Naturally, your ever-lovin’, blue-eyed Keeper is a huge fan of Buffy The Vampire Slayer - especially those first few seasons where Joss Whedon & Co. could do no wrong.
Despite Whedon’s professed love of Kitty Pryde, the earliest episodes of Buffy had much in common with the Stan Lee/Steve Ditko Spider-Man: a high-school outcast who reluctantly risked life and limb for individuals who shunned their friendly, neighborhood vampire slayer.
The X-Men connection was more apparent among the show’s supporting characters - freaks and geeks who banded together because nobody else would have them.
(Even “cool kids” like Angel and Cordelia were essentially damaged goods … )
Alas, like many high school-oriented dramas Buffy lost a good deal of its edge once the show graduated to the “real world.” Whedon turned his attention to the Angel spin-off and - eventually - Firefly.
Under the stewardship of Marti Noxon, BTVS plunged headlong into the brand of convoluted darkness that mucked up Claremont’s X-Men and (more to the point) Sam Raimi’s Xena: Warrior Princess.
The show still offered its share of strong episodes, but as the years wore on Buffy and the Scoobies increasingly found themselves floundering through life as if they were cast in the TV version of Reality Bites.
It didn’t help that lead actress Sarah Michelle Gellar, who complained of the series’ direction in the later years, lacked the will and/or ability to bring a darker and less-than-heroic Buffy to life.
(The Keeper can’t help but compare SMG to Kristen Bell of Veronica Mars, who delves into the self-destructive depths of her character without sacrificing any inherent charm.)
By the time the seventh - and concluding season - arrived, Buffy’s character appeared unsalvageable.
However, the supporting cast’s typically strong performance (coupled with the welcome return of Eliza Dushku’s Faith) and the larger-than-life feel of the finale bought the series to a satisfying close.
Which brings us to the ostensible reason for this long-winded post: Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season 8 #1.
Liberated from such Hollywood constraints as temperamental actors and big-budget special effects, Whedon and artist Georges Jeanty create a larger-than-life scenario that casts Buffy & Co. as global operatives who find themselves on the wrong side of the U.S. government’s homeland security paranoia.
Like much of Whedon’s comics work, the issue felt more like the initial 10 minutes of an hour-long TV program than the first chapter of a five-issue arc.
Yet, what Whedon lacks in plot development is more than compensated by the joy of seeing beloved characters back in action.
Buffy Summers is still a bit glum, but her world-weariness is tempered by a sense of duty to her charges (who - in this issue at least - resemble a Danger Girl remix of The Blackhawks, which is a friggin’ awesome idea when you think of it … ) and the world.
It’s no surprise that Whedon has resurrected the Slayer’s sense of humor. However, we never expected to see Buffy so likable again - a neat development that truly provides this series a truly fresh slate to work upon.
Readers are also reacquainted with Dawn Summers - who finally has a legitimate reason to pout - and Xander Harris, a “watcher” who’s still geek enough to crack a Nick Fury joke.
If Whedon and Dark Horse manage to maintain this level of quality - and get the book out on time - the Season 8 comic may end up a better alternative to a reunion show or movie.
Hmm … comics outdoing both television and movies by playing to the medium’s ultimate strength - unlimited imagination.
Now there’s a concept, Mr. Whedon …
Grade: A
