Kerry Birmingham
Dec 24, 2007, 10:25 pm
<a href=" http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dh/1207/BUFFY2-9.jpg" target="_blank"><img src=" http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dh/1207/BUFFY2-9t.jpg" hspace=10 align=left alt="Buffy: Season Eight #9"></a>Reviewer: Kerry Birmingham, birmy@juno.com
“They’re all gonna die, you know. Every last one of your bitches.”
Script: Brian K. Vaughan
Pencils: Georges Jeanty
Inks: Andy Owens
Colors: Dave Stewart
Letters: Richard Starkings & Comicraft’s Jimmy
Executive Producer: Joss Whedon
Published by: Dark Horse Comics (http://www.darkhorse.com)
Whatever alchemy it is that makes comics based on other-media properties work, the first volume of Buffy the Vampire Slayer didn’t have it. Though it lasted a respectable 63 issues, much of the series felt a bit off. It wasn’t for lack of trying: writers like Andi Watson and Fabian Nicieza, both old hands at the sort of teen-angst –and-pop-culture drama Buffy demands, seemed like inspired choices. Artists like Cliff Richards and Paul Lee kept up their end on artistic chores, even if the likenesses never quite got there (ah, poor Oz). But the dialogue sank as often as it soared without the actors’ voices to give it heft, and the fundamentally solid art never lived up to the live-action world it was meant to evoke, no-budget imagination or no. Regular creative turnover and shifts in chronology kept the series chugging along, but whatever—pardon the Slayer-related pun—potential there was went largely unrealized.
As of this new, canonical “Season Eight,” instigated by show creator Joss Whedon, Dark Horse seems to have finally hit a stride with Buffy and her comics. With Whedon’s cachet and endorsement, the fans have finally embraced the comics version of the Chosen One, and the franchise is doing whatever it can to maintain the momentum. Whedon’s penning of the first five issues of this series guaranteed a high profile, but it was with this second arc that this series’ test of both quality and longevity was going to come. It had long been part of the plan to bring in the show’s writers to write the comics, under Whedon’s watchful eye, in a structure similar to how the television show was produced. But just as the best episodes of the show were by Whedon, it serves to reason that these issues not by him would vary in quality.
So far, however, so good. This issue, the fourth and final chapter of “No Future For You,” focuses on Faith, resident bad girl of the Slayer Corps, sent on an undercover mission to infiltrate a renegade slayer in her upper-crust English social circle. Faith identifies with her quarry, a haughty heiress named Gigi, a bristly outcast who wants only to free the Slayers from the oppression of their totalitarian queen, some tiny blonde named “Buffy,” for God’s sake. Faith’s been in Gigi’s position before, but longtime Slayer mentor Giles has sent her in there to do some dirty work, and that includes stopping Gigi’s assassination plot and uncovering the secrets of the mysterious magician pulling her strings.
As an admitted fan of Whedon’s various worlds, there’s a built-in level of interest, expectation, and goodwill for me going into this series (Like the t-shirt says: “Joss Whedon is My Master Now,” though only inasmuch as Stan Lee, George Lucas, Neil Gaiman, and a host of others are as well). This story arc was written by Brian K. Vaughan, who rose from shaky beginnings (read his Swamp Thing if you don’t believe me) to become one of the most prominent writers working in comics (and now TV) today. “No Future For You” continues his quality streak, writing a showcase for popular supporting character Faith while advancing the “Twilight” subplot that’s been percolating since Whedon’s opening story arc. “No Future For You” bears all the hallmarks of a television episode while making the necessary adjustments to the medium (for all that this is touted as “Season Eight,” to mistake, structurally and aesthetically, a comic book for a TV show is a grave error and a disservice to both media besides). Vaughan’s story moves, liberally sprinkling in action, humor, and a healthy dose of lesbian subtext; all in all, the usual makings of a good Buffy story. Gigi and Faith’s throwdown is suitably frenetic and climactic, and Giles gets a moment of violence that’s his most hardcore since Season Five’s brutal dispatch of Ben/Glori. Girl-on-girl (with axe) action and exploding magicians—what’s not to like? Put all this together with a closing sequence that could set up a Faith-Giles buddy-comedy spinoff and all in all this is a satisfying conclusion to a strong sophomore storyline.
Artist Georges Jeanty has caught a lot of heat for his work on this series, but to my mind there’s little to complain about. Just to keep it relative to other current TV comics, Jeanty’s work here is miles beyond what’s being done in Dynamite’s Battlestar Galactica (where they have to stay away from actors’ likenesses) or even IDW’s imitative Angel continuation. Jeanty nails most of the likenesses (with some exceptions; Andrew appears to be to Jeanty what Oz was to Cliff Richards) and handles the action and emotion well. Of the rest of his art, a few awkward poses and gawky anatomy (check out the size of Faith’s head relative to her body on page 2 of this issue) can be forgiven. As usual, Jo Chen provides a gorgeous cover and is, really, what makes this series stand out on the shelf. Some credit should go to editor Scott Allie, who corralled the talent this time and during the previous volume; looks like things are finally clicking. Allie also runs the comic’s passionate-obsessive letter column (Allie also oversaw Conan, whose letter columns were among the most entertaining and honest in recent memory), a detail and a thankless task worth mentioning.
All this praise (and slight criticism of the art ) is all under the proviso that I’m a pre-existing fan of the material; “Your mileage may vary” applies here even more than it usually does. If you’re a fan of the defunct TV series and want something that captures the spirit, if not the letter, of Buffy, the current series provides an adequate fix. Vaughan captures the patter and the powers of the characters every bit as much as the show’s writers, making “No Future For You” another solid early “episode” of Buffy’s eighth season. This is a series that will be tried story by story, writer by writer, and nine issues in it’s already better than the previous volume as a whole. If there’s a formula for a creatively successful TV-to-comic adaptation, no one’s yet discovered it, but Dark Horse seems to be having some luck by mixing the ingredients and seeing what bubbles up (there’s a little witch metaphor for you Willow fans to close out this review).
RATING:
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FIND this comic at X-WORLD and SAVE! ( http://x-worldcomics.com/)
“They’re all gonna die, you know. Every last one of your bitches.”
Script: Brian K. Vaughan
Pencils: Georges Jeanty
Inks: Andy Owens
Colors: Dave Stewart
Letters: Richard Starkings & Comicraft’s Jimmy
Executive Producer: Joss Whedon
Published by: Dark Horse Comics (http://www.darkhorse.com)
Whatever alchemy it is that makes comics based on other-media properties work, the first volume of Buffy the Vampire Slayer didn’t have it. Though it lasted a respectable 63 issues, much of the series felt a bit off. It wasn’t for lack of trying: writers like Andi Watson and Fabian Nicieza, both old hands at the sort of teen-angst –and-pop-culture drama Buffy demands, seemed like inspired choices. Artists like Cliff Richards and Paul Lee kept up their end on artistic chores, even if the likenesses never quite got there (ah, poor Oz). But the dialogue sank as often as it soared without the actors’ voices to give it heft, and the fundamentally solid art never lived up to the live-action world it was meant to evoke, no-budget imagination or no. Regular creative turnover and shifts in chronology kept the series chugging along, but whatever—pardon the Slayer-related pun—potential there was went largely unrealized.
As of this new, canonical “Season Eight,” instigated by show creator Joss Whedon, Dark Horse seems to have finally hit a stride with Buffy and her comics. With Whedon’s cachet and endorsement, the fans have finally embraced the comics version of the Chosen One, and the franchise is doing whatever it can to maintain the momentum. Whedon’s penning of the first five issues of this series guaranteed a high profile, but it was with this second arc that this series’ test of both quality and longevity was going to come. It had long been part of the plan to bring in the show’s writers to write the comics, under Whedon’s watchful eye, in a structure similar to how the television show was produced. But just as the best episodes of the show were by Whedon, it serves to reason that these issues not by him would vary in quality.
So far, however, so good. This issue, the fourth and final chapter of “No Future For You,” focuses on Faith, resident bad girl of the Slayer Corps, sent on an undercover mission to infiltrate a renegade slayer in her upper-crust English social circle. Faith identifies with her quarry, a haughty heiress named Gigi, a bristly outcast who wants only to free the Slayers from the oppression of their totalitarian queen, some tiny blonde named “Buffy,” for God’s sake. Faith’s been in Gigi’s position before, but longtime Slayer mentor Giles has sent her in there to do some dirty work, and that includes stopping Gigi’s assassination plot and uncovering the secrets of the mysterious magician pulling her strings.
As an admitted fan of Whedon’s various worlds, there’s a built-in level of interest, expectation, and goodwill for me going into this series (Like the t-shirt says: “Joss Whedon is My Master Now,” though only inasmuch as Stan Lee, George Lucas, Neil Gaiman, and a host of others are as well). This story arc was written by Brian K. Vaughan, who rose from shaky beginnings (read his Swamp Thing if you don’t believe me) to become one of the most prominent writers working in comics (and now TV) today. “No Future For You” continues his quality streak, writing a showcase for popular supporting character Faith while advancing the “Twilight” subplot that’s been percolating since Whedon’s opening story arc. “No Future For You” bears all the hallmarks of a television episode while making the necessary adjustments to the medium (for all that this is touted as “Season Eight,” to mistake, structurally and aesthetically, a comic book for a TV show is a grave error and a disservice to both media besides). Vaughan’s story moves, liberally sprinkling in action, humor, and a healthy dose of lesbian subtext; all in all, the usual makings of a good Buffy story. Gigi and Faith’s throwdown is suitably frenetic and climactic, and Giles gets a moment of violence that’s his most hardcore since Season Five’s brutal dispatch of Ben/Glori. Girl-on-girl (with axe) action and exploding magicians—what’s not to like? Put all this together with a closing sequence that could set up a Faith-Giles buddy-comedy spinoff and all in all this is a satisfying conclusion to a strong sophomore storyline.
Artist Georges Jeanty has caught a lot of heat for his work on this series, but to my mind there’s little to complain about. Just to keep it relative to other current TV comics, Jeanty’s work here is miles beyond what’s being done in Dynamite’s Battlestar Galactica (where they have to stay away from actors’ likenesses) or even IDW’s imitative Angel continuation. Jeanty nails most of the likenesses (with some exceptions; Andrew appears to be to Jeanty what Oz was to Cliff Richards) and handles the action and emotion well. Of the rest of his art, a few awkward poses and gawky anatomy (check out the size of Faith’s head relative to her body on page 2 of this issue) can be forgiven. As usual, Jo Chen provides a gorgeous cover and is, really, what makes this series stand out on the shelf. Some credit should go to editor Scott Allie, who corralled the talent this time and during the previous volume; looks like things are finally clicking. Allie also runs the comic’s passionate-obsessive letter column (Allie also oversaw Conan, whose letter columns were among the most entertaining and honest in recent memory), a detail and a thankless task worth mentioning.
All this praise (and slight criticism of the art ) is all under the proviso that I’m a pre-existing fan of the material; “Your mileage may vary” applies here even more than it usually does. If you’re a fan of the defunct TV series and want something that captures the spirit, if not the letter, of Buffy, the current series provides an adequate fix. Vaughan captures the patter and the powers of the characters every bit as much as the show’s writers, making “No Future For You” another solid early “episode” of Buffy’s eighth season. This is a series that will be tried story by story, writer by writer, and nine issues in it’s already better than the previous volume as a whole. If there’s a formula for a creatively successful TV-to-comic adaptation, no one’s yet discovered it, but Dark Horse seems to be having some luck by mixing the ingredients and seeing what bubbles up (there’s a little witch metaphor for you Willow fans to close out this review).
RATING:
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FIND this comic at X-WORLD and SAVE! ( http://x-worldcomics.com/)