Thursday, September 1, 2011

Buffy Season 8 Vols 6 & 7 ~ Joss Whedon, et al

Buffy Season 8 Volume 6: Retreat
Jane Espenson, Joss Whedon, Georges Jeanty, Andy Owens, Jo Chen
Dark Horse Comics
March 16, 2010
144 pages

A note on the series as a whole so far: As a girl, I really wish all the Buffy women didn’t suddenly get tiny waists and big busts when they moved to comic form – that and maybe they could find a bra every once in a while? And why does Buffy have wrestler (male WWE type) thighs and arms but look like she got implants? I can understand that this is a comic, but it’s also Buffy, it’s based off a character that for seven years was portrayed by an actress, can’t we draw her? [End rant. Sorry-ish.]

With the Slayers under attack, they have to get away. They barely make their escape to . . . Nepal. Yep, Nepal. And Oz is there. Oz and his wife and baby.

Oz’s wife will teach the Slayers how to hide their powers so that Twilight can’t find and kill them. Buffy and the other Slayers discover what it’s like to be normal girls again. For good and bad. And Willow finds out

if she can give up her magic.

But, magic-less, will they actually be safe from Twilight and his army or will he still find them?


It’s still really hard to tell the characters apart sometimes – and who new ones are. I didn’t know Oz was Oz for a long time. The Twilight plot (and name) is interesting and they’re definitely doing a lot that can be done in print form but not on a television show but it’s missing that oomph.

After all, it does end with the main character (Buffy) in the air saying, “What the hell?”


7/10




Buffy Season 8 Volume 7: Twilight
Brad Meltzer, Joss Whedon, Georges Jeanty, Karl Moline, Andy Owens, Michelle Madsen
Dark Horse Comics
October 19, 2010
160 pages
Goodreads/Amazon


Twilight: Buffy Season 8 Volume 7 was one that I half really, really
enjoyed and one that I half didn’t much like.

What’s pretty fun in this is that Buffy has some super powers – more than her usual Slayer powers. Her exploration of those powers, along with some help from Xander, leads to a lot of fun both for them and the reader. It’s possibly far-fetched (but isn’t Buffy really?) but it’s done well and enjoyable. Plus, the interaction between Buffy and Xander is great and harks back to the old school Buffy days.

The Big Bad is also revealed in this volume, though, not with much explanation. And it does need some explanation.

There’s also a lot of sex. A lot. With Buffy’s super hero-y powers involved. Something else that doesn’t necessarily fit where the seven seasons of television Buffy got us, either, in this reader’s opinion. Maybe I just am not used to the comic medium, but the way things developed and established in the seven seasons of the series seem to not be completely relevant in this eighth season sometimes throw me.

I’m still going to read Volume 8 because of the character that makes an appearance at the end of Volume 7 – I really want to see where that goes. I also want to see if all of these plot points can be pulled together and everything can be resolved to my liking.


6/10

No comments:

Post a Comment

Book Trailer Friday [@RandomHouse @TransworldBooks]

Beth Dorey-Stein's From the Corner of the Oval  - a tale of being the White House stenographer during the Obama administration will be ...