Doyle: Spotlight

Last updated
Doyle: Spotlight
Publication information
Publisher IDW Publishing
Format One-shot
Publication dateJuly 2006
No. of issuesSpotlight: Doyle
Main character(s) Allen Francis Doyle
Creative team
Written by Jeff Mariotte
Artist(s) David Messina

Doyle: Spotlight is a comic based on the television series Angel. This title, along with the others in IDW Publishing's Spotlight series, was collected in the Angel: Spotlight trade paperback. [1] The book focuses on the character of Allen Francis Doyle.

Contents

Story description

Summary

Set just before the very first episode of Angel , this story focuses on Doyle as he wanders the streets of L.A., depressed and isolated. After receiving a vision about a young woman he knows named Misty, showing that she is in grave danger, he rushes to try to save her from a grisly fate.

Expanded overview

Doyle, half-human, half-demon, walks the streets of Los Angeles, reflecting on the state of his life. His life has taken a turn for the worse; he's lost his job, his wife, and his happiness. For several days, he has been experiencing intense headaches. Doyle comes across a friend named Misty. She asks if he's been "seeing stuff" again, and points out that he's drunk. As she leaves, Doyle reminds Misty that she owes him five dollars.

Doyle thinks about his visions, and how The Powers That Be tell him that they're real. The visions began after a Brachen demon named Lucas - one of Doyle's own kind - came to him to warn him about something called The Scourge. Doyle turned down the demon's request for help, and then had his first vision. Doyle investigated, and found the Brachen demon's body - the vision had come true.

Suddenly, Doyle has a new vision. He sees Misty, strung up on a hook in a room, with a sign outside the window with the visible letters H-O-T-E. Doyle immediately decides to find out if the vision is true. After wandering the streets for some time, he thinks he spots Misty in a crowd. He chases her down, but it's not her. Discouraged, Doyle continues walking.

Finally, Doyle finds a hotel sign that resembles the one he glimpsed in the vision. He rushes inside, passing a woman with a duffel bag on his way up the stairs. He picks the door he believes Misty is behind and kicks it open, to find that he is too late: Misty has been killed and disemboweled. Doyle takes down Misty's body, and realizes that the woman in the stairwell must be her murderer. Doyle rushes outside and follows her.

As Doyle watches the woman enter a building, he has another vision, this time of a girl in a Santa Monica coffee shop named Tina. Doyle writes down the highlights of the vision, and sees a demon emerge from the building. Doyle morphs into his demonic appearance and knocks on the door. The woman he followed answers, and Doyle pushes his way in to see the human organ store within. Realizing that Brachens don't eat humans, the woman attacks Doyle with a meat cleaver. After a struggle, the woman leaps at Doyle, but he manages to dodge, and she crashes through a window, landing far below in an open construction site.

Doyle sets fire to the building containing the organ store and, thinking that he's no hero, resolves to track down someone that the Powers That Be have pointed him towards: Angel.

Writing and artwork

Cultural references

Continuity

Canonical issues

Angel comics such as this one are not usually considered by fans as canonical. However, unlike fan fiction, overviews summarizing their story, written early in the writing process, were approved by both Fox and Joss Whedon (or his office), and the books were therefore later published as officially Buffy merchandise.

Reviews

Speed, Andrea, "Angel Spotlight: Doyle Review ", ComiXtreme.com (August 6, 2006).

Information

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cordelia Chase</span> Character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel

Cordelia Chase is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer; she also appeared on Buffy's spin-off series, Angel. Portrayed by Charisma Carpenter, the character appears as a series regular in the first three seasons of Buffy, before leaving the show and becoming a series regular during the first four seasons of Angel. The character made her last television appearance in 2004, appearing as a special guest star in Angel's 100th episode. Cordelia also appears in both canonical and apocryphal Buffy and Angel material such as comic books and novels.

Spike (<i>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</i>) Character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel

William "Spike" Pratt, played by James Marsters, is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Spike is a vampire and played various roles on the shows, including villain, anti-hero, trickster and romantic interest. For Marsters, the role as Spike began a career in science fiction television, becoming "the obvious go-to guy for US cult [television]." For creator Whedon, Spike is the "most fully developed" of his characters. The character was intended to be a brief villain, with Whedon originally adamant to not have another major "romantic vampire" character like Angel. Marsters says "Spike was supposed to be dirty and evil, punk rock, and then dead." However, the character ended up staying through the second season, and then returning in the fourth to replace Cordelia as "the character who told Buffy she was stupid and about to die."

<i>Angel</i> (1999 TV series) American television series (1999–2004)

Angel is an American supernatural television series, a spinoff of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The series was created by Buffy's creator, writer and director Joss Whedon, in collaboration with David Greenwalt. It aired on The WB from October 5, 1999, to May 19, 2004, consisting of five seasons and 110 episodes. Like Buffy, it was produced by Whedon's production company, Mutant Enemy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenn Quinn</span> Irish actor (1970–2002)

Glenn Martin Christopher Francis Quinn was an Irish actor, best known for his portrayal of Mark Healy on the 1990s family sitcom Roseanne and his role as the half-demon Allen Francis Doyle on Angel, a spin-off series of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wesley Wyndam-Pryce</span> Character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel

Wesley Wyndam-Pryce is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Played by Alexis Denisof, Wesley first appeared in the fourteenth episode of Buffy's third season in 1999, appearing in nine episodes before moving over to spin-off series Angel where he became a main character for all five seasons. Following Angel's final season, the character's story is continued in the 2007 canonical comic book series Angel: After the Fall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allen Francis Doyle</span> Character in the television series Angel

Allen Francis Doyle is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Angel. The character was portrayed by Glenn Quinn. Doyle is a seer who receives prophetic visions from The Powers That Be, usually of people in peril. Half-human, half-demon, his demon heritage allows him to manage them without suffering any permanent damage. His half-Brachen demon physiology grants him the ability to shift from normal human to demonic appearance, in which he has heightened sense of smell and superior strength, speed, stamina, and dexterity, the last of which allows him to twist his head around in such a manner as to fake a broken neck. However, Doyle rarely used his Brachen powers, preferring to remain human, thus limiting his usefulness in a fight.

Illyria (<i>Angel</i>) Fictional character from the television series Angel

Illyria is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Angel. The character is portrayed by Amy Acker. She is a protagonist in the last third of season five.

Angel (<i>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</i>) Character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel

Angel is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt for the American television programs Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off series Angel. The character is portrayed by actor David Boreanaz. As introduced in Buffy in 1997, Angel is a love interest for heroine Buffy Summers, a young woman whose destiny as "the Slayer" is to fight the forces of evil, such as vampires and demons. However, their relationship is complicated by the fact that Angel is himself a vampire cursed with remorse and a human soul, which motivates him to assist Buffy in her duties as Slayer. The character's popularity led to the production of the spin-off Angel, which follows the character's struggle towards redemption after moving to Los Angeles. In addition to the two television series, the character appears in the comic book continuations of both series, as well as much other expanded universe literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supergirl (Linda Danvers)</span> Comics character

Linda Danvers, also known as Supergirl, is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Peter David and artist Gary Frank, she debuted in Supergirl #1. She is not to be confused with Linda Lee Danvers, the secret identity used by the Kara Zor-El incarnation of Supergirl prior to the events of 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths.

"City Of is the series premiere of the television series Angel. Written by co-creators Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt and directed by Whedon, it was originally broadcast on October 5, 1999 on the WB network.

"Hero" is episode 9 of season 1 in the television show Angel. Written by Tim Minear and Howard Gordon and directed by Tucker Gates, it was originally broadcast on November 30, 1999 on the WB television network. In "Hero", Angel joins Doyle’s crusade to save a group of part-human Lister demons from The Scourge, an army of supremacist stormtrooper demons who claim "pure" blood and consequently persecute those of "mixed" blood. While Doyle goes after a strayed Lister teen and Cordelia handles details of the escape plan, Angel infiltrates the enemy and discovers their secret weapon, a bomb-like device called the Beacon that combusts anyone with any taint of human blood. Events lead to a climactic showdown aboard a tramp freighter, where Doyle finally confesses his half-demon heritage—and his love for her—to Cordelia, and proves that he, like Angel, is a Champion in his own right.

Dad (<i>Angel</i>) 10th episode of the 3rd season of Angel

"Dad" is episode 10 of season 3 in the television show Angel. After Darla sacrifices herself to save her baby, Angel takes the newborn back to the hotel where he tries to be a good father to his child. But Angel and the gang's problems multiply when they are trapped at the hotel by several groups of enemies, including vampire cults, demon cults and satanic humans, bent on kidnapping his infant son. After brushing off Sahjhan, Holtz goes about Los Angeles recruiting new help for his quest to kill Angel by hiring humans whose families were also victims of vampires, starting with one bitter, working-class woman, named Justine Cooper, as his right-hand person and recruiter.

"Birthday" is episode 11 of season 3 in the television show Angel. Written by Mere Smith and directed by Michael Grossman, it was originally broadcast on January 14, 2002 on the WB network. In "Birthday", Cordelia has a precognitive vision so painful that she goes into a coma. She is met by a demon guide who allows her to go back in time and choose a different path, so that she can avoid becoming afflicted with the visions that are killing her. Although in this alternate timeline Cordelia is a successful sitcom actress, she decides to accept the visions once again so that she can help people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rm w/a Vu</span> 5th episode of the 1st season of Angel

"Rm w/a Vu" is episode 5 of season 1 in the television show Angel. The episode was written by Jane Espenson, with a story from Espenson and David Greenwalt, and directed by Scott McGinnis, it was originally broadcast on November 2, 1999, on the WB network. In Rm w/a Vu, Doyle dodges a demon loan shark, and Cordelia is enchanted with her beautiful rent-controlled apartment even though it turns out to be haunted. Unable to dent Cordelia's determination to live there, the team attempts an exorcism, angering the ghost of the original tenant, who suffered a fatal heart attack immediately after bricking her grown son behind a wall.

"Fredless" is episode 5 of season 3 of the television show Angel. Written by Mere Smith and directed by Marita Grabiak, it was originally broadcast on October 22, 2001 on the WB network. Fred's parents, Roger and Trish Burkle, arrive in town from Texas to take her home with them, prompting Fred to run away. Angel learns that Fred's problems with her mother and father are purely emotional while Mr. and Mrs. Burkle prove themselves to be formidable fighters against demons. Meanwhile, the gang is unknowingly in danger after Angel beheads a vicious demon whose head is the breeding ground for a strain of insect demons, causing a swarm of giant cockroaches to lay siege to the hotel in order to retrieve their offspring.

Illyria: Spotlight is a comic, a story based on the Angel television series. This title, along with the others in IDW Publishing's Spotlight series, was collected in the Angel: Spotlight trade paperback.

Gunn: Spotlight is a comic based on the Angel television series. This title, along with the others in IDW Publishing's Spotlight series, was collected in the Angel: Spotlight trade paperback.

References

  1. IDW Publishing (2006-12-27). "Angel: Spotlight TPB". IDW Publishing. Archived from the original on 2007-01-01. Retrieved 2007-06-14.