Angelic #1 Featured Image Reviews 

“Angelic” #1

By | September 21st, 2017
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

Take flight with a new fantasy series about what’s left behind and what comes next after humans. Read on for our review of “Angelic” #1, which contains mild spoilers.

Cover by Caspar Wijngaard
Written by Simon Spurrier
Illustrated by Caspar Wijngaard
Lettered by Jim Campbell
Designed by Emma Price

WINGED MONKEYS! TECHNO-DOLPHINS! QUANTUM ALLEYCATS! – Humanity’s long gone. Its memory lingers only as misunderstood rituals among mankind’s leftovers: the genetically modified animals they used and abused for eons. – But for one young flying monkey, QORA, the routines are unbearable. All she wants is to explore. Instead, she’s expected to settle down, to become a mother… to lose her wings. – Eisner nominee SIMON SPURRIER (The Spire, CRY HAVOC, X-Men Legacy) and rising-star CASPAR WIJNGAARD (LIMBO, Dark Souls, Assassin’s Creed) present your new bittersweet adventure obsession: teenage rebellion and animal antics amidst the ruins of civilization! – Think WALL-E by way of Watership Down. Fly, my pretties!

There are many fantasy stories that take place after a great apocalypse, and a good much more that take place after our apocalypse. There’s something about the blank slate caused by the near-total end of all that is familiar that really serves as a fascinating backdrop for a brand new beginning. Si Spurrier and Caspar Wijngaard have crafted (and continue to craft) an apocalyptic landscape that is as beautiful as it is compelling, with a cast of characters whose foundations are built on the very mistakes that no doubt brought about the annihilation of our world.

Qora is a pink, winged monkey, part of a tribe of similar animals that are steeped in their own mythology, or Lore as they call it. The depth of their belief system is so deep that it governs their entire lives, from how they speak to how they act. Similarly, their societal structure is decided by this deep-set religion: the men are the hunters and protectors, and the women are the nesters and the mothers. This is further accentuated by the ritual pairing of the animals, at which the “Girlmonks” have their wings removed in a symbolic (and all too literal) gesture that their time away from the home is done.

If this all sounds barbarically familiar, then it should. After all, we’re not too far removed from a similarly unfair society ourselves, and this is just one of a number of moments throughout “Angelic” #1 where the cyclical nature of civilizations will be explored, as well as the use of religion to oppress a group of people. Qora is, understandably reluctant to follow the path laid out by her “Makers,” and this series will explore her story more deeply and, through her, we’ll discover more about this fantasy world.

The culture that Qora is raised is and will continue to be questioned by our protagonist, but her forbidden questioning (assigned “extra duties” when asking her favorite question: “Why?”) uncovers a strange truth: that these animals were bred by humanity, and since our departure (or destruction,) they have built up a culture based on this Lore, and it’s through this quasi-religion that they structure their existence. It’s a fascinating juxtaposition, that these animals – engineered by science and in opposition to nature and therefore any understanding of God – would become so deeply religious themselves. In the back matter of the issue, Spurrier discusses a group of ex-lab monkeys now living in a zoo, that have learned to live in two distinct groups based on their fur color. He was told that this was a learned response from observing mankind, and it’s perhaps this lesson that he carries into “Angelic.” These creatures, despite being beautiful animals with no ties to us apart from their own twisted creation, are clinging to a societal structure and belief system that isn’t too far removed from our own, because that’s what they’ve learned from us. Perhaps their existence is a dark mirror reflecting our own twisted society.

Artist Wijngaard creates a beautifully realized, rich fantasy world. The very nature of “Angelic” and the universe it’s building draws you in and demands your attention, but Wijngaard’s fairytale creatures and gorgeously unnatural coloring make you want to mentally absorb this world and lose yourself in it. There’s a touch of Oz about this world (and it’s not just because of the flying monkeys before you ask;) it’s a techno-futuristic Narnia, Zootopia meets Wall-E with the stoic reality of Planet of the Apes, and Wijngaard brings all of that to life in a wonderfully imaginative way.

Continued below

Early in the issue, the “boymonks” are rallying to fight against a squadron of flying techno-dolphins, and as they soar through the sky towards their targets, the book opens up to a double page spread of the wasteland below them. In a perfect example of the art telling the story as much as the script, you see the remains of a city, a human city, covered in grass and graffiti and extra structures added in the time since whatever apocalypse wiped us out. It’s extremely effective, and there’s a moment later on in the book where a dilapidated bridge can be seen, one that looks eerily like the Golden Gate Bridge, another reminder that this is – or was – very much our world.

There are overarching ideas in “Angelic” #1 that have their beginnings in this issue: the very relatable feeling of rebellion against the norm, and of questioning what you don’t understand; of science versus religion; of imposed nurture versus instinctual nature, and of the moments where those two polar-opposites intersect. In the end, though, this is a high fantasy, deeply imaginative and beautifully crafted issue that promises a thoroughly engaging series. Qora is a fun and important central figure, and the adventure that is her journey of discovery is one that you want to join her on, and that’s all thanks to the strength of this debut issue.

Final Verdict: 9.0 – Stunningly original fantasy with heart and soul, and more than a little word of warning about how we live today.


Matt Lune

Born and raised in Birmingham, England, when Matt's not reading comics he's writing about them and hosting podcasts about them. From reading The Beano and The Dandy as a child, he first discovered American comics with Marvel's Heroes Reborn and, despite that questionable start, still fell in love and has never looked back. You can find him on Twitter @MattLune

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