Some issues with 'Angel'

With the overwhelming success of Dark Horse's "

Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Season Eight," IDW was expecting big things with "

Angel

: After The Fall," a series set to chronicle the never-produced sixth season of the "Angel" TV show.

With creator Joss Whedon involved and announcing the series as "canon" in his Angel/Buffyverse, fans were looking forward to big things as well.

That "Angel: After the Fall" No. 1 will now enjoy a third printing a scant two weeks after its first shows the pent-up demand fans have had for this tale to be told.

However, Comics Guy has a feeling many will be disappointed.

First, while "Angel" always had a darker tone than "Buffy," the art by Franco Urru is so dark it's sometimes hard to read the issue. Add in that many characters - one in particular who will come as a shock - appear without any explanation and the book is likely to be difficult for long-time Angel fans to follow and practically guaranteed to frustrate new readers. I had no idea what was going on at times.

If Whedon wrote this himself, as he did the first "Buffy Season Eight" arc, the book may have been more fun and readable. But though he had imput on the plot, the series is written by Brian Lynch. Though Lynch is talented - and Whedon obviously did not write all the TV scripts for "Angel" - it says something when he is willing to write the first arc of Buffy's continuing adventures himself but only co-plot further Angel stories.

It is quite possible that all will be revealed and I will end up as enthusiastic about this title as I am about "BTVSS8."

Also, Whedon's fans are so rabid they will likely stay on for the duration. I simply expected more from a first issue of this magnitude.

Turning to novelist/comic-writer Brad Meltzer ("Justice League of America"), whoever coined the phrase "Don't mess with people who handle your food," must have had him in mind.

Turning to novelist/comic-writer (""), whoever coined the phrase "Don't mess with people who handle your food," must have had him in mind.

"I spent four years scooping ice cream at Haagen-Dazs," he disclosed in the November issue of Wizard magazine. "And if you were a real d--- to me and snapped your fingers because I wasn't scooping fast enough, I would break off the bottom of your cone so that when you were 200 feet away, it would be dripping down your shirt."

According to Variety, Sienna Miller has landed the role of The Baroness in the "G.I. Joe" film due to hit theaters in August 2009.

According to , has landed the role of in the "" film due to hit theaters in August 2009.

Miller's portrayal of the raven-haired Baroness, a sexy femme fatale skilled in espionage, will not be her first foray into the action-adventure/fantasy genre.

She played Victoria, the object of Tristan's affections and the reason he went looking for a fallen star, in "Stardust." She has also appeared in "Layer Cake" and "Casanova."

Though reaction to Miller being cast has been mixed there is a big controversy brewing about changes reportedly being made to the story to make the Joes less American. Comics Guy will share the details on that next week.

Bruce Willis will star in "The Surrogates," Disney's big-screen adaptation of the Top Shelf Productions sci-fi series by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele.

will star in "The Surrogates," Disney's big-screen adaptation of the Top Shelf Productions sci-fi series by and

Variety reports that production is to begin in February. Jonathan Mostow ("Terminator 3") will direct from a script by Michael Ferris and John Biancato ("Terminator 3," "Catwoman").

"The Surrogates" is set in 2054, when humans interact through robots who are idealized versions of themselves.

In that perfect world, police detectives Harvey Greer and Pete Ford must stop a techno-terrorist who is determined to return society to a time when people actually lived their own lives. *

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