Buffy Season 8, #11
This review written by James Hunt on Feb.08, 2008.
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Another single-issue Joss Whedon story? I thought Christmas was over already! Whedon’s last two single-issues have been the best the series had to offer, and this is no different. It’s a classic, X-Men-style “down time” issue between arcs, with the natural interruption of the season’s big bad at an entirely unexpected moment just to keep you on your toes. It’s not quite the Mayor strolling right into the Library, circa Season 3, but it’s pretty good nonetheless.
There’s some dealing with the blink-and-you-missed-it subplot of Satsu’s feelings for Buffy, which is entertaining and gives some truly excellent material, but it doesn’t really feel like the intricately woven subplot that it could’ve been. Strangely evident in these scenes is that Whedon appears to be writing his Buffy’s voice somewhere around Season 4. There’s far more of the humour and stream-of-consciousness dialogue than the latter Buffy ever displayed, which is good because part of the problem Season 8 had to address was that by the time the show finished, Buffy was no longer the best character in her own series. Giving her some direction and easing the responsibilities slightly seems to have left her far less earnest, mopey and distracted, hence the lighter tone.
Jeanty continues to deliver, though the first decent appearance of actual vampires in the Buffy comic unfortunately shows us that he’s no better at depicting vampires on the page than any other Buffy artist has been. Oh well. Twilight’s fight with Buffy is a nice sequence, though it’s a little bit of a groaner to hear Buffy calling him the most powerful villain she’s ever seen, because that’s the standard, Buffy, “I don’t know if I can fight this!” trick to try and make the villain seem like a threat, and doesn’t really work because… well, she’s Buffy, she’s going to win – don’t make it about whether she will, but about how she will.
The idea of tricking Buffy into believing she’s on the wrong side is a definite move for genius, and once again, the perfect place to go with the story, especially after Buffy’s recent jewel-thieving antics. The “unmasking” scene had me laughing harder than almost anything in the TV series, and sets up my most favourite of all mysteries. WHO’S UNDER THE MASK? Someone Buffy knows – or at least, who knows Buffy. I’m going to say that it’s Ethan Rayne, because he’s one of the least likely candidates, being, y’know, dead and stuff.
I sometimes wonder if I use the word “genius” a little too liberally when describing Joss Whedon. But then I decide that no, I haven’t. So let me reiterate: This is genius. Genius, genius, genius. Genius.
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February 8th, 2008 on 8:04 pm[...] bookmarks tagged comics Buffy Season 8, #11 saved by 2 others MaxCRAps bookmarked on 02/08/08 | [...]
February 8th, 2008 on 7:31 pm
Yeah, this was a pretty good issue. I didn’t catch the X-Men vibe when I read it, but now that I think about it, it fits. Especially when you consider that a lot of the same vibe in this book was present in this week’s issue of Uncanny X-Men. I’d like the series to be more about single issues actually, hopefully Drew Goddard’s arc can change my opinion on that.
February 9th, 2008 on 11:59 am
From my perspective (that of someone who’s read the comics without watching the TV series), “Twilight” looks like Willow at this point, although this may not be the impression of anyone who knows the story of these characters better than me. It was the flying and knowledge of the last issue that put the idea in my head, together with Robin’s knowledge of Willow in issue 10. From what we’ve seen of Twilight, it’s a stubble-less caucasion who knows Buffy inside out, and the person under that trenchcoat, chunky boots and breastplate could just as easily be a woman as a man. Maybe it’s the aftermath of what was done with Bishop in X-men recently, but when a character keeps vanishing from a book, I want to know what they’re up to…
February 9th, 2008 on 12:36 pm
That’s a pretty good theory, though I’d discount it solely because Willow has already been the main villain once, in Season Six. I certainly wouldn’t discount the possibility of the character under the mask being female, or of Willow maybe even siding with them – but since Ethan has only turned up once in the past 3 seasons, to receive a fairly unspectacular death, it seems like that’s the fake-out to me.