Not Fade Away vs After the Fall

[jessesopher]

Let me preface this post by saying that I *loved* After the Fall - quite possibly even more than Season 8.

That being said, I'm not sure how I feel about it being the end of the series (canon-wise anyway) as compared to NFA. I think it is fairly obvious that Joss does not have any further plans for Angel's story. While I agree with another poster that it's too soon to really tell the direction or plan that IDW has for Angel, Aftermath isn't giving me a very good feeling about it.

So, considering the open/almost-cliff-hangerish ending of ATF, which do you consider to be the better ending for the Angel story: Not Fade Away or After the Fall?

I think I like Not Fade Away better. It was very final. Until ATF was announced, I just assumed that the characters died in battle. It was a perfect ending for the series, I think (I do realize that there were plans for season six and much of that was incorporated into ATF).

I'm hoping the future of the Angel comics will be better than Aftermath and it will address the issues raised in ATF. While, I assume they won't be strictly canon, I think most people are willing to accept them as the continuation of the story given Joss' not-so-involvement/interest in the story. But in another thread, the complaint was given that there is not a visionary behind the wheel. Joss has Season 8 planned and has an end-goal in mind: post-ATF Angel doesn't.

[Nina]

I do agree with you. ATF was great and issue #17 was a great issue and a perfect kick off for new stories. But that's my problem, NFA was such a great ending of a story and now it's 'replaced' with another great ending, but not one you want to end with. (Sounds weird, I know.) There are so many questions; Where is W&H? What's up with the Shanshu? How does LA deal with this knowledge? And of course the character arcs. Gunn is in a coma, Connor is confused, Angel is famous but alone, Nina feels worthless, Kate is somewhere, Gwen is back and deals with her betrayal, Illyria is dealing with human feelings and Lorne is back but not really. All amazing arcs that can lead up to great stories, but if you see ATF as the end, it's not very statisfying.

NFA ended with a bang, you could make of it what you wanted. But the biggest chance was that they all died, no worries anymore about shanshus, unfinished arcs, W&H being lost etc. It's very absolute, and I love that about the ending in NFA, at least as one that is the final ending of the show.



But if Joss wants to use Ats characters (read: Angel & Spike) in season 8 or 9, we will find out that they are not dead. And in that case you want to know what happened after the screen went black because they survived. And if that happens you will wonder why W&H let them live, what W&H are up to and of course the major question in Ats; what is going to happen with Angel and his major role in the big apocalypse?

thus;
Better having some answers than having no answers at all. Of course it would be amazing if Joss had the guts to let Angel and his team die. It would be really powerful (But I think that IDW would not be very happy with that. ) But that's not the case, they didn't die and in that case I just grap whatever I can grap (official canon or not). Aftermath is just one arc, 5 issues ... that's all. BtVS season 7 had much more crap in that season, season 5 of Ats was weak for the first half year and the last arc of season 8 was not all that either. It's not fair to judge a whole series on one arc, especially when it's all you have. And if people want only Joss for Ats (because Joss is god and all the others ar not ... yada yada), they shouldn't blame IDW who tries their best but Joss himself who kind of dumped the series.

[henzINNIT]

Haven't read the end of ATF yet, but as much as I'm liking it I doubt it'll top NFA. I loved that ending, and violently opposed further stories, but ATF has been fantastic and won me over.

I just wish the Buffy continuation filled me with as much joy as Angel's does. It should do, considering it's Joss behind it.

[BlueJay]

After reading Angel #1-23 in its entirety recently, I must say that Not Fade Away was a decent ending. It should have stopped there.

[henzINNIT]

I think the ending to ATF is better than NFA. Yes, I went there.

[The Night Lord]

I think it's a bit hard for me to decide which had the better ending: ATF or NFW. They both had very great endings, so it's difficult to choose lol

[Brian Lynch]

I tried like hell to give Angel a great last moment in ANGEL:ATF # 17. I knew for some (and I thought for me) it would be considered the end of Angel's run for a while, and man did I lose sleep over just the right words. I actually came up with the exact exchange while on my first anniversary trip. My wife was in the shower, it popped in my head and I typed it out on my iphone so I wouldn't forget.

[The Night Lord]

Aug 4, 2009 0:45:30 GMT -5 Brian Lynch said:

I tried like hell to give Angel a great last moment in ANGEL:ATF # 17

And you succeeded. I quite enjoyed the ending. Felt closure from the final page

Aug 4, 2009 0:45:30 GMT -5 Brian Lynch said:

My wife was in the shower, it popped in my head and I typed it out on my iphone so I wouldn't forget

Well, whatever works, I suppose And the good old typing things out on phones. Never fails

[Hellbound Hyperion]

It was a brilliant ending, Brian. Soooo good.

Me, I'm very satisfied with how ATF ended things. It still carries the original message of the show - the fight never ends - but with less ambiguity: where Not Fade Away was in some ways transitory ("who else is gonna die in that epic battle?"), ATF has a definitive feeling of finality, even though there are stories yet to be told.

ATF is my chosen ending to Angel.

[Hallow Thorn]

Aug 4, 2009 1:07:46 GMT -5 The Night Lord said:

Aug 4, 2009 0:45:30 GMT -5 Brian Lynch said:

I tried like hell to give Angel a great last moment in ANGEL:ATF # 17

And you succeeded. I quite enjoyed the ending. Felt closure from the final page

Aug 4, 2009 0:45:30 GMT -5 Brian Lynch said:

My wife was in the shower, it popped in my head and I typed it out on my iphone so I wouldn't forget

Well, whatever works, I suppose And the good old typing things out on phones. Never fails

Yeah, I really loved the last moment in A:ATF (to me it is the last anyway, but I also think of 23 as a canon spin-off..sorry I said the 'C' word. ) I am just so content that A:ATF happened, The end of the series felt to rushed and uncomplete for me. After the fall just makes my enjoyment of the show and characters so much more now, that I felt ‘NFA’ (but also season 4/5 took away.) So I am very satisfied with it....

[angeliclestat]

Well for me it aint over:)

But if people are happy with AtF#17 as the ending then that's cool too.

[patxshand]

Yeah, for me, #17 was the end of an arc, but by no means Angel's story. It was a great way to put a capper on that chapter of Angel's life, and Brian delivered in giving it a meaningful ending that suited both the character and the story. Now, I'm pumped to see what comes next!

[henzINNIT]

I'm not fussed. ATf is brilliant. I'm buying 23-27 on the strength of Lynch's writing, but I'm more than happy with where Angel has been. If the Crown Prince arc is well received I may check out the collected, but I'm fine with Season 8 and Spike's series for the future.

[thevampirewithsoul]

I like After the Fall's ending more then Not Fade Aways ending.
Not Fade Away was a great episode but I did not like the ending.

The ending to Not Fade Away seems to contradict what Angel stands for.
If Angel and his allys lost the fight in the alley then LA would be defenseless(so much for helping people).

I think that After the Fall's ending did a better job of ending the series, as it seemed to bring Angel back to his roots.

[Wyndam]

Aug 4, 2009 11:53:21 GMT -5 thevampirewithsoul said:

The ending to Not Fade Away seems to contradict what Angel stands for.
If Angel and his allys lost the fight in the alley then LA would be defenseless(so much for helping people).

I thought the ending fit with the series' themes perfectly. Team Angel was going to keep fighting no matter what. Sure, there was a definite chance none were going to survive, but what are they supposed to do? Stand back and hide and let the city be destroyed? Just because they will lose? That would go against Angel's nature completely. The only thing they could do was fight and do their best to take out as many as they could.

Aug 4, 2009 10:54:38 GMT -5 patxshand said:

Yeah, for me, #17 was the end of an arc, but by no means Angel's story. It was a great way to put a capper on that chapter of Angel's life, and Brian delivered in giving it a meaningful ending that suited both the character and the story. Now, I'm pumped to see what comes next!

And I also agree with this, obviously.

[Randi Giles]

I've always thought of ATF as an continuation of NFA. They were both good endings and as of now thinking about it I can't choose between the two.