Angela (character)

Angela is a superhero created by Neil Gaiman and Todd McFarlane who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, and formerly in comics published by Image Comics. She first appeared in Spawn #9, published in 1993 by Image, and starred in a self-titled limited series published in 1994. The character is an angel and bounty hunter working on behalf of Heaven, and is a recurring adversary and occasional ally to the antihero Spawn.

A legal dispute between McFarlane and Gaiman over ownership of the character concluded in 2013 in Gaiman's favor. Gaiman subsequently sold the rights to the character to Marvel, where she debuted in the 2013 comic series Age of Ultron. The 2014 storyline "Original Sin" retroactively established a new origin story for Angela as Aldrif Odinsdottir, the sister of the superhero Thor.

In 1993, Todd McFarlane contracted Neil Gaiman, along with three other recognized authors, Alan Moore, Dave Sim, and Frank Miller, to write one issue of his creator-owned comics series Spawn, which was published by Image Comics. While doing so, Gaiman introduced the characters Angela, Cogliostro, and Medieval Spawn. All three characters were co-created and designed by McFarlane. Angela first appeared in issue #9, as an adversary. In 1994 and 1995, a three-issue Angela limited series was published, written by Gaiman and illustrated by Greg Capullo, in which Angela and Spawn were forced by circumstance to temporarily work together as allies. 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 (ISBN 1-887279-09-1).

The monthly Spawn series continued to feature all of the characters Gaiman had created long after his direct involvement had ended. Angela would appear in several Spawn issues such as #96 through #100, and in the 1994–95 limited series Angela. She was also featured in several crossovers. The Rage of Angels miniseries saw Angela meeting Glory in Angela and Glory (1996), and was continued in Youngblood #6 (1996) and Team Youngblood #21. There was also a crossover called Aria/Angela, in which she featured in the series Aria.

McFarlane had 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.

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" storyline.

In 2013, it was later confirmed that Marvel Comics bought the rights to Angela from Gaiman.

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. The 2014 storyline "Original Sin" retroactively established a new origin story for Angela as Aldrif Odinsdottir, the sister of the superhero Thor.