Chris Lemmerman's Reviews > Angela: Queen of Hel - Journey to the Funderworld

[Read as single issues]

Angela as a character was kind of mishandled when she first arrived in the Marvel Universe at the end of Age of Ultron. She floated around with the Guardians of the Galaxy for a bit, was brought into the Thor mythos during Original Sin, but then was left to her own devices until Kieron Gillen and Marguerite Bennett got hold of her and worked their magic through a six issue ongoing series, a Secret Wars tie-in, and now (with Bennet taking the reins alone), her final series that brings her story to a close for now.

Dealing with all the unsolved plotlines from the past two series, this one sees Angela heading into Hel to rescue Sera, her lost love from Heven. Of course, it wasn't going to be easy, and she must fight the hordes of Hel, take its throne for herself, and even battle a twisted alternate reality version of herself along the way.

This is a great action comic. That'd be enough to get it a good four star rating. What really pushes it over the top is the humour, the love, the diversity, the characterization, and the top notch dialogue that Bennett infuses the pages with. She brings back characters and plots long forgotten, and weaves a narrative that has a proper beginning, middle, and end. She's a great advocate for LGBTQ characters, and this book is packed with them, and they're all written wonderfully well.

The artwork is split between Kim Jacinto, who draws the battles through Hel in the present with visceral glee, and Stephanie Hans who paints beautiful sub-stories in each issue that give us some insight into Angela's life and her and Sera's evolving relationship. The pair each take an issue at the end of the run to themselves too, which really showcase their individual talents.

Angela's story may be over for now, but this ending means it will last for a long time in my memory.