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beer_good_foamyIn the words of Jeph Jaques: comic comic comic comic. Spoilers, obviously.
"Season 8" #14
Good issue, but... I'm starting to see a pattern here. Issue #3 of any given arc is setup for the last one, containing a couple of scenes dealing with the results of the first two, all pretty solidly plotted, with some nice character moments, before ending on a shocking cliffhanger to set up the last issue (Warren being back, Faith almost getting her head chopped off, Renee being killed).
Well, OK, we don't know for sure that Renee is dead. For all we know she will just be legally dead for 1/40th of a second. Still, the standard Whedonverse "let's kill something" setup is so obvious that anyone should have seen it coming when she and Xander made with the cuteness, and if she is indeed permanently dead it'll be interesting to see the reactions – both Xander's, Buffy's, and the other Slayers'. As someone on Whedonesque remarked, it's "Dirty Girls" all over again – Buffy takes charge, waltzes straight into the bad guys' trap, and a girl dies. (Note that Renee got to "play" the victim first.) And while Renee is probably off the list of possible traitors, I'd say Xander might be moving up if he takes this badly. Note that Xander gets splattered with her blood, much like Willow with Tara's and Wesley with Fred's (Joss is nothing if not consistent), and then consider Willow's and Wesley's reactions. Of course, in their cases we were talking about relationships that had gone on for years and were pretty much portrayed as a One True Love, as opposed to the brief flirtation that Renee and Xander had, but still. On the other hand, with Renee (probably) dead, the likelihood of us getting Xander's side of the Xacula story drops significantly since she'd been established as his confidante and he might not be on the best of terms with Buffy after this... leaving us, again, with nothing but Andrew's explanation for the crackiest character retcon ever. But yeah, Xander's reaction – hopefully as in him actually acting – will be interesting to see. (I wish I could say that Renee's senseless (probable) death just as she almost had everything she wantedTM moved me, but... nah. Aiko's was still much worse.)
Speaking of Dracula, he's fun, and they really needed someone to bring the snark at this point; but if he really has no clue on how to fight vampires with the same powers as he except for the fairly obvious "use a binding spell"... why is he in this, exactly? I mean, I get the metaphorical reason he's in it, but if he isn't actually any help to the Slayers, why do they want him around...? Also, I'm a bit disappointed the next frame after Dracula's "is anyone going to finish eating that" isn't him being tossed out of a window. Oh well, maybe in the next issue he and Xander will go off and brood together. If you know what I mean. Nudge nudge. And at least there was no more characterization in the form of racial slurs.
And the Dawnzilla covers of her trampling normal crowds were completely misleading. I guess that's something; if the joke hadn't been telegraphed about 12 months in advance, it might even have been funny. Seems her strength is now proportional to her size, at least. And we can be reasonably sure those two panels aren't the purpose (and end) of the Giant!Dawn arc either, so... yawn. That's the second time that the only use they've found for her is to have her step on stuff. I miss Dawn.
Which brings us to La Buffy herself. Who's having an interesting story, in the sense of the old Chinese curse "may you live in interesting times." Her first few panels... hell, just about her entire issue here is really good, from the opening silent lit de parade to the fight with Satsu to the big cock-up at the end. Which isn't to say that Buffy herself is doing well; she is definitely in at the deep end in more ways than one. Her Slayers are dying, her sister is a monster, and her girlfriend is standing up to her – and I can't really disagree with Satsu; this smacks of exactly the sort of thing people have been speculating on, and Satsu herself hints at: Buffy's being overprotective either of Satsu or herself. "I want you to lead, so follow my orders," Buffy? Though it's interesting that she's assigning burial detail – the job she took on herself in s7 – to Satsu. I do think this really is Buffy trying to delegate; but she's still operating as if she's The Slayer and everyone else needs to follow her lead, and of course that's not the case anymore.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
aycheb made some very interesting comments about the last issue:
If Dracula’s power is all smoke and mirrors how much is Buffy’s? She gets the same star treatment Dracula once did but new girl Aiko dispatches a whole troop of kabuki demons (loved the little platform feet and sumo stomachs) without so much as a scratch (...) Things are changing. In earlier issues scenes of new Slayers being mentored were shot from the point of view of Buffy or Giles or Andrew. This time we’re looking up at Andrew from the point of view of the young Slayers, hearing their conversations drowning out his teachings.
It would seem that Buffy is only starting to realise what she's released here – and that she's running a serious risk of being made redundant. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Satsu really does start leading in the next issue... good for her if she does, she seems competent enough. Where does that leave Buffy? "She's the general, we're the army, and that's never going to change." But as people have been quick to point out, Buffy's authority is not formal in any way; it's based completely on the other Slayers' awe and respect. If she loses that, she loses all of it... again, as we saw in s7. What's really to stop the new Slayers from simply dumping Buffy by the wayside – or, for that matter, tying her to the bow of the S/S Slayer, a pretty but powerless figurehead? And considering Buffy's decisions lately, would it necessarily be a bad thing for them if they did...?
That said, how cool was the fire box thing? OK, so "torture works" is not one of my favourite storytelling cliches, and again it harkens back to the scene with the captured bringer in s7 pretty much scene-by-scene, but... fire. Huh huh huh. Fire. At least there's no doubt that Buffy means business. Unfortunately for Renee (probably) that doesn't necessarily mean getting the right results. Good issue, but... with a setup like this, a lot depends on the dismount, and the first two four-parters had rather disappointing finales; let's see what happens next month.
Other things of note:
- No mention of the absurdity of a body being hung on a wall in downtown Tokyo without the police showing up. No biggie, but it would have been an excellent opportunity for amping up the humanity vs Slayers theme in a medium that allowed for more side plots.
- Why do vampfaced vampires get a special font, anyway? They didn't get weird voices on the TV show? (I know, I know, different series.)
- "I can't believe I find it sexy when she calls me 'Ma'am'." Really? I can believe Buffy finds it sexy to be seen as having authority. ;-)
- Just before reading this, I watched episode 8 of "Wonderfalls", in which Jaye gives Eric a pre-date kiss so he won't be nervous about the date itself.
JAYE: So you know how when you have like a first date there’s all that tension because you’ve never kissed before? So now we can just go out and it can be tension-free.
Maybe Renee is/was a Wonderfalls fan?
- And Dracula is so jealous.
- Why the hell is ANDREW in the battle? What's he supposed to do, exactly? Couldn't he get burial detail instead of Satsu? ...On second thought, scratch that; he'd probably end up re-enacting the end of Return of the Jedi.
- Willow's spell to summon Dawn, as far as I can figure out: "My goddess, hear my words: show the monster to us all." Or something like that. This dictionary has "prodigium" mean "prodigy, portent / monster, unnatural thing." Latin scholars, hello?
- Dawn is wearing a Herbie t-shirt. Are we to take it she's got the Love Bug?
- Scott Allie confirms that we can forget about a Faith spinoff comic, and that there are no plans for any more arcs centered around characters who are not Buffy. On the plus side, maybe that means that Faith and Giles will be back at some point.
Brief thoughts on "First Night" #2
I actually thought this issue was better than the last one; focussing more on character motivation than on repeating facts we already knew.
Wesley's bit is just too cruel – I like that Nick Runge, unlike Urru, can actually manage a good Wesley likeness (see? There's more to him than glasses). The pages of Wes/Fred interaction are sad, and would be more so if we didn't already know it didn't come to pass... I like the whole Eve-and-the-snake thing, though it might have been better if we'd seen Wesley actually make an active choice – I'm far from convinced that they would have taken no for an answer. Pity we didn't get a Lilah mention, too. But seeing right through the lie is vintage Wesley ("The first lesson a watcher learns is to separate truth from illusion. Because in the world of magics, it's the hardest thing to do. The truth is that Fred is gone. To pretend anything else would be a lie.") It's also by far the most interesting story of the last two issues. So Wesley is the reason W&H will win – because they count on him doing what's right? Hmmm. Wanna bet it has something to do with Illyria? After all, they promise that he'll be reunited with Fred...
Seeing Kate was a nice surprise, even if the artist seemed determined to make her a new kind of ugly in every panel, and it was sort of cute the way they both kept talking about Angel without realising whom the other was talking about. I'm a bit worried about the fact that we haven't seen her in the "now" of "After the Fall", but... *shrugs* Bringing her in is a good (if slightly overdone) way of recalling Angel's epiphany from... uh, "Epiphany," and set Connor on his path – following his father's advice without having to debate which one he is.
And yes, there are Slayers in Hell-A. Whodathunkit, eh?
"Season 8" #14
Good issue, but... I'm starting to see a pattern here. Issue #3 of any given arc is setup for the last one, containing a couple of scenes dealing with the results of the first two, all pretty solidly plotted, with some nice character moments, before ending on a shocking cliffhanger to set up the last issue (Warren being back, Faith almost getting her head chopped off, Renee being killed).
Well, OK, we don't know for sure that Renee is dead. For all we know she will just be legally dead for 1/40th of a second. Still, the standard Whedonverse "let's kill something" setup is so obvious that anyone should have seen it coming when she and Xander made with the cuteness, and if she is indeed permanently dead it'll be interesting to see the reactions – both Xander's, Buffy's, and the other Slayers'. As someone on Whedonesque remarked, it's "Dirty Girls" all over again – Buffy takes charge, waltzes straight into the bad guys' trap, and a girl dies. (Note that Renee got to "play" the victim first.) And while Renee is probably off the list of possible traitors, I'd say Xander might be moving up if he takes this badly. Note that Xander gets splattered with her blood, much like Willow with Tara's and Wesley with Fred's (Joss is nothing if not consistent), and then consider Willow's and Wesley's reactions. Of course, in their cases we were talking about relationships that had gone on for years and were pretty much portrayed as a One True Love, as opposed to the brief flirtation that Renee and Xander had, but still. On the other hand, with Renee (probably) dead, the likelihood of us getting Xander's side of the Xacula story drops significantly since she'd been established as his confidante and he might not be on the best of terms with Buffy after this... leaving us, again, with nothing but Andrew's explanation for the crackiest character retcon ever. But yeah, Xander's reaction – hopefully as in him actually acting – will be interesting to see. (I wish I could say that Renee's senseless (probable) death just as she almost had everything she wantedTM moved me, but... nah. Aiko's was still much worse.)
Speaking of Dracula, he's fun, and they really needed someone to bring the snark at this point; but if he really has no clue on how to fight vampires with the same powers as he except for the fairly obvious "use a binding spell"... why is he in this, exactly? I mean, I get the metaphorical reason he's in it, but if he isn't actually any help to the Slayers, why do they want him around...? Also, I'm a bit disappointed the next frame after Dracula's "is anyone going to finish eating that" isn't him being tossed out of a window. Oh well, maybe in the next issue he and Xander will go off and brood together. If you know what I mean. Nudge nudge. And at least there was no more characterization in the form of racial slurs.
And the Dawnzilla covers of her trampling normal crowds were completely misleading. I guess that's something; if the joke hadn't been telegraphed about 12 months in advance, it might even have been funny. Seems her strength is now proportional to her size, at least. And we can be reasonably sure those two panels aren't the purpose (and end) of the Giant!Dawn arc either, so... yawn. That's the second time that the only use they've found for her is to have her step on stuff. I miss Dawn.
Which brings us to La Buffy herself. Who's having an interesting story, in the sense of the old Chinese curse "may you live in interesting times." Her first few panels... hell, just about her entire issue here is really good, from the opening silent lit de parade to the fight with Satsu to the big cock-up at the end. Which isn't to say that Buffy herself is doing well; she is definitely in at the deep end in more ways than one. Her Slayers are dying, her sister is a monster, and her girlfriend is standing up to her – and I can't really disagree with Satsu; this smacks of exactly the sort of thing people have been speculating on, and Satsu herself hints at: Buffy's being overprotective either of Satsu or herself. "I want you to lead, so follow my orders," Buffy? Though it's interesting that she's assigning burial detail – the job she took on herself in s7 – to Satsu. I do think this really is Buffy trying to delegate; but she's still operating as if she's The Slayer and everyone else needs to follow her lead, and of course that's not the case anymore.
aycheb made some very interesting comments about the last issue:If Dracula’s power is all smoke and mirrors how much is Buffy’s? She gets the same star treatment Dracula once did but new girl Aiko dispatches a whole troop of kabuki demons (loved the little platform feet and sumo stomachs) without so much as a scratch (...) Things are changing. In earlier issues scenes of new Slayers being mentored were shot from the point of view of Buffy or Giles or Andrew. This time we’re looking up at Andrew from the point of view of the young Slayers, hearing their conversations drowning out his teachings.
It would seem that Buffy is only starting to realise what she's released here – and that she's running a serious risk of being made redundant. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Satsu really does start leading in the next issue... good for her if she does, she seems competent enough. Where does that leave Buffy? "She's the general, we're the army, and that's never going to change." But as people have been quick to point out, Buffy's authority is not formal in any way; it's based completely on the other Slayers' awe and respect. If she loses that, she loses all of it... again, as we saw in s7. What's really to stop the new Slayers from simply dumping Buffy by the wayside – or, for that matter, tying her to the bow of the S/S Slayer, a pretty but powerless figurehead? And considering Buffy's decisions lately, would it necessarily be a bad thing for them if they did...?
That said, how cool was the fire box thing? OK, so "torture works" is not one of my favourite storytelling cliches, and again it harkens back to the scene with the captured bringer in s7 pretty much scene-by-scene, but... fire. Huh huh huh. Fire. At least there's no doubt that Buffy means business. Unfortunately for Renee (probably) that doesn't necessarily mean getting the right results. Good issue, but... with a setup like this, a lot depends on the dismount, and the first two four-parters had rather disappointing finales; let's see what happens next month.
Other things of note:
- No mention of the absurdity of a body being hung on a wall in downtown Tokyo without the police showing up. No biggie, but it would have been an excellent opportunity for amping up the humanity vs Slayers theme in a medium that allowed for more side plots.
- Why do vampfaced vampires get a special font, anyway? They didn't get weird voices on the TV show? (I know, I know, different series.)
- "I can't believe I find it sexy when she calls me 'Ma'am'." Really? I can believe Buffy finds it sexy to be seen as having authority. ;-)
- Just before reading this, I watched episode 8 of "Wonderfalls", in which Jaye gives Eric a pre-date kiss so he won't be nervous about the date itself.
JAYE: So you know how when you have like a first date there’s all that tension because you’ve never kissed before? So now we can just go out and it can be tension-free.
Maybe Renee is/was a Wonderfalls fan?
- And Dracula is so jealous.
- Why the hell is ANDREW in the battle? What's he supposed to do, exactly? Couldn't he get burial detail instead of Satsu? ...On second thought, scratch that; he'd probably end up re-enacting the end of Return of the Jedi.
- Willow's spell to summon Dawn, as far as I can figure out: "My goddess, hear my words: show the monster to us all." Or something like that. This dictionary has "prodigium" mean "prodigy, portent / monster, unnatural thing." Latin scholars, hello?
- Dawn is wearing a Herbie t-shirt. Are we to take it she's got the Love Bug?
- Scott Allie confirms that we can forget about a Faith spinoff comic, and that there are no plans for any more arcs centered around characters who are not Buffy. On the plus side, maybe that means that Faith and Giles will be back at some point.
Brief thoughts on "First Night" #2
I actually thought this issue was better than the last one; focussing more on character motivation than on repeating facts we already knew.
Wesley's bit is just too cruel – I like that Nick Runge, unlike Urru, can actually manage a good Wesley likeness (see? There's more to him than glasses). The pages of Wes/Fred interaction are sad, and would be more so if we didn't already know it didn't come to pass... I like the whole Eve-and-the-snake thing, though it might have been better if we'd seen Wesley actually make an active choice – I'm far from convinced that they would have taken no for an answer. Pity we didn't get a Lilah mention, too. But seeing right through the lie is vintage Wesley ("The first lesson a watcher learns is to separate truth from illusion. Because in the world of magics, it's the hardest thing to do. The truth is that Fred is gone. To pretend anything else would be a lie.") It's also by far the most interesting story of the last two issues. So Wesley is the reason W&H will win – because they count on him doing what's right? Hmmm. Wanna bet it has something to do with Illyria? After all, they promise that he'll be reunited with Fred...
Seeing Kate was a nice surprise, even if the artist seemed determined to make her a new kind of ugly in every panel, and it was sort of cute the way they both kept talking about Angel without realising whom the other was talking about. I'm a bit worried about the fact that we haven't seen her in the "now" of "After the Fall", but... *shrugs* Bringing her in is a good (if slightly overdone) way of recalling Angel's epiphany from... uh, "Epiphany," and set Connor on his path – following his father's advice without having to debate which one he is.
And yes, there are Slayers in Hell-A. Whodathunkit, eh?
