Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #10 - From: Dark Horse Comics - Written By: Joss Whedon - Art By: Cliff Richards, Andy Owens

After penning the first five issues of the new Buffy series, series creator Joss Whendon returns for two more issues beginning with issue number ten. Also back for this issue is longtime Buffy artist Cliff Richards. Together, the pair deliver a unique and off-beat story, self-contained and one that you could pickup and read without necessarily having read the previous issues. Buffy and Willow are soaring through the skies…well, Willow is soaring while Buffy is hanging on for her dear life. They arrive at a small countryside cottage, the lair of the demon Sephrilian. The cottage is guarded by what Willow refers to as a “Minder” who watches over the cottage.

The cottage is an unstable reality; a time-space dimensional anomaly, which is MUCH larger inside and it, appears from the outside. They’ve some seeking the aid of the demon in their coming war. This demon is able to show Buffy and Willow a possible future reality and all is definitely NOT good. Buffy and Willow play a little game of fantasy as Buffy dreams up encounters with the new James Bond, Daniel Craig, and later with Christian Bale. Buffy is shown that she is betrayed by someone very close to her while Willow reveals her insecurity over her new relationship with Kennedy and why she’s kept her away from Buffy. The implications are that Willow indirectly blames Buffy for Tara being murdered by Warren and doesn’t want Kennedy to suffer the same fate. While their futures are uncertain, the demon has given them several disheartening events to consider.

While toned somewhat darkly, the story still does manage to hold on to the usual Whedon witty banter between Buffy and Willow as well as between Xander and Dawn as Xander does his best to make Dawn feel normal even though she’s stuck in giant-size. Dawm as a secret of her own that she reveals to Xander about how she came to be in this condition. It was great to see Richards back, even if it does appear to be for only one issue for now. The issues written by Whedon have such a distinctly different feel than those written by anyone else…or it at least seems that way. I wonder if I convince myself of that just because I see his name in the credits but he certainly has a great feel for the characters and all their idiosyncrasies than any other writer. As long as Whedon continues to show up periodically and lend his talents to the series, it should enjoy another long run.