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To anyone who read this before I edited, my apologies - edited Sunday, 21,2010.
[Am somewhat behind on my reviews, I know. And technically speaking I already did a non-spoilery capsule review for this comic. But, it's been a long time that a comic book surprised me like this one did. Wasn't really expecting all that much, to be honest, considering that to date...the Angel comics have largely been a disappointment. So, I'm doing this review a bit differently. I'm using visual aids. The review is more of a meta and filled to the brim with spoilers. I also wrote way too late last night, so it was unproofed and quite rough when posted. Yeah, I know what's new? This morning...I overslept, so missed church and instead listened to a podcast on befriending regret, the podcast made me think of this post -because that is what is driving Illyria and indeed many of the characters in Angel and in any noir universe - they are filled with regrets of the things they've done and the things they should have done.]
Illyria is written by Scott Tipton and Mariah Huehner, who also serves as editor, with Elena Casagrande as the artist, and Walter Trono and Illaria Traversi on inks and colors. This is a rarity, we have a female character from a noir series written and drawn by women. So we are seeing her and to a degree the trope and series she is from through female eyes, not just male. While Kelley Armstrong did write for the Angel comics, the artists and editors were male. And in the Buffy comics - the editor, interior artist, executive producer were male - even on the arcs written by Espenson.
I note this because the comic book industry tends to be a boys club. Women rarely break in to it.
And when they do, it is hard to stay in it. No field is harder to break in to than action comics or superhero/noir comics. As a result, female characters are often drawn and written as male fantasy figures. This is also the reason that many women do not like comics, or degrade the art form - seeing it as something for adolescent males only. Being a gal who likes guy stuff..well not all guy stuff - the appeal of cars and American Football continue to bewilder me - has been an interesting experience.
One other thing to note about Illyria before I go begin my meta - the reason I've decided to use visual aids is unlike the other artists who do the Angel IDW and Buffy DH comics - Casagrande actually uses her art to show not tell us what lies inside her character. It's the first time I've seen anyone do this effectively in the IDW or Dark Horse comics, with the possible exception of Joan Chen in Always Darkest...
[*in the acknowledgments...the editors thank Joss Whedon and Fox World Publishing for their invaluable assistance (not "rights"), make of that what you will. It's in small print on the inside cover.]
( Illyria...Haunted by memories not her own and regrets that are alien to her )
[Am somewhat behind on my reviews, I know. And technically speaking I already did a non-spoilery capsule review for this comic. But, it's been a long time that a comic book surprised me like this one did. Wasn't really expecting all that much, to be honest, considering that to date...the Angel comics have largely been a disappointment. So, I'm doing this review a bit differently. I'm using visual aids. The review is more of a meta and filled to the brim with spoilers. I also wrote way too late last night, so it was unproofed and quite rough when posted. Yeah, I know what's new? This morning...I overslept, so missed church and instead listened to a podcast on befriending regret, the podcast made me think of this post -because that is what is driving Illyria and indeed many of the characters in Angel and in any noir universe - they are filled with regrets of the things they've done and the things they should have done.]
Illyria is written by Scott Tipton and Mariah Huehner, who also serves as editor, with Elena Casagrande as the artist, and Walter Trono and Illaria Traversi on inks and colors. This is a rarity, we have a female character from a noir series written and drawn by women. So we are seeing her and to a degree the trope and series she is from through female eyes, not just male. While Kelley Armstrong did write for the Angel comics, the artists and editors were male. And in the Buffy comics - the editor, interior artist, executive producer were male - even on the arcs written by Espenson.
I note this because the comic book industry tends to be a boys club. Women rarely break in to it.
And when they do, it is hard to stay in it. No field is harder to break in to than action comics or superhero/noir comics. As a result, female characters are often drawn and written as male fantasy figures. This is also the reason that many women do not like comics, or degrade the art form - seeing it as something for adolescent males only. Being a gal who likes guy stuff..well not all guy stuff - the appeal of cars and American Football continue to bewilder me - has been an interesting experience.
One other thing to note about Illyria before I go begin my meta - the reason I've decided to use visual aids is unlike the other artists who do the Angel IDW and Buffy DH comics - Casagrande actually uses her art to show not tell us what lies inside her character. It's the first time I've seen anyone do this effectively in the IDW or Dark Horse comics, with the possible exception of Joan Chen in Always Darkest...
[*in the acknowledgments...the editors thank Joss Whedon and Fox World Publishing for their invaluable assistance (not "rights"), make of that what you will. It's in small print on the inside cover.]
( Illyria...Haunted by memories not her own and regrets that are alien to her )