Angel: Old Friends

    (Idea + Design Works, 2005-2006)
™ and © Idea + Design Works LLC

After years of fighting evil supernatural menaces, and once again averting Armageddon at the end of his TV series, Angel, the vampire cursed with a human soul, is enjoying a much-deserved retirement… alone, and very far away from his friends and enemies alike.

Naturally, that’s about to change. When a series of vampiric slayings—with witnesses describing a pointy-toothed cocky Brit in a trench coat—bloodies the streets of LA, Angel reluctantly returns to the city expecting a final showdown with his sometimes ally Spike.

But his reunion with his old team—Gunn, Wesley, and Illyria—is marred by the realization that someone very powerful is once again playing tricks on them. When nothing is quite what it seems, and your friends aren’t necessarily who they appear to be, then how do you know who to trust? And if you can’t trust anyone, how do you know when you’ve won?

— Joseph Self

From the Comics Buyer’s Guide:

Angel: Old Friends finds everyone’s favorite vampire with a soul taking a break from demon slaying and world-saving. Holed up in a cabin in the snowy mountains, Angel just wants to be left alone. Unfortunately for him, ex-partner Charles Gunn invades his sanctuary with a simple request: to help him take down a familiar-looking vampire who is terrorizing the streets of L.A. While in Southern California, they hook up with a pair of former colleagues and battle a particularly fearsome creature.

Fans of the dearly departed Angel television series will find these issues agreeable enough, since the snarky dialogue (left over from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) remains intact and the characters look and behave about as they should. The art, though sparse at times and rarely better than ordinary, does manage to capture the basic likenesses of David Boreanaz, J. August Richards, and company. Regrettably, the plot is simplistic in the extreme and sadly missing much of the richness and moral ambiguity found in some of the better episodes of the show.

— Brett Weiss

Jump to issue:
  NotesWriterArtist

#1 Variation A

  11/1/2005
  $3.99
  $3.50
3 copies available from $2.50 		David Messina coverJeff MariotteDavid Messina, Elena Casagrande

#1 Variation B

  11/1/2005
  $3.99
  $3.50
2 copies available from $2.99 		Zach Howard coverJeff MariotteDavid Messina, Elena Casagrande

#1 Variation C

  11/1/2005
  $3.99
  $2.75
2 copies available from $1.25 		Tone Rodriguez coverJeff MariotteDavid Messina, Elena Casagrande

#1 Variation D

  11/1/2005
  $3.99
  $1.00
6 copies available from $0.75 		Lee Kohse coverJeff MariotteDavid Messina, Elena Casagrande

#1 Variation E

  11/1/2005
  $3.99
  $4.50
1 copy available for $5.00 		Retailer Incentive photo coverJeff MariotteDavid Messina, Elena Casagrande

#2 Variation A

  11/1/2005
  $3.99
  $3.00
1 copy available for $2.99 		David Messina coverJeff MariotteDavid Messina, Elena Casagrande

#2 Variation B

  11/1/2005
  $3.99
  $3.50
3 copies available from $1.99 		Neil Vokes coverJeff MariotteDavid Messina, Elena Casagrande

#2 Variation C

  11/1/2005
  $3.99
  $3.50
1 copy available for $3.99 		Sean Phillips coverJeff MariotteDavid Messina, Elena Casagrande

#2 Variation D

  11/1/2005
  $3.99
  $2.00
3 copies available from $2.00 		Lee Kohse coverJeff MariotteDavid Messina, Elena Casagrande

#2 Variation E

  11/1/2005
  $3.99
  $6.50
2 copies available from $3.99 		Retailer Incentive photo coverJeff MariotteDavid Messina, Elena Casagrande

#3 Variation A

  1/1/2006
  $3.99
  $3.75
2 copies available from $1.99 		David Messina coverJeff MariotteDavid Messina, Elena Casagrande

#3 Variation B

  1/1/2006
  $3.99
  $2.75
1 copy available for $2.75 		Russell Walks coverJeff MariotteDavid Messina, Elena Casagrande

#3 Variation C

  1/1/2006
  $3.99
  $2.00
No copies available 		Tone Rodriguez coverJeff MariotteDavid Messina, Elena Casagrande

#3 Variation D

  1/1/2006
  $3.99
  $2.00
1 copy available for $1.50 		Dustin Evans coverJeff MariotteDavid Messina, Elena Casagrande

#3 Variation E

  1/1/2006
  $3.99
  $3.99
No copies available 		Retailer Incentive photo coverJeff MariotteDavid Messina, Elena Casagrande

#4 Variation A

  2/1/2006
  $3.99
  $3.75
2 copies available from $1.99 		David Messina coverJeff MariotteDavid Messina, Elena Casagrande

#4 Variation B

  2/1/2006
  $3.99
  $2.00
1 copy available for $1.99 		Tone Rodriguez coverJeff MariotteDavid Messina, Elena Casagrande

#4 Variation C

  2/1/2006
  $3.99
  $1.75
1 copy available for $1.75 		Russell Walks coverJeff MariotteDavid Messina, Elena Casagrande

#4 Variation D

  2/1/2006
  $3.99
  $2.00
1 copy available for $4.99 		Lee Kohse coverJeff MariotteDavid Messina, Elena Casagrande

#4 Variation E

  2/1/2006
  $3.99
  $3.99
No copies available 		Retailer Incentive photo coverJeff MariotteDavid Messina, Elena Casagrande

#5 Variation A

  3/1/2006
  $3.99
  $5.00
1 copy available for $5.00 		David Messina coverJeff MariotteDavid Messina, Elena Casagrande

#5 Variation B

  3/1/2006
  $3.99
  $2.00
1 copy available for $1.75 		Tone Rodriguez coverJeff MariotteDavid Messina, Elena Casagrande

#5 Variation C

  3/1/2006
  $3.99
  $2.00
3 copies available from $1.99 		Russell Walks coverJeff MariotteDavid Messina, Elena Casagrande

#5 Variation D

  3/1/2006
  $3.99
  $2.75
1 copy available for $7.99 		Lee Kohse coverJeff MariotteDavid Messina, Elena Casagrande

#5 Variation E

  3/1/2006
  $3.99
  $3.99
No copies available 		Retailer Incentive photo coverJeff MariotteDavid Messina, Elena Casagrande

Book #1

 
  $19.99
  $15.00
2 copies available from $15.00 		Collects # 1–5; ca. 2006Jeff MariotteDavid Messina, Elena Casagrande