In "Wolves at the Gate", even more comic-ish type stuff goes on; Dawn, Buffy's little sister, is still giant size and fights a giant mechanical version of herself that the vampires in Tokyo had made. Also, those vampires can turn into jaguars. These issues continued into more fun elements that the show couldn't explore, possibly financially because a lot of their adventures are on a bigger spectrum. So, story-wise, Buffy begins the story by being very stressed and having lesbian sex with a slayer colleague. Her giant sister founds out and then vampire jaguars attack the abandoned fortress they now inhabit. Their fortress is fortified with gadgets and magic at the financial expense of their multiple slayer robberies (from 'villainous' sources) but also justifies the governments reason for wanting to hunt them down: they take what they want to get to the level of power and authority they desire. The vampires that stole the scythe go back to Tokyo where they are forming a major half-magic half-tech device atop a building that will send out a sonic blast undoing the spell that gave all potential slayers the 'slayer' power (disturbing the balance). Buffy destroys the vampires and uses her former nemesis Dracula to help her. Despite the incorporation of Dracula, I was most surprised at the mecha-Dawn. If this was seen in the show, it would have been a little overwhelming. In the comic, it felt natural. And a little overwhelming. It's a giant Dawn! But like many other elements the season 8 comics incorperate that former Buffy comics didn't, the larger scale of mythology and redefinition of the entire Buffy series has been due to the shift from '"Buffy the show" to "Buffy the show comic'" to "'Buffy: THE COMIC". Now, things that go on the comic lives especially in the comics because it is now competing with comic tropes when it formerly competed with tv show and female action hero tropes only-- now we see fortress of solitude type castles where Buffy and 500 other slayers train, we see secret identities, Xander with an eye patch, a giant robot Dawn, a flying Willow who is bashing though buildings fighting a Japanese witch working for the Tokyo vamp gang. The entire comic works like a comic alone, not a mere show comic, and it seriously has me hooked.
I was so in awe at the beauty of these issues. Issue #5, which is titled "The Chain", offers insight into the slayer heritage and acts like a "Origin Story" that we would commonly see in Superman and other classic hero stories. Also, Buffy's public response is similar to that in Batman and Superman, where people think of them as a vigilante and a threat. Buffy now is in hiding because of the government feeling her powers to be a threat to humanity. She has hired multiple 'fake Buffy' slayers that will pretend to be her both underground and in Rome, so she can be harder to trace and have eyes everywhere. We then get into the second story arc, "No Future for You", which features a character named Faith Lehane, a girl who was given slayer super powers early on in the TV series when Buffy died for the first time and decided to use them to hurt humans. Now, she is on a road to recovery and attempting to make amends for the pain she has caused people. She is forced to kill another slayer that has fallen down her same path, but because she believes in recovery, she chooses to psychologically help the girl. However, Buffy intervenes and thinks Faith has 'switched sides again' for playing therapist with the enemy. They fight, and the prevailing theme is the element of recovery in a villain, and distrust in the 'good guys' have for the recovered villain. Faith now has her own origin story, one of making amends and turning away from a dark past, and is now a super hero in her own right but continues to be denounced by Buffy's 'perfection'. Buffy's seemingly ethical climb as main slayer makes Faith feel belittled, even though her right to superhero-ness is more then obvious. It was a wonderful read and made me shed a tear when Faith accidentally killed the girl she wanted to help. Because this was the outcome, Faith dedicated her heart to not being on the fighting field: she wants to be a hero in a different way, behind the scenes and off the battlefield. So beautiful to see the most psychologically twisted and vicious character develop into someone who chooses to put down the weapon, in order to be the hero she wants to be.
"THERE USED TO BE ONE SLAYER IN THE WORLD. EIGHT HUNDRED NOW, THAT WE'VE COUNTED...THERE'S EVEN THREE OF ME. THE GUYS FIGURED I WAS A TARGET, SET UP TWO OTHER SLAYERS TO BE ME." (WHEDON 5) BUFFY RETURNS!
Ecstatic... fancrazy... is there even a word to describe my experience. I was originally going to do this post on the first issue and my experience with it, but I was so intrigued with the series I finished the first mini-arc in one sit down without even the slightest motivation to stop. I may have a small bias because I was an avid fan of the show, but Whedon has once again managed to make me stomp the wooden floors with my jaw. In this 'season', we return to Buffy Summers who has just managed to change up the game in slayer history; she has used her best friend, Willow (a witch), to cast a spell on an ancient slayer weapon that gives all the 'potential' women to be the power of the slayer, who used to be alone in the battle against evil. In doing so, she tipped the scales and managed to defeat the big bad. Now, we catch up with her a couple of years later and she is now the leader of a giant army of superhuman women. Buffy Summers, moreso even in the comic, has super hero traits that we have seen in class: she has (moderately) super strength, speed, and reflexes, passed down to her from a line of power created in the old days to be given to random girls to fight against vampires and other evils. She hides her identity. However, in the show, she wasn't too crazy about it. Now, in the comic, she must conceal her identity because not only is the darkness trying to get revenge on her, but the government has decided she a threat and a fascist by taking charge and is leading an army of super-humans that "does not jibe with American interests... Worst of all, they got a leader. Charismatic, uncompromising, and completely destructive", as said by one of the story's mini villains, a Governor for the US military. This reminded me of our class discussions about Superman and Batman, and that, at times, they would face extreme criticism by government parties. Buffy concealing her identity, having not only villainous enemies but political enemies, and having super strength all put her in a super hero category. She has a backstory, a huge, spiritual history that explains the retrieval of her powers. Her support group: Xander, the loyal best friend, and Willow, the witch, are now extreme versions of their former TV series selves that fit well with the comic-verse. Xander now has one eye, as a result of a episode in the 7th season, and takes the role of a Sargent Fury type 'leader of the base'. Willow is the powerful witch that, now, can fly and do crazy magic attacking spells. Her army of slayers stand beside her like a Justice League, and Buffy is the leader of the pack. The drawing is amazing and I love Georges Jeanty already for capturing character likeness. He doesn't simply just try to make the characters look like the actors, but he captures emotion so well and everything is fitting. I am so pleased with this series. So, so pleased. They even have the cliff-hangers that comics often do! At the end of each comic, something happens that makes me read the next one. For example, the first one ends with us finding out a villain is being introduced from the show again to mess up Buffy's plans-- Amy, the crazy witch from season 1. Then, at the end of comic 2, Willow returns. Then, at the end of comic 3, Warren, the villain from season 6, is reintroduced as working with Amy. My eyes practically popped out of my head! It prepared me for the epic battle in issue 4 between Willow and Amy, and the crazy Warren who teamed up with her. It's amazing! Whedon is doing a lot of comic-friendly things that doesn't make it feel like a TV show gone comic. I commend him for this. I am realizing more and more than I am not just a fan of Buffy, but a huge fan of its God and creator, Joss Whedon. |
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May 2015
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