BOOM! Buffy 1-3 review (SPOILERS!)
Mar. 30th, 2019 09:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dragonyphoenixWhile I'm enjoying the new comics, there are things I wish they'd done differently.
In the tv series, adolescent issues are basically turned into monsters. I think the easiest to explain is Marcie who becomes literally invisible because no one notices her. We're only three issues into the comics, but I'm not seeing anything along those lines. Joss did it right off the bat. In the opening scene, Darla and a young man break into the high-school and then, once sure they're alone, Darla vamps out on him. Adolescence is a time of breaking boundaries which can put you in a place of danger. In the first two episodes that danger is vampires. Instead the story opens in the TunaVerse (great name!). Willow and Xander are hanging there and, OK, it's after dark but that's the kind of a place their parents would have taken them as kids. It's hardly "on the bad side of down" as Cordelia so tellingly describes the Bronze. And maybe the whole not turning adolescent issues into monsters complaint is not a fair point because there's tons of awesome fanfiction that doesn't do that but I'm just starting a rewatch to look at how Joss does that and so it kinda stands out for me.
The other big missing element is Jesse. I would have loved to see him again but he's not there. Part of me wonders if he's missing because the writers didn't feel up to Jesse and Xander banter which, I have to admit, would be tough to get right. Dru's threat to Buffy's friends at the end of the third comic would be more believable if Jesse were part of the group because, I think at least, the fans would be real upset if the writers did something permanent to either Willow or Xander this early on. Granted with Jesse in the picture we'd lose the start of Xander's arc where he's feeling left out. However, if Jesse were killed or vamped, then we could have those emotions with grief on top. Not that I'd want to lose Jesse so quickly.
At first, before I read the comics, I had issues with Willow's cool-kid look but in the second issue she's all insecure so yay! She's still our girl.
Xander, on the other hand, isn't his old funny self. He's still, occasionally, the comic relief but far less often than at the start of the tv series. In addition, as mentioned above, he feels left out. Willow's got her smarts and Buffy has her Slaying. Xaner feels that he's not special, not unique, and not good enough. But he won't say anything. That could actually play out into a really interesting arc.
Giles seems to have been in town for a while. He knows Cordelia, calls her Miss Chase when she comes into the library. Xander calls him "library guy" but Giles has Willow's phone number? Although he apparently doesn't know her well. When she calls him Mr Giles, he tells her it's just Giles.
Dru's another character who changed. She's being touted as the Master of Sunnydale? Although other vamps we see don't look to her so maybe not. She's not insane. That one I'm not getting over. I miss insane Dru.
While I'm on Giles, let me mention the drawing. I'm not an artist myself so I can't say much that's positive except that it mostly looks good to me except for Giles. For some reason, Giles isn't drawn as well as the other characters. I don't have the ability to host images on Dreamwidth so I'll just point you to the first library scene. Just after Willow and Xander enter the library, those top images, his hair looks like he's got a mop on his head. And this image below, Giles at the bottom just looks odd to me although I can't say why.
Drawings of Giles are less problematic in the other two comics so they seem to have gotten that under control. On the other hand, this image of Joker-faced Giles made me want to read the comic in the first place.
Oh, and in addition, Buffy's body language and how it changes as Robin slides over on the bench to get closer to her? That's awesome.
It's cool that the big bat-creature turns out to be a Slayer's helper. I love how Buffy bonds to it so quickly and how disappointed she is when Giles puts it back to sleep. We're obviously going to see Camazotz again. I just hope they don't kill it off. Every girl needs a pet or friend bat-demon-creature.
The pacing is good. Even though we're still in the big meet-and-greet section, learning who characters are, there are still points to be curious about. I'm not sure what Anya's deal is. She says she's neutral. She's giving amulets (looks like the Eye of Sauron) to vampires but killing them when they don't turn out to be exactly who or what she wants to use the amulets. Perhaps she's trying to prevent the coming apocalypse that Dru mentioned. Harmony, of all people!, also hinted at an apocalypse; she's having "creepy dreams where everything is swallowed up in a big fire pit." Come to think of it, Buffy's also having nightmares about fire. I'd missed that connection until just now.
Most of the writing is fine but some of the dialogue is a bit kludgy. Buffy's comment, "Don't you have other minds to shape with the soul crushing pressure to overachieve?" comes to mind.
There are shout-outs to the original series. Those tend to be fun although I'm not so thrilled with Willow's comment that she'd like to meet a witch. I'm delighted with the suggestion of Willow/Tara but we hadn't even met Rose yet and we're suggesting another relationship for Willow? Or maybe I'm reading too much into that.
All in all I'm enjoying the comics and am looking forward to more.
In the tv series, adolescent issues are basically turned into monsters. I think the easiest to explain is Marcie who becomes literally invisible because no one notices her. We're only three issues into the comics, but I'm not seeing anything along those lines. Joss did it right off the bat. In the opening scene, Darla and a young man break into the high-school and then, once sure they're alone, Darla vamps out on him. Adolescence is a time of breaking boundaries which can put you in a place of danger. In the first two episodes that danger is vampires. Instead the story opens in the TunaVerse (great name!). Willow and Xander are hanging there and, OK, it's after dark but that's the kind of a place their parents would have taken them as kids. It's hardly "on the bad side of down" as Cordelia so tellingly describes the Bronze. And maybe the whole not turning adolescent issues into monsters complaint is not a fair point because there's tons of awesome fanfiction that doesn't do that but I'm just starting a rewatch to look at how Joss does that and so it kinda stands out for me.
The other big missing element is Jesse. I would have loved to see him again but he's not there. Part of me wonders if he's missing because the writers didn't feel up to Jesse and Xander banter which, I have to admit, would be tough to get right. Dru's threat to Buffy's friends at the end of the third comic would be more believable if Jesse were part of the group because, I think at least, the fans would be real upset if the writers did something permanent to either Willow or Xander this early on. Granted with Jesse in the picture we'd lose the start of Xander's arc where he's feeling left out. However, if Jesse were killed or vamped, then we could have those emotions with grief on top. Not that I'd want to lose Jesse so quickly.
At first, before I read the comics, I had issues with Willow's cool-kid look but in the second issue she's all insecure so yay! She's still our girl.
Xander, on the other hand, isn't his old funny self. He's still, occasionally, the comic relief but far less often than at the start of the tv series. In addition, as mentioned above, he feels left out. Willow's got her smarts and Buffy has her Slaying. Xaner feels that he's not special, not unique, and not good enough. But he won't say anything. That could actually play out into a really interesting arc.
Giles seems to have been in town for a while. He knows Cordelia, calls her Miss Chase when she comes into the library. Xander calls him "library guy" but Giles has Willow's phone number? Although he apparently doesn't know her well. When she calls him Mr Giles, he tells her it's just Giles.
Dru's another character who changed. She's being touted as the Master of Sunnydale? Although other vamps we see don't look to her so maybe not. She's not insane. That one I'm not getting over. I miss insane Dru.
While I'm on Giles, let me mention the drawing. I'm not an artist myself so I can't say much that's positive except that it mostly looks good to me except for Giles. For some reason, Giles isn't drawn as well as the other characters. I don't have the ability to host images on Dreamwidth so I'll just point you to the first library scene. Just after Willow and Xander enter the library, those top images, his hair looks like he's got a mop on his head. And this image below, Giles at the bottom just looks odd to me although I can't say why.
Drawings of Giles are less problematic in the other two comics so they seem to have gotten that under control. On the other hand, this image of Joker-faced Giles made me want to read the comic in the first place.
Oh, and in addition, Buffy's body language and how it changes as Robin slides over on the bench to get closer to her? That's awesome.
It's cool that the big bat-creature turns out to be a Slayer's helper. I love how Buffy bonds to it so quickly and how disappointed she is when Giles puts it back to sleep. We're obviously going to see Camazotz again. I just hope they don't kill it off. Every girl needs a pet or friend bat-demon-creature.
The pacing is good. Even though we're still in the big meet-and-greet section, learning who characters are, there are still points to be curious about. I'm not sure what Anya's deal is. She says she's neutral. She's giving amulets (looks like the Eye of Sauron) to vampires but killing them when they don't turn out to be exactly who or what she wants to use the amulets. Perhaps she's trying to prevent the coming apocalypse that Dru mentioned. Harmony, of all people!, also hinted at an apocalypse; she's having "creepy dreams where everything is swallowed up in a big fire pit." Come to think of it, Buffy's also having nightmares about fire. I'd missed that connection until just now.
Most of the writing is fine but some of the dialogue is a bit kludgy. Buffy's comment, "Don't you have other minds to shape with the soul crushing pressure to overachieve?" comes to mind.
There are shout-outs to the original series. Those tend to be fun although I'm not so thrilled with Willow's comment that she'd like to meet a witch. I'm delighted with the suggestion of Willow/Tara but we hadn't even met Rose yet and we're suggesting another relationship for Willow? Or maybe I'm reading too much into that.
All in all I'm enjoying the comics and am looking forward to more.