apckrfan: Back to Sunnydale: Buffy, television, comics and everything else that matters

Back to Sunnydale: Buffy, television, comics and everything else that matters

http://journalismdude.blog.com/1655461/

Sunday, April 01, 2007

This one is for Kathy and Elias

It seems unpardonable that a blog named Back to Sunnydale would fail to review the latest incarnation of Dark Horse's new Buffy comic book but my only excuse is that I have been swamped with work and even though I picked up my copy at Wizard World Los Angeles, I have had no time to comment on it. Until now.

I figured since issue #2 will be on the stands this coming Wednesday that I better say a few words before that happens. Needless to say that I am thrilled Joss is writing season 8 of the show in comic book format. The art is terrific and I loved seeing my favorite characters in action once again. I realized that my fellow reviewer from SBC Ray Tate pretty much said everything I was thinking in his recent review, so rather than rehash unoriginal thoughts, I have including his excellent appraisal of the comic here. I promise to include my own on issue #2 a little later this week after I have had the time to fully digest it.

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
"In every generation, there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer....You're the one who sees everything, aren't you....Tomorrow, Willow will use the essence of the Scythe to change our destiny. From now on, every girl in the world who might be a Slayer, will be a Slayer. Every girl who could have the power, will have the power. Can stand up. Will stand up. Slayers....Every one of us. Make your choice. Are you ready to be strong?"

Joss Whedon kicks off Buffy the Vampire Slayer with an homage of the signature shot to "Rose" in Series One of Doctor Who, where the camera pans from space, to earth, to London and Rose's flat. In the book, from black space, we home in on earth, and turn the page for a stirring illustration of Buffy Summers cabling from a black, unmarked helicopter--good one. She leads her squad of Slayers into cosmos-knows what. Like Russell T. Davies did in Doctor Who, Joss Whedon doesn't stretch things. We've been waiting for this. The Doctor materializes early in the first act of "Rose." Buffy Summers returns on the first double spread page.

Rendered by Georges Jeanty--this incarnation of Buffy Summers is a dead ringer for Sarah Michelle Gellar. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it. That is our Slayer. Throughout the panels you'll see that he even gets her height correct. Sarah Michelle Gellar is not tall. She acts tall, but Michelle Trachtenberg, who portrayed, Dawn her "little" sister is actually taller than she. Whedon, whether by accident or design, includes a follow up joke to another one he made on the show that commented on the height differences between the two actresses.

Buffy and her team cable to a magically shielded disused church. Whedon comprehends just how the fantasy genre is supposed to work. If magic can erect a shield, magic can dispel such a force. He doesn't belabor the point. Buffy fires a no doubt magically enhanced gun to cut to the chase and lead the Slayers on a foray of trademark kick-assery that Buffy the Vampire Slayer is known for.

Before we get to the battle, we find commander Xander Harris, at headquarters, watching the Slayers. Here we enjoy another example of Whedon's brilliant wit. Xander thanks to Caleb, who was literally sliced in half by Buffy, now only has one eye. He watches the Slayers, plans out the moves and acts essentially as a handler for an agent. Whedon, the comic book buff, who included scenes such as kryptonite discussions between Xander and Oz, played by Seth Green, as well as Buffy's comic book role model Power Girl, naturally includes a fantastic Nick Fury joke. The diversity is where Whedon differs from other quipsters.

Whedon directs the joke toward a number of story elements. First, there's the humor itself. Second, he anticipates what the reader thinks. Third, Whedon engages the joke to exhibit character interaction between Xander and Slayer techie Renee. This also creates an illusion of time-passage. Clearly, Xander and Renee have known each other awhile, enough to gather some insight into each other's characters. While Xander may be a Watcher, which he firmly and humorously denies, he hasn't dried out. His rapid-fire jesting remains intact, and the pain and trauma of losing an eye becomes the object of Byronesque comedy. Hence, we find the first moment in the book of underlying depth in Whedon's Wonderful World of Buffy.

While Whedon cuts to Xander, he loses none of the momentum provided by the Slayers. Via screens set up by Jeanty, we watch the Slayers enter the Church at the same time that we enjoy Xander's rapier wit. This simultaneous usage of the comic book medium in addition eliminates the padding potential for endless-corridor syndrome, where characters are shown moving almost in real time down corridors, or other uninteresting architectural features.

Slayers don't dawdle. When faced with a door, they kick it down, and if you're a Slayer, that door's going to fly. The scene where Buffy kicks down the door is a terrific moment carried out with gusto in the pencils and inks and colors. There's just so many ways you can mess up a scene like that, but Jeanty, Owens and Stewart get it so very right. Monsters wait behind the door, and so begins the scenes that put the slay in Slayer. Three ugly super-strong monster brutes versus one short, slight blonde. Put your money on Buffy.

The series made terrific use of comic book sensibilities when Buffy faced the monsters, but there were obvious limitations--such as switches from actress to stunt double and budget. Here the budget's unlimited, and the author and artists take advantage of these bottomless coffers. The monsters from the series were beautifully designed, and the actors who portrayed the monsters did superb jobs, but the size of the monsters in the comic book exceed most of what was seen on the series. The alien nature of the monsters could have only been done with CGI or stop animation, but Buffy the Vampire Slayer was broadcast before CGI's evolution, and puppetry that would have taken too long. The scenes in the comic book are pure. It's Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy beating the gore out of hideous monsters. No make-up or animatronics. No green screen. No switches.

The next scene exemplifies what's different. The Slayers that came before Buffy fought alone. What made Buffy unusual from the very beginning was the involvement of her friends and her Watcher, Giles. Now, she has the back up of Slayer Squads, who announce their presence with well-timed violence.

The aftermath of the melee produces the clues to a mystery. This gives Buffy a moment to display her experience as the Slayer. There is only one Buffy, and she has lived, died twice, lived again and outwitted, out battled everything thrown at her. She's clever. She's resourceful, and she has seen a helluva lot. That said, the mystery proves baffling to Buffy and Xander, who cope with the enigma through smart, snarky repartee that speaks of their long friendship.

Two new players arrive on the scene. One stays off panel and mysterious. Whedon seems to be building the idea that it may be Spike or Angel, vampires with souls and smitten with our Slayer. That though doesn't seem likely since in the Joss Whedon universe, vampires do not fly, nor do they change into bats and the like. He may be a powerful mage of some sort.

The next player in the field is the United States Government. Now, Whedon I doubt is making a political statement. Rather through the machismo of the U.S. military, still unfortunately one of the most inhospitable places for women, he shows how mankind in general just might act if the playing field was leveled. The reason why women have been raped and abused by men is in part because the average man is simply physically stronger than the average woman, but what if every girl who wanted to be stronger suddenly become stronger? Whedon gave a taste of this in a montage of consequences from Willow's spell. In one scene, a woman cowering from a male fist suddenly gains the abilities of a Slayer. Things change.

The military--here symbolizing mankind--want the leveling of the field stopped. They want to return the status quo. Traditionally without strength, a man is useless. The Slayers make the military--mankind--useless. Enlightened men, like Xander Harris, Giles, Spike, Angel, Riley, Robin, Andrew, Jonathan, side and have sided with the Slayers. They don't agree with the stereotype behavior of certain men, but these men are few and far between. They represent the future where Slayers and men living together in harmony to fight the monsters that see humans merely as brunch. Likewise, while the Slayers are a sisterhood, the surprise ending--bringing back a character I never would have guessed to appear--suggests that women can be just as asinine and just as disloyal as men.

Much as with any of Whedon's projects, there are always outsiders that defy the very symbolism he sets up, and in this respect, we get to see just how much fun the author is having while writing. For example, so many academics have linked sex with traumatic change in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, yet it's not that simple. While it's true that Buffy having sex with Angel released Angelus the monster, her sex with Spike when he possessed a soul was not devastating and was fulfilling. As well, Willow has had three sexual partners in the series, and that sex hasn't triggered suffering. Angel, whose curse seemed to prevent him from having sex, found fulfillment in a charming girl, who also happens to be a werewolf.

In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dawn apparently experiences a sexual trauma, but Whedon fully aware of the reputation he's gained from knee-jerk critics, makes the consequences of her apparent sexual contact a hilarious moment. She suffers, but not in the way you think. The scene furthermore gives Jeanty, Owens and Stewart the leave to craft sequences displaying Buffy's sheer gladness over Dawn's predicament. She grins upon seeing her sister. Her body language is perfectly goofy, and the scenes are quite possibly some of the best comedic moments in comics, equal to any bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha from Justice League. Just to make sure, his readers know that he's not cleverly speaking out against sex, he includes a quiet moment for Buffy that neatly catches up the reader to her mind-set and gives the reader a window into Buffy's thoughts on a variety of subjects, including sex.

In the Buffyverse, girls can be anything they choose. They can be Slayers, witches and technicians. They are not objectified. They are respected. They are feared. Buffy is back, and "the earth is defended."

The Slayer Handbook--Buffy Speak

"Vaped"--Vaporized

"Five-by-Five"--Introduced by fellow Slayer Faith in the television series--"Everything's fine."

"Copy"--Get.

"Bad math"--Bad sitch (situation).

"Muppety Odin"--Odin as a Muppet, surely that one was obvious. Ah, but is it more than that? A puppet god perhaps? The idea of a god being useless as a puppet? An allusion to Angel turning into a puppet in his television series? Nah. Odin as a Muppet