Back On Point

What Is It?: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Issue #19: Time of Your Life Part III (written by Joss Whedon).

Timing: Directly after "Time of Your Life Part III."

REVIEW: After a nearly two month long wait, Joss Whedon and friends deliver the conclusion to the hyped Buffy/Fray crossover, "Time of Your Life." After some still-good-but-slightly-off-if-you-know-what-I-mean issues, Joss finally lives up to the standard he set in the fantastic #16, which kicked this arc off. Revelations--huge ones, in fact--are made, confrontations are had, and things get all sorts of stabby when Buffy faces off against the many, many people in the future who either want her dead or want to prevent her from returning home. With everything on the table, it's definitely the second-best conclusion to an arc we've seen thus far, ranking in just below Drew Goddard's fantastic #15.

There was a lot of plot to tie up here, so it's no surprise that the issue got a few extra pages. The awesome, but non-essential stuff was dealt with in a quick and neat manner, which enabled the story to focus more on the core of the arc and its ramifications on the characters. Harth presents a threat but is taken care of (not dying, obviously, as that's Fray's business if there's ever another series), Gunther's fate is revealed, and the Xander/Dawn fight their final battle with the Green Magic Serpent Things... along with some help from the woodland creature. Wow, never thought I'd type that sentence.

A lot of the main conflict, which can be boiled down to Buffy vs. Fray/Buffy vs. Dark Willow, is made up of action, but the dialogue and the final resolution to the conflict (c'mon, you don't think I'd give it away, did you?) is at once terrifying and sad. There are a few images here that you won't soon forget, I'll say that much.

Also, a major Who Is Twilight? theory is either proven or debunked in this issue (not sayin' which). Let's just say... what we learn leaves us asking more questions that ever before, yet is somehow satisfying. For now.

Looks like, thanks to Joss Whedon, Karl Moline, Scott Allie, and co. taking their time to make sure this issue gets done right, Buffy: Season Eight is back on track. I've had a damn rough past two days, but this issue sort of helped to take my mind off the shit. Thanks, guys. Loved the issue.

Art: Karl Moline is a force to be reckoned with. I thought we might have had to sacrifice a bit of quality in the pencils in order for Moline to get this issue out on time, what with the script being so late, but nope. His work looks good as ever. I will certainly miss his take on the Buffyverse characters, because he really put a lot of his own style into it, all the while making them look like them. There were a lot of epic action scenes and even more epic emotional shots that Karl Moline just nailed. Ah man, I love this 'verse.

Covers: Jo Chen has given us some of her best work for this arc, and this cover is just another shining example. Well, maybe shining is the wrong word. Veiny? A veiny example? The cover is a close-up on Dark Willow, and it's probably the most accurate likeness Chen has gotten. The reflection of Buffy in Willow's eye, the shape of her nose and lips, the crude veins stretching down her forehead and cheeks... stunning. Jeanty's cover, on the other hand, is his least impressive in a while. It's detailed and all, but it's just not as dynamic as his images usually are. His Fray likeness isn't really that great here, though his take on Buffy is awesome as ever. I just wish it were something a bit more than Fray and Buffy standing side by side, no matter how cool the future/present background is.

Characters We Know: Willow, Buffy, Fray, Erin, Gates, Harth, Gunther, Xander, Dawn, Amy, Warren, Twilight, SPOILER!: Riley, Kennedy. Wow, loaded issue.

Rating: 9/10

Who's That Lady? (who's that laaayydayy)

What Is It?: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Issue #17: Time of Your Life Part II (written by Joss Whedon).

Timing: Directly after (and a bit of it during) "Time of Your Life Part I."

REVIEW: It's a good issue. Doesn't quite crack great, and it definitely doesn't make a jump-shot for perfect like the last issue did, but it was entertaining enough not to be much of a letdown. But I'll start from the beginning, much like this issue did.

I liked that the first half of this issue sort of parallels #16, in that it shows what Fray and co. were doing before she ran into Buffy. The fact that we get to see this through Fray's eyes shows that Joss isn't just throwing Fray into BtVS as a minor character, but that this is a true cross-over and that both Buffy and Fray are, rightfully so, co-stars. It's great to see Fray, Erin, and the villainous Harth again, but something is noticeably off with the most important character in this crossover. And that's Fray herself. I don't know if it was all set-up for Buffy to say the "I should have treated (the English language) better, maybe it was make Haddyn more like the futuristic world of Firefly, or maybe it was just Joss trying to have fun, but Fray is speaking like she's a different character altogether. While she still has Fray's back story and design, she simply doesn't speak the way that Fray from the FRAY series does. In fact, every single sentence she says in this comic has a futuristic slang word in it. Surely, language would evolve (and break down) after hundreds of years, but it throws the consistency of the character out the window. The Fray series was peppered lightly with futuristic slang, but in this it's pretty much a Futuristic Slang Party With A Free Futuristic Slang Keg Open All Night, Drinks For Free! I just want that character to be more similar to the character I read and loved in FRAY.

That's the only majorly bad thing about this issue. The build-up to Fray's clash with Buffy is nice, as are the side stories. Harth has teamed up with a major villain from Buffy's past, who is cloaked on shadow on the cover. People have been guessing that it's Drusilla, even after the cover for Part IV showed Dark Willow, which sort of boggled my mind... but I'll let you see for yourself who it is. The last page, like many Buffy issues, is the big villain reveal, though in reality the colorist revealed who it was on Page Seven. You'll see what I mean. I like her relationship with Harth and her extreme creepy way of talking, to show how far this character has come since hundreds of years have passed. It's a really exciting plot that has plenty of room for Joss to break our hearts, so that is pretty much what I'm most excited for in this issue.

The Dawn and Xander plot continues on, and gets really good. They don't have as much page time as I would have liked, but let's just say that the missile--as I speculated--was not merely an explosive device. Oh it, to quote Kate, "s'ploded" some things, yeah, but it also made some really interesting, really green problems for Xander, and I ain't talking Ralph Nader clones. Another great thing about this scene was the sexual tension between Xander and Dawn when she tells him that he has to ride her. This ain't Season Five's Xander and Dawn, and if you don't mind a bit of speculation, I'd say that Xander is about to be real close-like with a Summers girl.

Overall, it's a good bridge between issues, with a few problems here and there. In addition to the Fray talk, Willow gives a really not-so-good written expository speech about how Buffy was sucked into the future. It's fine, making sense wise, but it takes a bit of re-reading to suss out what she means. This may seem negative, but those are really the only two things about this issue that bother me, so in the end it's an issue with one huge problem, one teensy problems, and a lot of awesome stuff that almost makes up for it.

Art: It's Karl Moline, so you know it's gonna be great. There are some really awesome pages and some that are not so much. My best guess was that he had less time to work on this issue, because it lacks the extreme detail of #16, but it's still good enough to make me stare at each panel with a dazed look of joy in my eyes.

Covers: Both covers are attractive pieces. Jo Chen's cover isn't as beautiful as her contributions to the other issues in this arc, but it is still a very good looking piece. We're looking up at Buffy and Fray through the watery screen of Gunther's tank, while said "mer-sleaze" swims toward us. Very dynamic piece, but wouldn't be listed as one of Chen's best--or most details--paintings. Georges Jeanty also gives a good looking cover with a great concept behind it, and it's always cool to see different artists tackle new characters (in this case Harth). It's a very shadowy cover, and basically created to make us wonder who the "mystery woman" cloaked in shadow next to him is.

Characters We Know: Melaka Fray, Erin, Harth, Willow, Kennedy, Xander, Rowena, Leah, Dawn, Buffy, Gunther.

Rating: 7/10

Not Even The Season Eight Haters Can Dislike This

What Is It?: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Issue #16: Time of Your Life Part I (written by Joss Whedon)

Timing: BtVS, Season Eight. Short time, presumably a week or so, after "Wolves at the Gate Part IV."

REVIEW: Best start to an arc, best art in a Buffy issue, and best writing in a Buffy issue. Altogether, the best issue in Season Eight and the best issue in the larger Buffyverse since "After the Fall" #5. The overall arc of the season is driven along fantastically, the plot of this episode is set up nicely, and there are some pretty devastating moments.

Overall, it's certainly not what I expected. We barely get any Fray action at all, which actually was good, as it gave the story a chance to really build up before Buffy was inevitably shipped off to Fray's time. There was a lot of Kennedy and Vi stuff (though Vi is now going by Violet, because since the lettering is all caps, "Vi" would look like the Roman Numeral Six) which was awesome, and Xander's greif over Renee was handled very, very well. And we get appearances from Twilights and the villains (oh you know who they are) from the first arc that everyone and their complainy mother has been Whedonesque-ing (sorry, I meant complaining...) about not seeing again since #4.

Those that were happy with the Buffy, Xander, Willow reunion in Issue #3 will have multiple fangasms while reading this. Most of the issue is banter between the trio, then banter between Buffy/Willow, then meetingy banter between Buffy, Willow, Vi, and Kennedy, followed by more banter between Dawn and Xander. It all serves to drive the story forward and reads like some of the best Jossian dialogue you can find, but again OH does it drive the story forward. Dawn's thricewise curse goes into its second stage, which really answers the "Why is Dawn a centaur?" question people we asking when they saw the cover to #18. There are great Willow/Kennedy moments, as well as an awesome exchange between Buffy and Kennedy where Kennedy makes it all too clear to Buffy that Willow is off limits. I thought all of this was great, because this issue left me enjoying two characters that I haven't enjoyed in a long time. Kennedy and Willow. Well, I never really enjoyed Kennedy that much until now, and how great is she here? Very. Thing about Willow this season, though... she's been so powerful, so flighty, so healy, that it seems she hasn't really been a character as much as a plot device. But in this issue, she is very much a character. And I love it.

One thing that I loved was that this entire issue was like a huge nod to continuity. Many people have said, and not without reason, that Joss Whedon sacrifices continuity when he sees great story and character moments, citing the case of "Warren never died" as the prime example. However, he seems to be trying to develop Buffy into a more tight-knit mythology with this issue, because of both obvious and more subtle reasons. Most obviously, the entire Buffy/Fray cross-over and, at a larger scale, Season Eight itself is functioning to clear up the discrepancy between "Chosen" and "Fray." On a much smaller scale, there are references to past happenings and demonic breeds that gives the Buffyverse a greater feeling of continuity. Fyarl demons are mentioned, and the "trade" that happens when someone goes through a portal (from Season Seven) happens again in this issue. It just gives me the feeling that Joss is really trying to give his story a more solid structure to fall back on and, as a fan, I truly appreciate this.

After reading this, I'm more excited about Season Eight that I've ever been. Ever. And that is saying so much, because holy BHC was I excited before.

Art: Again, the best we've seen. I love Georges Jeanty and I love how he's made the characters his own, but penciller Karl Moline (who was behind the art of the original "Fray" series) is just better. I feel like I'm cheating on Georges by just saying that, but it's true. Moline's Dawn is simply fantastic, as he makes her look at once 100% like Michelle Trachtenberg and 100% like his own design. He captures the subtle expressions of the character's faces, allowing this Joss-banter heavy issue to pop across the page, each panel completely registering. His depiction of Buffy is also great, and ties with Jeanty's Buffy.... but Moline's Willow completely beats out Jeanty's. He does a great job with Kennedy and Vi(olet), and pretty much just gives us an all around stellar performance. His artwork in "Fray" was already great... but he's come miles since then.

Covers: The glorious return of Jo Chen. After Jon Foster's really-not-that-good-at-all-and-that's-a-laughable-understatement run, it's like a breath of oxygen to a drowning person to see Jo Chen strut her painty stuff all over this page. Buffy and Fray are going at it--more with the violent than sexual connotation, there, by the by--and it's an overall awesome image. Not iconic like the way she's kicked off the first two arcs, but still a really, really nice cover. The second cover is from our boy Jeanty, who gives us a really cool image of Buffy, Willow, Vi(olet), and Kennedy hanging out in Manhattan. It's really reminiscent of his cover to #6, which was the start of the "No Future for You" arc and had a very similar image with Buffy and Faith. It's nothing to wow you, but it's a great image with really deep colors that set a really cool tone for the contents inside. Well, most contents ARE inside something, but.... you know what I mean.

Characters We Know: Buffy, Fray, Dawn, Xander, Willow, Leah, Twilight, Warren, Amy, Kennedy, Vi(olet).

Rating: 10/10. An easy, easy 10/10.

Other Shat Pand Reviews, and... (as you all know by now) A Huge Crossover Event

A few bits o' news.

1. By request, here is a review I did of "The Origin" a while ago. Click meh!

2. Again, by request.... here are some other reviews I've done that do and don't fit in with the topic of this site. If you shop on Amazon, you might have (but probably not) seen some of these. But here is my Amazon review profile: Click meh (as helpful!)

3. Yeah, it's a few days old. Yeah, I knew about it a few days ago. Yeah, I posted about it on Facebook and debated elsewhere before posting it here. Yeah, I'm lazy and all that. Yeah, yeah yeah. Click the cover on the right. Remember how much Jon Foster sucked at covers (with the sole exception of #12)? Well... Jo Chen still does the opposite of suck. Well... actually the opposite of suck is literally blow if you think about it, but she doesn't blow. She rocks. She is the opposite of... things not rock-like. But yeah, that's the cover for #16 and its her triumphant return to the making of Buffy covers.

....and yeah, that's Buffy fighting Fray. The description of the issue, provided by SlayAlive, is as follows:

July trumpets the return of Jo Chen, but also heralds the return of both Karl Moline and Fray to the Buffyverse! The Buffster squares off against her futuristic descendant in this four-part arc by Joss Whedon and Karl Moline, who first collaborated in 2003's Fray mini-series.

Hoah yeah! So we've got Moline doing the arc, Joss writing, and both Buffy and Fray starring. I couldn't be happier we've got Moline for this, but how cool would it be if the "back in the present" scenes are pencilled by Georges. Very cool, methinks.

So lets look at what we've got coming up.

SOON

March 5th: Buffy #12 (Big surprise!)

Mid/Late March: Angel- After the Fall #5 (Two days are up, Angel)

April 2nd: Buffy #13 (Drac's back)

Mid/Late April: Angel- After the Fall #6, First Night 1 (We see how Connor, Lorne, and Spike's spent their first night in Hell)

May 7th- Buffy #14 (Hypno Dawn stomps shit)

Mid May- Angel- After the Fall #7, First Night 2 (Wes gets ghosty)

JUNE

Angel- After the Fall #8, First Night 3 (Conclusion)

Angel- After the Fall #9 (back to the main story)

Buffy #15 (Peace, Drew)

JULY

Buffy #16 (Hey, Fray)

(probably) Angel- After the Fall #10

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

I Can Hear the Squeeing Now...

BIG Joss Whedon news, straight from Comic Con. This entire post is pretty much thanks to those people who attended Joss' panel at Comic Con and were vigilant and quick fingered enough to type everything up.

So, here's a little summary of what's to come. I'll bold the things that I feel readers will find most interesting and, as always, please feel free to comment and debate which piece of news is most exciting.

RIPPER: We've been waiting so long to hear about this. It was going to be a series. It was going to be a movie. It was going to be one in a trilogy of movies about the Buffyverse characters. Hell, it was going to be a lot of things. But now, it just might get made. It's not set yet, but will likely be filmed sometime next year. It's a 90 minute made-for-TV-movie starring Anthony Stewart Head as Giles that'll be aired on BBC first. "Everybody is in the same frame of mind that it should happen and will happen soon. Been talking with Tony Head," says Joss Whedon. He went on to say, "(I am) getting sick and tired of not entertaining you enough, so I wants to do things, like Ripper, that can be done quickly. Lots of creepy things in the back of my brain that I need to get out."

BUFFY Season Eight COMICS: Oz will definitely be in the Season Eight comics at some point, which kinda kills the rumor that he'll be a star in Angel: After the Fall. Joss really wants to focus on filmed entertainment, but can't stop writing Buffy comic, almost like a drug. He isn't giving Brian Vaughn (who's writing the "No Future For You" arc beginning next month) a huge amount of notes. After Brian, two one-shots by Joss before Drew Goddard's arc.

BUFFY- SEASON NINE: There will, apparently, be a season nine of Buffy through Dark Horse comics as well. Joss said the following: "I know where season 8 of BtVS is ending, (and) I know what happens in Season 9."

GONERS: The new feature film, a fantasy/horror movie written/directed by Joss Whedon. This is the "biggest part of Joss' life right now". He's "been getting studio notes about how the script can be better. And they're right."

ANGEL- After the Fall: Brian Lynch is "doing a great job. It's about the FALL of Wolfram and hart, and the horrible things that happen subsequent to it." Joss says, "Wesley? He's dead, so obviously he's going to be the star..." Though this was likely said in jest, much like his "all about Anya" comment regarding Season Eight.

HEROES: Joss really wants to write/direct an episode, but feels that it isn't something he has time to do.

Harry Potter: Joss had previously shown interest in directing the final Harry Potter movie, but he just wants to concentrate on creator owned material at the moment. Plus, he kinda dosen't have much in the way of time to do something this major.

SUMMER GLAU: Joss is working on a ballet (wtf mate) with Summer Glau who played River Tam on Firefly. The ballet is called "The Serving Girl" and he is writing the music.

FRAY: He is doing more Fray, but he was pretty sure he wasnt supposed to tell us that.

CABIN IN THE WOODS: Joss and Drew Goddard have written a script together, for a feature length film. He says this about it: "it's the horror film to end horror films, literally."

ANGEL/BUFFY MOVIES: Joss would love to do a movie based on the ANGEL comic series coming out, but he knows that David and Sarah have both moved on.

SERENITY: There have been conflicting reports about this part of the Joss news. Some people say that Joss mentioned that the comic mini-series "Serenity: Better Days" will be released this winter, some said that Joss never mentioned. Personally, I just wish he'd leave that 'verse alone for the time being and stick to the Buffy/Angel comics, the movies he's doing, and new things. Firefly/Serenity works much better on screen than it did in comic books, as we saw in "Serenity: Those Left Behind."

Whew.

This Is What Comics Should Be

What Is It?: "Fray", a trade paperback collecting all eight issues of the miniseries. Written by Joss Whedon.

Timing: Safe to say it doesn't fudge up the continuity of any other Buffyverse series. Though takes a wrecking ball to "The Jetsons."

REVIEW: Joss Whedon's "Fray" is exactly what I've been looking for; a tale set in the Buffyverse that's long enough to satisfy my need for a Whedony tale. While the Buffy: Season Eight comics are great (9/10 for the most part, in my humble opinion), the issues that have been released so far are choppy, mostly because they, unlike "Fray", are the OPENING chapters of a larger story. "Fray" is standalone, and it's tells a great tale that, listen up continuity freaks like myself, is canon.

The story, like any Joss comic, is integrated with a few non-linear scenes. In the case of "Fray", this helps the narrative flow immensely. The flash-backs into Melaka Fray's past make the impact of the big-surprise-twist in the story very effective, and just adds to the entire emotional wallop. And quite a wallop it is. I've never, as of yet, been brought to tears by a comic, but I can say that "Fray" almost brought me to the misty-eyed point. The combination of stupendous characterization, an epic story that has huge (and very relatable) themes, and beautifully quirky art just make this item a great overall package.

Some of the finer points are Melaka Fray herself, who is a much more likable slayer than one Buffy Summers, who can be--at times--a bit annoying with the whole "You don't understand my suffering, so I can mistreat you attitude." Don't get me wrong, I love the Buffster, I'm just saying that it's great to meet a more... erm... lighthearted Slayer. Her, Loo, Urkonn, even the villains are so well done that I find myself aching for a sequel, or perhaps a movie adaptation.

This trade paperback (or 'graphic novel', for you uppity folks) isn't only for fans of Buffy, Angel, and Joss Whedon. Anyone who has an open mind for fantasy will pretty much enjoy this eight issue miniseries, if not for the sheer beauty of the volume.

Art: Stunning. Karl Moline's pencils do a beautiful dance across the thin line that separates REALISM with CARTOONY. The colors are bright and, as I said before, quirky, which reflects Melaka Fray's personality. The fight scenes are handled well, as is everything else; Moline manages to do something that I've witnessed many artists struggle with. He makes "ugly" characters (there are a lot of those here) adorable by bringing out their personality in their expressions. It is so very clear how closely he and Joss collaborated to make this project what it is.

Characters We Know: Think it's safe to assume that the Scoobies and the Fang Gang (or is it Angel's Avengers? Sorry, Spike) have all turned to dust by this point.

Rating: 10/10 Classic.