What's this? You say there was only 7 seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on TV? You are correct! Well, the brilliant mind behind it, Joss Whedon, has brought it all back in comic book form. Season 8 is upon us.
SPOILERS AHEAD! BEWARE!!!
First off, Georges Jeanty's art is beautiful. Great work and the actors look realistic and recognizable. I loved the big splash page of giant Dawn and how they broke it up with Buffy on different levels talking to her.
As for the book itself! A few have said it is hard to get into if you weren't already a Buffy fan. Fair enough. You might not get a lot of the inside jokes. Others lament on how bad they thought seasons 6 & 7 were. I still contest, some of the best stories came out of those seasons. and the musical episode! Genius! The introduction of the potentials in 7 was compelling and a great twist. I was never a Kennedy hater like everyone else. I loved her! Hope to see her in this series.
As we learned in Angel, season 5, Buffy was off traveling the world and gathering slayers to fight evil. In and episode of Angel, Spike and Angel go to Italy and see a blond girl that appears to be Buffy dancing in a club. According to Andrew, she is dating The Immortal.
Caught up? Good! Whedon drops us right into some action and intrigue. Buffy is leading a squad of slayers, who call her "ma'am", to take out some vamps/demons. And to please his other fans, Whedon has Buffy wearing a Firefly/Serenity shirt. One of the other slayers is wearing the hat that little molly wears in Runaways. (The comic book Whedon is taking over from Brian K. Vaughan.) We learn that there are a few Buffy decoys around the globe. Including the one in Italy dating The Immortal. Things aren't what they seem and Buffy runs across a symbol of sorts. We go to Xander. Staunch and commanding with his new eye patch courtesy of Caleb from season 7. Leading a group of slayers, psychics, witches, etc. at command central. Great nerd moment with Xander referring to himself as Nick Fury. I like that the other slayers have accents. Truly meaning that they are from around the globe.
Then...a hovering figure in the air. All we see are black boots, pants and a long coat. Angel? Spike? Could be either. Though, if you don't know, those characters are tied up over at IDW and can not be used. I think Whedon did say they would be allowed at some point. Just perhaps, not as a lead character.
Suddenly, also hovering elsewhere, a helicopter full of military folk. Who seem to know about Buffy and her group. They are overlooking the gaping crater that was once the hell mouth of Sunnydale. People on the ground inspecting things. I liked this aspect a lot. Well, because....I mean...hello!...big hole where a city used to be! Of course there would be an investigation. Someone is attacked in the pits and you see a small reflective glimpse of a person. Short blond hair. Hmmm...is it Anya? Darla? Whom?
Then, back at headquarters. What seems to be a castle of sorts. Xander and Buffy are trying to decipher the symbol. Great banter as per usual. Then the scene I talked about earlier. GIANT Dawn. She's a big person now! Literally 50 ft. tall or something like that. Clever Whedon! He talked in interviews about how "Dawn is huge after losing her virginity!" Hinting at perhaps a pregnancy. Buffy and Dawn talk and you get hints of how it happened. Dawn dated a "thricewise". I assume that's some kind of witch/warlock/magical person. That's how dawn got big. Their bickering is typical Buffy/Dawn stuff. Dawn whining (though this time....for a reason) and Buffy unsure of how to deal with it. We learn that they are in Scotland and in an old castle. Some people were complaining about how they interacted. Whedon even addresses that, I think, when he has the thought panel of Buffy saying, "How do we turn into 12 yr olds all of a sudden? Every time we talk?" That's kind of how they always were. You cant just suddenly change the character dynamic because people think it's annoying. It has to be done slowly.
Buffy contemplates more. Even on missing sex. Some have said this takes away from her "girl power" mantra. I disagree. If anything, it adds to it. It shows how human she is and misses physical touch. She is physically (both living in Scotland and being boyfriendless) out of touch and far removed. Which makes her mentally and emotionally unavailable as well. She misses home. Friends. People she lost.
Willow is mentioned in the exchange with Dawn. How Dawn can only relate to Willow about her issue with her ex-boyfriend. Buffy comments on how Willow was suddenly a boy expert. (Willow, of course, is a lesbian.) Some saw this as homophobic. No way! It's typical Buffy humor in dark times. It's jealousy over her own sister not being able to tell her what is wrong. It's Buffy trying to make herself laugh during a sad moment. Typical Buffy.
We end with the government types in some government type facility. We learn that there is someone who wants to help take Buffy down. In a magical way. What the? Has Willow gone rogue again? Is it Ethan?
Nope. It's Amy! Yes, Amy who was a rat for a season or 2 and finally came back and helped corrupt Willow. She's always been a bit unstable. And she's locked up in a crazy room and being all magical!
That's all we get for part 1! Off to a great start! I'm over people dissecting stuff to the point of ridiculousness. Whedon is a great storyteller and I have faith this will be awesome. (Speaking of Faith...would love to see her come around!) If issue one is any indication, It will be! If you don't have it, go get it!
It sounds great! Look forward to reading it when they do a second print run.
Posted by: Josie | March 17, 2007 at 07:33 PM