Comic Review

Title: Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Long Way Home Season 8 (Part 1-5)

Author: Joss Whedon

Illustrators: Georges Jeanty, Andy Owens, Jo Chen

Publisher: Dark Horse

Released: October 31^st, 2007

Pages: 136

ISBN-10: 1593078226

ISBN-13: 978-1593078225

$16.42 CDN

4 Stars

Reviewed By: Kindah Mardam Bey

I don't read a lot of comics, but I did watch all seven seasons of Buffy The Vampire Slayer (repeatedly) and can give an honest opinion of Season 8 of the series, now in comic form. When we last saw Buffy and her ‘Scooby Gang,' they were at the cliffs edge of a decimated Sunnydale, mostly in part they were to blame, but hey, making big holes in the earth is a pre-requisite when saving the world right?

The show in its celluloid version ended beautifully as Buffy had struggled for seven years to figure out where her life was headed if she had to be ‘happy Buffy' by day and ‘slayer Buffy' by night. At the cliffs edge, a world of infinite possibilities opens up to Buffy as her friends and family ask ‘what are you going to do now Buffy,' she wells up a little, smiles and the show ends. Simply putting words into Buffy's mouth, that smile means ‘anything I want to.' What a perfect ending right?

So why a Season Eight in graphic print? Part marketability, without hiring actors, part Joss Whedon not wanting to let go of his heroine and part Buffy fans not wanting to let go either. Which is exactly whey we see Buffy returning to her old habits of saving the world, but this time with an army of slayers-to-be. No longer ‘potentials' as Buffy gave a fragment of her own power to every woman with the potential to be a slayer in the world at the end of season seven, these girls are in training to all be real Buffy's. Dawn, Buffy's sister is up to her own tricks as she seems to be larger than life and in her giant-like form, she is still whining about her relationship with her sister. Willow appears to be reigning in her magical powers and side-kick Andrew is still trying to be a part of ‘the force,' with apt comedic timing intact. Xander appears to have benefited the most from screen to page, as he is a rugged-dashing looking man with a patch over his eye.

The ‘Big Bads' appear to be a mix of ‘government ops,' a revengeful Amy (no longer a rat, but a little insane) and a skinless Warren. A mysterious symbol reminiscent of the TV show Heroes, is popping up in a few places and Giles, with his old nemesis Ethan Raine make guest appearances. The first four comics is called ‘The Long Way Home' and the last section called ‘The Chain' seems to be its own self-contained storyline (although it will all connect in the end, nothing is so sure) about a potential actually becoming a Buffy decoy. ‘The Chain' talks a lot about the power Buffy has, and the power the girls who were potentials now have also.

I must admit I still have a hard time with comics, I don't know whether I'm too linear or not linear enough, whether it requires me to be more of a visual person, whatever the reasoning, comics seem a little confusing at times. However, when you've seen all seven seasons of Buffy The Vampire Slayer every year in its entirety since the shows end in 2003, and pickings are slim, its time to find whatever alternative is possible to re-enter into the Buffyverse. Thanks to Joss Whedon's writing, the comic still has the same great flow and humour as the series did and Georges Jeanty's artistry is eerie at times as it captures those well known faces in the greatest of detail.