Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight
Issue: #23
Writer: Drew Z. Greenberg
Artist: George Jeanty
36 pp. Dark Horse Comics. $2.99
Reviewed by Tony C. Hicks
I picked up Season Eight of Buffy with some trepidation because Seasons Six and Seven were a horrid mess. On the whole, however, Season Eight is not that bad.
The good parts of Season Eight are the cover art by Jo Chen and the interior pencils by George Jeanty are consistently well done. Another good thing is the writing is done by Buffy alumni and sometimes by Joss Whedon himself. Whedon also serves as executive producer of the series.
The bad part of the series, and this is in line with Seasons Six and Seven, is that there are seemingly few if any consequences for Buffy’s behaviour. For example, in issue #9 (December 2007) she has words for Giles because he is trying to protect her from Twilight, this season’s big bad. For the moment, she has cut Giles out of her life.
Another example, in issue #12 she has a lesbian liaison with Satsu, a homosexual slayer who brought her out of a magically induced coma with a kiss of true love. Later she has breakup sex with Satsu again in lieu of comforting Xander after his girlfriend was killed by some vampires in Japan. Having sex with those under one’s command is bad enough, but to do so while one’s loyal friend is in serious emotional distress is beyond the pale.
Only Willow takes Buffy to task in issue #10 (January 2008) for her stealing from the very wealthy to finance the Slayer organization. Buffy, not to be outdone, takes Willow to task for consorting with a demon for magic lessons.
This month’s issue was written by Drew Greenberg. His writing is certainly up to par with the rest of the series. The cover and pencils are done by the aforementioned Chen and Jeanty respectively. The point of the issue is to take back an Italian island that has been annexed by Simone, a rogue slayer who will not suffer Buffy’s leadership. Simone also foregoes the mediaeval weaponry of the Slayers in favour of firearms and this displeases Buffy.
The more important point of the issue is that Andrew, one of the trio of murderers who was responsible for Tara’s death, is part of the Slayer family. This is telegraphed to the reader in the first two pages. I confess that I hate being beaten over the head with the point. One clever moment is when Andrew makes a passing reference to the Alan Moore classic, V for Vendetta. It also has a bit of a deus ex machina ending that I will not give away.
On the whole this issue is about wrapping up loose ends so that the main plotline focusing on Twilight can be resolved.
Final Grade: 80 out of 100
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