Gettin' British With It

What Is It?: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Issue #7: No Future For You pt 2 (written by Brian K. Vaughan)

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Timing: BtVS Season Eight, follows the events of "No Future For You Part 1"

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REVIEW: Expectations were high for this issue. The first part of this arc was nothing short of perfect, so everyone was wondering if BKV could keep the goodness up.

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He can, and he did. The story unfolds, throwing both Faith and us faithful readers into the center of action; an uppity British party. Basically, the plot is that Faith has to try to kill another slayer, a rich young Brit--and the hostess of the party--named Gigi. But nothing is ever that cut and dry in the Buffyverse, is it? The issue starts off with a flashback to the scene in "Graduation Day Part I" where Buffy fights Faith (then, the current 'slayer gone bad'), thinking it's going to be a battle to the death. We, for the first time, get Faith's perspective on the fight, and--as the issue goes on--the connections between the flashback and the major drama of the issue become clear. Gigi isn't just an 'evil slayer.' She's a person, quite like Faith was when she was 'bad.' Can Faith step into Buffy's shoes and kill a girl who is following the same path that she, Faith, wound up recovering from?

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That's still up in the air. A lot happens in this issue, but the plot is still left on a cliff-hangy note. One of BKV's strengths is his pacing. I loved Joss' "Long Way From Home" arc, but the thing that I've noticed most about why "No Future For You" is simply a better arc is the fact that it's paced well, from page-to-page and even issue-to-issue. As a seasoned comic writer, BKV knows just when to end a page to keep the reader turning, but not too fast. His panelling allows you to appreciate each page to the fullest, without simply skimming over any images. It's the perfect balance of a fast-paced story and a story you want to take your time to read.

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On the other hand, there are a few things I would have liked from this issue, but didn't see. I expected more Giles, thinking he might be playing Dixon to Faith's Sidney Bristow. But no such luck. Even though our favorite Ben-killing-Watcher gets a spot on the cover, he's only in one panel of the issue. Faith gets even more screen time in this issue than she did in the last, simply because there aren't that many other characters there to share it with. The variant cover, which depicts Faith, Buffy, and Gigi in formal wear is also misleading; Buffy only appears in the flashback. Xander and Andrew are no shows. What we do get is a marvelous exchange between Dawn (still breakin' scales) and Willow, which brings me right back to the show. Their dialogue (and before I forget, Faith's internal dialogue as well) is spot-on, and quotable to death. Especially Willow's "gay wiccan jewess" and "itty bitty things" lines. Simply amazing.

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So all in all, I loved the issue. It's--in retrospect--as good as Issue #6. It's easier to rank #6 higher, because the perfection of it was such a surprise. This time, we expected it. And all I can say is that BKV delivered.

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Art: Many people have criticized George's depiction of Faith. Admittedly, some of Faith's Issue #6 facial expressions looked a bit bull-doggy. But this issue, art wise, is a vast improvement on what I thought to be already great art. Georges visibly gets more comfortable drawing the characters page-by-page (especially with Faith and Willow) and he continues to kick ass in drawing the newly introduced characters. The action here isn't made up of the best comic action sequences I've seen (that honorable title goes to Franco Urru's fight scenes in Spike: Asylum) but Georges is an all around competent artist, and we should be glad to have him involved.

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Characters We Know: Faith, Giles, Buffy (flashback), Willow, Dawn

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SEASON EIGHT Characters We Know (NEW CATEGORY; WILL EVENTUALLY BE INCORPORATED INTO 'CHARACTERS WE KNOW'): Lady Genevieve, Roden, Renee

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Speculation: I'm not as convinced as I was after reading Issue #6 that Roden is the Big Bad. He just doesn't seem as manipulative in this issue, but I'm going to stick with my claim. He'll probably be the Big Bad. There's not much to speculate in this issue that I can think of. With the knowledge that Lady Genevieve wants Buffy dead (and that Roden wants to put Gigi in place as the "queen") and Jo Chen's cover for Issue #8 (Faith choking Buffy underwater), I think its safe to assume that Faith will have to be working as a double... or is it triple... agent. She'll have to fight Buffy to make Gigi and Roden think she's on their side, so that she can kill Gigi in the end. I think that something along the lines of what Jonathan did to Buffy in "Seeing Red" will happen here (he leaped on her during her exchange with Warren, making Warren think he was trying to hurt Buffy, when in actuality he was whispering the secret to defeating Warren in Buffy's ear). By the end of the next issue, I'm expecting to see a Buffy/Faith team-up against Gigi. I think Roden will bounce before the mierda hits the fan.

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Rating: 9/10