Archangel, also written as William Gibson Archangel or William Gibson's Archangel, is a five-issue limited series comic book that was created by William Gibson and Michael St. John Smith, written by William Gibson, illustrated by Butch Guice and story-edited by Michael Benedetto. It is Gibson's first comic book series, which is set in an alternative version of 2016 in which the Vice President of America travels back in time to 1945 to secure power.
IDW Publishing first released Archangel from May 2016 to August 2017, then in October as a hardcover graphic novel. It was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Limited Series and was adapted into an audio play that was released by Audible.
In an devastated alternative version of 2016, US Vice President Junior Henderson uses a device called the Splitter to travel back in time with six commandos to 1945 Allied-occupied Berlin. They kill Henderson's grandfather, an Office of Strategic Services major, and Junior takes his place. In 2016, another faction led by Major Torres seizes control of the Splitter and sends a stealth plane to stop Henderson but it crashes with The Pilot parachuting into US-occupied territory. Royal Air Force officer Naomi Givens, who had been investigating foo fighters, agrees to share information with her ex-boyfriend Vince Matthews, a US Intelligence officer who has custody of The Pilot. Henderson arrives to take command but The Pilot escapes using a stealth suit sent by Torres. To complete his mission, The Pilot allies with Givens—who, based on her observations, accepts him as a time traveller—and Matthews, who is skeptical but realizes Henderson is a dangerous imposter.
The Pilot predicts the bombing of Hiroshima and reveals Henderson's plan to use the second atomic bomb to attack the Port of Arkhangelsk, Soviet Union, destroying half of the Soviet fleet, and killing Joseph Stalin and most of the Soviet chain-of-command, allowing the United States to rule the world unchallenged. With the aid of Soviet Colonel Yermakov, they locate Henderson's B-29 in flight and Torres teleports them aboard the aircraft, where they defeat Henderson and his commandos. In 2016, US government forces breach the Splitter's bunker and overpower Torres. Physicist Jack Davis, the inventor of the Splitter who until then had expressed doubts about the wisdom of Torres's plan, activates the Splitter. The armed nuclear bomb detonates at a temporary White House located outside the Splitter facility. Givens and Matthews are returned to Berlin as news of the nuclear attack on Nagasaki is received in a restored timeline. The Pilot arrives in a peaceful 2016 Berlin, having thwarted one megalomaniac US President only to be confronted by a newspaper headline describing the possibility of another.
Characters
1945
Naomi Givens: An RAF Intelligence Officer, a materials scientist, and one of the main protagonists of the story.
Vince Mathews: A US Intelligence Officer, who is Naomi's ex-boyfriend, and one of the main protagonists of the story.
Fritz: Naomi's driver and black market expert.
Herr Säugling (Mr Baby): Owner of the last surviving night club in Berlin.
Yermakov: A Ukrainian colonel in Soviet intelligence
2016
The Pilot: A tattooed Marine sent back to 1945, and one of the main protagonists of the story.
Junior Henderson: The US Vice President, who goes back in time to make sure his powerbase in entrenched in the past. His father is the US President for life.
Major Guadalupe[1] Torres: A scientist who is in control of the Splitter.
Jack Davis: A physicist who created the Splitter; a detainee and eventual ally of Torres.
Gibson, and writer and actor Michael St. John Smith,[4] first pitched the idea for Archangel to a German television company,[5][6] which declined it. Gibson and St. John Smith then developed the idea into a screenplay and a computer game.[4] When IDW Publishing approached Gibson about adapting a novel, he immediately proposed developing Archangel into a comic book.[citation needed] The IDW team included artist Butch Guice, and the comic book includes inking by Tom Palmer, colors by Diego Rodriguez, and letters by Shawn Lee.[1][7]
The comic book's main setting in Berlin is a holdover from the project's original pitch to German television.[8] Gibson stated that the story became "leaner" and "more linear" as a comic.[9] According to Gibson's afterword in the hardcover edition, the story was continually revised due to contemporaneous events. The final frames give the ending a context the creators "could [not] have possibly imagined when we began work on our first issue".[1][3]
Art
Butch Guice illustrated Archangel, except for the fifth issue, which was illustrated by Wagner Reis and Tom Palmer.[10]Publishers Weekly noted the art contrasts the bright neon colors of future technology with dark, earthy tones of the 1940s "that evokes wartime cloak-and-dagger exploits".[11] A review in Paste noted the "conscious interplay of shadows and silhouettes" in the composition of frames makes for "a thrilling combination of uncertainty, dynamism and intrigue" that is required of the genre.[12]
Publication history
Archangel was initially published as a five-issue limited edition comic book series, the first issue of which was released on 18 May 2016[12] and the final issue was released in August 2017.[10] The story was republished as a hardcover graphic novel on 3 October 2017.[2][9]
Critical reception
Critics gave Archangel a positive reception. Tom Batten of Library Journal described the graphic novel as "thought-provoking, unabashedly political [science fiction]".[13] Joel Cunningham described the graphic novel as a "twisting, complex narrative ... [that is] perfectly suited to the medium".[9]
Writing about the first issue, Toussaint Egan of Paste found it an impressive first comic by Gibson and Smith with strong artwork aiding the establishment of the main characters.[12] Jonathan Gitli of Ars Technica stated Archangel has "hit a chord" and is "thought-provoking science fiction"; Gitli writes positively about the female characters with "strong wills and personalities", and also notes IDW Publishing sold out the initial print run in just a few days.[8]Cory Doctorow reviewed the first issue in Boing Boing and said it "fires on all cylinders" and that the "art and dialog work extra duty to convey a story that is native to the medium". He concludes the comic is "spectacular".[14]
A review in Publishers Weekly stated the graphic novel "mines the rich pseudoscience mythology surrounding World War II, or 'The Weird War'".[11] Laura Hudson of Wired wrote the graphic novel is part of a "long tradition of 'what if' stories about World War II", which examines "the apocalyptic terror of nuclear weaponry" and alludes to repetition of self-destructive human impulses.[2] Jason P. Woodbury of Comic Book Resources gave the series a positive review and said it felt "deliriously contemporary" because it was published during the 2016 United States presidential election and features "power-hungry politicians, complicated conspiracies involving Russia, UK and US agents caught between shifting national allegiances ... pondering the justification of their actions". He took particular note of the Twilight Zone-like ending and asks: "What if the true dystopia is whatever dystopia you happen to inhabit?".[10]
Archangel was adapted into a full-cast, three-hour radio play that was written by Gibson and Smith, and produced and released by Audible.[16]
On 25 July 2016, at Comic-Con International in San Diego, William Gibson stated Archangel had been optioned for television and he later confirmed this on Twitter.[17]
^ abcGibson, William; Smith, Michael St. John (w), Guice, Butch; Barrionuevo, Alejandro; Reis, Wagner (p), Palmer, Tom; Guice, Butch (i). Archangel (hardcover) (October 2017), San Diego, California: IDW Publishing, ISBN 978-1-63142-875-5
^ abcHudson, Laura (2 October 2017). "William Gibson's New Graphic Novel Takes Nuclear Anxiety to Its Terrifying End". Wired. from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
^ abMerchant, Brian (24 August 2017). "William Gibson: 'I Never Expected to Be Living in an American Retro-Future'". Vice. from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
^ ab"William Gibson Goes From Sci-Fi To Sky High With Archangel". from the original on 2016-05-12. Retrieved 2016-06-02.
^"William Gibson on his time-bending trip into comics with IDW's new Archangel miniseries". from the original on 2016-05-21. Retrieved 2016-06-02.
^Riesman, Abraham (1 August 2017). "William Gibson Has a Theory About Our Cultural Obsession With Dystopias". Vulture. Vox media.
^"GCD :: Issue :: Archangel #2 [Regular Cover]". Grand Comics Database. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
^ abGitlin, Jonathan M. (29 May 2016). "William Gibson has written a comic, and you should read it". Ars Technica. from the original on 26 December 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
^ abcCunningham, Joel (25 September 2017). "William Gibson's Archangel Is a Story That Demanded to Be a Comic". Barnes & Noble. from the original on 4 December 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
^ abcdWoodbury, Jason P. (7 August 2017). "Archangel Successfully Brings William Gibson's Cyberpunk to Comics". Comic Book Resources. St Laurent, Quebec. from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
^ abc"William Gibson's Archangel". Publishers Weekly. from the original on 1 November 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
^Batten, Tom (1 November 2017). "William Gibson's Archangel". Library Journal. from the original on 1 November 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
^Doctorow, Cory (8 July 2016). "William Gibson's Archangel: intricate military sf, mercilessly optimized for comics". Boing Boing. from the original on 12 July 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
^Brown, Tracy (3 May 2017). "2017 Eisner Award nominees include 'The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye' and 'Saga'". Los Angeles Times. from the original on 19 August 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
^Gunderson, Alexis (20 August 2018). "With William Gibson's Archangel, Audible Translates a Graphic Novel into a Radio Play". Paste.
^"William Gibson Tweet: "Optioned for television"". from the original on 2018-12-16. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
archangel, gibson, comic, archangel, also, written, william, gibson, archangel, william, gibson, archangel, five, issue, limited, series, comic, book, that, created, william, gibson, michael, john, smith, written, william, gibson, illustrated, butch, guice, st. Archangel also written as William Gibson Archangel or William Gibson s Archangel is a five issue limited series comic book that was created by William Gibson and Michael St John Smith written by William Gibson illustrated by Butch Guice and story edited by Michael Benedetto It is Gibson s first comic book series which is set in an alternative version of 2016 in which the Vice President of America travels back in time to 1945 to secure power William Gibson ArchangelCover of the first issue of Archangel Publication informationPublisherIDW PublishingScheduleMonthlyFormatLimited seriesPublication dateMay 2016 August 2017October 2017 HC No of issues5Main character s Naomi GivensVince MathewsThe PilotJunior HendersonCreative teamCreated byWilliam GibsonMichael St John SmithWritten byWilliam GibsonArtist s Butch GuiceInker s Tom PalmerLetterer s Shawn LeeColorist s Diego RodriguezCollected editionsHardcoverISBN 978 1631408755IDW Publishing first released Archangel from May 2016 to August 2017 then in October as a hardcover graphic novel It was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Limited Series and was adapted into an audio play that was released by Audible Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Characters 2 1 1945 2 2 2016 3 Writing and development 4 Art 5 Publication history 6 Critical reception 7 Awards 8 Adaptations 9 See also 10 References 11 External linksSynopsis EditIn an devastated alternative version of 2016 US Vice President Junior Henderson uses a device called the Splitter to travel back in time with six commandos to 1945 Allied occupied Berlin They kill Henderson s grandfather an Office of Strategic Services major and Junior takes his place In 2016 another faction led by Major Torres seizes control of the Splitter and sends a stealth plane to stop Henderson but it crashes with The Pilot parachuting into US occupied territory Royal Air Force officer Naomi Givens who had been investigating foo fighters agrees to share information with her ex boyfriend Vince Matthews a US Intelligence officer who has custody of The Pilot Henderson arrives to take command but The Pilot escapes using a stealth suit sent by Torres To complete his mission The Pilot allies with Givens who based on her observations accepts him as a time traveller and Matthews who is skeptical but realizes Henderson is a dangerous imposter The Pilot predicts the bombing of Hiroshima and reveals Henderson s plan to use the second atomic bomb to attack the Port of Arkhangelsk Soviet Union destroying half of the Soviet fleet and killing Joseph Stalin and most of the Soviet chain of command allowing the United States to rule the world unchallenged With the aid of Soviet Colonel Yermakov they locate Henderson s B 29 in flight and Torres teleports them aboard the aircraft where they defeat Henderson and his commandos In 2016 US government forces breach the Splitter s bunker and overpower Torres Physicist Jack Davis the inventor of the Splitter who until then had expressed doubts about the wisdom of Torres s plan activates the Splitter The armed nuclear bomb detonates at a temporary White House located outside the Splitter facility Givens and Matthews are returned to Berlin as news of the nuclear attack on Nagasaki is received in a restored timeline The Pilot arrives in a peaceful 2016 Berlin having thwarted one megalomaniac US President only to be confronted by a newspaper headline describing the possibility of another Characters Edit1945 Edit Naomi Givens An RAF Intelligence Officer a materials scientist and one of the main protagonists of the story Vince Mathews A US Intelligence Officer who is Naomi s ex boyfriend and one of the main protagonists of the story Fritz Naomi s driver and black market expert Herr Saugling Mr Baby Owner of the last surviving night club in Berlin Yermakov A Ukrainian colonel in Soviet intelligence2016 Edit The Pilot A tattooed Marine sent back to 1945 and one of the main protagonists of the story Junior Henderson The US Vice President who goes back in time to make sure his powerbase in entrenched in the past His father is the US President for life Major Guadalupe 1 Torres A scientist who is in control of the Splitter Jack Davis A physicist who created the Splitter a detainee and eventual ally of Torres Writing and development EditArchangel s co creator and writer William Gibson was inspired by supernatural and conspiracy stories of World War II which he called The Weird War and drew upon his own Cold War nuclear anxiety 2 3 Gibson and writer and actor Michael St John Smith 4 first pitched the idea for Archangel to a German television company 5 6 which declined it Gibson and St John Smith then developed the idea into a screenplay and a computer game 4 When IDW Publishing approached Gibson about adapting a novel he immediately proposed developing Archangel into a comic book citation needed The IDW team included artist Butch Guice and the comic book includes inking by Tom Palmer colors by Diego Rodriguez and letters by Shawn Lee 1 7 The comic book s main setting in Berlin is a holdover from the project s original pitch to German television 8 Gibson stated that the story became leaner and more linear as a comic 9 According to Gibson s afterword in the hardcover edition the story was continually revised due to contemporaneous events The final frames give the ending a context the creators could not have possibly imagined when we began work on our first issue 1 3 Art EditButch Guice illustrated Archangel except for the fifth issue which was illustrated by Wagner Reis and Tom Palmer 10 Publishers Weekly noted the art contrasts the bright neon colors of future technology with dark earthy tones of the 1940s that evokes wartime cloak and dagger exploits 11 A review in Paste noted the conscious interplay of shadows and silhouettes in the composition of frames makes for a thrilling combination of uncertainty dynamism and intrigue that is required of the genre 12 Publication history EditArchangel was initially published as a five issue limited edition comic book series the first issue of which was released on 18 May 2016 12 and the final issue was released in August 2017 10 The story was republished as a hardcover graphic novel on 3 October 2017 2 9 Critical reception EditCritics gave Archangel a positive reception Tom Batten of Library Journal described the graphic novel as thought provoking unabashedly political science fiction 13 Joel Cunningham described the graphic novel as a twisting complex narrative that is perfectly suited to the medium 9 Writing about the first issue Toussaint Egan of Paste found it an impressive first comic by Gibson and Smith with strong artwork aiding the establishment of the main characters 12 Jonathan Gitli of Ars Technica stated Archangel has hit a chord and is thought provoking science fiction Gitli writes positively about the female characters with strong wills and personalities and also notes IDW Publishing sold out the initial print run in just a few days 8 Cory Doctorow reviewed the first issue in Boing Boing and said it fires on all cylinders and that the art and dialog work extra duty to convey a story that is native to the medium He concludes the comic is spectacular 14 A review in Publishers Weekly stated the graphic novel mines the rich pseudoscience mythology surrounding World War II or The Weird War 11 Laura Hudson of Wired wrote the graphic novel is part of a long tradition of what if stories about World War II which examines the apocalyptic terror of nuclear weaponry and alludes to repetition of self destructive human impulses 2 Jason P Woodbury of Comic Book Resources gave the series a positive review and said it felt deliriously contemporary because it was published during the 2016 United States presidential election and features power hungry politicians complicated conspiracies involving Russia UK and US agents caught between shifting national allegiances pondering the justification of their actions He took particular note of the Twilight Zone like ending and asks What if the true dystopia is whatever dystopia you happen to inhabit 10 Awards EditArchangel was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Limited Series 10 11 15 Adaptations EditArchangel was adapted into a full cast three hour radio play that was written by Gibson and Smith and produced and released by Audible 16 On 25 July 2016 at Comic Con International in San Diego William Gibson stated Archangel had been optioned for television and he later confirmed this on Twitter 17 See also EditList of works by William Gibson William GibsonReferences Edit a b c Gibson William Smith Michael St John w Guice Butch Barrionuevo Alejandro Reis Wagner p Palmer Tom Guice Butch i Archangel hardcover October 2017 San Diego California IDW Publishing ISBN 978 1 63142 875 5 a b c Hudson Laura 2 October 2017 William Gibson s New Graphic Novel Takes Nuclear Anxiety to Its Terrifying End Wired Archived from the original on 8 October 2017 Retrieved 1 November 2021 a b Merchant Brian 24 August 2017 William Gibson I Never Expected to Be Living in an American Retro Future Vice Archived from the original on 12 November 2020 Retrieved 1 November 2021 a b William Gibson Goes From Sci Fi To Sky High With Archangel Archived from the original on 2016 05 12 Retrieved 2016 06 02 William Gibson on his time bending trip into comics with IDW s new Archangel miniseries Archived from the original on 2016 05 21 Retrieved 2016 06 02 Riesman Abraham 1 August 2017 William Gibson Has a Theory About Our Cultural Obsession With Dystopias Vulture Vox media GCD Issue Archangel 2 Regular Cover Grand Comics Database Retrieved 21 December 2021 a b Gitlin Jonathan M 29 May 2016 William Gibson has written a comic and you should read it Ars Technica Archived from the original on 26 December 2016 Retrieved 15 June 2017 a b c Cunningham Joel 25 September 2017 William Gibson s Archangel Is a Story That Demanded to Be a Comic Barnes amp Noble Archived from the original on 4 December 2019 Retrieved 1 November 2021 a b c d Woodbury Jason P 7 August 2017 Archangel Successfully Brings William Gibson s Cyberpunk to Comics Comic Book Resources St Laurent Quebec Archived from the original on 8 March 2021 Retrieved 1 November 2021 a b c William Gibson s Archangel Publishers Weekly Archived from the original on 1 November 2021 Retrieved 31 October 2021 a b c Egan Toussaint 20 May 2016 William Gibson amp Butch Guice s Archangel Takes Mind Bending Flight Paste Batten Tom 1 November 2017 William Gibson s Archangel Library Journal Archived from the original on 1 November 2021 Retrieved 1 November 2021 Doctorow Cory 8 July 2016 William Gibson s Archangel intricate military sf mercilessly optimized for comics Boing Boing Archived from the original on 12 July 2016 Retrieved 14 July 2016 Brown Tracy 3 May 2017 2017 Eisner Award nominees include The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye and Saga Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on 19 August 2018 Retrieved 1 November 2021 Gunderson Alexis 20 August 2018 With William Gibson s Archangel Audible Translates a Graphic Novel into a Radio Play Paste William Gibson Tweet Optioned for television Archived from the original on 2018 12 16 Retrieved 2016 08 06 External links EditIDW Archangel 1 Archangel Annotations Archangel comic animated trailer on YouTube Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Archangel Gibson comic amp oldid 1126512922, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
