28

[beer_good_foamy]

So I finally got a hold of #28. I was already spoiled on some stuff, and I'm sure most of the fine details have already been ironed out elsewhere, but here's a kind of review anyway.

"Have you tried not being a Slayer?" - Joyce Summers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer 2.22
"But what if I can't? I've seen too much. I know what goes bump in the night. Not being able to fight it... What if I just hide under my bed, all scared and helpless? Or what if I just become pathetic? Hanging out at the old Slayer's home, talking people's ears off about my glory days, showing them Mr. Pointy, the stake I had bronzed." - Buffy Summers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer 3.12
"I feel weak. I don't like it." - Satsu, Season 8 #28
"Cheap holiday in other people's misery." - Sex Pistols, "Holidays In The Sun"

So, the good news is that Dawn didn't continue her trend of falling for abusive assholes. The bad news is that as a love interest for Xander, I'd be very surprised – shocked, even - if she makes it past the preview of #29.

And just like the whole Buffy/Satsu brouhaha (which I'm still waiting for some sort of follow-up for, btw), the OMGSOMETHINGSHOCKINGWILLHAPPEN thing just distracts from what continues to be a decent story. Even if I feel the writers ought to focus more on piecing the still haphazard plot together rather than introducing brand-new ships, it helps develop the story – assuming the story is connected to how Buffy feels at the moment – and frankly, the shippiness angle is the least interesting thing here. As in the previous issue there is (finally) plenty of character interaction, and they're (finally) TALKING to each other. All of them. How fucking cool is that? Rather than just mope around behind each other's backs and digging holes to fall into, they're actually talking things out. Trusting each other to be able to take each others' bad sides. And digging holes. Well, you can't have everything.

We get a very nice conversation between Buffy and Faith (which seems to ignore their encounter in "No Future For You", but I guess since that that fallout was just a way to isolate Buffy further, it's served its purpose). Faith wanting to give up her power? Well, it's in keeping with her Season 8 story, I guess. Plus it explicitly contradicts #24, which I suppose makes it good by lack of association.

And then all the major discussions – Xander and Dawn, Buffy and Xander, Willow and Oz, Willow and Buffy – all focus on the issue that the TV series got at least a couple of seasons out of, but which it's been clear for some time that we're going to repeat: how do you reconcile fighting evil and trying to live your own life? But it's nicely done, and if there's any complaint here, it's that every conversation seems to be a little too self-consciously on-topic – everyone's talking about how good it would be to give up the fight and have a life, have something to be for rather than just fight against, to "point to the safe", love and babies and turnips and everything but the fact that they've got 7 billion people and an unknown number of demons trying to kill them. Surely at least some of them would be talking about yaks, which are a source of endless comedy? Then again, the whole thing is edited together by Andrew, so I can buy that. (Not sure they needed to repeat the exact same joke about him and Jonathan facing Dark Willow as in "Storyteller", though. It was funnier the first time.)

And all of it does something that's been sorely lacking for long stretches of the comic: show us how the characters feel, what they want, and then reflect it back on our main protagonist. The only one who remains a complete cipher by the end is Giles, who's starting to look mighty suspicious (note the Sex Pistols t-shirt... it's looking like an unlimited amount of problems, no feelings, no fun, and possibly bodies in Giles' future.)

One key scene is the discussion between Willow and Oz. Because as enviable as Oz' life may seem, Willow has a point: what Oz does is giving up, in a sense, at least to her. Here's the big problem/opportunity of the setup of the series, the clash between fighting your own metaphorical demons and fighting the real demons in the metaphorical story. Oz is happy (for now), he's at peace; he's beaten his own demons.

OZ: You can be done, Will. You can just be Willow Rosenberg. Just let the Earth take the magic and you'll feel it sliding away...

Which would be fine if it wasn't for the fact that Willow has actual real-life flesh and blood (and scale) demons to face, too. Or, if you prefer, that what brings peace to one person doesn't necessarily bring peace to another. Just like working in one more-or-less uniform Slayer organisation doesn't work for everyone, neither does farming turnips for the rest of one's life work for everyone. One person's retreat is another's flight. Which makes Willow's turnaround in the end rather sad; as nice as it is to see her start to find peace, we all know that it's not going to last. And the odds on Oz' trusting her with his son getting a much darker revisit within two issues are dropping the whole time.

WILLOW: We can all have futures, Buffy. Even you.

Even if they didn't have Twilight breathing down their necks, this would still feel all wrong. Buffy's words in "Restless" weren't "Some day I'll settle down and have babies." Nor was it "I'll be a soldier till it kills me." It was "I'm gonna be a fireman when the floods roll back" – which obviously can't be taken literally (though I'm sure there's been fic of that), but still: the idea is to get the girl keep fighting. That's what Buffy was built for, that's what she's always returned to in some sense. There's more than one fight to fight, more than one arena to fight it in, more than one way to skin a bat. Having a future that's your own involves not simply buying someone else's package deal. (Not to mention that the idea of Slayers getting rid of their power in order to do housework is... iffy, to say the least.)

But for the most part it's a very welcome and seductive wake-up to the need for having a long-term goal of living rather than just slaying (which would work even better if it hadn't been painfully obvious since #1, but hey.) Don't get me wrong, there's still some very odd moments, like Willow's wild mood swings in her conversation with Oz and her later complete lack thereof upon finding out that her best friend expects to kill her... I mean, has killed her... no wait, will have has killing-ed... whatever, but that's obviously a plot point showing us that Willow is going to – no? OK, my bad. I guess the scoobies see nothing out of the ordinary in killing each other at this point. But at least it's out there, which is a huge improvement, as is Buffy starting to listen to others. We've had the thesis, we've had the antithesis, and they both look like (metaphorical or even actual) suicide; now let's have something else, let's have a plan that doesn't involve remote mountains.

But so far everyone continues to stick to Operation Sitting Duck, one or three dissenting voices notwithstanding. OK, given how many readers still seem to assume that the message of Season 8 will be "power is bad" and end with everyone getting de-slayerified, I suppose Joss had to adress why that would be a bad idea, and it certainly does that. And also, sure, this issue goes a long way towards establishing the theme of reconnecting to their "human" side (since they've bought into the dichotomy) after spending an unknown number of years hiding in Scottish castles. Maybe this is an inherent flaw of the format; I'm sure that when Joss pitched this story in 10 minutes it sounded a lot better than when we actually have to wait 6 months (or 4 years) to see how this collective brain-freeze inevitably turns to disaster. People are debating what's going to happen to get to the surrender scene depicted on the TPB cover; I'm pretty sure we've already seen it. The plan to get out of this by essentially doing to themselves what their enemies were trying to do – or what the vamps did in "Wolves at the Gate" – and doing it in this manner is still... DUMB. And it's not even simply dumb, it's needlessly complexly dumb since they know several easier ways to do it. It's Jonathan committing suicide by assault rifle dumb. BSG finale dumb.

Which I guess will be obvious now that Twilight has found them. So evidently, the "man on the inside" wasn't so much a man as a cat. Named Amy. I have no idea how that's supposed to work with the fact that they already had a "man on the inside" in #9, but whatever. Now that the cat's out of the monastery, I guess they'll simply have to drop this experiment, get back their powers and finally do something constructive... right?

(Aside: I'm reading Left Behind for laughs at the moment, and in comparison to that shit Season 8 is looking damn good... though in both cases, we have a world-wide event that we're just being told happened without actually ever seeing it except when it mildly inconveniences our heroes... um...

The authors sought to provide an illustration that would persuade readers of the truth of the coming events supposedly prophesied in their premillennial dispensationalist interpretation of the Bible. But their best efforts to portray such events occurring in a "real world" fictional setting have instead served only to illustrate the implausibility and impossibility of those events actually happening in a world that is anything like the one we live in. The only way they are able to conceive of and present a scenario in which such events might occur is to have everyone in their story behave irrationally, inhumanly and inexplicably.

...nevermind.)

And so I end on a rant anyway, which is unfair to this issue. Whatever the problems of the season arc, well done, Jane. What's the quote again?

DOMINIC: You played a good hand, ma'am.
DEWITT: I played a very bad hand very well. There is a distinction.

Random notes:
- Apparently, Scott Allie has said that Willow in Season 8 is a different character from the one in the TV series. Nice to see that we agree on something. Now, about Buffy...
- Willow and Xander both look bizarrely happy on the last page when they realise Twilight is about to kill them all.
- Now even Andrew is explicitly talking about Dark Willow, and a repeat of her season 6 storyline is (thankfully) looking less and less likely.
- Buffy suddenly decides to make a move on Xander after 12 years, underlining the need to get out into the world and meet other people. Well, you snooze, you lose.
- In #27, Oz recommends being a river. In #28, Willow is afraid of being just a force. Fittingly enough, they're synonyms.
- OK, the "sit with his friend Buffy and yak" joke was funny.
- ETA: BAY: It's not about "giving up" the magic. (...) We've found that it's easier to give up the magic if you connect with the land. So is it not about what it's about, or is it about what it's not about?

Comments

[deird1]

So evidently, the "man on the inside" wasn't so much a man as a cat. Named Amy.

Wait, what?

This is what I get from relying on other people's summaries rather than reading them myself...
What happened?

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

Well, starting in this issue, there's a cat running around everywhere. In the last scene, just as they're discussing who the traitor might be, it teleports away and Xander deduces that it must have been Amy in disguise.

Because Amy likes turning herself into animals, I guess. It's worked well for in the past.

[frogfarm]

BSG finale dumb.

THANK YOU.

Also, I don't buy Faith or Willow in this issue at all. But you probably already knew that.

[angearia.livejournal.com]

frankly, the shippiness angle is the least interesting thing here.

Word. I agree with this completely. Dawn/Xander is so not the point.

Plus it explicitly contradicts #24, which I suppose makes it good by lack of association.

Hee! Digs at #24 are like my drug.

- Buffy suddenly decides to make a move on Xander after 12 years, underlining the need to get out into the world and meet other people. Well, you snooze, you lose.

Bwahahaha! Yes! ZING!

I haven't read "Left Behind", so I sadly missed the reference. But otherwise I'm roughly on the same page as you. Though I'm probably a bit happier than you. But I'm a happy drunk, so...

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. :-)

I thought you might not, haha. I was pretty sure we were supposed to think there was something very weird going on with Willow, but since we've been told that she's supposed to seem perfectly normal, I guess it's just... um... like the computer people say: if you can charge money for a bug, you call it a feature.

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

Digs at #24 are like my drug.

Just call me the pusherman. *does funky blaxploitation dance*

I haven't read "Left Behind", so I sadly missed the reference.

Basically, the story is that all the True Christians get raptured and then the Antichrist becomes Secretary General of the UN and thereby world dictator (which is what that post is, since the UN is evil and all-powerful - the book is so reactionary, misogynist and xenophobic I'd be sure it was a parody if I didn't know better). The point is that everyone in the entire world loves him for it and in like 72 hours he's made everyone agree to one world government, one world religion, one world language, and all he's actually had to do is make one (yes, one) ridiculously boring speech. And the authors seem to think it makes perfect sense. (And that's just one of the book's many, many problems.) I was reading it and thought "...Hang on. He doesn't have a blonde vampire with a unicorn collection for a press agent, does he?" Hence the quote above. :-)

[2maggie2.livejournal.com]

Great review, as always. I think you're ETA pretty much sums up where I'm at with the season at the moment... just scratching my head going, huh?

Random late night thoughts:

* Joss talks about his kids a lot. But it all looks so retro here. Are we building to the astonishing revelation that women should insist on having it all?

* Dawn's a goner. She has been since Living Doll and D/X just doubles down on it. I'd like to say it's so obvious that the twist is that she's not. But Dawn/Xander was supposed to be a shock too. The only mystery is if it'll be in #29 or #30. I'm thinking either end of #29 or #30.

* Allie's remarks seem to have given me license to feel grumphy about things I haven't grumped about until now. So forgive me for being late to the party -- but just why are we supposed to be gripped by the drama of Buffy trying to reconcile the slayer and human sides of her, when the writers can't be bothered to tell us how the balance got so out of whack in the first place?

That's it. I'm generally confused.

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

Are we building to the astonishing revelation that women should insist on having it all?

Looks like. Except for the ones who are going to die for not wanting to have it all, perhaps. Right now my money is on Dawn and the Osbournes (god, that sounds wrong); not only would that be a huge emotional thing for those who are as invested in the comic characters as they were in the TV ones, but it would also underline that idea - Dawn, who apparently only wants to be with Xander rather than fight, and the Osbournes, who break up Black Sabbath again just want to live a quiet life. Isn't Dawn on the cover for #30, though?

Allie's remarks seem to have given me license to feel grumphy about things I haven't grumped about until now. So forgive me for being late to the party

Gabba gabba, we accept you, one of us, one of us! :-D

just why are we supposed to be gripped by the drama of Buffy trying to reconcile the slayer and human sides of her, when the writers can't be bothered to tell us how the balance got so out of whack in the first place?

Good question. I think the key here is to - oh look, yaks! Yaks funny.

...Seriously, I agree. But I guess you knew that. :-)

[elisi]

I tried to read this, and I think I got the gist. Maybe. It's possible I nodded off.

Sadly, the comics make dislike the whole *concept* of Slayers. They're just being so stupid that I want Twilight to get rid of magic 4eva, because if their powers are the only thing that's making them special, then what's the point?

(Does that make sense?)

[flake-sake.livejournal.com]

* Joss talks about his kids a lot. But it all looks so retro here. Are we building to the astonishing revelation that women should insist on having it all?

I was wondering about that too. Oz's speech had a bit of a happy hausfrau talks to frustrated businesswoman feeling to it.

Also how does it fit into the slayerpower metaphore that you can voluntarily disempower yourself with housework?

[flake-sake.livejournal.com]

Great review :)

I agree on Faith being very off. Her text fits somewhat with her appearences on the show, but not really with the comics about her. But then, who can fault Jane for disregarding them as canon?

BSG finale plan dumb is the perfect expression for the sitting duck plan, but at least I get the vibe that this is the conclusion the arc is going to come to too, but like you said that would be cooler if we would not have this "how dumb is that?" feeling since the plan came up first.

The whole Amy cat thing confuses me. First becaus it's guesswork on a character's side and second because if Amy found them, she found them because of an agent inside and if there's a spy inside already who needs Amy?

[shapinglight]

Great review. I need to write my own, which is a lot less forgiving than yours - that is, if I ever get a 'net connection at home again. :(

Agree with you that Giles is looking mighty suspicious at the moment. Am pretty grouchy about that, in fact.

And this: - Buffy suddenly decides to make a move on Xander after 12 years, underlining the need to get out into the world and meet other people. Well, you snooze, you lose.

God, yes! In fact, the essential dullness of B/X is pretty much at the core of my review. When I get around to writing it.

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

They're just being so stupid that I want Twilight to get rid of magic 4eva, because if their powers are the only thing that's making them special, then what's the point?

I have a feeling the end result here is going to be that it's not just their powers that make them special. You know, the same thing "Helpless" covered in 42 minutes. :-)

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

I agree on Faith being very off.

To me she seems (OK, in the very few lines she gets) to be some sort of neither/nor; I have trouble seeing TV!Faith, with the whole redemption gig, deciding that she'd be better off without powers now... on the other hand, so much of it seems to either ignore or contradict her earlier arc in the comics. But hey, that moment between them at the end of their scene is easily as much setup as Buffy/Satsu had, so I'm hopeful... ;-)

The whole Amy cat thing confuses me.

It's hard to see how it would work, yeah. I have to guess she found them on their own, and then for some reason transformed into a cat rather than watch them from afar (as she supposedly did when she supposedly saved Warren, for instance), but... was it really such a good idea to teleport away in front of everyone? Wouldn't it have made more sense to have them continue to think they're doing well (however the hell they could possibly think that)?

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Hope you get a chance to write yours, I'd love to see what you make of it.

Agree with you that Giles is looking mighty suspicious at the moment.

Right now he's pretty much the only one who is. On the other hand, it seems so obvious that it might just be a mislead... plus he's the only one who looks even vaguely concerned in the panel where they realise that Pussy!Amy was spying on them. Willow, on the other hand, looks positively giddy. Jeanty rides again.

[flake-sake.livejournal.com]

But hey, that moment between them at the end of their scene is easily as much setup as Buffy/Satsu had, so I'm hopeful... ;-)

I'm afraid Faith getting with Buffy (or Giles) would fanservice me. And the season is determined not to do that :(.

was it really such a good idea to teleport away in front of everyone? Wouldn't it have made more sense to have them continue to think they're doing well (however the hell they could possibly think that)?

I'm not absolutely sure. I thought Andrew wasn't through. He's pompous, but to call them all in should he not make more of an announcement then "it's not willow?" It could be that the cat made her exit so obviously so that no one would search for the real traitor anymore. Maybe whoever is it just made a completely normal cat dissapear. That would be kind of cool.
So it's probably not the case...

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

Maybe whoever is it just made a completely normal cat dissapear. That would be kind of cool.

That would be an interesting turn, yeah. Then again, from the Q&A...

bamph: So was Amy the cat for sure and does that make her the mole?
Scott Allie: The rat molecat, yup.

Again, it's Season 8 and what you see is what you get.

[flake-sake.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, forgot about that. I constantly keep seeing possible cool where non is.

[shapinglight]

Jeanty rides again.

:snort:

You know, if this were the show, I'd say the fact that Giles is acting all suspicious is a sure sign that he's above suspicion. In this comic, though, things are usually exactly what they seem. I think it's highly likely Giles is Twilight, or at least working for Twilight.

If I'm wrong, Twilight just has to be Xander, because now Allie's pretty much confirmed that the web comic is all the Spike and Angel we're going to get (not that I ever thought either of them was Twilight), there's just no one else whose unmasking as Twilight would have any emotional impact on Buffy at all.

And though it makes zero sense that Xander would be Twilight, if it turns out that he is, it'd be fun to watch KoC's head explode.

[elisi]

I think it's highly likely Giles is Twilight, or at least working for Twilight.
But that would make NO SENSE given the Faith arc (the first one). Or would it? What's-her-face Rich Girl's 'watcher' was in league with Twilight, right? So why send Faith to kill her?

And though it makes zero sense that Xander would be Twilight, if it turns out that he is, it'd be fun to watch KoC's head explode.
Evil!Xander would be neat indeed.

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

And though it makes zero sense that Xander would be Twilight, if it turns out that he is, it'd be fun to watch KoC's head explode.

You don't think he'd just argue that Xander is finally getting a decent arc and that Xander is clearly justified in doing what he's doing, then? ;-)

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

But that would make NO SENSE given the Faith arc (the first one). Or would it? What's-her-face Rich Girl's 'watcher' was in league with Twilight, right? So why send Faith to kill her?

Didn't Twilight say in #9 that his purpose in NFFY was just to estrange Buffy from Faith and Giles? Gigi and Evil Irish Warlock Dude were pawns. God save the queen and all that.

[elisi]

Didn't Twilight say in #9 that his purpose in NFFY was just to estrange Buffy from Faith and Giles?
That is entirely possible. If Giles *is* Twilight, he isn't just cold, he's sub-zero.

[elisi]

Also how does it fit into the slayerpower metaphore that you can voluntarily disempower yourself with housework?
I... don't even know where to start. Every time I look at this my head starts hurting.

[flake-sake.livejournal.com]

I probaly should let go of trying to make any feminist interpretations of S8,every time I try it gives me a headache.