Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Much to the delight (and relief) of fans of the Joss Whedon television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the show’s seventh season was not its last. After the show’s cancellation, Whedon decided to continue the Buffyverse in comic form, and March 2007 saw the premiere of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight. Whedon has completed writing the first story arc, titled “The Long Way Home” and will release issue #5 after a July hiatus. A Brian K. Vaughan-penned story arc will begin with issue #6 in September, and the rest of the series will alternately be written by Vaughan, Whedon, and other writers from the Buffy television series, and the entire effort will be “executive-produced” by Whedon himself.

For those of you who missed it, or who are wondering whether “The Long Way Home” is worth the trouble and investment, here’s a recap and review:

Issue #1 starts with Buffy’s narration, and Whedon’s trademark humor - The thing about changing the world…once you do it, the world’s all different. Everybody calls me ma’am these days. From there, we learn that Buffy is now the elder stateswoman amongst a passel of young slayers - 1,800, to be exact. She is stationed in Scotland along with Xander, who is acting as her high-tech watcher. Slayers are now an organized force - and there’s much with the kicking ass and mutilation of demon-types - but at the end of their first mission, they come across a body with a mysterious symbol carved into its chest.

Meanwhile, back in the United States, the armed forces are dealing with the aftermath of Sunnydale’s destruction. Their attitude toward Buffy is reflected through General Voll, who sees her as “charismatic, uncompromising, and completely destructive.” He criticizes the fact that the slayer army’s interests do not “jibe” with American ones, and they are seen as terrorists.

Back at Buffy’s headquarters in Scotland, mysteries abound. Not only is she trying to figure out what the symbol carved into the body means, but she is also trying to get Dawn to explain how her, ahem, big problem came to pass. Uh…she’s a giant now. That’s what one gets for dating a thricewise…

The military in the States discusses what to do with two “subjects” found after “the decimation” of Sunnydale. One of them is being kept alive by magic. The other is a “nut-job” who “wants a lot of cheese.”

Yup. Amy is back!

REVIEW (Issue #1): This issue should make any Buffy fan happy - oh, who am I kidding? The Buffy fans have already read it. This is for the rest of you! For the rest of you, this issue effectively plops you into the slayer world, giving you all the back story a reader needs, while at the same time setting up the new slayer order. However, Whedon the writer never writes big battles and military intrigue at the expense of the human element. The characters have grown as well. Buffy has moved a bit past her darkness, and can see more clearly as a leader. Xander, is an effective leader as well, earning himself the respect of the other slayers, and an adorable crush from a young slayer named Renee. I appreciated the intimate conversations between Buffy and Xander, as well as Buffy and Dawn, whose relationship with her older sister is just as complicated as ever. I was intrigued by the position of the US government, and looked forward to what their view of the slayer army would mean for our beloved heroine. And the big reveal of Amy at the end flat-out made me squee with glee.

And aside from the writing, I have to give special props to the cover artist, Jo Chen, whose cover of Buffy casually wielding her slayer ax is lovely.