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Angelwings

After the Fall — Epilogue: Become What You Are is the twenty-third issue of the Angel comic book series and the conclusion of the After the Fall arc. Written by Brian Lynch and illustrated by Franco Urru, it was originally published on July 1, 2009, by IDW Publishing.

Synopsis[]

Since returning from Hell, Gunn has lain incapacitated, near death. Looking over him is Illyria, torn by a need to make him pay for his crimes and a compulsion to protect him. But what will she do when a threat from the pages of Spike: After the Fall causes them both to evaluate whether it's better to be good... or evil?[1]

Summary[]

Gunn lies comatose in a hospital bed, still recovering from the injuries inflicted upon him before the Fall of Los Angeles. Groo, Lorne, Gwen, Angel, and Betta George visit him with varying words of comfort as he runs through his head all the scenarios of the evil he committed as a vampire, now undone by Angel's death at his hands.

An attack on Gunn's life by someone not so understanding about his actions in the reversed timeline is stopped short by Illyria, watching over Gunn from across the street. While the Old One is otherwise occupied trying to stop a rampaging dinosaur from getting to Gunn, Non slips into his hospital room unnoticed. She explains that her life-sucking powers go both ways, and she heals him, bringing Gunn out of his coma. Non goes on to say that she's looking for a "good, old-fashioned, supervillain team up" and Gunn tackles her in a rage, knocking them both out the window onto the street below.

Non pleads with Gunn to reconsider, so that she can reclaim some of the glory she had as the Lord of Beverly Hills. As she begins to drain a passerby to spur Gunn into the evil she thinks he retains within him, she is stopped by Illyria, who throws Non over the horizon and turns toward Gunn. As he is now healed and able to stand, he is ready to receive the punishment coming to him.

Gunn wakes up in a room with Illyria, who merely knocked him unconscious rather than killed him. They talk about their feelings of being not quite human and not quite demonic before bringing Non into the Mosaic Wellness Center. As they leave, Illyria has Gunn give up control of his car to take hold of the humanity inside and find a use for it. The two drive off, with Gunn also looking forward to taking hold of the humanity inside him.

Continuity[]

Appearances[]

Individuals[]

Organizations and titles[]

Species[]

Events[]

Locations[]

Objects[]

Death count[]

  • A demon, killed by Illyria.
  • A woman, killed by Non.

Behind the scenes[]

Distribution[]

  • Become What You Are was the 84th best selling comic issue in its publishing month, with 24,003 sales in July 2009 at comic specialty stores.[2]

Collections[]

Pop culture references[]

Goofs[]

  • The single issue credits the colorist Paolo Maddaleni as "Paolo Maddelini."
  • The neighborhood of Silver Lake is mentioned as "Silverlake."
  • The final panel teases the miniseries Only Human using instead the title Still Human.

Gallery[]

Covers[]

References[]

  1. "ANGEL #23." Previews World. Retrieved on October 2, 2023.
  2. "Top 300 Comics Actual--July 2009." ICv2, August 16, 2009.
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