Buffy The Vampire Slayer

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #7 - Dark Horse - Brian K. Vaughan (W)/Georges Jeanty (A)

MATT: “From ‘confused,’ to ‘confused but curious,’ to ‘I finally know what’s going on’! This is our Book of the Week! As far as I’m concerned, Buffy #6 started Season 8. Brian K. Vaughan just gets all the beats in every scene, in every sentence. We finally get a recap of what’s going on between Buffy and Faith, and I loved the literal connection he’s made here: There’s that saying that a real friend won’t stab you in the back, they’ll stab you in the front, and that’s what happens in this opening scene when he harkens back to the actual event when Buffy stabbed Faith on the TV show.”

BEN: “I haven’t been the biggest fan of the Buffy comic to date, but I’ve done a complete 180 now that BKV’s writing this arc.”

MATT: “What I love here is, you get Faith in high society, her training’s paid off, but she still doesn’t know how she’s gonna pull this assassination off. You can take the kid out of the streets, but you can’t take the streets out of the kid, and all that. Aside from BKV’s story, he gives you these little asides that play off the main arc established by Joss Whedon, and you get more characterization with Dawn, who’s been virtually ignored the entire time. All we knew is she slept with some guy and became a giant, and now we get some insight into that. Vaughan gets the motivations down, and he gets inside the characters’ heads. At times, there was a lot of Buffy-speak, more so than last issue, but it still functions well when I read it. I especially love the two lines Willow has while talking to Dawn: ‘I’m as sensitive to profiling as the next gay Wiccan Jewess, but not every stereotype is untrue’ was hysterical. And even better, ‘Boys are into you because of your legs, not those itty-bitty [boobs].’ What?!? Is Willow checking out Buffy’s sister?”

BEN: “Vaughan’s a little better at translating it to the page. It kind of got on my nerves a bit when I was reading Whedon’s arc. It sounded false for some reason, perhaps because he used it too much, like he was trying too hard.”

ANDY: “On the TV show especially, the dialogue worked because they were ear gags, whereas in a comic, you don’t have sound, so the reading gags don’t always work. I don’t think Whedon overused it in his arc, but I see where you’re coming from.”

MATT: “I really like this whole bit with Faith outside talking to Gigi; the little gag with her fake name ‘Hope Lyonne’ was clever, since she’s hoping her lie works. With Faith as the focus of this story, I’m on the edge of my seat because you go into it knowing her ruse won’t last—she’s not a good actor, she can’t hide who she is, and that’s what brings her closer into the cabal of the villains. She has to abandon the disguise when she’s attacked by the gargoyles, but it actually works in her favor.”

ANDY: “Holy crap! And at the end, where she’s gonna have to try and kill Buffy again with that crazy reveal! That’s gotta be our Cliffhanger of the Week!”

ANDY: “That brings it back full circle to both the start of the ish and their relationship from the show! And it also ties together with the conspiracy surrounding the U.S. military guys and that crazy symbol we’ve been seeing. I wonder if they’re connected, or it’s all part of some bigger scheme by a real big bad we haven’t seen yet.”

BEN: “The whole issue works better because Faith is such a good character. Her motives are always in question, even though she’s so capable. She’s fully aware of what a f----up she is, but she can’t help it. I never wanted to see a Faith series, but she’s cool in small doses; too much exposure would ruin her. BKV totally gets her, and to be fair to Joss, it’s gotta be an easier transition because these characters are so near and dear to him. He can write great comics, but he’s so used to writing the Buffy characters that I feel he couldn’t let go of them. But you never know; this could all be setup for something crazier down the road. We’ll have to wait and see.”