Broken Frontier

In IDW’s smash-hit series Angel: After the Fall, all of the characters who survived the melee that concluded Joss Whedon’s fan-favorite TV series have had to find their way in a Los Angeles cast into hell. As befit his character, the vampire Spike seemed to have it all at the start—he was set up in a certain Beverly Hills mansion, surrounded by a cadre of female warriors and Illyria, too. But it wasn’t always so easy for him, as fans will see come this July.

Spike: After the Fall is a four-part series beginning next month, and it tells the tale of what happened in the intervening months since that alleyway cataclsym. Along for the ride in this series are Illyria, who has a tendency to revert back to Fred at inopportune times, as well as Angel’s Dragon, and a new cast of characters as well. Most importantly, the series introduces a character who will come to be see as Spike’s arch-nemesis. Even more than Angel, we mean.

Presiding over the series will be Angel: After the Fall writer Brian Lynch and artist Franco Urru, who provides two special first-issue Spike covers offered in a 50/50 ratio—one featuring Spike’s human face, one in all its vamped-out fury! Aussie art team The Sharp Brothers offer a special “grindhouse”-inspired incentive cover, too!

About the overall “After the Fall” arc, writer Lynch said “Joss laid the groundwork with me, a very specific outline, and now I'm carrying it out. He did the heavy-lifting in the beginning, and now I'm the spokesman, I'm the mouthpiece.

 “I cannot express how great this is coming out. I didn't want to dilute Angel: After the Fall or the previous Urru/Lynch Spike tales,” he continued, “so we didn't plan this until we saw whether or not it would work. It worked. It works soooo well. This is gonna be goooood. All the hell! None of the Angels!”

Spike: After the Fall #1 (Diamond Order Code MAY08 3932) will be in stores on July 16, as will the first hardcover collection of Angel: After the Fall.