One of my special guilty pleasures on TV was Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was not your typical scary vampire sucking the lifeblood out of innocent virgins but a rousing and irreverent dedication to youth, culture and its relationship with eternal damnation.. The television show kept some of the connection with the horrible movie of the same name but had its creator Joss Whedon at the helm to ensure its appropriate poignancy and humor came through loud and clear. Its creators made sure that the material kept us amused, surprised and caring for the young heroine as well as her friends and even some of the bad guys. After seven seasons the young cheerleading vampire slayer saved the world one last time and exited network television.
For the uninitiated, Buffy Summers was the young girl chosen from a long line of mystical maidens to fight the demons of the dark. She fights vampires with mad martial arts skills with the help of her best friends Willow, a witch and Xander a nice enough ordinary guy. The comic series is well drawn and is surprisingly consistent in its look and feel from issue to issue. The comic book series contains several story arcs but basically it's Summers and her worldwide army of young slayers against vengeful demons with ulterior motives as well as the full force of the United States Army.
For five seasons Buffy the Vampire Slayer kept us entertained on a fledgling network called the WB then made the jump to UPN for two more seasons before going out with a bang. To the surprise and delight of many of its fans, the "Chosen One" returned in comic book form to continue slaying vampires and demons while taking on the establishment as well. The comic series was called Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 and picked up after the destruction of the Hellmouth and the city of Sunnydale.
Joss Whedon, the creator continued to guide the series in this new format; working feverishly to keep the flavor and style that made the series so unique. The comic series blasted off with Whedon scripting the story and artist Georges Jeanty on pencils and Andy Owens working inks; Dave Stewart created the exquisite colors with Comicraft and Richard Starkings filling out the team on lettering.
Series 7 ended with the group driving off into the great unknown apparently ready to assemble the hundreds of new slayers that have been awakened after the last great confrontation with evil. What we see in the opening segment is a much more emotionally mature Buffy Summers. Our pretty blonde cheerleader has now morphed into General Patton or more appropriately Nick Fury agent of Shield. Her new crew comprising of hundreds of new slayers are battle tested and dedicated to her cause. The TV show was unconventional in its delivery and dialogue and the comic series tries to deliver that same flavor.
You are probably in one it is you and ensure new a new day in the you delete it. If it is a good idea is to you and Vampire Slayer season eight continues many of the relationships that have blossomed throughout the television series while continuing to explore new themes. Even Buffy gets a new love interest that assists in the mending of her broken heart. The mythology that colors the world of Buffy Summers continues to evolve in the color comics. The material continues to feel fresh after all these years because Whedon and the original writers for the show treat the new material with care and pull the reader in with a mix of new characters and old favorites.
Buffy Season 8 started out as an exhilarating new opportunity for comics to continue the storyline and characters past their TV incarnations. Comics can be just as entertaining medium without the exorbitant expense of production. Continuing a TV series in this medium also allows for more merchandising opportunities in new markets. Although the concept of portraying television characters in comics is not new the idea of continuing a series while bridging the gap between television and comics in this way is novel and refreshing.
In Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8, Buffy and her new charges known as Slayers live and train tirelessly in Scotland. The US Army and a roundtable of old and new villains take on Buffy and her friends. A new villain named Twilight figures heavily in the plots and subplots which pepper the series. The slayer army and Buffy are forced to fight for their lives and in defense of their loved ones; as usual, not everyone makes it out alive in a Joss Whedon production. If you are a fan of the show and you are into comics I'm fairly certain you will like this series. Since there are no limitations when it comes to special effects in comics Whedon and the gang have a great time constructing their fantasy world. Although the season 8 story arc is over, Whedon and company are already talking about continuing the project which means lots more work for the Slayer.
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