If you have not seen seasons 1-7 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and plan to do so, stop reading now as this review contains spoilers of Buffy's original run. "Yeah, Buffy. What are we gonna do now?" said Dawn Summers in the moments following Sunnydale, CA's - Buffy & Co.'s hometown with the unfortunate luck to sit atop the Hellmouth - complete and utter destruction in Buffy's final fight against the First Evil. Buffy contemplates, staring at the large pit below - all the remains of Sunnydale and, theoretically, her troubles - and smiles. Fade to black.
This was the last moment of "Chosen" - the series finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer at the end of its 7 season run. Buffy's kid sister got the last line, and we got no real sign of what was to come next for Buffy. All we got was a contemplative stare, and a smile. I think we assumed Buffy would go on to live a more or less normal life - what, with the hellmouth gone and dozens more slayers to take the helm, what more was there for Buffy, who had already outlived (not for a lack of trying to die twice) every slayer that came before her, but to retire into a life of normalcy?
Of course, Whedon had different plans for our beloved heroine. But I just got ahead of myself.
Before the television series was the campy cult classic of the same name. Not much was shared between the two - the film version was cut up and made into something quite different than its creator Joss Whedon intended - beyond having vampires and the eponymous vampire slayer. The show had started on the-then WB and ran on that network for 5 years before moving to UPN for its last two seasons (the WB and UPN would later merge to become The CW). If you haven't watched it, you should. It is my favorite television series of all time.
The series ended in 2003 and, as far as fans were concerned, it was over. We'd have another season of Buffy's noir-esque spin-off series, Angel (which followed the brooding vampire with a soul - and Buffy's former boyfriend/soul mate/nemesis - named Angel as he tried to solve supernatural crimes in Los Angeles), but that series would end after five seasons when the CW was formed. There were rumors of spin-off television series or films - projects that would have followed bad-boy vampire Spike, bad girl vampire slayer Faith, or Buffy's mentor (Watcher) Rupert Giles' adventures in London - but none would come to fruition. Buffy and the Bufferverse was, essentially, close to expiration.
This all changed, of course, when Dark Horse Comics announced Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 - a 40-issue comic book canonical return to the characters of the original series - in 2007. The continuation would run through 2011, only to be followed by seasons nine, ten, and - soon - eleven. Angel got the same treatment with After the Fall and, later, Angel & Faith. The gang was back, and fans of the original series were elated to see just what Buffy and the gang did after that last scene of the series.
There are eight main story arcs - with several standalone stories - over the course of the eighth season. The first story arc, The Long Way Home, takes place at least a year and a half after the events of "Chosen," and season eight exists after the events of Angel's final seaso. It opens with Buffy leading an army of slayers while holed up in a castle in Scotland. The original gang is here, too. Best friend Xander runs ops behind the scenes. Kid sister Dawn is now a giant due to a spell put on her after having sex with a thricewise demon (giving new definition to "growing pains). Willow, though not present in the first story of the arc, reemerges - now a powerful witch. But not all is well, and new enemies are emerging: the military has labeled Buffy and her legion of slayers as a terrorist cell due to the destruction of Sunnydale (and, let's be honest, their likely ties to the demons that oppose Buffy and the other slayers) and have enlisted the help of Amy, a dark witch (former friend of Buffy & Co.) who was found in the rubble of Sunnydale, and her boyfriend Warren (the once evil genius who later shot Buffy, killed Willow's girlfriend Tara, and whose skin was flayed off by evil Willow following the shooting and death of the two aforementioned characters - WOW is it difficult to summarize all this spoilery backstory). Also included in this collection is a one-shot story about one of Buffy's decoys, who is killed by demons who think she is Buffy.
The main issues of The Long Way Home often feel like they are easing us back into the world of Buffy, which is understandable. Although Whedon does not retread into old territory too much, it feels like a story even someone who hasn't watched the original run could enjoy. It's full of action, and the sharp writing the original series - and for what Whedon is known - is still here. It's witty, it's smart, it's fun, and, for a fan of the original series, it feels like home.
The problem is, not enough happens in this first arc. In fact, Buffy is put under a spell that makes her fall asleep and entreat into her nightmares for the majority of the arc (though seeing the reemergence of Ethan Rayne was welcome), while the other slayers are in the middle of the action. We do get a nice reintroduction to the other main players - in particular, Xander, Dawn, Willow, Andrew, and, if ever so briefly, Giles - as well as familiar villains like Amy and Warren, but we don't get enough time, in my opinion, with our favorite Slayer.
The artwork, I should mention, is incredible. Not only on the interior pages - which are often both vibrant and dark, somehow - but, most notably, the cover art by Jo Chen.
In the end, this first story arc of Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic book continuation is promising. It has all the pieces of the original story, including the characters we adore. I read through the season when it was first released, so it's been a few years - and I honestly was surprised by some of the reveals in this first arc (even if it was my second tread into season eight). While not much of note happens in this first arc, it was a wonderful reintroduction to the Buffyverse. I am so excited for the rest of season eight, and beyond.
*A note about how graphic novels (which I consider this collection to be, even if it was originally issued periodically) fit in with my macguffolutions: this year, I am trying to broaden the scope of what I read. Among this broader scope is more nonfiction and - you guessed it - graphics novels. There is a lot of debate over whether graphic novels should be considered "reading" - whether it's due to length or due to the artwork present. It has words. I read the words. And it's bound together like a paperback. Therefore, I'm counting it towards my reading goals for 2017.
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