Angel and the Ape #1 (1991)

Angel and the Ape #1 (March, 1991)
"Shaking the Family Tree"
Writer/Penciller - Phil Foglio
Inker - Keith Wilson
Letterer - John Workman
Colorist - Tom Ziuko
Associate Editor - Katie Main
Editor - Mike Gold
Cover Price: $1.00

Hey lookit that another issue of Angel Lo... er, and the Ape... wonk wonk wonkkk.  This one's been on my "to check out" radar for quite awhile, and figure now's as good a time as any.

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We open up some sixteen years ago where a young pigtailed Angel O'Day is running off to get firewood for her father while they're on safari in Africa.  Off she goes, and she finds the perfect log for the fire... only thing is, it's too heavy to carry off.  Lucky for her she gets an assist from a talking gorilla... who lifts the log... revealing a venomous snake... that bites him in the leg!

Angel heads back to camp to fetch her daddy the doc to help her primate pal... and he does.  

Now, we're in the present... Angel O'Day is a comely young lady and the Ape is now Sam Simeon... and they run a detective agency... yeah, why not?  They do a bit of sparring to get the blood pumping... and judging by the way Angel is dressed, I gotta figure ol' Sam's blood's already pumping.

A Mr. Ziebarth enters, getting a pretty good look at Angel's derriere.  He works for the insurance company and he comes bearing good news.  O'Day and Simeon are cleared of all liability in a recent building demolition by way of a testimony procured via quija board, and so he hands them a check.

Later on, Angel asks if Sam wants to go to dinner to celebrate... but realizes that he's got a standing weekly date with her half-sister Athena.  We also learn here that Sam works for DZ Comics.  Their chat is interrupted by an interjecting Athena... who, not knowing her own strength knocks through the door.

Athena asks if Sam minds if she did dinner with Angel tonight... she's got some important things to talk about with her.  Sam's cool with it, and decides he'll go deposit their big check while the sisters hash it out.  Here we learn that Athena is actually Dumb Bunny from the Inferior 5!

We join the sisters as they dine... and it doesn't take long for the conversation to take a disturbing and uncomfortable turn... ya see, Athena's thinking about asking Sam... ya know, the Ape... to be her boyfriend.  Angel takes the news about as well as could be expected... hearing that her sister wants to, er, be with a primate...

Athena asks Angel if she can think of a single reason (unrelated to his ape-ness, I guess) that she shouldn't pursue this relationship... and she can't come up with a single one.  Sam's a "hell of a guy", after all.  We get some clarification that Dumb Bunny doesn't want Sam for sex... which is both a relief and somewhat depressing.  She's extremely lonely, and appears to just want some companionship... okey doke.  Angel says she needs some time to process all of this before giving it her blessing... and leaves the restaurant.

Meanwhile, Sam's bank-bound... and upon arrival there's a bit of a role-reversal... for a moment, he turns human while all the humans turn into apes!

He freaks out, everything changes back to "normal" and he heads back to the office to share his story with Angel... who ain't buyin' it.  He figures the best way to prove it is to somehow procure the security footage from the bank.  So, he disguises himself as a really hairy security camera repairman... and swipes the footage.

He returns to the office, and Angel sees that he was telling the truth.

As they try to figure out what to make of all this, they are interrupted by three Lobot looking fellas who demand Sam come with them.  A fight erupts, and Angel is shocked to see that her martial art skills are useless against these baldies.  Luckily Dumb Bunny shows up and cleans house.

A dude enters and tells the P.I.s that the bank wants to hire them to find out who swapped security tapes.  Sam takes this as his cue to leave.  Angel and Athena are confused... then turn back at the Lobot looking fools to see that they were, in reality... apes!

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Ehhh.... well... hrrm, this sure was a comic book.

Not the best thing I've read of late... I wanna say not the worst, but that would only be because I recently read that Charlton-flavored L.A.W. miniseries.  I really didn't dig this... from words to pictures, just really not my scene.

This is probably the Phil Foglio-est art I've seen to date... and while it was off-putting and hampered my enjoyment of Stanley and his Monster... here, it's almost aggressively so.  Just like with Stanley, I wonder just why this story needed to be told.  That, at least started out decent... this is just, ehh...

I am a fan of world/universe-building, so the revelation that Angel O'Day is the half-sister of Dumb Bunny of the Inferior 5 was really cool to me.  I guess that plants this smack-dab into DC continuity proper... for better and/or worse.  I really don't like that Dumb Bunny wants to get romantically involved with an Ape... 

Overall... not a fan.  It's silly, but not in the kind of way I dig... Neither character comes across as especially likable, and I'm not feeling the urge to root for anyone.  If you're looking for a humor book, and find this in the cheap-o's... ehh, I will say, that there're far better "funny" funnybooks out there that are more worth your time.

But... that's just me.

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Angel Love Special #1 (1987)

Angel Love Special #1 (1987)

"Dark Revelations!"

Creator/Writer/Penciller - Barbara Slate

Inker - John Wm. Lopez

Letterer - Aki Terada

Colorist - Bob Le Rose

Editor - Karen Berger

Cover Price: $1.25

Well, our long trip down Angel Love way has finally come to an end in this extra-sized Special... but that's not the end of Angel Love talk from me.  Nope.  I'll remind y'all again, Reggie and I will be discussing this entire run on this week's Cosmic Treadmill segment on the Weird Science DC Comics Podcast.  That's Episode 88 if you're reading this in the future.

That's right, Angel!

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Picking up where we left off... a balaclava'd Angel is holding Congressional hopeful Maureen McMeal at gunpoint... which doesn't last all that long.  Maureen knows it's Angel, and knows what she's being "held up" with is a water pistol.  She invites Angel to "fire away" as she lights up a smoke... and she does!  Brain-matter and gore are all strewn... er, okay... it's a water gun... Maureen Beth just gets a little wet.

Maureen says she'd be more than happy to help their mother... but not until the election is over.  Ya see, she's stated publicly that her entire family died in a plane crash... she can't be the "honest" candidate and have it come out that she lied about her tragic past.  Turns out, as we dig a bit deeper that her past was already tragic enough.  Her and Angel's father molested her.  That's why she left Scranton!  We learn that she was homeless for awhile after making it to New York... but by the help of a special Social Worker was able to work her way up to where she is today.

Maureen ends the conversation... hops back into bed, and shuts off the light.  Angel's no longer playing around... she goes all "hardball" and threatens to go to the press.  Knowing that the jig is up, Maureen's got no choice but to comply.

Angel signals to Everett, who's waiting outside that everything's cool... and he heads for home.  Along the way, he runs his latest argument with Lola through his head, and figures by now she's gotta be over it.  He hops up the stairs and drops two-bits into Mr. Bum's cup (which wakes the poor fella) on his way up.  He gleefully enters the apartment, and finds...

Meanwhile, Angel and Maureen Beth are using a Port Authority helicopter (ol' MB's got connections, and she ain't afraid to show 'em off).  Maureen calls campaign headquarters and gives the skinny to one of her aides... the actual truth too!  Unfortunately, some skeevy phone-tapper is listening in... this probably won't end well for Ms. McMeal.

Back at the pad, Wendy is singing for her audience of cockroaches and birds... who all scatter when Everett knocks on the door.  Wendy suggests she and Ev talk about what they're going to be when they grow up.  This ticks off and already ticked off Everett who gets all "pointy" and informs Wendy that she is in fact... a grown up.  This may be my soft-spot for Wendy speaking here... but, Everett's layin' it on a bit thick here.  Anyhoo... Wendy takes his lecture as a sign she should give up the movies and theater... and just become a television star!

Meanwhile, Angel and Maureen Beth arrive at their mother's bedside.  MB's thinking she'll be in and out within the hour, as she doubts she'll be a match.  Wrong-O McMeal... you might just be a good candidate for something yet!

Meanwhile again... we rejoin Everett... now in full Michael Jackson "Beat it" get-up.  He's trying to woo Lola back the only way he knows how... buyin' her stuff.  I'd have loved it if Lola told him to "beat it", but no... he knows the way to her heart... gaudy jewelry!

Back in Scranton, Maureen's all done giving marrow... and she's ready to split town.  Doctor Chin advises her against it... but MB's gonna MB.  As she hits the sidewalk, she is met by a massive press gang all wanting to know why she's a lying liar that lied.

We jump ahead one week as Angel and Wendy are talking on the phone.  Angel's chosen to remain in Scranton for the time being while her mother gets back on her feet.  Wendy offers to pay Angel's rent for the month because her rich daddy gave her "a raise" for taking a "pay cut" as a television actress.

Angel flips on the television and we learn that Maureen McMeal... lost the election.  They cut to her concession speech where she plays up her choosing family over politics.  Right after the speech ends... Angel's phone rings.  Why, it's Mary Beth... who just lays into her, and tells her she's going to disappear for awhile.

Seven weeks later, Angel returns to New York City.  She wanders through the familiar streets leading to her apartment... and finds it empty.  Everett's not home either.  Mr. Bum is there... but he's more a Wendy-guy anyway.  A phone call to Pregnant Cindy shows she's not home either.  Could all of Angel's friends have forgotten about her already?  She cries a bit before heading to the Balloon restaurant, where...

And, we close out for good on Angel's reaction.

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Welp... that's that.

Let's discuss this issue before we take an "overall" look at this series... which, was always meant to be this length... it wasn't cancelled.  In so much of my research, I kept seeing it mentioned that this was canned after only eight issues... however, those wacky house-ads that they ran during the Summer of 1986 stated that this was a "special eight issue series".  So, if we look at it that way, it was actually given an extra issue to wrap up.

All's well that ended well here.  Angel's mom survived, at least for the time being... Everett and Lola are still an item... Wendy's rich dad gave her a raise for slummin' it in television... Pregnant Cindy is starting to show... and the Balloon restaurant has apparently lifted it's "no live birds" ban.

I suppose the discussion-worthy thing about this final chapter is the (dark) revelation of why Mary Beth flew the coop, and disowned her family.  I had a sneaking suspicion this was coming... and it's really hard for me to comment on it as a storytelling device.  Looking at this through 2016 eyes... I just see this as a well-worn trope.  Back in 1987, this sort of thing was far more novel... at least as it pertains to comics.  It is interesting to note that this was the only issue of this series to come with a "For Mature Readers" warning.

Poor Maureen/Mary Beth winds up losing the election because she's a lying liar that lies... you'd figure the "saving her mother's life" thing would have carried her through, but what do I know?  I'd have to assume McMeal was running on the Democratic ticket in New York City... so she really must have ticked off her prospective constituents, for them to vote against her.

Angel winds up not quite where she started from.  She's back to being something of a newcomer to the "big city"... but now, when she arrives she has people waiting for her... and celebrating her arrival.  We get a deeper look into Angel and Wendy's relationship... which I was actually pretty curious about.  They appear to be somewhat close... at least to the point where they end their phone calls with "I love you".

I'm kinda scrambling for things to say here.  I gotta admit, I'm kind of unsatisfied with this ending.  It's... I dunno, just another issue... I guess.  The bone-marrow caper is wrapped up, and the election is over... yet, I still feel so little in the way of closure.  As I read through this series, I figured it was going to end with a wedding... or a funeral... or childbirth.  Those would have felt more "endy" than this did.  This just... ends.

Overall... is Angel Love worth your time.  Hell yeah.  I may not have dug the way it all "wrapped up", but I had a great time reading this... and I find that I will miss these characters... some more than others, obviously... but this is really a charming crew, and the whole shebang would have felt incomplete without any single cast member.

I don't know where the rights lay with this property... so I wouldn't even begin to know whose cage to rattle to get this collected... or released digitally (not that my voice is all that loud to begin with).  Not sure if that's a DC Comics thing or a Barbara Slate thing... either way, this series deserves to be readily/easily available for any curious enough to give it a flip through.

Thanks for reading this along with me... this was a fun experience... books like this are kind of the reason I started the humble blog.  Shining what little light I can offer onto some underappreciated gems of yesteryear.  Also, thanks to Ms. Slate for taking us all along for this ride.

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Letters Page:

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Angel Love #8 (1987)

Angel Love #8 (March, 1987)

"I Know it's you, Mary Beth"

Creator/Writer/Penciller - Barbara Slate

Inker - John Wm. Lopez

Letterer - Bill Yoshida

Colorist - Bob Le Rose

Editor - Karen Berger

Cover Price: $0.75

Okay, here we go... the final issue of Angel Love (until the Special).  Ya know, as a young kid growing up in Brooklyn I was led to believe that everything in the world happened there.  Sesame Street?  Yeah, that didn't look unlike my neighborhood... minus the muppets.  Television shows, movies... everything seemed to happen where I lived.  Here we've got an issue of Angel Love guest-starring New York City Mayor, Ed "How am I doing?" Koch.  Seriously... he's even on the cover.  Growing up, he was kind of a big deal to me, probably because he was the first Mayor I knew about.  He and Mario Cuomo will always be the fellas that ran my old stomping grounds.

Anyhoo... let's see if Angel can squeeze any bone marrow outta her big sis, all under the watchful eye of Mayor Koch.

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Picking up right where we left off, Angel's gotten the ol' heave-ho from McMeal Headquarters by big bad Bernie.  She's totally lost it... she's yelling, crying and waving her arms like a madwoman as Maureen tentatively looks on from inside.  Before Angel can destroy any property, our old friend Everett wanders by and asks what's up.  Angel starts spilling the beans... however, notices that if she sticks around much longer, she's gonna be late for her shift at Balloon.

The pair hops on the subway and heads homeward bound.  While on the train, Angel fills Everett in on the entire story... which causes him raise an eyebrow.  He thinks his red-headed pal may have lost her damned mind... he is sorta-kinda using "kid gloves" here, and attributes her lapse in reality to her desperation.  As you might imagine, Angel doesn't wanna hear it.

When Angel returns home, she finds Wendy "sobbing" on the couch.  Not crying, mind you... actually saying "sob, sob, sob".  Gotta love Wendy!  After some empty remark from Angel, Wendy realizes that her future may not be on stage or in the movies... but on television!  And so, she begins giving her Emmy (that's the one for TV, right?) Award speech with a carton of orange juice.

We head back to McMeal HQ, and get a scene with Maureen/Mary Beth herself.  She's worried what might happen if her "secret" comes out.  After all, her campaign slogan is "She Speaks the Truth", how can she come out as a low-down dirty lying liar!  Her internal monologue is interrupted... not by Angel Love story-advancing device "the ringing phone", but by a knock at the door.  Why, it's... Mayor Ed Koch!  How's he doin'?  They've got a dinner date at this fancy schmancy restaurant where the waitresses wear rollerskates... hmm...

Speaking of a fancy schmancy restaurant where the waitresses wear rollerskates, we shift scenes to Balloon where we join Ms. Angel Love working as a rollerskating waitress!  It's just a normal night for Angel... annoying yuppie customers, yadda yadda yadda, until... the Mayor of New York and an aspiring Councilwoman enter the scene.  Maureen's all "ruh roh" and she and a confused Koch beeline it back to the Mayoral limo.

 

Angel returns to the pad... to find Wendy is still delivering her Emmy acceptance speech.  She sneaks past to her art studio, and finally realizes that Halo is missing her... halo.  She brings her doodle back to life, and spills her guts to it.  Halo is an optimistic angel, and suggests that Mary Beth would eventually come around and give her a buzz... then, the phone rings!  It's not an issue of Angel Love without a ringing phone!

Sadly, it's not Mary Beth... but Doctor Chin.  She has some grave news... and for the first time, she delivers it without a smile on her face.  Turns out that Angel's mother has taken an even further turn for the worse... and they've called for a minister.  Angel is heartbroken... however, she's got an idea!

She calls Everett... who is currently swappin' spit with his militant girlfriend Lola.  She tells him it's an emergency, and she needs him to get a car for her.  Lola tells Ev' that he'd best not even think about leaving for that "bleached out redhead"... and if he does, he shouldn't expect to see her around when he gets back.  Everett leaves anyway!

And so... Everett drives Angel to Maureen McMeal's apartment building... and, get this... Angel puts on a ski mask... climbs up the side of the building... climbs into McMeal's open window... and puts a GUN to Maureen's head!!!

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Well... that certainly escalated!

Yup, we're definitely building up to something... but what?  Is Angel going to mug her sister of her bone marrow?  I mean, really... this is getting nuts.  Angel's been spiraling deeper and deeper into just this whacked out desperation... which, I guess I can kind of understand... but, we're getting kind of cartoony here.

Everett goes from irritating bird-hater and cockroach killer to unwitting accomplice here.  What's more, he may have given up his militant girlfriend Lola in the process.  While I would have much rathered Wendy be behind the wheel, I can certainly understand why Angel would choose Ev' instead.

Angel finally realizes that she left the halo off of Halo, and so we get another scene of all that mess.  When I started reading this series, from just looking at the covers and the DC House Ad, I figured this scribbly cartoon angel would have had a much larger part in all of this.  Here we are in the eighth and final issue of the series, and this is only the second time we're seeing her.

Wendy is sadly used sparingly in this chapter.  She does, however, steal the scene(s) she's in.  It's never really made clear if she and Angel are close... outside of being roommates and all.  Like, are they close friends?  Are they sisterly... or is their relationship all based on convenience?

Speaking of sisterly... man, is ol' Maureen/Mary Beth a jerk.  I'm sure that we're going to learn that she was either abused, neglected, or experienced some sort of childhood trauma during the Angel Love Special, but for now... she's horrendously cold.  Poor Mayor Koch didn't get to eat at the fancy roller-skate restaurant... which may be the worst part of all!

Overall... the heavy scenes are really outweighing the fun ones, which I think I would put in the negative column.  It's still quite good, and it's still got heart... which, to me is the most important element of a story like this.  Although I'm not sure what to expect from the upcoming Special, I'm looking forward to it regardless.  Hopefully we end on a fun note... and not the somber one that I'm almost expecting...

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