BtVS # 15, AtF # 8 reviews

[moscow_watcher]

BtVS issue 15

Summary:

The majority of panels in issue 15 depict the big battle against Japanese vampires. As it usually happens on BtVS, characters metaphorically fight their fears and frustrations - and win. Dawn faces Mecha!Dawn (complete with a lizard tail!) who is programmed as a whiny teenager - and decapitates her. Willow fights with a witch Kumiko - a metaphor of her dark side resurfacing in a desperate situation - and, thanks to Buffy's intervention, wins. (Looks like Willow and Kumiko had learned their magic from the same source - woman-snake Saga Vasuki). Xander gets the chance to avenge Renee's death thus finishing his transformation from Xander Harris to Xander Fury, as Tallgent says in his wonderful review. Buffy learns to delegate - she orders Satsu to lead Slayers when she jumps down to help Willow. Dracula symbolically hands Xander to Buffy after the battle. Buffy has a farewell sex with Satsu who wants to stay away to stop loving her and stays in Tokyo as a field leader thus getting a promotion. Xander spreads Renee's ashes on the wind.

Spoilery thoughts:

Willow and Saga Vasuki. I think Willow turned to her to resurrect Kennedy. As a result Willow - advertently or inadvertently, traded her knowledge with Saga Vasuki, who, in turn, gave tips to Kumiko. Including the information about the Scythe. Could it be the betrayal in question? By "somebody very close"?

Dawn. As it was already revealed by the cover of issue 18, poor girl will turn into a Centaur. Very unexpected but pretty logical. She has overcome her whiny self, time to deal with inter-species sex. After all, Centaurs were the first hybrid of human and non-human races (I watch too much BSG).

Xander and Buffy. Looks like they both are conveniently single, finally, and Bander ship is ready to raise the sails. (But of course it won't happen immediately because Buffy will to to Frayverse in the next issue).

I wonder if Satsu getting a promotion immediately after sleeping with Buffy should be regarded as a bad thing or it was just a plot convention, like Xander spreading Renee's ashes instead of sending the urn to her relatives. Interestingly, two prominent supporting players - two "love interests" - were written out of the show simultaneously, opening the door to Frayverse characters.

Some musings:

Well, it's official: I'm old. I'm a fan of a previous generation. I expected Godzilla to make an appearance. It never occured to me that Goddard may introduce a mecha. But, at least, the robot has a reptilian tail, so I feel oddly comfortable with Mecha!Dawn.

I'm asking myself again if I will ever learn to enjoy comics properly. My problem is that I got used to texts, to movies. BtVS season 8 were my first comics. When I started reading them I struggled through and wondered if Joss has lost his creative streak. But recently I read the script of Dollhouse pilot - and it was a feast. Gripping story, well-defined characters, intriguing twists - I was totally captivated. And now I think I enjoyed it so much because it was a text. I read it and I could mentally "see" what I read. And the pictures in my brain moved and talked, I could "hear" Eliza's voice with her typical inflections, I could "see" Tahmoh's reactions, I could easily project my own vision on the words on the page.

But I can't make comics panels "move" no matter how hard I try. Maybe it's because I don't have any previous experience in comics - but to me it's like Beethoven's symphonies in a hip-hop arrangement.

On the other hand, deird1's essay helped me to realise one important thing. As long as I regard season 8 not as a sequel but as a reboot, everything is OK. I enjoy the stories, the dialogs, the "editing". The characters... well, they are different, but it's normal. We don't complain that Hugh Jackman's Van Helsing doesn't act like Anthony Hopkins' Van Helsing. We find it normal that Gary Oldman's Dracula turned into "our" sweet old Drac who has a soul, is secretly in love with Xander and agrees to help Buffy. Dracula's mythology survived dozens of reboots and is still alive. Hopefully Buffy's will also survive. This new Buffy who robs banks to get money for medieval castles and radar systems isn't the Buffy who worked at Doublemeat Palace to pay the bills.

Maybe Buffy the Tragic Hero gives way to Buffy the Action Hero? We'll see.

Angel: AtF #8

I'm afraid I don't have much to say about the issue. The stories about Gwen and "civilians" were too short: when I started to get interested, they ended. The art of "Civilians" is very unusual and expressive. And the selection of movies on Sunset 5 Cinema (an actual movie theater in West Hollywood) made my inner filmgeek squee with pleasure. Here they are:

Valentine with David Boreanaz
Chance and House on the Haunted Hills with James Marsters
My Bodyguard with Adam Baldwin
Good Burger with J. August Richards
The Indian the the Cupboard with Vincent Kartheiser
First Knight with Alexis Denisoff
Catch Me If You Can with Amy Acker

The usherette's name is Alice. I wonder if it's a reference to Alice in Wonderland or a tribute to a real person.
The final panels of Civilians are incredibly poignant. I cried when I read them. Curiously, it's the second time when I have such strong emotional reaction to BtVS/AtS comics, and the first time it was also a reaction on a new character - a decoy slayer in issue 5 of season 8. I don't think it's a coincidence; I think I may grew too attached to the characters to enjoy the story about their tribulations. I'm drowning in worries and this is not a good way to appreciate a work of art. But I can't distance from them no matter how hard I try.

Gunn's story is fascinating and frustrating at the same time. Turns out he has been abducted by a group of vampires who "were watching the entire time", who "have an inside line", "work under Wolfram and Hart's radar" and who say that he's "more important than he knows". That's all we find out. So instead of revelations we get another mystery.

flake_sake notes in her review that vampire's words about Gunn's importance are echoing words that invisible voice has said about Wes the issue before. Looks like somebody up there is pulling the strings. Or, for some obscure reason the persons who had a relationship with Fred are crucial for... for... something. It's frustrating to stay in the dark. Thank heavens we'll have the next issue soon!

Comments

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

Chance and House on the Haunted Hills with James Marsters

Surely that should be 'Chance, written, directed and starred in by Amber Benson'? Although it's true that Tara never appeared in 'Angel', so...


I think Willow turned to her to resurrect Kennedy.

Possible, but I get the strong impression that Kennedy's death was pre-planned and deliberate. After all, she says "You know I'd die for you - oh wait, I did. Admittedly it was mystical and kinda mellow, but headline: death." Maybe Kennedy died to save Willow's life or something like that, but the idea I prefer is that it was some soert of magical ritual Kennedy volunteered for. (I don't know if you've read 'Legally Dead' but that gets across the same idea in more words...)

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

Surely that should be 'Chance, written, directed and starred in by Amber Benson'? Although it's true that Tara never appeared in 'Angel', so...

To be fair, Amy Acker has a "blink-and-you'-miss-it" walk-in role in "Catch Me If You Can". So it's about the fact of participation of a member of AtS cast , I guess...

I get the strong impression that Kennedy's death was pre-planned and deliberate. After all, she says "You know I'd die for you - oh wait, I did. Admittedly it was mystical and kinda mellow, but headline: death." Maybe Kennedy died to save Willow's life or something like that

You may be right. I may be reaching too far, trying to explain why Willow delved into very dark and dangerous stuff - again. I can easily accept that she did it in an extreme situation, but I find it hard to imagine that she did it out of curiosity or to get more power. And Kennedy's death has been mentioned twice already - I don't think it was a throwaway detail.

But, of course, Joss could have something else in mind. :)

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

That Kennedy's death will turn out to be important, I don't doubt. But I can't really see Willow being so casual and flippant about it (in 1.03) if it was some great tragedy that forced her into desperate measures to reverse.

You can't see Willow seeking out greater knowledge and understanding of her power, even at great personal risk? You've obviously got a very different view of her character than I do... (Although it wouldn't be just 'to get more power' so much as 'to be able to use her powers to help people without risking going evil again', I think.)

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

You can't see Willow seeking out greater knowledge and understanding of her power, even at great personal risk? You've obviously got a very different view of her character than I do... (Although it wouldn't be just 'to get more power' so much as 'to be able to use her powers to help people without risking going evil again', I think.)

I think that it was Coven that could help her with knowledge and understanding of her power without risk. And if she turned to a dark sorceress, she was really desperate.

And it wasn't just a personal risk - looks like she inadvertently shared knowledge that endangered all slayers.

Willow is clever and she has a very painful experience with black magic. The way I see her, she wouldn't turn to Saga Vasuki unless the latter was her last hope.

But, of course, Joss may have something else in his sleeve... :)

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

Don't forget there were also those five mysterious entities in a parallel dimension who gave Willow sanctuary in 'The Long Way Home' - and she was clearly on familiar terms with their leader.

I get the impression she would have gone to the Coven first, learned all they had to know - then been sent on to someone who could teach her more. (The five spirits?) And when they'd also taught her all they knew, they in turn sent her on to someone else again (Saga Vasuki?). She was gone for six months, remember - on a 'mystical walkabout', which definitely sounds like she was moving from one teacher and experience to another. And while it was six months for people on Earth, nothing says the same amount of time passed for Willow...

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

She was gone for six months, remember - on a 'mystical walkabout', which definitely sounds like she was moving from one teacher and experience to another. And while it was six months for people on Earth, nothing says the same amount of time passed for Willow...

Interesting spec. But wouldn't it make Willow waaaay more powerful than she is now? All the knowledge from Coven, which - let's see - in season 6 gave Giles enough power that, when Willow had acquired it, she got the ability to end the world. If a creature seeks powers beyond that range, well... *shrugs*

But, in the end, Coven powers could be just a plot convention, and Joss could already forget about it, so maybe you're right.