Whedon’s second full arc continues with a look into what Fray was doing before Buffy arrived. I’m usually irritated when TV/Comics rewind time and lead up to the same cliffhanger (Lost, for instance, did this all the time through the maddening Season 3) so I’m glad to see that Whedon keeps the retreads to a bare minimum, continuing the story some degree beyond what we saw last issue. Xander and Dawn’s plot threads in the past get a minimal look in, though the one scene we do see is easily the funniest of the issue.

The continual teases of who the female antagonist in Fray’s future is seemed quite poorly lead - apparently the readers were supposed to think it was Drusilla, having survived long into the future, but I never suspected anyone other than Willow given the way the series has been header. It’ll be interesting to see how they explain her presence, given that Fray’s world was supposed to be utterly free of magic, though it might also tie in with Fray’s initial awakening as a slayer. There’s a lot of story worth telling about that and how it ties in to the past/present, so hopefully that’s what we’ll be seeing some of as the arc continues.

For this issue, presumably to help echo Buffy’s sense of disorientation, Whedon has ramped up the future-speak tenfold. It’s a little jarring at first if you’re familiar with the character being more readable, but the staccato and contracted dialogue is, on close inspection, still entirely incomprehensible, and that’s is always a plus for a comic. Seeing how Fray actually operates in the future is the most interesting element of the future timeline since the original series never really got past the origin story.

Moline’s artwork remains a nice change from Jeanty - for obvious reasons he’s got the look of Fray’s future nailed down tight, and this issue is all the better for taking place more substantially in the world he helped realise. Whedon seems to have tightened up his arc-writing after a fairly lacklustre opener and things feel a lot more structurally sound than his first multi-parter. Season 8 continues its remarkably high standard, setting a prime example to all licensed comics.

Tags: Buffy, Fray, Joss Whedon, Karl Moline
Publisher: Dark Horse