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Written by Joss Whedon
Art by Georges Jeanty
Buffy’s back! Awesome! What channel is it on?
Wait a second there. You know how Joss and television are. Pissed off cousins, if you don’t. For “The Scooby Gang” though, seven seasons was enough for television and everyone behind, in front, or beside the camera. The show had run its course it seemed. If there ever was a “Season 8”, it had a destiny in graphic novel form, and now that day has come. Yes, ladies, that means you’ll have to turn into a comic book geek to continue your “Buffy-ness.”
A blazingly alluring cover makes the first issue jump into your hands without any effort at all. It captures the show’s emotion perfectly, as well as Sarah Michelle Gellar and her strong, yet sexy poses. (Sorry, Deadly Friend fans, Kristy Swanson will forever be second to the true Whedon slayer.) However, the cover misleads you to believe that what’s on the outside will be on the inside. As we open it up, we’re led down a hall of Disney mascots at Disneyland. A little too cartoony for a show that was both romantic, scary, and humorously depressing. This is the only weakness of the book, for capturing the look of the television series is sort of half the battle in translating a successful, seven year show onto glossy, paneled paper. And while the animated look worked for Whedon’s masterful future vampire slayer comic book, Fray, it doesn’t settle for Buffy’s already established tone.
Still, it’s Joss, and nobody can write Buffy Summers better than Numfar himself. Other graphic novels have tried to capture Buffy’s attitude onto the glorious comic book page, but really don’t hold a candle to the creator’s baby. Right away in first issue, when Buffy leads a team of slayers into battle with some creepy crawler monsters, we get that quick-witted, snarky slayer that most have grown to love from the television series. Not to mention Xander’s reintroduction to the fold as a newly anointed, one-eyed Watcher, still laying the geek speak on thick, thanks to Whedon’s plentiful bag of sneaky and always contemporary talkbacks. And to fans delight, Buffy’s little sister Dawn returns to be made fun of rather than taken seriously. Poor girl. Only the Jolly Green Giant will date her now. Or the Stay Puft Marshmallowman, but that could get sticky and I don’t want to even imagine that one, thanks.
As for its tagline, “Season 8”, it does kind of pick up where the show left off at the end of Season 7. It jumps around the timeline a little, and those that jumped onto Angel’s TV series after Buffy’s end will find some parts relevant to their viewing pleasure. What holds true to the show in this book is the writing, and as long as Joss is at the controls along with some special guest writers from the TV show, fans will get the Buffy they’ve been dying to see.
GRADE: A-
Horror Yearbook would like to welcome to our twisted family, our new writer, Mike Fish. Mike will be covering everything horror comic related and we’re very happy to have him.
Read all Mike Fish’s Articles in his Archives
