Buffy Season 8 Comics Review

Previously on the BTVS comics: While on a vampire hunt, Satsu admits her feelings to an understanding, open-minded Buffy. The new Big Bad, Twilight, comes out of nowhere and gives them a mean beating, leaving Buffy visibly shaken.

Recap / Review of Issue #12 - SPOILERS ALERT!
It’s a foggy night in Scotland, lit by a beautiful full moon. Renee is on patrol duty at the Slayer Central tower, and Xander is hanging around for company. They spot wolves approaching the castle gate. They sense some weirdness is happening, but they’re not fully aware of any danger. Flirting ensues…

XANDER: Trust me, I’m on my own time here.
RENEE: Really?
XANDER: Are you kidding me? Look out there – the moon is full, the stars are bright, the fog is particularly fog-tastic… who wants to be alone on a night like this?

This has been building up for some time, with Buffy even teasing Xander about Renee a few issues ago. I do think it’s about time he got a new love interest. Even though I *love* Anya, life must move on for our characters. Although, office romance? Plenty of complications. How would the other slayers feel about their boss and their friend having a relationship? They should’ve had drawn rules for this. It was bound to happen, sooner or later.

The Atom Bomb

Shift to Buffy’s bedroom, and even more head-spinning complications.

I know. “WHOA!” doesn’t even begin to cut it, but I’ll talk about the implications of this on another entry. Just try to digest the scene and take deep breaths. Once you snap out of the trance, however, the next scenes become very funny. For one thing, Andrew’s back! Yay for geeky gayness! And behold Dawn’s giant feet! Poor, poor Dawnie apparently sleeps in the barn, but “only when it looks like it might rain,” according to Willow. Tsk tsk. They should really get her shrunk as soon as possible.

After Andrew bids goodnight to Willow, a fog enfolds our mighty witch, which materializes into a woman with a nasty smile. This is the first preview we get of the unusual vampires the gang will be facing in this 3-part arc.

Hmmm… these new vamps remind me of ninjas - virtually undetectable, fast, efficient, and they also use fog/smoke for cover. Makes a lot of sense to make them Japanese. Back at the tower, Xander and Renee are still oblivious to the vampire threat.

RENEE: You know, there are better ways to do this.
XANDER: Do what?
RENEE: Spend time with me. I mean, off the top of my head, you could, you know… take me out.
XANDER: You want me to *assassinate* you?
RENEE: No. On a date.
XANDER: Oh.

How cute and hopeless is Xander?

Buffy, Satsu, and Post-Coital Talk

I like Satsu already. She’s hopelessly in love, and yet grounded. Right after having sex, Satsu is the one initiating the discussion on how they would both deal with what just happened, whereas Buffy’s head still seems to be floating. When Satsu surmises that Buffy can’t be gay, at least she couldn’t have turned gay overnight, Buffy is a bit offended and becomes quite defensive.

BUFFY: *How* do you know that? Did I do something wrong? Because I’m flying blind here. It’s not like they make instruction manuals for these sorts of things.
SATSU: Actually, they do.

I didn’t know Buffy was that vain about her “performance”, but I thought it was nice of her to want to reciprocate. Quick! Somebody give Buffy the Lesbian Instruction Manual!

BUFFY: I don’t know. It’s like… I had a wonderful night. And… it’s been a while since I said that. So… tomorrow, I’m gonna think about what we did. And I’m gonna blush. And then I’m gonna smile… But I’m not sure it goes any further than that.

Ouch. Buffy, Buffy, Buffy! What are you doing breaking a young girl’s heart? Satsu gets out of bed, gesturing her thumb as if to say, “Ok, I’m getting out of your room.” Buffy reaches out to protest, touching Satsu on the shoulder. She tells Satsu that she doesn’t want her to go away, and that she can stay ’til mornng. Now because of this sudden twist, there are many people who began to compare Buffy to Parker Abrams, the guy who used her and ditched her in Season 4. But I don’t see Buffy being as cold-hearted as that. It’s obvious that she’s sensitive to Satsu’s feelings, even though she may not be able to reciprocate on the same level at this point.

Buffy’s Out!

Just when they agree not to tell others about their tryst, Murphy’s Law happens - “If anything can go wrong, it will.” Before Buffy can react, Xander, Renee, Andrew, Dawn and Willow barge in on her room one by one to report the wolf sightings.

Perfect timing by writer Drew Goddard! The level of comedy in this is near that of Tabula Rasa, which is a definite compliment. I don’t remember laughing harder with any issue so far. If I was Buffy or Satsu, I would’ve prayed for the earth to swallow me whole. That last comment from Willow apparently does it. Buffy gets up to dress not caring what anyone sees anymore, getting ready to fight the wolves which have invaded the castle grounds, with some even inside the fortress.

Engaging the Enemy

Outside the armory, a wolf begins to dematerialized, turning into a wisp of fog. Inside the armory, the fog starts to rise from under the door, and takes shape as a man. He reaches out to the object of their mission – Buffy’s scythe, the ancestral weapon. A second man joins him, also materializing from the fog.

Buffy finds them and demands her scythe back. But one of them turn into a panther, which Buffy stares at in disbelief. This distraction allows the other vampire to strike a blow to her and escape with her weapon. The prevailing theory is that the scythe will be used to undo the spell in Chosen, which activated all the potential slayers around the world. This is compatible with the future world of Fray (also a Joss Whedon comic), where she is the only slayer. In Fray it is also explained that sometime in the twenty-first century, “a Slayer, possibly with some mystical allies, faced an apocalyptic army of demons. And when it was done, they were gone. All demons, all magicks, banished from this earthly dimension,” and the Slayer, whose fate is unknown, was the last to be called. We’ll just have to finish the comics to see if there’s really any relation.

Aftermath

We see the gang gathered in the command center. Xander, Buffy, and Willow are all on the center dais. Willow is sitting against the rail, holding a cloth to the back of her injured head. Xander has his arms crossed, listening to Buffy. Buffy has slipped on a cut-off UC-Sunnydale hoody over her pajamas. Various other Slayers are gathered, sitting on the floor or standing in the back of the room. Satsu is standing, but on the step below the others. Behind Satsu are Leah, Rowena, and another Slayer – Alpha Team has all congregated on this side of the room. Satsu looks forlorn, staring blankly ahead. This girl needs a a hug.

LEAH: Yah. Definite transmogrification abilities.
ROWENA: Saw ‘em flit between wolves, panthers… even bees.
BUFFY: How is that allowed? They’re *vampires*. Did I miss a meeting or something?
WILLOW: Believe me… nothing seems to make sense tonight.

Buffy looks sad after hearing this. Behind her, Satsu hangs her head – herself sad, embarrassed. Even Xander looks a little surprised, since he knows what Willow means. I look forward to future Willow/Buffy banter about this (“When did you decide to play for our team?”). Since only half her face was shown, it’s difficult to make any conclusions about how Willow feels about this. Is she disappointed about Buffy’s behavior? Is she jealous of Satsu? Of all the Scoobies, one would think she’d be the most supportive of Buffy in this kind of situation.

Anyway, Buffy turns back to Xander for consultation. Behind her, Satsu is eyeing her leader, and other Slayers listen. Buffy, Willow and Xander begin to realize that they had faced a foe before with similar shape-shifting abilities. Xander isn’t so thrilled.

Off to Transylvannia

Xander and Renee are together in a light helicopter, one that’s entire cabin is plexiglass. Xander is piloting it, and they converse through the necessary headsets. From above, we see the helicopter on approach. Below, there’s a huge, gothic castle, maybe bigger than the Slayers’ own. Alongside, there’s a stone tower with steps that apparently also serves as a helipad. Renee begins to wonder what they are doing there, and Xander tells her she just needs to keep an eye on him, because when “around this guy, I start acting… wonky.” Before Xander can explain himself further, a door creeks in true horror fashion. On the other side of the door, we see him – Dracula - staring evenly at Xander from inside the door. Xander looks back at Dracula gamely. But after a while, he lowers his head in resignation.

XANDER: Master.

(Next issue: Xander tries to recruit Prince Dracula to be their ally. The whole gang goes to Tokyo. Yup, including Dawn.)

Related article: Buffy. Satsu. Sex.