Tag Archives: Buffy The Vampire Slayer

June 7, 2012 · 5:38 am

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER SEASON 9 #10 Review

The third and final chapter to “Apart (of me)” is a wonderful exploration of identity and free will. Buffy’s mind, trapped in a bot, regrets over never going to get the “perfect” life. But, her arch nemeiss, Simone, has all the confidence in the world in Buffy. If only she could tap into the very essence of Buffy, well then, Simone is quite sure all her vampire slaying dreams will come true. It’s all in how you look at things: for some, that glass is half empty and they can barely roll out of bed; for others, that same glass is half full and they’re well on their way to world domination.

Andrew Chambliss and Scott Allie have written a story that shows us just how complicated self-doubt can be. There’s Buffy mind, trapped in a bot. And there’s Buffy’s body, programmed to think it’s Buffy. All thanks to the most unreliable of Watchers, Andrew. Seemed like a good idea at the time. The programmed Buffy was “safely” tucked away in suburban digs. The Buffy bot was rigged up to kick vampire ass. The Buffy bot can’t help but wonder if it’s not all meant to be. It will take some strong will power if both Buffys are ever going to see that glass as half full.

As we drop in on this issue, the Buffy bot is tied up in a basement while the programmed Buffy stands guard. The Buffy bot tries to appeal to the other Buffy’s sense of reason. Is this really what she considers “freedom”? She escaped her nice house in the suburbs to lurk around a basement that “smells like bicycle chains”? The programmed Buffy ignores that and lectures her captive on how she betrayed the Slayer cause. How, she asks, do you form an army without any guns? Guns? That’s when it hits the Buffy bot that Simone, with such a fetish for guns, must be behind this! Simone, not one to disappoint, appears and quickly lays in on the Buffy bot. She barks a number of threats which are scary considering this one does bite.

Back in San Francisco, Detective Dowling is very messed up over his killing his partner-turned-zompire, Cheung. The tide seems to be turning, just a bit, against the zompires but things still look pretty dire. This leads us to Spike and Andrew, who have lost track of the Buffy bot but have stumbled upon a major stash of…guns. We also get a few more big hints that Simone is plotting quite a big plan, one with just as deadly a backup plan.

Cliff Richards on pencils and Andy Owens on inks continue to keep us locked into the story. Buffy has a very natural way about her, albeit she’s currently split in two! That said, we’ve got a natural and easy vibe running throughout, whether it involves action or contemplation. This issue gives us plenty of both. You’ve basically got Buffy versus Buffy; and then you’ve got Simone versus everyone! But that’s not all. The quiet stuff is very important too. Amid an intimate convesation between the two love birds, well the Buffy bot and Spike, there’s a moment when Spike comes out and says, “Come with me now.” It’s a quick little tease but shows that, whatever may happen, Spike remains quite smitten with Buffy. This sparks something in the Buffy bot and it looks good.

Issue 10 is out June 13. Visit Dark Horse Comics.

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April 29, 2012 · 11:17 pm

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER SEASON 9 #9 Review

The second chapter to “Apart (Of Me)” teases out a little more of the tension between Spike and Buffy and gives us on eyeful as to what some people (Andrew) think is best for Buffy. If only Buffy, as a plucky mere mortal, could get it together and buy into the American Dream by getting a mortgage on a two-bedroom starter home stocked with IKEA furniture! That is Andrew’s dream for Buffy. And, ever since his amazing and disastrous “plan” to keep Buffy safe, he has managed to secure only part of it, “part” being the key word here. Buffy’s programmed body had been made secure in the suburbs, until it was kidnapped, while Buffy’s mind was encased in a bot! So, for the purposes of this review, “Buffy” is the one encased in a bot. And “the other Buffy” is Buffy’s body programmed to believe it has a personality. A bit confusing, no doubt, and a bit of a mystery as to how this was going to keep Buffy safe in the first place!

Buffy observes that the space in Buffy’s “dream home” that is designated as an office is in between a bedroom and a bathroom. Is it possible that the other Buffy might have plans for a nursery in the future? Spikes dismisses that as rubbish. But Buffy begs to differ. Indeed, there are two Buffys with their own ideas on what is real and what is rubbish.

And then, quite abruptly, Andrew reveals that he has placed a tracking device in the other Buffy’s necklace. That seems rather convenient but plausible. It’s an intimate chocker that she might like to keep close to her body indefinitley. Whatever the case, that’s what they’re working with.

Circumstances being what they are, it makes sense that things would have cooled down for Spike and Buffy. Buffy is simply not herself! However, there is a scene with Buffy trying to reach her friend, Dawn, on the phone and Spike casually asks if Dawn is aware that she is no longer going to become an aunt, at least, not yet. Yep, mark that as a tease for what my lie ahead for those two. Spike, for his part, remains protective of Buffy and has his own ideas to work through. That leads to a nice little dust up when Buffy pulls away from Spike and, given that she’s part robot, tells him she isn’t exactly all that vulnerable. But she may regret those words. Inexplicably, she takes things too far in the other direction and is barking orders! Andrew and Spike, feeling rather guilty, just follow along but maybe that’s not such a good idea. In what seems like a nod to Joss Whedon’s recent movie, “The Cabin in the Woods,” Buffy decides to split up the group as they zero in on the other Buffy and her captors. Andrew and Spike obey. And then Andrew thinks it over. Hasn’t Buffy seen enough horror movies? he asks himself. Doesn’t she know that splitting up the group is the last thing you should do?

“Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 9,” issue 9, arrives May 9. Visit Dark Horse Comics.

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April 18, 2012 · 8:57 pm

DARK HORSE COMICS Announces New “SPIKE” Series and New “WILLOW” Series

Dark Horse Comics adds two new spinoffs to its “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” universe: a new “Spike” series and a new “Willow” series! “Spike” #1 comes out August 22, 2012. “Willow” #1 comes out November 21, 2012.

Details follow:

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ANGEL AND FAITH #9 Review

The final chapter to “Daddy Issues” gives us a close look at Faith during a break down. Will she safely come out of it? Will Angel fall with her? Drusilla holds the cards. Well, given that this is the final issue of the current arc, will are bound to get some resolution one way or another. Yeah, we still have an Angel and Faith in the game at the end. What is interesting to consider is what Drusilla and her Lorophage Demons have wrought. Is there a message here? You betcha.

It’s a pretty obvious message we’re playing with but it’s also, for the most part, an artful effort. What Drusilla is selling is something akin to Prozac albeit in quite an exotic and extreme form. She is selling a way for someone to erase the bad feelings from whatever trauma they’ve experienced but lose part of their soul in the process. It’s quiet a hot button topic to tackle but fair game for Whedon and his writers, in this case Christos Gage. Just consider the recent stepping up to the plate on the issue of abortion in the pages of “Buffy The Vampire Slayer.” The message here: Anti-depressants do have their place but they’ve become too heavily relied upon and exploited by the drug industry. Any way you look at it, it’s a bit preachy. It does give an ironic quality to Rebekah Isaac’s variant cover, don’t you think? Thank goodness for such awesome art because that gives such a lift to a heavy story. I won’t say it’s a totally heavy-handed story, but it’s pretty heavy.

And then there’s Angel’s rad nipple piercing! If you weren’t sure of what you were looking at in the last issue, Issue 9 gives us clarity on this. It is indeed an ancient Egyptian relic that allows Angel to capture remnants of Giles’s soul as they become available. In the Whedon universe, this nipple gizmo is known as a phlebotinum, a close relation to a MacGuffin, basically a plot device that you are far better off accepting and moving right along with. But I can’t help but think of The Flight of the Conchord’s song, “Bowie’s in Space” and the line, “receiving transmission from David Bowie’s nipple antennae.” It sure isn’t an easy thing to draw and make sure it reads well but Rebekah Isascs is up to the task. She can draw anything!

Issue 9 comes out April 25. Visit Dark Horse Comics.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER SEASON 9 #8 Review

It’s nice to take things slow but it’s also awesome to gun it. Season 9 takes off with the new arc, “Apart (Of Me).” It seems like each page is full of plot development, and in a good way. There is even some sly reference made to Season 8. So much is going on. As you will recall from last ish, Buffy is having quite the identity crisis. Caught in the crossfire of the vampire wars, Buffy lost a limb! And sparks began to fly, as in robotic limb and, well, robotic being. This leaves Spike, her lover and her protector, with much to explain and so the two are off to find answers. They begin by blasting into the bedroom of a perfect Whedonesque man-child genius, Andrew. With all his action figures scattered about, his room more of a mess than usual, it is this bewildered dude who holds the key to Buffy’s future.

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August 17, 2011 · 4:01 am

BUFFY SEASON NINE and ANGEL & FAITH

“ANGEL & FAITH,” issue 1, is scheduled to come out August 31.

“BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, SEASON 9,” is scheduled to come out September 14.

I am looking forward to these Dark Horse titles. I just picked up the trade to Buffy Season 8 and I’m hooked. I can’t say that I ever really followed Buffy all that much. I certainly like Sarah Michelle Gellar but, I don’t know, for whatever reason, I never followed the show. And now I want to make things right! I think starting with the BS8 is a logical first step. That will prove the gateway to the rest of the Buffyverse.