Buffy Season Eight #1

First of all, I feel I should preface this review by saying that I am a huge Joss Whedon fan. I love Buffy, Angel, Firefly, and pretty much everything Joss has ever done. So that being the case, there is a slight chance of some bias entering into this writeup. That said, I fully intend to be as fair and objective as ever - just so you know.

Buffy season eight was created to pick up where the television series left off, with Buffy's home town of Sunnydale a smoking crater, and the Scoobies (her gang of friends) scattered across Europe. Buffy herself is in charge of an army of newly awakened slayers, and together they're taking the fight to the bad guys.

This introductory issue brings us quickly up to speed on some of the developments since the end of the TV series. As I mentioned, Buffy now leads an army of slayers, who operate in squads, coordinated by Xander from a castle in bonny Scotland. The opening scenes bring us Buffy, along with her squad, infiltrating an abandoned mansion in order to kill a nest of particularly large and evil-looking demons. Xander seems to have taken well to his role as coordinator/commander, no doubt thanks to his army memories (see Buffy season 3), and we are also reintroduced to Dawn, who is inexplicably massive. But at the same time, some aspects of the intervening time are left purposefully vague, such as the whereabouts of Giles and Willow, exactly how Dawn got so big, and just where all their funding comes from. We are also (re)introduced to what will probably come to be the 'big bad' of the season, although Whedon is known for his propensity to surprise his audience.

This issue, and from what I read, the next few issues, is written by Whedon himself and, well what can I say? It's Joss Whedon!!! Expect his trademark dry, 'ironic' dialogue that we (should) know and love. This is driven home by great use of boxes containing the main characters' internal monologues, and he also manages to show off a little of his geek cred. Saying all this though, at times the 'Whedonishness' (what a great word) can seem a little forced, as if someone is trying to say "I know it's a comic, but it's still Buffy, see?", but this is only a small criticism.

Georges Jeanty's art is capable, though perhaps a little more cartoony than I would have expected, and somewhat reminiscent of Fray. After seeing the cover art, I somehow expected the rest of the book to follow a similar, realistic tone. Despite this, I liked it. The characters were easily recognisable, and the colours were great and really suited to the mood of the story.

Overall, this was a decent book. It suffered a little from being an introduction in my opinion, in that not too much happened, and there was a great deal of exposition and 'catching-up' to get through, and this is the main reason for the slightly low rating I'm giving. But have no fear, I fully intend to follow this series, and have absolutely no doubt that it will only get better. If you're a Buffy fan, I'm sure you don't need any encouragement to pick this book up, but if not, it probably won't hold much appeal for you.

Rating: 3/5