I haven't posted anything on the comics yet, though I'd been meaning to for some time. I'm actually working on a much longer article on the books, but suffice to say, I LOVE this series. If you are a Buffy fan and have not picked up the new Season 8 comics, you are seriously missing out. These aren't like the comics that were being released while the show was still on the air -- featuring stories that could have happened, but didn't, and weren't part of the television show canon. This IS canon. The first issue begins a couple of months after season 7 ended, and the storyline is brilliant. Joss Whedon wrote the first 4 (they were released in March, April, May, and June) and then July was a month off. The first 4 was an arc called "The Long Way Home," and it was about Buffy and her friends coming together again. Buffy is with a gang of new slayers (no longer potentials, since she made them all active in the season 7 finale) and Giles, being the lone Watcher, is trying to train an army of them, and realizing he thought he had it tough with Buffy, but this is MUCH worse. Xander is running Command Central, complete with a sexy eyepatch and special uniform, where he stands before several television sets and coordinates their activities. Dawn's been turned into a giant after she hooked up with a thricewise, and Buffy goes to see her so they can argue like sisters. Willow is off in another land, but she finally comes back in the third issue (and WHAT a return it is!!) and it's awesome to have her back in the fold. But a new (or should I say old) enemy lurks, and Buffy and the gang are up against someone who knows them, and HATES them.
Awesomeness. I have my suspicions about who is hiding under the Buffy mask, but if you haven't read the first 4 yet, I won't say, for that person is revealed in issue 3, I believe. The new series is called "The Chain," and Joss will just be writing the first one. There's another option of who could be hiding under the mask, for one of our FAVE characters will finally be returning in issue 6 (stop reading now if you don't want to know!) and there's a good chance she's the one under that mask. Here's the cover:
Did you just squee? I just squeed, and I'd already seen it. :) How frickin' excited am I for this one??? Written by Brian K. Vaughan, who created the Runaways comic (which Joss is now partly writing) and as of last season joined Lost as one of the writers, the arc turns to our beloved bad girl, Faith. Who will no doubt KICK. SOME. ASS.
If you've never read a comic book in your life, it doesn't matter; you will get sucked back into the Buffyverse with these stories in a way we never thought possible after May 2003. Buffy is back, and she is awesome.
2 comments:
Spoilers for Buffy season 8:
I have to say I'm not all THAT keen on the comics, though I am getting them. I actually prefer what IDW is doing with the Angel comics, where they will be doing a season six series under Joss' supervision, written by Bryan Lynch.
I thought the first arc was pretty lame, with Amy and Warren and all. In a TV show you can develop things in further depth, and in a regular comic you can go at a pace specifically for the comics, over how ever many issues you need, but comic book spin-offs of TV shows just aren't the same. And as much as Joss may say they're canon, the only canon for me is the TV shows. It doesn't really matter if we don't get more of them anyway. He can call whatever he likes canon.
But I've read better fan fic than what Joss has written thusfar. (Except Astonishing X-Men. I love what he does with that book)
I do like George Jeanty's art, and will report that he seemed to be very nice when I met him at a comic convention. You can probably guess my favourite panel from his work ;)
I've never been a Faith fan, but I love Brian K. Vaughn's comics (you must read Y: The Last Man) so I'm really looking forward to his arc.
The new Buffy comics are fantastic. I was so happy when they were announced over a year ago, and I was one of the first on line to get them when the first issue came out. I did enjoy the first arc, and thought it was a good jumping on point for new readers, but I'm quite sure that the series can only get better from here!
I'm excited for the new issues, and I cant wait to see what they have in store.
On another note, I've been spending my summer going through The Chosen One collection. I started at the beginning of the month, and I'm now in the middle of season 6. It's so much fun to go back and rediscover the series! And its way cooler to watch it all the way through!
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