Buffy and X-men comic reviews
Apr. 19th, 2019 10:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. Read the latest issue of Boom Studios Buffy Comics Reboot - this is allegedly the final of the four issue arc for this year. No clue if they will continue after it?
Anyhow....my thoughts? It's steadily gone downhill, writing wise. To the point in which I've just about decided to give up on it.
The plot of this issue sort of seems to take place a year or two after the previous issue, it's hard to say. There's all these flashback scenes of the characters hanging out and killing monsters. Almost as if the writer did the entirety of S1 Buffy in the space of a page of panels. We've only had four issues, and the friends have gone from discovering Buffy is a vampire slayer, running into Spike and Dru, and Cordelia, meeting Giles to all of sudden becoming experienced monster hunters. Training with Giles, etc. Also apparently Buffy has a crush on a kid named Robin Wood (a younger and hotter version of DB Woodside, and far more age appropriate -- I'm guessing the writer felt the need to make the series more diverse -- which would be fine if Wood's insertion had been done gradually and not well -- thrown in there without warning.) Also Giles is apparently seeing someone too -- I've no clue who. And Joyce and live in doctor boyfriend, Eric are doing well. And..Cordy is daydreaming about Spike. (This is shown quickly. It's hard to care.)
Anyhow, Giles gives everyone the night off. Because something major is coming their way -- and they need to take a break, in order to be ready for it. (Uhm, okay.) Instead he will slay the vampires, while they have fun. Willow arranges for them all to meet at the movies, and sets up Buffy with Robin Wood. So it's Willow, her girlfriend Rose, Xander, Buffy and Robin Wood. Oh and by the way, Willow knows that Xander has a wicked crush on Buffy. But she decides he'll get over it once he sees Buffy with Robin Wood. (I wanted smack Willow upside the head. It made no sense. Who does that?) Buffy has lost her phone. Everyone knows this.
About an hour or two prior to the movie, Xander gets a text from Buffy to meet her somewhere else, just the two of them. Which of course he decides to believe -- because wicked crush. And he doesn't think to check with Willow to see if Buffy got her phone back yet. Unfortunately for Xander, it's not Buffy -- but Dru and Spike.
They've set up the meeting so that Dru can seduce him. He discovers they've done it when he reaches the meeting place and Willow texts to see where he is -- since Buffy, Willow, Robin and Rose are at the movies. Xander crushed runs into Dru. Dru basically does the same number on Xander that she once did on Spike -- except less crazy. This Dru bears little to no resemblance to the one in the series. For one thing, she's not nuts and actually makes sense. For another -- she's the boss. And very well-dressed. Actually she has more in common with Sunday or maybe Glory.
Anyhow, the issue is told in Xander's point view, like the last two were -- and alas, Xander is taken out by Dru. Who bites him and appears to be siring him, while Spike watches on the sidelines. One Down, he says. Meanwhile -- Angel lurks in the shadows. Sigh.
I'm not sure what the writer is doing exactly, but I've read better fanfic (well that sort of goes without saying when it comes to the comics or any novelization of the series.) Why? Because whomever is approving the rights for these things -- doesn't perceive the series in the same way that I do, obviously. Nor has the same taste, which is saying a lot, considering how broad my taste actually is.
The problem is that the writer is not telling the story directly. She skips time.
Relies too heavily on the readers pre-existing knowledge of the series and characters (much like fanfic writers do, actually), which would be fine -- if the characters were closer in their behavior to those in the series (they aren't). And the story followed the canon, it doesn't. You can't veer that far away from canon and just skip to the fun parts in your story, without any build up. It's jarring.
Don't do this people. It's lazy writing. It's bad enough that you are playing in someone else's sandbox with their toys and getting paid for it, without forgetting to build up to your major plot points in a satisfying way.
I don't care what happens to these characters. They bear little resemblance to the one's I knew. And I have not had time to invest in their relationship with each other, to care what happens. You can't push the reader into the center of the action without some character development -- even if the characters are based (and rather loosely in this case) a television series.
If it weren't for the great art, I'd have given up a while ago. The art is the best that I've seen for the Buffy comics. It's very complimentary to the actors -- they actually look better here than they did on screen. I know, go figure.
But the writing is getting worse with each issue. Some of the dialogue is cringe-inducing. Buffy actually says the words "Jeez, Louise" - eh, no.
And while the art is great for the most part, Joyce and Drusilla do not bear any resemblance to the actors who played them. Nor for that matter does Robin Wood, but that appeared to be deliberate.
Rating? Not worth your time or the price of admission. Skip.
2. It probably would have helped if I hadn't been reading the X-men comics at the same time. In particular Matthew Rosenberg's take on Un-Canny X-men, which is superb and pretty much does all the things a good serial writer should do -- further the characters arcs, address their relationships with each other, and provide action that helps examine social issues and those relationships/emotional arcs concurrently.
I read Uncanny X-men #16 prior to the Buffy Comic, and night and day. My only quibble with Un-Canny is the art, which was uneven. It's the reverse of the Buffy comic -- great writing, very uneven art, yet still a much better comic.
They do a few unexpected things here -- which help examine what it means to be a leader and the toll it takes on people. In this issue, Cyclops has begun to question his leadership -- and decides to step down. He's basically tired of second-guessing himself all the time, and worse having everyone else do it too. He's also trying to hold his team together, and keep everyone alive. He's been trying to keep everyone alive for a while now, and failing miserably. He's lost more people than he cares to count, and most of them, people he loved a great deal. The guy is basically wallowing in grief and self-doubt. But luckily he has company -- Logan, Alex, Dani Moonstar, Shan, Rahn, Hope Summers, Banshee, Johnno, Illyana, Jamie Maddrox, are all along for the ride.
Captain America has dropped by -- and held out an olive branch of sorts. Which Cyclops accepts, well sort of. He turns over most of the Mutant Liberation Front, but keeps Hope, Dark Beast and Banshee secret. This results in yet another discussion about his leadership. So, he steps down. Bringing up the question -- who should take his place? Dani offers that no one take it -- instead they have a pure democracy and vote on everything. Since everyone in the group has been a leader at one point -- they should all lead together. She suggests they take a vote on it.
Everyone but Logan, Alex and Cyclops agree with this idea. So it passes six to three. Then Illyana asks if anyone can ask for a vote on something at any time?
Dani -- says of course. So Illyana suggests that all sins are forgiven and whoever wants to join them can -- which means Hope, Dark Beast, and Banshee are no longer prisoners and now X-men.
Interesting. I'm curious to see how well this works. Meanwhile, Rahn has had it and quits to live a normal life for a while. She just can't hack it any longer. Cyclops tries to talk her out of it -- but realizes he can't make her stay if she doesn't want to. Logan bears witness and agrees. Cyclops also explains to Alex that he's been taking Logan's counsel, because he no longer trusts his decisions and he knows Logan will call him on it, in part because Logan doesn't even like him that much. While Alex will always have his back. Alex disagrees -- vehemently. He doesn't have his back in this instance. (God I adore Alex. Although I do agree with Cyclops on this point.) Logan also asks Cyclops if he thinks he made the right decision -- about Rahn? No, about stepping down. Cyclops admits he doesn't know.
Off they all go, except for Rahn, to fight the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants -- which turns out to be lead by Joseph not Magneto, as they originally thought. (Now I knew that -- because Magneto is in the pocketverse with the rest of the X-men.) They reveal it to Juggernaut, who decides to help the X-men defeat the Brotherhood and join up, much to the X-men's surprise and uncertainity. Can they trust him? They aren't aligned with Professor X any longer -- he's long gone. (Actually I think he was resurrected and is now wandering about somewhere in Fantomex's body. But I doubt they know that. I only know it because it was referenced somewhere else.) Juggy says they can. As they are debating the issue with Joseph, up pops a Pyscholock clone who chops off Josphe's head -- to protect the X-men. The X-men are rather shocked and dismayed by this turn of events. And realize quickly it's not Betsy or Pyscholock but Kwannon (who we haven't seen in a while.) I sort of knew this -- because Betsy aka Psycholock is also in the pocket universe. (But so too is Dani -- in Prisoner X, along with Shan...so, it's hard to know.)
Anyhow, before they can process all of this...Dani collapses and informs everyone that Rahn is dead. Poor Cyclops. Another death to feel guilty about. Rahn couldn't have put it to a vote? Then they all could feel guilty.
Surprising that. Rahn has managed to survive a lot of crap over the years.
The art is good in places, but off in others. The artist struggles with talking scenes and movement. Which is interesting. I've seen other art by him -- which seemed more fluid and better. So not sure what's going on here.
Rating? Quite good. If you are an X-men fan -- a must. Not sure non-X-men fans can follow it.
Anyhow....my thoughts? It's steadily gone downhill, writing wise. To the point in which I've just about decided to give up on it.
The plot of this issue sort of seems to take place a year or two after the previous issue, it's hard to say. There's all these flashback scenes of the characters hanging out and killing monsters. Almost as if the writer did the entirety of S1 Buffy in the space of a page of panels. We've only had four issues, and the friends have gone from discovering Buffy is a vampire slayer, running into Spike and Dru, and Cordelia, meeting Giles to all of sudden becoming experienced monster hunters. Training with Giles, etc. Also apparently Buffy has a crush on a kid named Robin Wood (a younger and hotter version of DB Woodside, and far more age appropriate -- I'm guessing the writer felt the need to make the series more diverse -- which would be fine if Wood's insertion had been done gradually and not well -- thrown in there without warning.) Also Giles is apparently seeing someone too -- I've no clue who. And Joyce and live in doctor boyfriend, Eric are doing well. And..Cordy is daydreaming about Spike. (This is shown quickly. It's hard to care.)
Anyhow, Giles gives everyone the night off. Because something major is coming their way -- and they need to take a break, in order to be ready for it. (Uhm, okay.) Instead he will slay the vampires, while they have fun. Willow arranges for them all to meet at the movies, and sets up Buffy with Robin Wood. So it's Willow, her girlfriend Rose, Xander, Buffy and Robin Wood. Oh and by the way, Willow knows that Xander has a wicked crush on Buffy. But she decides he'll get over it once he sees Buffy with Robin Wood. (I wanted smack Willow upside the head. It made no sense. Who does that?) Buffy has lost her phone. Everyone knows this.
About an hour or two prior to the movie, Xander gets a text from Buffy to meet her somewhere else, just the two of them. Which of course he decides to believe -- because wicked crush. And he doesn't think to check with Willow to see if Buffy got her phone back yet. Unfortunately for Xander, it's not Buffy -- but Dru and Spike.
They've set up the meeting so that Dru can seduce him. He discovers they've done it when he reaches the meeting place and Willow texts to see where he is -- since Buffy, Willow, Robin and Rose are at the movies. Xander crushed runs into Dru. Dru basically does the same number on Xander that she once did on Spike -- except less crazy. This Dru bears little to no resemblance to the one in the series. For one thing, she's not nuts and actually makes sense. For another -- she's the boss. And very well-dressed. Actually she has more in common with Sunday or maybe Glory.
Anyhow, the issue is told in Xander's point view, like the last two were -- and alas, Xander is taken out by Dru. Who bites him and appears to be siring him, while Spike watches on the sidelines. One Down, he says. Meanwhile -- Angel lurks in the shadows. Sigh.
I'm not sure what the writer is doing exactly, but I've read better fanfic (well that sort of goes without saying when it comes to the comics or any novelization of the series.) Why? Because whomever is approving the rights for these things -- doesn't perceive the series in the same way that I do, obviously. Nor has the same taste, which is saying a lot, considering how broad my taste actually is.
The problem is that the writer is not telling the story directly. She skips time.
Relies too heavily on the readers pre-existing knowledge of the series and characters (much like fanfic writers do, actually), which would be fine -- if the characters were closer in their behavior to those in the series (they aren't). And the story followed the canon, it doesn't. You can't veer that far away from canon and just skip to the fun parts in your story, without any build up. It's jarring.
Don't do this people. It's lazy writing. It's bad enough that you are playing in someone else's sandbox with their toys and getting paid for it, without forgetting to build up to your major plot points in a satisfying way.
I don't care what happens to these characters. They bear little resemblance to the one's I knew. And I have not had time to invest in their relationship with each other, to care what happens. You can't push the reader into the center of the action without some character development -- even if the characters are based (and rather loosely in this case) a television series.
If it weren't for the great art, I'd have given up a while ago. The art is the best that I've seen for the Buffy comics. It's very complimentary to the actors -- they actually look better here than they did on screen. I know, go figure.
But the writing is getting worse with each issue. Some of the dialogue is cringe-inducing. Buffy actually says the words "Jeez, Louise" - eh, no.
And while the art is great for the most part, Joyce and Drusilla do not bear any resemblance to the actors who played them. Nor for that matter does Robin Wood, but that appeared to be deliberate.
Rating? Not worth your time or the price of admission. Skip.
2. It probably would have helped if I hadn't been reading the X-men comics at the same time. In particular Matthew Rosenberg's take on Un-Canny X-men, which is superb and pretty much does all the things a good serial writer should do -- further the characters arcs, address their relationships with each other, and provide action that helps examine social issues and those relationships/emotional arcs concurrently.
I read Uncanny X-men #16 prior to the Buffy Comic, and night and day. My only quibble with Un-Canny is the art, which was uneven. It's the reverse of the Buffy comic -- great writing, very uneven art, yet still a much better comic.
They do a few unexpected things here -- which help examine what it means to be a leader and the toll it takes on people. In this issue, Cyclops has begun to question his leadership -- and decides to step down. He's basically tired of second-guessing himself all the time, and worse having everyone else do it too. He's also trying to hold his team together, and keep everyone alive. He's been trying to keep everyone alive for a while now, and failing miserably. He's lost more people than he cares to count, and most of them, people he loved a great deal. The guy is basically wallowing in grief and self-doubt. But luckily he has company -- Logan, Alex, Dani Moonstar, Shan, Rahn, Hope Summers, Banshee, Johnno, Illyana, Jamie Maddrox, are all along for the ride.
Captain America has dropped by -- and held out an olive branch of sorts. Which Cyclops accepts, well sort of. He turns over most of the Mutant Liberation Front, but keeps Hope, Dark Beast and Banshee secret. This results in yet another discussion about his leadership. So, he steps down. Bringing up the question -- who should take his place? Dani offers that no one take it -- instead they have a pure democracy and vote on everything. Since everyone in the group has been a leader at one point -- they should all lead together. She suggests they take a vote on it.
Everyone but Logan, Alex and Cyclops agree with this idea. So it passes six to three. Then Illyana asks if anyone can ask for a vote on something at any time?
Dani -- says of course. So Illyana suggests that all sins are forgiven and whoever wants to join them can -- which means Hope, Dark Beast, and Banshee are no longer prisoners and now X-men.
Interesting. I'm curious to see how well this works. Meanwhile, Rahn has had it and quits to live a normal life for a while. She just can't hack it any longer. Cyclops tries to talk her out of it -- but realizes he can't make her stay if she doesn't want to. Logan bears witness and agrees. Cyclops also explains to Alex that he's been taking Logan's counsel, because he no longer trusts his decisions and he knows Logan will call him on it, in part because Logan doesn't even like him that much. While Alex will always have his back. Alex disagrees -- vehemently. He doesn't have his back in this instance. (God I adore Alex. Although I do agree with Cyclops on this point.) Logan also asks Cyclops if he thinks he made the right decision -- about Rahn? No, about stepping down. Cyclops admits he doesn't know.
Off they all go, except for Rahn, to fight the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants -- which turns out to be lead by Joseph not Magneto, as they originally thought. (Now I knew that -- because Magneto is in the pocketverse with the rest of the X-men.) They reveal it to Juggernaut, who decides to help the X-men defeat the Brotherhood and join up, much to the X-men's surprise and uncertainity. Can they trust him? They aren't aligned with Professor X any longer -- he's long gone. (Actually I think he was resurrected and is now wandering about somewhere in Fantomex's body. But I doubt they know that. I only know it because it was referenced somewhere else.) Juggy says they can. As they are debating the issue with Joseph, up pops a Pyscholock clone who chops off Josphe's head -- to protect the X-men. The X-men are rather shocked and dismayed by this turn of events. And realize quickly it's not Betsy or Pyscholock but Kwannon (who we haven't seen in a while.) I sort of knew this -- because Betsy aka Psycholock is also in the pocket universe. (But so too is Dani -- in Prisoner X, along with Shan...so, it's hard to know.)
Anyhow, before they can process all of this...Dani collapses and informs everyone that Rahn is dead. Poor Cyclops. Another death to feel guilty about. Rahn couldn't have put it to a vote? Then they all could feel guilty.
Surprising that. Rahn has managed to survive a lot of crap over the years.
The art is good in places, but off in others. The artist struggles with talking scenes and movement. Which is interesting. I've seen other art by him -- which seemed more fluid and better. So not sure what's going on here.
Rating? Quite good. If you are an X-men fan -- a must. Not sure non-X-men fans can follow it.