This week: Reviews of Adventure Comics #6, Amazing Spider-Man #617 and Buffy #31, and a reaction to the SWORD cancellation. (continue reading…)

With Jane Espenson’s ‘Retreat’ coming to a close, Season Eight finds itself as that rarest of animals: a comic that reads better in trade form for plot rather than scheduling issues. It’s hard to think of any other story which has flipped on its head with such regularly, as each instalment quickly demolishes the themes of the episode which preceded it.

As the issue opens, the Slayers have the advantage in the long delayed clash with the Twilight forces from the book’s first arc. This triumph doesn’t last long, however, as it soon emerges that the forces they’ve unleashed acknowledge no distinctions between the creatures that they encounter. This event makes clear the feminist metaphor which has obviously lain at the heart of the arc- whereas it unexpectedly appeared that the slayers would find salvation through suppressing their identities, Espenson now shows such a situation as benefiting neither party, with the resulting rage working to the detriment of society as a whole. In abstract, it sounds like an overtly moralistic message, but the writer skilfully distracts the reader with an impressive number of character threads, as the supporting figures begin to fall before Twilight’s army. The decimation of the book’s cast is one of those rare plot developments which makes perfect sense in hindsight, with the main character having had far to little face time in recent months- the “next time” teaser makes clear that she’s now ready to reclaim the centre stage.

Odd as it sounds, it’s impossible to talk about the issue without at least a mention of the couple of pages of text tucked away after the story’s conclusion. I’m aware that I’ve had a go at the book’s extensive letters page on this site before, as the twelve issue gap between the professional content and the fan reaction affective drained the exercise of any purpose. Here, however, the write-in feature justifies its entire decision with a genuine intelligent debate between reader Ryan Sattler and the books editor about the approach taken to plotting Season 8, with the point made receiving a rather cheeky nod during the actual dialogue of the book. It’s a fascinating little exchange, which unfortunately leaves a clearer impression in the reader’s mind than some of the action which preceded it.

This week, we’ve got capsule reviews of Buffy the Vampire Slayer #27, Doctor Who #1, Justice League: Cry for Justice #2, The Mighty #7 and Wednesday Comics #5!

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The usual capsule reviews, this week of Astonishing Tales #1, Buffy #22, Secret Warriors #1 and The Authority #7!

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This week: news and capsule reviews, including Amazing Spider-Man #574, Angel: After the Fall #13, Daredevil #112, Thunderbolts #125 and X-Factor #36.

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Now that Angel: After the Fall is finally upping its game substantially, the Buffyverse is finally firing on all cylinders again. The BtVS comic is currently paying an extended visit to the timeline of Fray, the future slayer Whedon cooked up some years back with guesting artist Karl Moline, and working to explain just how Fray’s single-slayer, magic-less timeline can be threaded to the present we’re experiencing in Buffy: Season 8. It’s the franchise’s first real foray into Time Travel, and as such, provides a wealth of new angles for Whedon to approach the story.

One interesting moment highlights, if ever there were any doubts, how Buffy has changed since Season 7 as a result of her role – not only is she out robbing to pay for the Slayer gear, she’s also content to let innocents die in pursuit of the larger evil. This is the kind of theme that was dealt with pointedly in Season 5 of Angel, but it’s worth bringing up again in the context of Buffy’s new Slayer Army. It’s this kind of ambiguous morality that leads Fray to get influenced by the apparently villainous Willow. Willow’s actions, so far, don’t actually appear to be evil despite her having the “Dark Willow” make-up on. I’d call it a safe bet that her actions in this arc are designed to prevent Fray’s timeline from ocurring, though with only one chapter to go, we’ll soon see.

While the issue features a lot of action, almost all of it is tempered by running conversations which point the way to Whedon’s next move. Unfortunately, it’s hard to see, at the moment, exactly where things are headed, but you can see the signposts all over this issue in particular, as characters figure out their situation. Only Xander and Dawn, now separated from the Slayer Army, feel like they’re treading water, through the introduction of the forest creatures makes for an amusing scene. Whedon’s trademark dialogue is on top form all issue, and that laone makes the comic worth buying.

While it’s a constant joy to keep reading the adventures of Buffy and co month after month, if there’s any bad thing you can say about the series, it’s that it’s not very friendly to anyone dipping into it. A lot of the series mythology is referenced at times, to the point where a new reader would be utterly lost. Even so, this is one of the few times a writer can get away with that – after all, Whedon is playing to his hardcore audience with this series, and bringing in new readers for the comic was never the plan. Perhaps, if this wasn’t Joss Whedon, I’d feel a bit less charitable but, y’know, we’re all a little biased somewhere.