I actually like the book. The artwork is good (much better than Nick Runge's). Not great, but it works fine. I also like that the story is a continuation of AtF. It's not just lightly touching on the things that happened (as if doing so is a chore) and then moving ahead, but it's really putting focus, both plot-wise and character-wise, on the events coming out of AtF.
Joss approved the story and I'm enjoying it much more than I expected. I actually really like it. So in my eyes it's canon. 🙂
Cool, but just FYI, that "Joss Approved" line IDW and Armstrong keep throwing out there is pretty deceptive.
Technically ALL material bearing the Buffy or Angel name is "Joss Approved." Joss himself said that he likes the idea of the
expanded universe (non-canon stories written by people other than himself and his team), but he spends little time even reviewing that stuff.
According to him, pretty much the only way not to get his company's approval is if the material's tone betrays the tone of the Buffyverse (killing off main characters, pornography, etc.).
And with the art, I don't think the main criticism here is that the art itself is bad, but that the art doesn't look like the characters. This isn't Marvel or DC, these characters are meant to look like specific flesh and blood people (Boreanaz, Kartheiser, Rohm, etc.) and they don't, they look like cartoons.
Like Tranquility was saying, Angel has been drawn like a bodybuilder rather than like Boreanaz who is just a big guy with an athletic build; and, bodybuilder vs. athletic build could equal up to 100+ pound difference on a 6'1" guy. So it's just silly to create such a drastic difference.
I personally think that Armstrong's Angel claiming that he's atoned for 100 years of evil shows that
Aftermath isn't canon. Whedon (Creator, owner, producer), Fury (Showrunner) and Bell (Showrunner), the three guys who ran
Angel, all say that Angel will keep fighting, but will not atone, at least until after the final battle mentioned in Fray & the Shanshu Prophecy. That battle is way off into the future (up to 16 years) and will end the Slayer line for a very long time.