Archangel (Gibson comic)

In an alternative 2016, US Vice President Junior Henderson uses a device called the Splitter to travel back in time to 1945 Allied-occupied Berlin with six commandos. They kill his grandfather, an Office of Strategic Services major, and Junior takes his place. Another faction in 2016, led by Major Torres, seize control of the Splitter and send a stealth plane to stop Henderson, but it crashes, with the sole survivor landing in 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 joins with Givens, who accepts him as a time traveller based on what she has observed, and Matthews, who is skeptical but realizes that Henderson is a dangerous imposter.

The Pilot predicts the Hiroshima bombing and reveals Henderson's plan to use the second atomic bomb to attack the Port of Arkhangelsk, 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 on board where they defeat Henderson and his commandos. In 2016, US government forces breach the Splitter's bunker and easily overpower Torres. Physicist Jack Davis, the inventor of the Splitter who until then had expressed doubts of the wisdom of Torres's plan, activates the Splitter. The armed nuclear bomb detonates at a temporary White House outside the Splitter facility, while 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 and the possibility of another.

William Gibson took inspiration from 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 Michael St. John Smith (writer and TV/film actor[4]) originally pitched the idea for Archangel to a German television company[5] which declined it, so the pair developed the idea into a screenplay and briefly as a computer game.[4] When IDW Publishing approached Gibson about doing an adaptation of a novel, he immediately proposed developing Archangel into a comic book. The IDW team include art by Butch Guice, inking by Tom Palmer, colors by Diego Rodriguez, and letters by Shawn Lee.

The main setting of Berlin is a holdover from the project's original pitch to German television.[6] Gibson stated that the story became "leaner" and "more linear" as a comic.[7] Gibson wrote in the afterward of the hardcover edition that the story was continually revised due to then-current events. The final frames gave the ending a context that the creators "could [not] have possibly imagined when we began work on our first issue."[1][3]

Art was by Guice, except for the fifth issue which was by Wagner Reis and inker Tom Palmer.[8] Publishers Weekly noted how the art contrasts the bright neon of future technology with dark and earthy tones in the 1940s "that evokes wartime cloak-and-dagger exploits."[9] A review in Paste noted that the "conscious interplay of shadows and silhouettes" in the composition of frames made for "a thrilling combination of uncertainty, dynamism and intrigue" required of the genre.[10]

The comic was initially published as a five-issue limited edition, with the first issue released on 18 May 2016[10] and the final issue released in August 2017.[8] The hardcover graphic novel was released on 3 October 2017.[2][7]

Critical reception has been positive. Tom Batten of Library Journal described the graphic novel as "thought-provoking, unabashedly political [science fiction]."[11] Joel Cunningham described the graphic novel as a "twisting, complex narrative ... perfectly suited to the medium."[7]

Writing on 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.[10] Jonathan Gitli of Ars Technica states that Archangel has "hit a chord", and is "thought-provoking science fiction", and comments positively on the female characters with "strong wills and personalities". They also note that IDW sold out the initial run in just a few days.[6] Cory Doctorow reviewed issue #1 in BoingBoing.net 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 that the comic is "spectacular".[12]

A review in Publishers Weekly stated that the graphic novel "mines the rich pseudoscience mythology surrounding World War II, or 'The Weird War'."[9] Laura Hudson of Wired wrote that 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 repeating self-destructive human impulses.[2] Jason P. Woodbury of Comic Book Resources gave the series a positive review, and thought that it felt "deliriously contemporary" as it was published during the 2016 United States presidential election and featured "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?"[8]

Archangel was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Limited Series.[8][9][13]

The graphic novel was adapted into a full-cast three-hour radio play, cowritten by Gibson and Smith, and produced and released by Audible.[14]

On 25 July 2016, at Comic-Con International in San Diego, William Gibson stated that Archangel had been optioned for television, which he later confirmed on Twitter.[15]

• List of works by William Gibson
• William Gibson

• IDW: Archangel #1
• Archangel Annotations
• Archangel comic animated trailer on YouTube