demons!”
“Ok, well this will at least be related to previously mentioned Illyria drama, right? Her guilt over killing Eldre Koh’s family maybe?”
“Nope! New Illyria drama! Unrelated prehistoric demons!”
“Okay, we’ll at least get someone who can really write Fred this time, though? And keep Conrad, or get an equally good artist?”
“Nahhh. Fred can just sound like everyone else. And look like everyone else too. And we’re definitely hiring this guy who can’t draw Boreanaz for shit.”
August 10, 2018
This book was ok. It lacks momentum from the previous season, having no compelling narrative tissue in common, and the main conflict is somewhat interesting but the story doesn't contribute much to ongoing arcs.
It suffers somewhat from an opening that feels very episodic, and the introduction of threats and regrets out of the characters' pasts that have never been indicated before.
I feel like the creative team knew they needed to do something with Illyria, and they were right in that, but this story just doesn't resonate as strongly as I like to see. It's not worthless, especially to fans, but it feels more like the kind of comics and books we used to get that weren't canon. It especially falls short next to what the Buffy comic was doing at the same time which is incredibly compelling, relevant, and vital.
Not garbage or anything, but Angel seemed to get the short end of the stick this time.
It suffers somewhat from an opening that feels very episodic, and the introduction of threats and regrets out of the characters' pasts that have never been indicated before.
I feel like the creative team knew they needed to do something with Illyria, and they were right in that, but this story just doesn't resonate as strongly as I like to see. It's not worthless, especially to fans, but it feels more like the kind of comics and books we used to get that weren't canon. It especially falls short next to what the Buffy comic was doing at the same time which is incredibly compelling, relevant, and vital.
Not garbage or anything, but Angel seemed to get the short end of the stick this time.
February 26, 2020
I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to likenesses, but the Angel drawings in this are pretty solidly off the mark. The dialogue for all three characters is pretty off as well. The story isn't bad, but it's not spectacular either. The comics usually cover a lot of ground with lots of characters and this felt like something that would have worked better as a stand-alone television episode. I also feel a bit duped. This promised me Angel's past and instead went to Illyria's which is interesting, but not nearly as good. I'm hoping the next arc will fulfill the promise, although slightly delayed.
March 7, 2021
2.5 stars? This beginning volume felt like someone with ADD wrote it. Exorcism, church yard, back in time, whoops wrong time! The dialog was also not great: stilted, awkward. I thought maybe it was me but others have given it similar reviews. Maybe part of the problem was that this follows seasons 9 and 10 of Angel and Faith which were actually really good. The ending of season 10 had a nice new cast of Angel’s scooby equivalent. It had a lot of potential. Returning with only Angel plus one feels like a low budget sequel. It didn’t take very long to read, though.
October 8, 2018
This one was weird. I think I've been out of the series too long b/c I don't remember Ilyria and Fred bouncing back and forth. I thought once she was Ilyria, she was Ilyria. Or maybe they bounced for a while, and then Ilyria took over completely. I don't remember. Either way, this was a weird choice for a story line.
December 1, 2018
The quality of the Buffyverse comic seems to be slipping. I didn't like the fact that this whole volume was just reincarnated Fred/Ilyria and Angel. There wasn't enough of the usual character banter and the artwork was the weakest it's ever been for this series. Angel lacked David Boreanaz's distinct look and could have been anyone.
August 4, 2018
I definitely miss Faith in the Angel line up. This story was pretty good, though the set up is loose and vague.
Happy to see Angel back in Ireland, even if it’s Dublin.
I did like seeing Illyria’s biggest regret and her in her full form.
Happy to see Angel back in Ireland, even if it’s Dublin.
I did like seeing Illyria’s biggest regret and her in her full form.
April 3, 2020
Amazing art (which I've come to expect from both Angel and Buffy). Occasionally, Fred looked a little generic...but then the variant covers and certain panels were so gorgeous that I almost forgot. I love time travels stories, and so far this is looking like a lot of fun.
April 23, 2020
A largely flip and skip for me, wtf happened?
First off, they decided to give Faith the boot this season...ok. Then, they change Illryia's powerset so that we can get Fred and Angel stuck in prehistoric times for 4 issues?
First off, they decided to give Faith the boot this season...ok. Then, they change Illryia's powerset so that we can get Fred and Angel stuck in prehistoric times for 4 issues?
August 30, 2024
honestly this would be a perfectly fine comic if it didn’t feel like it ignored everything last season and wanted to recreate the angel and faith dynamic with Fred and Illyria. weird vibes like is angel into them???? not bad but not the best, but mostly a forgettable volume.
May 31, 2017
Interesting to see where this goes
September 27, 2017
Noooooooooooo. Bring back Angel & Faith because this book/arc is awful.
December 17, 2017
I enjoyed this Fred and Angel story, but it seemed to come out of the blue - and it seems strange that Illyria regrets destroying her people. But it was a fun Sunday morning read.
April 8, 2018
I didn't like this as much as the earlier Angel & Faith series, although happy to see the continuation of Fred and Illyria.
July 2, 2018
Illyria story—pretty boring. Plus, the cover art suggests a book about Angel’s past, which made it extra-disappointing, as it felt like a bait and switch.
August 25, 2018
2.5 stars
August 29, 2018
Good volume. Glad this series and Buffy are still going.
January 7, 2019
I guess the message is even gods can learn and grow.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews