Today, I'm going to talk a bit about a series that isn't even being published right now. But there are plenty of trades available, so if what I have to say sparks an interest, rush out and buy some of those, thus maybe signaling to the publishers involved that they should devote some of their budgets to producing more.
The comic in question is Fallen Angel by writer Peter David. This book began its life in 2003 at DC Comics, believe it or not, but it was set apart from the DC Universe proper. We don't get much of the title character's back story at first, but we do know that her "code name" is literal. A former guardian angel, Lee has great strength and a number of other unique abilities. We know a disagreement between her and her former "boss" led to her fall, and that she is basically a good person, but she is not quite happy with life or its circumstances. We see glimpses of Lee's life during the day where she works as a gym instructor for a local girls' school. But most of the stories revolve around Lee's nights in a city know as Bete Noire.
Bete Noire is of vague location and populated by a number of colorful characters. There's Benny, who seems to be a street bum but is in reality the serpent from the original Eden story. There's Dolf, the German bar owner who looks after Lee sometimes and serves as her closest confidant, but also may be one of history's most notorious figures. And there's the Magistrate, the local authority in Bete Noire, who both controls events in the city and is controlled by them.
Lee spends her nights in this desolate city of last resort, often drinking in Dolf's bar. Occasionally, some poor soul will come to Bete Noire seeking the assistance of one called the Fallen Angel. If Lee chooses to listen to the person's story, and if she chooses to care, she might help the person with whatever problem has brought them to Bete Noire.
The existence of superheroes would muddy the waters somewhat in a book like this, where most things are of the real world, with only an occasional intrusion by the spiritual or supernatural. The book was quite a good one but only lasted 20 issues despite the great stories by David and the fantastic art by David Lopez. The problem, I think, was that the book had trouble placing itself. The supernatural aspects of the story line and the more mature themes would have made this an excellent Vertigo title and would have led to the book getting into the hands of more readers who I think would've appreciated it for what it was. Instead, the decision was made to brand this a mainstream DC title instead. But the absence of costumed heroes, even in cameos, killed the book's chances with the superhero crowd. Obviously, I believe there to be overlap between the two audiences, I'm proof of that, but apparently not enough to save this worthwhile title.
Thankfully, when DC canceled the book, it was picked up by IDW Publishing. They relaunched the title under the same name with a new No. 1 in 2005. Wisely, IDW opted not to change much of the format. The book jumped ahead several years in time with the change, but the stories were still in the same vein by the same writer. David Lopez didn't make the switch; if memory serves, he had an exclusive contract with DC at the time. But Peter David and IDW replaced him with J.K. Woodward who provided both painted covers and painted interiors.
This series continued the story of Lee and Bete Noire, adding in a new twist with Lee's adult son, a character who had just been born about the time the DC series ended. We get to see more of Lee's background in this series, including the event which led to her fall. We are also introduced to more characters who have known Lee longer and to whom she is not such a mystery, which helps the reader learn more about her along the way.
This series, too, was canceled, this time after 33 issues, but it didn't go away completely. The final issue promised the series would be back with a new story arc in a limited series. That series, Fallen Angel: Reborn, materialized in 2009. It matched Lee up with a character named Illyria from the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" television program and comics. I'm not very familiar with either incarnation of Buffy, so the Fallen Angel series was my first exposure to Illyria, but David does an excellent job incorporating what you need to know about the character into the current story. This latest FA series, because of its dual focus, wasn't quite as good as the earlier FA titles, in my humble opinion, but it was still a good story. It gave a tad more character development to Illyria than to Lee, which might be fine for Buffy fans, but left me wanting more Fallen Angel stories.
At this point, I'm not sure if there are more Fallen Angel stories coming or not. I've heard indications that other limited series will continue, but to date, nothing new has been solicited. I truly hope David is not done with the character as there is still a great deal of story potential in Lee. But the stories presented thus far are solid reads well worth your time. And hey, if my hawking the past trades gets someone to take notice and produce more Fallen Angel comics, we all benefit, right?
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