Angel: The Curse is a five set comic book collection based on the former TV show Angel, created by Josh Whedon and David Greenwalt. The central character of the show (now in syndication) is Angel, a vampire cursed with a soul by a band of gypsies in Romania for killing one of their women. With the soul he has a guilty conscious and tries to make amends for his past murders by saving humanity, either all at once or one at a time.

These books aren’t the comics I remember buying off the racks at the local pharmacy. The sleek photo-quality covers and detailed color interiors with snappy dialogue can’t compare to the dot-matrix newspaper-like “funny books” I read as a child. I was pleasantly surprised how well Jeff Mariotte captured the mannerisms and speech of Angel. The characters from both mediums are interchangeable. However, the colors David Messina used are too dark and muted for my tastes.

In this new story Angel returns to Romania to ask the gypsies to modify his curse. He wants the happiness clause removed so he can have a relationship with Nina, a werewolf. When Angel achieved total happiness with Buffy, he lost his soul and reverted back to Angelus, a vampire.

Before making his request, Angel must help the ancestors of that band overthrow a new Romanian dictator who commands an army of vampires.

Unexpected events challenge Angel’s quest that make these books a terrific read. Mariotte provides enough background information so that someone who hasn’t watched the show can enjoy this well-written and illustrated story.

Although the Angel series by itself is worth the money, IDW also includes four separate stories not in comic book form. The first two are dark, gritty tales written in the first person. In “Neighbors” by Joshua Hale Fialkov a man who lives in an apartment complex in Los Angeles has trouble with some very strange neighbors. Although average, it has an unexpected ending. “Dogs” by David M. Hurwitz is spread out over issues two and three. Here a junkie tells about his courage to save a neighbor’s daughter from a vicious dog. He also stands up to the dog’s owner and retaliates against the strange murder of his other neighbor; a whore who is killed on the job. Hurwitz is a master storyteller who paints a gruesome picture of the seedy side of society.

In issues four and five IDW includes two excellent stories written in the third person. “Completely Cold” by Michael May is a fantasy tale about a baron who saves his village from a monster in Medieval England. “Blue Heeler” by Weston Ochse showcases the worst of humanity when a boy learns about his parents’ shameful past from an unlikely source.