So some of you may not know this but I have a lot of guilty pleasures. Chief amongst them are Joss Whedon creations. What can I say? The guy knows how to speak to the nerd crowd. He manages to create worlds of fantasy, where the characters feel as real as anyone you know. He works the relationships and the archetypes to perfection to keep viewers surprised and guessing. He casts some of my favorite actors of all time. And he's never afraid to push the boundaries, even if sometimes it ends up sucking, because he knows the times it hits it'll be mind blowing (see Once More with Feeling episode of the TV show).
So after the show ended, Joss being the comic nerd he is decided to continue the show in comic form. Hence the title: Buffy, Season 8. It picks up a few months after the show left off as the Scoobies now are an international defense organization against demons and the end of the world. The only problem is, a new threat named Twilight has come out of the woodwork and seems to know Buffy's every move before she makes them. Thats basically the premise for this 40 issue run. While it's supposed to be a grand epic to follow up the epic that was season 7, it just falls flat.
Its a quick read and the buildup is great, but the pay off just isn't there. Anyone who's read it will understand what I'm talking about, but the last 8 issues or so make less sense than anything I've ever seen out of the series (yes the hyena episode made more sense) and was slightly disappointing.
The thing is: You don't watch Buffy for the story events or action. You watch it for the characters and their interactions with each other and everyone's pretty much back. Buffy, Giles, Faith, Willow, Xander, and Dawn (BOO HISS! I know..but she's ok in this) plus hordes of new slayers Buffy has created. The stuff leading up to the ending is pretty damn awesome and often times hilarious (Mecha-Dawn!).
This ended up being shorter than I thought it would but this review seems pretty self evident. If you're a Buffy fan already, you'll like these books as all of the things you love (and hate) are harnessed, just in comic form so the ridiculousness is a little amped up. If you're not, you're not going to be converted by these. Personally, I really enjoyed the ride despite its shortcomings (it seems to be common in comics to have disappointing endings: The Losers, Y The Last Man, etc.), but I could understand people who didnt.
It could be bunnies
-Oz
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