Angela is a fictional comic book
superhero created by author Neil Gaiman
and artist Todd McFarlane. She first
appeared as a supporting antagonist in
McFarlane's creator-owned series Spawn,
making her debut in issue #9 in March
1993, and later starring in her own
self-titled miniseries. She is an angel
and a bounty hunter, working under the
auspices of Heaven to oppose Spawn.
Angela was later the subject of a legal
battle between McFarlane and Gaiman over
the rights to the character, which
Gaiman won. Gaiman later sold the rights
to the character to Marvel Comics; she
was integrated into the Marvel Universe
in the 2013 story "Age of Ultron", and
her character was expanded upon in the
2014 storyline "Original Sin", where she
was established to be the lost sister of
Thor.
Publication history
Angela is a recurring adversary and
sometimes ally of Spawn. Starting with
her debut in issue #9 of the series
Spawn, she has made appearances in
issues #62, #89, and #96 through #100.
In 1994 and 1995, a three-issue Angela
limited series was published, written by
Gaiman and illustrated by Greg Capullo.
The series was later reprinted as a
trade paperback titled Angela Trade
Paperback, retitled as Spawn: Angela's
Hunt in later printings and given a new
cover design. As of 2005, the series is
out-of-print. In 1995, an Angela
stand-alone comic was also created.
Angela has also been featured in several
crossovers. The Rage of Angels
miniseries saw Angela meeting Glory in
Angela and Glory, and was continued in
Youngblood #6 and Team Youngblood #21.
There was also a crossover called
Aria/Angela, in which she featured in
the series Aria.
Comic Book Resources confirmed on March
21, 2013 that Neil Gaiman was returning
to Marvel Comics and would bring Angela
with him. Joe Quesada was quoted as
saying her first appearance as a proper
Marvel character would happen at the
finale of the Age of Ultron event.
On May 9, 2013 Entertainment Weekly
published the first image of Angela as
redesigned by Joe Quesada for her
appearances in books published by Marvel
Comics.
Fictional character biography
= Image Comics history=
Angela is an angel and a bounty hunter,
working under the auspices of Heaven to
oppose Spawn. She attempted to kill
Spawn upon their first meeting, but was
defeated despite her significantly
greater experience. Later, he came to
her aid during her trial in Heaven,
where he testified that she had
permission to kill him. They were
temporarily trapped in a pocket
dimension when Spawn's cloak acted to
protect him from her weapons. Spawn's
restructuring of reality allowed them to
return from the pocket dimension, and
also erased Angela's 'permit' to use her
weapons against him. While returning to
Earth they started a romantic
relationship, however Angela was killed
during the battle with Malebolgia. Spawn
returned her body to the angels, who
presumably brought her back to life.
= Marvel Comics history=
During the Age of Ultron storyline,
Angela is revealed to be alive and has
been pulled from Heaven as a result of
Wolverine's damage to the Omniverse. In
a combination of rage and confusion, she
charges towards Earth from outer space,
only to be intercepted by the Guardians
of the Galaxy, causing her to join the
team.
During the Original Sin storyline, it is
revealed that she is Aldrif, the
daughter of Odin and Frigga, making her
sister to Thor and Loki. She was
"killed" as an infant during Asgard's
war with the Angels of the Tenth Realm,
called "Heven." This crime resulted in
Odin severing the Tenth Realm from the
other nine as punishment for their
attack. Thor learns of his sister's
existence when he is exposed to the
secrets of Uatu, the Watcher's eye, by
the Orb. He returns to Asgard to
confront his mother about his sister's
existence, and subsequently travels to
the Tenth Realm with Loki to learn more
about his sister.
The Guardians of the Galaxy and Angela
are attacked in warp space by a band of
pirates, called Warpjackers. During the
battle, Angela abandons the Guardians
when the adult Loki telepathically tells
her that the portal to Heven is open and
that she can return home. As Thor
battles Heven's guards, Angela appears
having been guided to the doorway to
Heven by Loki, and prepares to battle
Thor. Angela defeats Thor, and is then
told by the Queen of Angels to bring
Thor to her. The now-female Loki has
aligned with the Angels, telling Thor
that "being on the winning side seems
just perfect."
While Loki leads an Angel fleet to
Asgard, under the false pretense to help
them destroy it, Thor escapes captivity
and engages Angela in combat once again.
The fight between Thor and Angela is
interrupted when Odin arrives and
recognizes Angela as his daughter,
revealing Angela's true lineage as the
long thought dead Aldrif. A long time
ago, the Angel tasked to dispose of
Aldrif's body found out the baby was
alive and raised her as one of the
Angels under the name of Angela. In
light of this revelation, the Queen of
Angels grants Angela her life, pardoning
her for her service to the Angels, but
exiles her from Heven due to her
lineage.
After leaving Heven, Odin tells Thor,
Loki, and Angela that he still loves his
children. Angela then decides to leave
in order to explore the other realms.
= Other Versions=
Several alternate versions of Angela
appear in Marvel's 2015 Secret Wars
event. In 1602: Witchhunter Angela,
Angela appears as a witchbreed hunter in
the 1602 universe. In MODOK: Assassin,
an Angela appears as a member of the
Thors, Battleworld's peacekeeping force,
wielding a hammer called Demonslayer.
Genealogy
Legal rights
In 1993 McFarlane contracted Neil
Gaiman, along with three other
recognized authors, Alan Moore, Dave
Sim, and Frank Miller, to write one
issue of Spawn. While doing so, Gaiman
introduced the characters Angela,
Cogliostro, and Medieval Spawn. All
three characters were co-created and
designed by series creator Todd
McFarlane. The series continued to
feature all of the characters after
Gaiman's involvement ended. Some
characters had tie-ins with McFarlane's
toy company, and Cogliostro had a
prominent role in the live-action movie
in 1997. McFarlane had initially agreed
that Gaiman retained creator rights to
the characters, but later claimed that
Gaiman's work had been work-for-hire and
that McFarlane owned all of Gaiman's
co-creations entirely, pointing to the
legal indicia of Spawn #9 and the lack
of legal contract stating otherwise.
McFarlane had also refused to pay Gaiman
for the volumes of Gaiman's work that
McFarlane republished and kept in print.
In 2002, Gaiman filed suit and won a
sizable judgment against McFarlane and
Image Comics for the rights due any
creator. All three characters were then
equally co-owned by both men. In 2012,
McFarlane and Gaiman settled their
dispute, and Gaiman was given full
ownership of Angela.
On March 21, 2013, Comic Book Resources
announced that Angela would be
introduced into the Marvel Comics
Universe as a major character later in
the year, to coincide with Neil Gaiman's
return to the company. BleedingCool
later confirmed that Marvel Comics had
completely bought the rights to Angela
from Gaiman.
In other media
= Television=
Angela appeared in the animated TV
series Todd McFarlane's Spawn, voiced by
Denise Poirier.
= Film=
Angela has a brief cameo in the
live-action film adaptation of Spawn,
portrayed by Laura Stepp.
= Video games=
Angela appears in the mobile game
Guardians of the Galaxy: The Universal
Weapon.
Angela appears in the Facebook game
Marvel: Avengers Alliance.
Angela is a playable character in the
mobile game Marvel Future Fight.
= Music=
Angela is the subject of a song by heavy
metal band Iced Earth called "The
Hunter", which appears on their
Spawn-themed concept album The Dark
Saga.
= Miscellaneous=
In 1995 and 1996, Angela was nominated
for, but did not win, a number of Wizard
Fan Awards: 1995 Favorite Villainess,
1995 Character Most Deserving of Own
Ongoing Title, 1995 Favorite One-shot or
Limited Series/Miniseries, and 1996
Favorite Heroine.
See also
List of Spawn villains
References
External links
Angela at Marvel Wiki
Angela at Comic Vine
Angela at the Comic Book DB
Angela miniseries
Angela toy
Spawn related mini-series
About legal battle between Gaiman and
McFarlane
