Willowhugger
12-31-2007, 08:20 AM
Buffy Season 8# *SPOILERS*
I'm really enjoying this and kind of think it's a much better version
of Season 4. Buffy Summers is leading an army of Slayers against the
forces of evil spread across the world while hoping that she can
finally bring about the end of all the world's vampires and demons.
Unfortunately, no sooner does she assemble her army than the United
States government and other parties want to shut her down for it. With
no budgetary constraints, what I presume to be the Initiative is much
more powerful and impressive.
It's really like visiting a bunch of Old Friends. They manage to bring
out all the humor and fun from the original series with certain
characters that never got enough attention on the show (Faith, Dawn,
and Robin Wood) all getting nice little bits. Since Anthony Stewart
Head no longer needs to commute from England, we also get to see Giles
used as much as possible. I've missed Giles since Season 5 and am glad
he's back. Plus, you can have such utterly non-Television show moments
like Dawn becoming a 25ft tall 16-year old.
The second Story Arc was focused on Faith, Buffy's former rival, and
we get to see her continue on the road to redemption after all of her
bumpy starts. Faith has been given the unenviable task of taking down
a Duchess' daughter whose inherited the powers of the Slayer but is
utterly evil. Unfortunately, Faith also deals with the fact that
"Gigi" is one of the few people that is genuinely nice to her. While
Buffy is a hero, the fact that the title character of the comic hates
Faith (you know---for attempting to kill her all those times) is
nicely realistic. Faith is trying to do the right thing but Buffy will
never forgive or trust her.
I've heard that Joss is going to be 30-40 issue "Season 8" and bring
it to a direct close, basically keeping the issue format down pat. I
appreciate when authors are straight up about how long it'll take to
actually finish a story arc. It makes me know that he won't drag out a
storyline indefinitely.
The fact that all of this is "canonical" is also a major boon since I
know this is what's happening to the REAL buffy.
Angel: After the Fall *SPOILERS*
I'm less enthused about Angel: The Fall due to the simple fact that it
seems far too removed from the television series to be entirely taken
series. Basically, the bizarre plot seems to be that Los Angeles has
either been totally overrun with demons or has literally been sucked
into Hell. Somehow, this seems to overshadow what happened to
Sunnydale that is a major focus of Season 8.
I'd like to believe that Angel has just been sucked with a lot of
residents of Los Angeles into a "false" version of the city that's
somewhere in Wolfram and Hart's Senior Partner's Home Dimension. That
would make it far more believable and is entirely within the power of
the godlike Demonic entities. My suspension of disbelief being broken
is something that makes After-The-Fall to be very hard to enjoy.
I am pleased by the return of several old friends, however. Charles
Gunn and Wesley Wyndam-Price both died in the Season Finale against
the Demonic Armies of Wolfram and Hart yet the story couldn't continue
without them. I'm pleased that Angel chose one of my solutions for the
storyline by having Wesley show up as a ghost. I was TOTALLY BLOWN
AWAY by what they chose to do to Charles Gunn, however, and rather
saddened by how he manages to *finger quotes* survive *finger quotes*
the final battle.
Honestly, I think the series is going more for shock value than it is
for genuine entertainment. While it's entirely within my belief that
Spike might attempt to set himself up as ruler of Beverly Hills with
an army of bathing beauties around him, it seems to come off as a bit
lurid to be honest. Also, Joss Whedon's comic books along with
television shows are very feminist while the women in this comic seem
to be rather uhh.....well it came off at times like I was reading Sin
City to be frank.
Since there's only two issues, there might be a point to this "Fall of
Human Civilization" style story that I'm missing but right now it just
seems wayyyy too over the top.
I'm really enjoying this and kind of think it's a much better version
of Season 4. Buffy Summers is leading an army of Slayers against the
forces of evil spread across the world while hoping that she can
finally bring about the end of all the world's vampires and demons.
Unfortunately, no sooner does she assemble her army than the United
States government and other parties want to shut her down for it. With
no budgetary constraints, what I presume to be the Initiative is much
more powerful and impressive.
It's really like visiting a bunch of Old Friends. They manage to bring
out all the humor and fun from the original series with certain
characters that never got enough attention on the show (Faith, Dawn,
and Robin Wood) all getting nice little bits. Since Anthony Stewart
Head no longer needs to commute from England, we also get to see Giles
used as much as possible. I've missed Giles since Season 5 and am glad
he's back. Plus, you can have such utterly non-Television show moments
like Dawn becoming a 25ft tall 16-year old.
The second Story Arc was focused on Faith, Buffy's former rival, and
we get to see her continue on the road to redemption after all of her
bumpy starts. Faith has been given the unenviable task of taking down
a Duchess' daughter whose inherited the powers of the Slayer but is
utterly evil. Unfortunately, Faith also deals with the fact that
"Gigi" is one of the few people that is genuinely nice to her. While
Buffy is a hero, the fact that the title character of the comic hates
Faith (you know---for attempting to kill her all those times) is
nicely realistic. Faith is trying to do the right thing but Buffy will
never forgive or trust her.
I've heard that Joss is going to be 30-40 issue "Season 8" and bring
it to a direct close, basically keeping the issue format down pat. I
appreciate when authors are straight up about how long it'll take to
actually finish a story arc. It makes me know that he won't drag out a
storyline indefinitely.
The fact that all of this is "canonical" is also a major boon since I
know this is what's happening to the REAL buffy.
Angel: After the Fall *SPOILERS*
I'm less enthused about Angel: The Fall due to the simple fact that it
seems far too removed from the television series to be entirely taken
series. Basically, the bizarre plot seems to be that Los Angeles has
either been totally overrun with demons or has literally been sucked
into Hell. Somehow, this seems to overshadow what happened to
Sunnydale that is a major focus of Season 8.
I'd like to believe that Angel has just been sucked with a lot of
residents of Los Angeles into a "false" version of the city that's
somewhere in Wolfram and Hart's Senior Partner's Home Dimension. That
would make it far more believable and is entirely within the power of
the godlike Demonic entities. My suspension of disbelief being broken
is something that makes After-The-Fall to be very hard to enjoy.
I am pleased by the return of several old friends, however. Charles
Gunn and Wesley Wyndam-Price both died in the Season Finale against
the Demonic Armies of Wolfram and Hart yet the story couldn't continue
without them. I'm pleased that Angel chose one of my solutions for the
storyline by having Wesley show up as a ghost. I was TOTALLY BLOWN
AWAY by what they chose to do to Charles Gunn, however, and rather
saddened by how he manages to *finger quotes* survive *finger quotes*
the final battle.
Honestly, I think the series is going more for shock value than it is
for genuine entertainment. While it's entirely within my belief that
Spike might attempt to set himself up as ruler of Beverly Hills with
an army of bathing beauties around him, it seems to come off as a bit
lurid to be honest. Also, Joss Whedon's comic books along with
television shows are very feminist while the women in this comic seem
to be rather uhh.....well it came off at times like I was reading Sin
City to be frank.
Since there's only two issues, there might be a point to this "Fall of
Human Civilization" style story that I'm missing but right now it just
seems wayyyy too over the top.