By: Nicole D'Andria
Inspired by the Buffy Challenge, I’ve been enjoying some of the Buffy comics. Specifically, the very
first season after Buffy went off the
air and into the comic book panels.
For those not in the know, when Buffy the Vampire Slayer was called off after season 7 on TV because
Sara Michelle Gellar was done with the role of Buffy and talked to writer Joss
Whedon about it, the story continued with an eighth and ninth season in comic
books. Issue one of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 10 just
came out on March 19th. Now, let’s take a look back at the first volume
of Buffy, which, in total, collects the first ten issues, over three
hundred pages, of Buffy The
Vampire Slayer Season Eight and has a cover gallery, sketches and creator
biographies.
.
The Long
Way Home
Buffy
the Vampire Slayer Season 8 #1 - #4 cover the first story arc
“The Long Way Home” and feature Buffy leading her army of slayers – now up to 500 –
on a mission to stop some demons. Unfortunately, Buffy is being hunted down by
the military and a couple of other familiar faces thought long dead.
This comic is definitely something hardcore Buffy and Angel fans will enjoy. Right off the bat Buffy makes a reference to
an episode of Angel (Season 5,
episode 20, titled “The Girl in Question” to be specific).
This arc is written by the TV show’s writer Joss Whedon
(who also directed The Avengers
movie). His best strength in his TV scripts is the same here: his characters.
Those two “familiar faces” I mentioned are extremely
enjoyable to see return for fans of the show since they’ll know who they are
when they see them. Another plus for fans is how much Xander has grown as a
character. Sporting his eye patch and keeping his wit, this self-proclaimed
“Nick Fury” is always enjoyable to watch. Then there’s Willow, who continues to
impress with her magic and funny lines. Andrew also makes brief appearances,
always displaying his nerdy quirks which can bring a smile to your face.
Especially since he’s training a house full of slayers (Seriously? Who put that
guy in charge?).
Of course, then there’s our main attraction, Buffy. She’s
just as spirited before, and constantly complains about how she isn’t getting
any, which can get annoying real quickly, but she counterbalances with an array
of fun banter. I also like how her enemies are the government. They’re the government, so of course they bring
tension by being a real threat, especially since they’re working with those
familiar faces (who happen to be a powerful witch and a guy straight out of
Hellraiser, hint hint, nudge nudge).
Then there’s Dawn with her annoying lines… and that leads
us to the oddest choice Joss made in this volume.
Dawn is a giant now.
Yeah, her ex-boyfriend turned her into a giant. It sounds
really stupid, but when I thought about it there really aren’t any downsides
with making her giant. It gets some laughs, makes the tension mount between her
and her sister, and… well, the laughs. What’s even odder, when Joss Whedon was being interviewed by Entertainment Weekly,
he was asked what his favorite “We could never do this on the TV show” moment
was and he chose giant Dawn. Which, he admitted, he loved more than the
readers.
What I didn’t like about this bizarre choice (and what
the issue I think was for most other readers) was throwing giant Dawn at us
right away and explaining how she got that way through dialogue. I think people
would be more accepted of the choice if it wasn’t just thrown at us.
One problem with the characters is there are a lot. The
main cast is memorable but the hordes of other slayers are given no
characterization because there are just too many of them. The only one that
gets a lot of panel time is Satsu, and while she has a good hair-do she doesn’t
really have much else going for her.
Something else that is weaker than the characters is the
story. Usually, I don’t care about why the characters are doing what they’re
doing. Half the time I forget what their goal is. I just enjoy reading their
back-and-forth banter and watching them fight, which is seamlessly added in
around their personal lives (well, the little time for personal lives they
have).
One interesting element of the story is when Buffy is put
under a sleep spell. She can only be awoken by true love’s kiss and Willow
tells every slayer to close their eyes so the person who truly loves Buffy can
kiss her… meaning one of the girls has a crush on Buffy. But unfortunately for
readers, just as all the slayers close their eyes, Whedon closes ours so we
can’t get a look at who is in love with Buffy. Also, while Buffy’s asleep she
explores her dreamspace and she has some… interesting
dreams, to say the least.
The other elements of the plot are great when they tie
into the characters. Whedon does a fantastic job with the dialogue. It sounds
like how real people would talk and is characteristic of how every character
from the show would act.
The pencils by George Jeanty and inks by Andy Owens
fulfill their function, but I don’t really enjoy it much. All the characters
look like their TV counterparts. The action flows somewhat abruptly from panel
to panel. Even something that I usually see as a negative artistic quirk,
reducing the amount of detail to get a panel out of the way, fits the comedic
tone this series has on and off again.
This was a great way to go from television to comic
books. You have all your favorite characters (with the exceptions of Angel and
Spike, but their absence, while sad, makes sense), including the return of a
couple characters that weren’t seen in the TV show for a while. The story is
grand even if it has some weak spots and it was a bright start to a volume that
went… slightly downhill.
7.0
The
Chain
In the second story, “The Chain,” we get to spend time
with a Buffy imposter who has to go underground and fight a demon. Like the
first arc, it is written by Buffy the
Vampire scriptwriter Joss Whedon. He dedicated this issue to the late Janie
Kleinman, a network executive he worked with.
This story, out of all the arcs in the first volume, felt
the most rushed and unnecessary, which makes sense since its only one issue
long (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8
#5), unlike the previous arc which was four. There’s not a lot to it. We
get to see how this particular slayer discovered her powers but we never really
get to know too much about her. The story isn’t really memorable when compared to
any of the others, and in a way that makes the ending even more impactful on
the reader by prophesizing that forgetability.
A big downside is almost no other characters from the
Buffyverse make big appearances in this
issue. Andrew makes a short appearance in a funny commercial for recruiting
slayers. But we mostly rely on one Buffy imposter. We never get to see the
other Buffy imposter that was mentioned in the last issue. That may be because
she appeared briefly in an episode of Angel,
but I would’ve liked to see her as well if they were going to show us the
imposter Buffy’s.
Ironically, this issue is a lot easier to follow than the
last arc because it has fewer Buffy references and instead focuses on a young
slayer. Her fate at the end is the quintessential moment of this issue and
makes it a solid issue but not really what I think hardcore Buffy fans were
expecting after the first arc.
The artwork felt very similar to the first arc and I was
surprised it wasn’t the same penciler. In this issue the pencils are done by
Paul Lee. Andy Owens returns as the inker. The drawings are solid and the
fights are illustrated well, but sometimes splash pages could use better
backgrounds, including the one on the very last page.
This may be a bit of a downer after the first arc, but
it’s still a solid issue. The ending is great but the lack of recognizable
characters will be a turn off for many readers.
6.2
No
Future for You
The second story arc is “No Future for You” and is the
first in the series not written by Joss Whedon. Spanning four issues (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 #6 - #9), this arc mostly
features Faith, who is asked to kill a dangerous slayer by Giles.
Unfortunately, this slayer has phenomenal power.
If you’re a fan of Faith, this is the perfect arc for
you! There are a couple of flashbacks to the TV show, such as “Graduation Day,”
featuring Faith and the mayor. Faith is her normally spunky self and you also
feel for her and respect her, since it’s made clear from the get-go that she
gets the jobs no one else is willing to take. It’s also pretty fun to see Giles
try to turn her into a “proper” lady so she can go undercover at a ball where
her target, Lady Genevieve, is located.
Lady Genevieve herself is a great
target. She is a spoiled rotten princess who has the powers of a slayer. Almost
instantly, her physical prowess is established. Her interactions with Faith
also show how much the two have in common even if the upcoming twists and turns
in the arc are pretty obvious. They also involve an annoying miscommunication,
which always gets on my nerves since if people could just get two seconds to
explain themselves…
Buffy and the gang also make appearances. Xander says one
of my favorite lines in the entire volume when he’s in the training room with
Buffy trying to, and I quote, “reacquaint my body with non-dance dance
revolution-related moves first.” Every arc makes me love Xander more and more.
The ultimate villain, Twilight, is revealed and his goals
aren’t really clear, and other than being curious about his true identity, I
don’t care much about him or his evil plan for world domination… or he could be
enslaving puppies, I seriously don’t remember… Plus, not only are his clothes
not intimidating, his name is Twilight. I can’t not picture Edward sparkling every time I see him, and I really
hope there’s a joke being made here. He is established as a pretty formidable
foe, since he suggests that Faith and Giles have played right into his hands…
he also flies, which is always a plus.
The penciler and inker from the first arc return. George
Jeanty and Andy Owens do another good job of making the character recognizable.
However, it also has the same quirks that I didn’t enjoy, like characters that
have too many lines and shadows on their faces. When they have faces. Sometimes
they’re minimalized to the point where they look like faceless phantoms. The
design for Genevieve is perfect. She really looks like a spoiler princess
thanks to her fancy clothes. Also, as I suggested before, Twilight doesn’t look
that intimidating. He’s just a guy in a ski mask and trench coat. There’s not
really anything interesting going on with him visually.
This arc is perfect if you’ve been missing Faith and
Giles. Both of them are in this arc arguably more than Buffy is, which can be a
disappointment for hardcore fans of the Buff.
6.8
Anywhere
But Here
“Anywhere But Here” is only one issue long (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 #10) and
is written by Joss Whedon. In this arc, intimidated by Twilight (snicker),
Buffy and Willow travel to find one of the demon elite, Sephrilian, to find out
more about him. Along the way, they have to fight for their lives and talk
about their fantasies.
The sexual fantasies Buffy and Willow share with each
other are a little awkward and immature... but some readers may enjoy them.
They don’t really feel integrated with the rest of the story, which isn’t
really that great. It’s just one big bad who isn’t very interesting. It also
feels a lot longer than “The Chain” despite being the same length and it felt
like it was dragging most of the way through. Twilight’s motivations are also
made more obvious (and, shocker, he
doesn’t want to enslave puppies).
Xander and Dawn also have a nice moment in this series in
which Dawn reveals more about her history with her boyfriend Kenny with a surprising
twist. There’s also another character, Robin, who seems to have some sexual
tension with Willow but doesn’t make much of an impact on the reader,
especially since Willow already has Kennedy, but she doesn’t really have much
of a role in the series so far.
Again, the art looks very similar to all of the previous
arcs. The inker is still Andy Owens but the writer is Cliff Richards. The
design of the villain is good. Sephrilian’s size is enough to make him
intimidating. The characters, as usual, look like themselves but have the usual
unenjoyable quirks.
5.4
Always
Darkest
“Always Darkest” is a two-page one-shot. This is a
nonsensical one-shot that will literally take ten seconds to read but I wanted
to mention it because of a few key things. One, it’s scripted by Joss Whedon.
Two, Spike and Angel make-out off panel (sorry yaoi fangirls, but this isn't real). Three, Caleb makes a short appearance, which makes me think of fangir, just because in the TV show he was played by
Nathan Fillion (aka Castle). And four, the artwork by Jo Chen is amazing and I wish this was the artwork
for the entire series. I get how it could be difficult but it has such
fantastic illustrations I would love to see Jo Chen do a full issue.
7.0
If you're not a fan of Buffy or haven't seen the show yet... watch the show first or you will probably be lost. If you are a fan of Buffy, season 7 was not the end. Read
this and you get to see your favorite characters, some of which have grown into
charming Nick Fury figures while others have, unfortunately, some catching up
to do. The story is not much to write home about but produces a wondrous
blend of drama and comedy that feels like the old TV show. I wouldn’t say it
surpasses the show, but it’s a great start in a new medium.
Overall:
6.5
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