Buffy: The Vampire Slayer (Season 8) #6 - 9 "No Future For You" Talkback (Spoilers)

[Xurk]

The second arc in Season 8... Faith-centric, hooray!

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #6

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http://images.comicbookresources.com/solicits/darkhorse/200709/sm/BUFFY2-6-FC-FNL.jpg (http://images.comicbookresources.com/solicits/darkhorse/200709/BUFFY2-6-FC-FNL.jpg)

WRITER: Brian K. Vaughan
PENCILS: Georges Jeanty

THE STORY: The second arc of our bestselling Season Eight starts here. Top creator Brian K. Vaughan ( Y: The Last Man; Pride of Baghdad; Lost ) takes over writing duties and dives headlong into what Faith is up to—infiltration, assassination, and nonstop Cleveland. The fugitive Slayer is given the assignment that could change her life . . . if Giles's specialized training doesn't make her want to end it first. Artist Georges Jeanty ( The American Way ) remains at the top of his game—and Joss Whedon stays on as Executive Producer—in this first part of “No Future for You.”

Thoughts? What are your comments?

[creeper]

Did everyone give up on Buffy?

[Xurk]

No, never! Just didn't get 'round to posting a comment on this issue :sweat:

I liked the small cameo by Robin Wood in the beginning of this issue and I thought that Brian K. Vaughan did a good job taking over the writing chores from Joss, he seemed to "get" Faith as a character, which kept the authenticity of the book on a high enough level.

Quite a bit of Giles too here, which is always positive. The psycho Slayer kidnapping and killing other new Slayers was an interesting development, I'd like to see where that heads to. And Faith being taugh to act like a real lady is bound to be funny :)
My only [slight] complaint with this issue is how it seemed to take a big step back to season 3/4 Buffy and season 1 Angel with Faith's characterization. I thought by now she had dealt with most of her insecurity issues and such.

[creeper]

I always get my copy a month late. I'm surprised the others haven't written anything. I thought everyone was on board.

[Shawn Hopkins]

This arc is fantastic, but it also makes me sad. It was originally supposed to be a Faith tv movie that will almost certainly never happen now, and from the story so far it would have been a good one.

[Xurk]

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #7

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http://images.comicbookresources.com/solicits/darkhorse/200710/sm/BuffySeason8Fc7Alt.jpg (http://images.comicbookresources.com/solicits/darkhorse/200710/BuffySeason8Fc7Alt.jpg)

WRITER: Brian K. Vaughan
PENCILS: Georges Jeanty

THE STORY: Faith’s out to kill a Slayer.

Lady Genevieve Savidge is one of the most dangerous women on the planet. If she’s left unstopped, the British heiress will usher in the apocalypse. Faith has accepted Giles’s offer of an early retirement package for this gig—but the wetworks will have to wait till she’s infiltrated Savidge’s mystically protected estate.

Thoughts? What are your comments?

[Shawn Hopkins]

You know, what would have been great is if the last issue showed us more of the "My Fair Lady" stuff. Faith balancing books on her head, learning to wear pretty dresses and ride horses and trying to get rid of her Boston accent.

[Xurk]

Fun issue :)

Jo Chen sure does a tremendous job on those photo-realistic covers! You could swear that it's actually Anthony Stewart Head sitting there as Giles! Faith doesn't really look like Eliza Dushku though, but still, a good job on the cover.

I liked the flashback sequence to Graduation Day, one of the classic BtVS scenes. It was amusing to see Faith speak in such a manner that she did to those glorified bouncers :) A shame we couldn't hear her faux accent though. The exchange between Willow and Dawn was great and yet again so Buffy-esque, this book excels in dialogue which is a real accomplishment. Also, the panel where Willow says: "Um, because he's a thricewise?" really nailed Willow as for facial expression!

Oh yeah, I loved Faith's response to: "Mind if I bum a ***?" :D
Gigi sure was quick in trusting Faith, this should make for an interesting fake alliance, I'm curious to see how Faith continues with the plan, especially now that it turns out Buffy is the prime target for Gigi!
That final splash page of Gigi sure was reminiscent of Fairuza Balk in The Craft by the way!

[Xurk]

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #8

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http://images.comicbookresources.com/solicits/darkhorse/200711/sm/BUFFY2-8-FC.jpg (http://images.comicbookresources.com/solicits/darkhorse/200711/BUFFY2-8-FC.jpg)

WRITER: Brian K. Vaughan
PENCILS: Georges Jeanty

THE STORY: Faith hits the ground running after she infiltrates the estate of a rogue Slayer, that is until Buffy pops in and is confronted by her longtime nemesis. Certainly, chaos ensues.

Thoughts? What are your comments?

[creeper]

It looks like the story is progressing nicely. I do love how much Buffy vexes faith.

I feel bad for her. She's what Buffy would be if she had no friends or support system. If there wasn't a Buffy to compare her to, it's like she'd truly be the hero.

[Al Nickerson]

I am very pleased with BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: SEASON EIGHT. I am so happy to see a canonical continuation of Buffy in comics.

In the letters page of issue #8, Scott Allie mentions that the person who kissed Buffy from issue #3 has been revealed. Did I miss something? Who was it that kissed Buffy?

[creeper]

I am very pleased with BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: SEASON EIGHT. I am so happy to see a canonical continuation of Buffy in comics.

In the letters page of issue #8, Scott Allie mentions that the person who kissed Buffy from issue #3 has been revealed. Did I miss something? Who was it that kissed Buffy?

I think it was the asian girl. Buffy tried her lip gloss, and it was a cinni type lip gloss.

[Xurk]

Correct :) For anyone else that still hasn't caught it, here are the panels concerning this subject, from issues #3 and #4 respectively:

http://www.xurk.net/upload/btvs3.jpg http://www.xurk.net/upload/btvs4.jpg


On issue #8:
It was too bad Faith and Buffy had to "have at it", seeing as their characters have grown so much from who they were back in season three. I thought after Faith's redemption in Angel season one and four and her working with Buffy in season seven [of BtVS] against The First, Faith had earned Buffy's trust. I guess I'm just re-iterating what I commented on after reading issue #6.
Faith's eventual lash out at Buffy was well built-up to and dealt with appropriately though and I'd like to see how they react to one another next time they meet. It was bad timing for Willow to "steal" Buffy back, as now Faith is going to have to face berserker-Slayer all on her own...

[Xurk]

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER SEASON 8 #9

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http://images.darkhorse.com/covers/100/14/14665.jpg (http://images.darkhorse.com/covers/14/14665.jpg) http://images.darkhorse.com/covers/100/14/14843.jpg (http://images.darkhorse.com/covers/300/14/14843.jpg)

WRITER: Brian K. Vaughan
COVERS BY: Jo Chen & Georges Jeanty
PENCILS: Georges Jeanty

THE STORY: Slayers battle to the death in the thrilling conclusion to Brian K. Vaughan's four-issue run on Buffy Season Eight.

Thoughts? What are your comments?

[Shawn Hopkins]

Issue 8 was fantastic. Brian K. Vaughn really seems to get inside Faith's head, you know, and he picks up on the struggle for redemption she's been fighting with. That really wasn't properly developed after her appearances in the first season of Angel until now. This arc would have made a fantastic Faith movie and, in a perfect world, a fantastic two hour pilot for a Faith series. I've actually enjoyed this arc a little better than the first one, if only because there was so much going on in the first arc it felt a little bit unfocused and rushed.

Oh, and it was interesting that Buffy's first response was to hit Faith. She's always jumped to the worst possible conclusion with her. I agree that the status quo changed a little bit in season seven, except for the time Faith tried to take over Buffy's gang and stuff. But I guess the fact that Faith pushed her out a window ignited her lingering distrust.

[creeper]

It was nice to see Giles stick up for Faith for once. It seems like his relationship with Buffy is strained right now, anyways. Buffy seems to get very self-righteous when Faith is involved. I don't think she'll ever have a clear head in that respect.

Good ep...er arc.

[Xurk]

A nice conclusion to this story arc :)

I still have my issues with the relationship between Faith and Buffy being so strained, as by the end of season seven it seemed to be going pretty well between them, so...
Also, was Buffy and Gile's relationship already strained before this "betrayal" that Buffy felt from Giles, or was that the cause of the cracks? I wasn't sure what this issue was implying as for that, seeing as the scene where Giles tells Faith about it occurs after the phone call he had with Buffy.

I liked the flashback to the scene with The Mayor, it's always nice to see nods back to BtVS continuity. I also liked the classic BtVS-ish dialogue, such as Faith referring to Giles as: "Conan the Librarian" :D

I'm looking forward to the next issue, written by Joss himself once again!

[Miyamoto Musashi]

Are the comics based on the TV series or are the TV series based on the comics?

[Xurk]

The comics are an official continuation of the TV series, "canon" so to say. So says Whedon! :p

[Xurk]

The first of two consecutive standalone issues of this title, written by Whedon himself. And wow, that is one beautiful cover!

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #10

http://images.comicbookresources.com/solicits/darkhorse/200801/sm/BUFFY2-10-FC-FNL.jpg (http://images.comicbookresources.com/solicits/darkhorse/200801/BUFFY2-10-FC-FNL.jpg)

WRITER: Joss Whedon
COVER BY: Georges Jeanty
PENCILS: Cliff Richards

THE STORY: Buffy and Willow meet a demon who reveals a dim future, forcing the two to reflect on their past. Meanwhile, back in Scotland, Dawn confides in Xander the deed that led to her mysterious growth spurt.

Thoughts? What are your comments?

[Miyamoto Musashi]

Season 3 was the last good season in my opinion. Season 4 is not bad and the rest hadn't appeal to me, especially with Oz going away, Willow's life turn and the coming of Buffy's sister. So I don't suppose the comics are going to be good

[Xurk]

It's too bad you feel that the quality of the TV series ebbed away as it progressed. I do agree with you that season 4 was the least in terms of quality from the first four seasons, but each of the seasons that followed 4 had their moments, from cool to unforgettable.

But anyhow, seeing as we're discussing the comics here, have you picked up any of the Season 8 comics? I can't tell from your response if you haven't and expect them to be less than stellar, or if you actually have read some of them...
If you haven't picked any up yet, I suggest you try them out! So far, the first arc [Buffy-centric], the standalone "filler" issue and the second arc [Faith-centric] were great and felt like actual Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes, something I was worried they wouldn't be able to achieve.
Thankfully, they proved me wrong :)

The book is also doing tremendously well sales-wise, ranking in the monthly top 10 sold comic books pretty consistently, IIRC.

[Adam Tyner]

Maybe I've just spent a little too much time away from Joss' style of writing, but the dialogue this time around seemed more 'precious' than usual. I mean the sheer volume of it more than anything else -- it seemed like every couple of panels had some sort of Whedonesque wordplay in there, and it started to feel overwhelming after a while.

It's a character-centric issue this time around, one that's quieter compared to the somewhat more action-oriented issues that've come before it. There are enough romantic-tinged bombshells in there that I'll probably have to re-read this issue a couple of times to really shore up much more an opinion. The movie-and-TV-coupling-fantasies pretty consistently got a laugh from me, tho'.

[Xurk]

You're right, this was a tougher issue to digest than the previous ones... so much was happening, visually and verbally, sometimes it was easy to get lost in the story. I did like getting an examination of Willow and Buffy's current relationship though, and Willow getting some character development is a terrific thing.
I didn't entirely get the ending though. The two are shown as drifted apart due to the revelations in this issue, but I wouldn't think that Buffy would feel so sad about Willow keeping Kennedy away for the fear of her getting hurt like Tara did - it seems logical to me. Or could it be more about Willow saying that she "chose" Buffy over Tara, which led to Tara's death? [that last possibility just shot into me while typing this]

The scenes with Dawn and Xander were great and fun, though I'm confused... is her current giant state due to her doing the nasty with a thricewise, or just with "this Nick fellah"?? :confused:

Seeing Willow literally intertwined with that female demon was fun, as were all the actor references from Buffy, Daniel Craig and Christian Bale; especially the last one was typical BtVS humour: "Christian Bale, you and I will waltz obscenely close in plain view, while Reign Of Fire Christian Bale saddles the horses." :D

Oh yeah, those were some pretty powerful letters in the back of the issue, which were entered in that contest... I never knew BtVS had made such an impact on some people.

[Ruffian]

Just finished this arc and the best part of it is the Faith/Giles partnership in the end. After how these two characters have changed over time it feels like a natural direction to take.

I also really like Faith stepping up and taking on the mission to help misguided slayers from the dark side. It's nice to see her not lost, finally coming into her own, and taking the lead instead of being a recruit.

I don't have as much love for Giles since the end of Season 5, but I'm warming up to him now. Just a little. It'll be interesting to see what he and Faith can learn from each other and about each other.

Can't wait to see what stories are instore for these two.