It was "The Chain" that killed the comics for me; I got half way through, decided that it was utter drivel, and stopped reading. I haven't been able to force myself to start again.
It's incredible how differently people see the same stories. I remember that simonf called Buffyverse fandom the most fragmentized fandom ever! I met a lot of people who didn't like The Chain and a lot of people who like it but perceive it from a totally opposite viewpoint.
Re The Chain: I'm copy-pasting my reply to sueworld2003 up the thread:
To me, The Chain is a brilliant exploration of a hero as a monster. A regular hero is usually a brainwashed person who is ready to die for a higher purpose. It's people who fought and died for Stalin, for Hitler. Japanese kamikaze pilots. Al-Qaeda terrorists.
I suppose my background played a role. I met people who fought in Soviet-Afghan war and killed Afghan civilians. And they were regarded as heroes. And I know that they'd sacrifice their lives saving Russian women and children as willingly and without second thoughts as they killed Afghan women and children.
Maybe because of my background, to me, decoy!Buffy is the ultimate existential hero. She fought in the war where both sides are bad guys. She has provoked the demons and unleashed the war in which many creatures of different species died. She was brainwashed by shiny Council slogans and she has done a lot of harm.
Yet she saved without hesitation her schoolmates when she has stopped the truck in the schoolyard. She believed she did the right thing when she has started the war. And she died believing she's a hero.
And, ultimately, it's the only thing that matters.
no subject
It's incredible how differently people see the same stories. I remember that
Re The Chain: I'm copy-pasting my reply to
To me, The Chain is a brilliant exploration of a hero as a monster. A regular hero is usually a brainwashed person who is ready to die for a higher purpose. It's people who fought and died for Stalin, for Hitler. Japanese kamikaze pilots. Al-Qaeda terrorists.
I suppose my background played a role. I met people who fought in Soviet-Afghan war and killed Afghan civilians. And they were regarded as heroes. And I know that they'd sacrifice their lives saving Russian women and children as willingly and without second thoughts as they killed Afghan women and children.
Maybe because of my background, to me, decoy!Buffy is the ultimate existential hero. She fought in the war where both sides are bad guys. She has provoked the demons and unleashed the war in which many creatures of different species died. She was brainwashed by shiny Council slogans and she has done a lot of harm.
Yet she saved without hesitation her schoolmates when she has stopped the truck in the schoolyard. She believed she did the right thing when she has started the war. And she died believing she's a hero.
And, ultimately, it's the only thing that matters.