Following yesterday's announcement, Dark Horse and IDW Publishing now have confirmed that Angel will return to Dark Horse beginning late next year. IDW has held the comics rights to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television spin-off since 2005.

Under the direction of Buffy and Angel creator Joss Whedon, all parties are working together for as seamless a transition as possible," IDW said in a statement posted today on the company's website. "The companies have been coordinating storylines in both Dark Horse's Buffy and IDW's Angel, creating a greater sense of cohesion and cooperation to ensure that this transition is true to both ongoing storylines and to the faithful fans of both series."

News of the move broke yesterday in Dark Horse's Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Riley one-shot, "without coordination with IDW," the company notes.

In the IDW statement, Dark Horse senior managing editor Scott Allie apologized for the way the news was released: "Behind the scenes, we'd been working closely with IDW to ensure that the hand-off went smoothly. It was never our intent to catch Angel or IDW readers unaware."

IDW's final six-issue arc begins in November with Angel #39.

Dark Horse published Angel from 2000 to 2002, first as an ongoing series and then, briefly, as a miniseries. The company also published Buffy comics from 1998 to 2004 before launching the highly successful Season 8 in 2007. Season 9 begins late next year.

“I’ve always regretted letting Angel go in the first place,”  senior managing editor Scott Allie said in a separate press release. “So we’re really excited about getting him back, as well as all his supporting cast. It’s necessary for how Joss wants to handle season nine, details of which will start spilling out in the months to come. Right now, we’ve got to wrap up season eight, and IDW still has a good long run of books before season nine starts.”