Comics Reviews...Buffy S8
Mar. 17th, 2007 10:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatFirst off - last night had one of those nightmares that haunts long after the fact. Don't remember anything from it but one bit. Someone meets me in a comic store and tells me that my eyes are a coward's eyes. The coward's eyes bit haunts. Weird. What is my subconscious playing at anyways? Spent most of the day telling myself that I may be many things, but a coward is not one of them.
Watching a funky Elton John special on BBC America.
Question: If you don't like what you are doing for work or profession right now - what would you prefer to be doing? If you do and you couldn't do it, what would you do instead?
*(This was prompted by two things: one a conversation with a co-worker the other day in which they told me they felt they'd chosen the wrong profession - they could tell you anything about Africa and African culture (because it interested them) but not about the database we were struggling with. This hit a bit too close to home for comfort. Two a question posed to Elton John by Timothy Dalton, John who lucked out and got to do what he loved most - his response? That he'd have gotten a job at Tower Records, which in reality was really all he'd expected. The rest was a bit of a surprise. For the record? I think I'd have been an artist. Either a novelist or a graphic novelist. But the universe in its ultimate wisdom had other ideas, the best I can do is continue to write in my spare time. Book is closer to being done. Whether or not anyone gets to read it or it gets published is another issue entirely. I've long since given up fighting the universe, sometimes one just has to let go and see what happens...you know?)
Buffy Season 8: The Long Way Home
Anticipation is not always a good thing. I think sometimes we build up unrealistic expectations for things. It is a problem I've run into with my own writing - which is why I no longer ask most of my friends to read my work. Their perception of me and expections get in the way of the work - they are disappointed, because it does not meet whatever they think I should be creating.
That said, I did not have high expectations. I also know where the writer wants to go. What is interesting to him and how that differs from what is interesting to me. I've seen and read enough of his work, and watched enough of what influences it (General Hospital, BSG, Veronica Mars, X-men comics, Matrix, Lord of the Rings, Shakespeare, Howard Hawks...), that I have a pretty good idea what he'll write about. He's interested in the power dynamics between male/female and how our society belittles women and is sooo patriarchial and soo threatened by female power and why that is. If you've watched enough Westerns and read enough comic books and seen enough Sci-Fi, you can sort of see why he thinks that way, plus, it helps if your Mother more or less created NOW - the feminist activist group. That's what Whedon's comics are about. It is what interests him.
The art works. It is not distracting. It flows. And it fits the characters without copying the actor's looks. Buffy is actually more attractive here than Gellar is right now. Gellar is almost too thin. And Xander, similarily, is more attractive here than I think he was in the later seasons or Brendan currently is. In marked contrast to Buffy, in the comic he is thinner, and darker, while in reality - Brendan is heavier and lighter.
The advantage of a comic or novel over a tv show - is we can delve into the character's thoughts. We get to know what they are thinking. Which I happen to like. And it was one of the my problems with Buffy in the series - as a good an actress as Gellar was, she didn't always emote well - so as a result seemed a tad remote as a character. Here, she's less remote somehow.
Whedon deftly skirts the Angel/Spike issue - by not mentioning them, yet by the same token clarifying that Buffy has not moved on as Andrew indicated. She's not dating anyone. Not having sex. Which I think is more realistic than most tv shows or fanfics are. In reality, you do go through lonnnng dry spells where no one seems appealing, and you miss the men you were involved with in a vague general sense, but at the same time don't want to be with them.
It's not unhealthy. And if you are busy fighting a war - it makes perfect sense, because honestly working 13 hour days, who is frigging going to find the time to have a relationship?
But she misses the sex. Does she miss Spike? We don't know. I'm not sure she'd admit it to herself if she did or let herself. Does she miss Angel? Same deal. She can't have them. And Buffy is the sort who doesn't dwell on what she can't have - she sees that as weak. It's at the root of her problems with Willow and Dawn and Faith = three characters who do dwell on what they can't have and often manipulate things to get them regardless of the consequences.
Hence the reason Dawn can't talk to Buffy about things. Because Buffy on a fundamental level doesn't understand Dawn. If you can't have it. You don't think about it. You fight demons.
Do what must be done. Buffy is not an addictive personality and considers addiction weak.
Think about it - she slays vampires after all, a metaphor for a creature who takes what it shouldn't and can't have regardless of the consequences.
Xander is interesting as well, and Whedon comments via Xander on how we often don't get to do what we want to do, because the universe has other plans. If it were up to Xander, he'd be a carpenter/architect, own his own firm, have a wife, kids, a house, and bowl on weekends. Read comics. But it's not what happened. He doesn't want to be a "watcher" - although clearly Buffy thinks of him as her "watcher". He doesn't wish to be Mr. Harris any more than Buffy wishes to be "Ma'am" - which made me laugh, since it reminded me of a discussion I had with Wales last weekend. "If one more person calls me M'aam. I'm going to kick them. Do I look that old? What's with this?"
"It isn't fair." I agreed. "Men get sir or Mister. Women as they get older get Mrs or Ma'am - which is a derivative of the French Madame. And if I remember my French correctly, you can't call a woman "Madame" unless she's married, otherwise she is Mademoiselle. In the US, they came up with a middle ground MS. But no one uses it - it's either Miss, Sir, or Ma'am."
Ghod. Sometimes I think people should just say 'hey you.'
Whedon is an expert at the interplay between characters, a long-time watcher and reader of serials, he understands the necessity of quiet moments between action, where characters just sit and chat. Buffy and Xander chat over the weird symbol. Buffy and Dawn argue - like sisters. Their argument rings true. It makes sense that they are distant. Siblings often are.
Also unlike a lot of online fans, I sort of enjoyed Whedon's suggestion that Andrew was the one playing games with Spike and Angel in Girl in Question. That actually works. And yes, I can see Spike and Angel getting tricked by Andrew - when it comes to Buffy, neither thinks very clearly and Andrew deftly found a way to get them to back off of her and move on. It totally works with how I perceived Andrew - who is a manipulative and somewhat sadistic little prankster. Just think of Girl in Question as Andrew's revenge. It's even possible that Andrew clued Xander in and got tid-bits. But I doubt it.
My only quibbles? There are a few pieces of dialogue that don't work. And I really wish comic book writers would not try to do dialect. Old rule of thumb - don't do dialect unless you are really comfortable with it and have an ear - it is HARD to do well and distracting if done poorly. The piece of dialogue that pulled me out the story? Buffy's line - "And sex. Great Muppety Odin, I miss that sex." The Muppety Odin sounds off for Buffy somehow.
It's odd, but I enjoyed Angel Old Lyn Syne and Spike: Aslym more for some reason. I don't know why. The writing seemed to reveal more about the characters. And the writer allowed both characters to admit that they missed Buffy and others. It could just be that I like noir and Sam Spade better than superhero/miltary conspiracy stuff. That's a subjective/personal preference thing. 24 and its ilk has more or less burnt me out on the whole government conspiracy/terrorist bit.
That said, I always thought Amy the Witch would make an awesome villain.
Angel Old Lyne Syne - did deliver by the way. Both Angel and Spike work in it. Their relationship fascinates me. And the writer does a good job of playing with it. I have to agree with the writers of the Angel series - Spike was the best romance for Angel in a completely unsexual way. They are hilarious together. And their unresolved and on-going love/hate relationship is precious. It works in some ways better than a male/female, gay romance would - because the tension can never be resolved, it remains edgy. Perpetual foreplay. At the same time, they can tell each other things and push buttons on one another - that two lovers would never dare do. This is the great thing about non-romantic relationships, you can tell each other more. In romance - we tend to lie more, for fear of losing the sex. In friendships, the stakes aren't quite so high.
In May - another Spike limited series is coming out - Spike:Shadow Poppets. Spike against Puppets. Cool. Yay.
Me happy. The universe is delivering the entertainment I want for a change. Very nice of it, don't you think? Do wish the weekend would last longer, though. Since I may not get one next weekend. May have to work.
Watching a funky Elton John special on BBC America.
Question: If you don't like what you are doing for work or profession right now - what would you prefer to be doing? If you do and you couldn't do it, what would you do instead?
*(This was prompted by two things: one a conversation with a co-worker the other day in which they told me they felt they'd chosen the wrong profession - they could tell you anything about Africa and African culture (because it interested them) but not about the database we were struggling with. This hit a bit too close to home for comfort. Two a question posed to Elton John by Timothy Dalton, John who lucked out and got to do what he loved most - his response? That he'd have gotten a job at Tower Records, which in reality was really all he'd expected. The rest was a bit of a surprise. For the record? I think I'd have been an artist. Either a novelist or a graphic novelist. But the universe in its ultimate wisdom had other ideas, the best I can do is continue to write in my spare time. Book is closer to being done. Whether or not anyone gets to read it or it gets published is another issue entirely. I've long since given up fighting the universe, sometimes one just has to let go and see what happens...you know?)
Buffy Season 8: The Long Way Home
Anticipation is not always a good thing. I think sometimes we build up unrealistic expectations for things. It is a problem I've run into with my own writing - which is why I no longer ask most of my friends to read my work. Their perception of me and expections get in the way of the work - they are disappointed, because it does not meet whatever they think I should be creating.
That said, I did not have high expectations. I also know where the writer wants to go. What is interesting to him and how that differs from what is interesting to me. I've seen and read enough of his work, and watched enough of what influences it (General Hospital, BSG, Veronica Mars, X-men comics, Matrix, Lord of the Rings, Shakespeare, Howard Hawks...), that I have a pretty good idea what he'll write about. He's interested in the power dynamics between male/female and how our society belittles women and is sooo patriarchial and soo threatened by female power and why that is. If you've watched enough Westerns and read enough comic books and seen enough Sci-Fi, you can sort of see why he thinks that way, plus, it helps if your Mother more or less created NOW - the feminist activist group. That's what Whedon's comics are about. It is what interests him.
The art works. It is not distracting. It flows. And it fits the characters without copying the actor's looks. Buffy is actually more attractive here than Gellar is right now. Gellar is almost too thin. And Xander, similarily, is more attractive here than I think he was in the later seasons or Brendan currently is. In marked contrast to Buffy, in the comic he is thinner, and darker, while in reality - Brendan is heavier and lighter.
The advantage of a comic or novel over a tv show - is we can delve into the character's thoughts. We get to know what they are thinking. Which I happen to like. And it was one of the my problems with Buffy in the series - as a good an actress as Gellar was, she didn't always emote well - so as a result seemed a tad remote as a character. Here, she's less remote somehow.
Whedon deftly skirts the Angel/Spike issue - by not mentioning them, yet by the same token clarifying that Buffy has not moved on as Andrew indicated. She's not dating anyone. Not having sex. Which I think is more realistic than most tv shows or fanfics are. In reality, you do go through lonnnng dry spells where no one seems appealing, and you miss the men you were involved with in a vague general sense, but at the same time don't want to be with them.
It's not unhealthy. And if you are busy fighting a war - it makes perfect sense, because honestly working 13 hour days, who is frigging going to find the time to have a relationship?
But she misses the sex. Does she miss Spike? We don't know. I'm not sure she'd admit it to herself if she did or let herself. Does she miss Angel? Same deal. She can't have them. And Buffy is the sort who doesn't dwell on what she can't have - she sees that as weak. It's at the root of her problems with Willow and Dawn and Faith = three characters who do dwell on what they can't have and often manipulate things to get them regardless of the consequences.
Hence the reason Dawn can't talk to Buffy about things. Because Buffy on a fundamental level doesn't understand Dawn. If you can't have it. You don't think about it. You fight demons.
Do what must be done. Buffy is not an addictive personality and considers addiction weak.
Think about it - she slays vampires after all, a metaphor for a creature who takes what it shouldn't and can't have regardless of the consequences.
Xander is interesting as well, and Whedon comments via Xander on how we often don't get to do what we want to do, because the universe has other plans. If it were up to Xander, he'd be a carpenter/architect, own his own firm, have a wife, kids, a house, and bowl on weekends. Read comics. But it's not what happened. He doesn't want to be a "watcher" - although clearly Buffy thinks of him as her "watcher". He doesn't wish to be Mr. Harris any more than Buffy wishes to be "Ma'am" - which made me laugh, since it reminded me of a discussion I had with Wales last weekend. "If one more person calls me M'aam. I'm going to kick them. Do I look that old? What's with this?"
"It isn't fair." I agreed. "Men get sir or Mister. Women as they get older get Mrs or Ma'am - which is a derivative of the French Madame. And if I remember my French correctly, you can't call a woman "Madame" unless she's married, otherwise she is Mademoiselle. In the US, they came up with a middle ground MS. But no one uses it - it's either Miss, Sir, or Ma'am."
Ghod. Sometimes I think people should just say 'hey you.'
Whedon is an expert at the interplay between characters, a long-time watcher and reader of serials, he understands the necessity of quiet moments between action, where characters just sit and chat. Buffy and Xander chat over the weird symbol. Buffy and Dawn argue - like sisters. Their argument rings true. It makes sense that they are distant. Siblings often are.
Also unlike a lot of online fans, I sort of enjoyed Whedon's suggestion that Andrew was the one playing games with Spike and Angel in Girl in Question. That actually works. And yes, I can see Spike and Angel getting tricked by Andrew - when it comes to Buffy, neither thinks very clearly and Andrew deftly found a way to get them to back off of her and move on. It totally works with how I perceived Andrew - who is a manipulative and somewhat sadistic little prankster. Just think of Girl in Question as Andrew's revenge. It's even possible that Andrew clued Xander in and got tid-bits. But I doubt it.
My only quibbles? There are a few pieces of dialogue that don't work. And I really wish comic book writers would not try to do dialect. Old rule of thumb - don't do dialect unless you are really comfortable with it and have an ear - it is HARD to do well and distracting if done poorly. The piece of dialogue that pulled me out the story? Buffy's line - "And sex. Great Muppety Odin, I miss that sex." The Muppety Odin sounds off for Buffy somehow.
It's odd, but I enjoyed Angel Old Lyn Syne and Spike: Aslym more for some reason. I don't know why. The writing seemed to reveal more about the characters. And the writer allowed both characters to admit that they missed Buffy and others. It could just be that I like noir and Sam Spade better than superhero/miltary conspiracy stuff. That's a subjective/personal preference thing. 24 and its ilk has more or less burnt me out on the whole government conspiracy/terrorist bit.
That said, I always thought Amy the Witch would make an awesome villain.
Angel Old Lyne Syne - did deliver by the way. Both Angel and Spike work in it. Their relationship fascinates me. And the writer does a good job of playing with it. I have to agree with the writers of the Angel series - Spike was the best romance for Angel in a completely unsexual way. They are hilarious together. And their unresolved and on-going love/hate relationship is precious. It works in some ways better than a male/female, gay romance would - because the tension can never be resolved, it remains edgy. Perpetual foreplay. At the same time, they can tell each other things and push buttons on one another - that two lovers would never dare do. This is the great thing about non-romantic relationships, you can tell each other more. In romance - we tend to lie more, for fear of losing the sex. In friendships, the stakes aren't quite so high.
In May - another Spike limited series is coming out - Spike:Shadow Poppets. Spike against Puppets. Cool. Yay.
Me happy. The universe is delivering the entertainment I want for a change. Very nice of it, don't you think? Do wish the weekend would last longer, though. Since I may not get one next weekend. May have to work.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-03-18 04:32 am (UTC)And I did NOT see Amy coming, I laughed out loud when they said she wanted cheese and I realized it was Amy! LOL
I'm hoping 'Great Muppety Oden' will be explained or tied in (like maybe they recently faught off some strange big soft guy who looked like a muppet Oden....) but you're right, it was a false note.
I loved Buffy eating a sandwich and chatting w/Xander, it was just the kind of quiet exchange between characters that allows me to enjoy the pace of a story. And I adored Buffy & Dawn talking (when Buffy was lying on her back looking at Dawn upside down? So funny).
Anyway I figure they must be really isolated, if they are out away from people enough so that Dawn could go running on the moors.... So I'm figuring that Buffy really has no one to sleep with at the moment, and not much likely hood of meeting anyone either (she seems to be alone w/Xander and 50 young girls). When I was Buffy's age I would frequently hit a dry spell when I would long for sex/romance, but I never wanted or mooned over an old boyfriend (whether they broke up with me or I broke up with them, it was always problematical.... it isn't like I wouldn't get back together if they came back and hung around, that actually happened more than I like to admit, but I never dreamed of wanting them back), I was always longing for a new love, one free of the old problems and angst.
So anyway, I feel that this is a rich and interesting world and I'm really happy with what Joss has started. I love having the US Army get it wrong by assuming Buffy is the dangerous terrorist and that they can control Amy and use her to stop Buffy! I'm looking forward to the 2nd issue with glee (and no spoilers and no expectations).
no subject
Date: 2007-03-18 01:55 pm (UTC)On Great Muppety Odin - either that or she's been spending way too much time with Xander and picking up all his Xanderism's as a result. Which is entirely possible. That happens. LOL!
Agree on the relationship bit in regards to Buffy.
Relationships are funky. And sex? Overrated. She misses the orgasms and the release, who wouldn't? But not the pain, frustration, defensiveness, and angst that went along with it. No, Whedon's writing here rings very true and fits the character and what happens in the real world. I think a lot of "shippers" will hate it. If they loved it, I'd probably hate it. If I want romance and sex - I'll read fanfic, after all that's what it is for, (there's a really good one right now by beanbeans that is covering that need for me) not Whedon.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-07 05:43 pm (UTC)Hope you don't mind out-of-date comments.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-08 01:52 am (UTC)For example - I think I wrote a blistering review of the issue in which Buffy slept with Satsu, but have since changed my mind regarding that arc. In hindsight it actually works quite well, while at the time I found it to be out of character and somewhat jarring, a dumb joke and a bit anti-gay or hetero fanboy fantasy. Now, I don't think it is at all. But at the time, isolated as it was, without the rest of the story? I did. Sometimes I wish I had the patience to wait until the whole thing came out in a tradepaperback, complete with corrections. But, alas, I don't.
no subject
Date: 2007-03-18 10:26 am (UTC)IMO that sounds like something Xander would say.
no subject
Date: 2007-03-18 01:38 pm (UTC)I can see how it got in there. It's an editor's error - Scott Allie should have caught it and called Whedon on it. That after all is what editors are for, to catch mistakes like that. So it's more bad editing than bad writing, methinks. It happens.
no subject
Date: 2007-03-18 10:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-18 01:34 pm (UTC)Yet, you don't see them giving the NYC characters accents. And don't get me started on the Russian/French accents.
I don't think there's a reason - I think they may just do it because it seems cool to them?
no subject
Date: 2007-03-18 12:15 pm (UTC)It utterly missed the heart of the series and it's clear that Joss will focus too much on the potentials as a group, ignoring to write them as people first. Making it nigh impossible to care for them as individuals. (which is the same mistake they made in s7)
I much much much prefer Spike:Asylum and Angel Old Lyne Syne, even though the art might not have been as good as the one in the Buffy comic, at least the IDW comics carry the heart of the show, the Buffy comic utterly lacks that.
And I'm not even talking about how unlikeable Buffy is made when she doesn't even show some sign of mourning over Spike. Is it so hard to add one line about that? It's almost as bad as the final scene of Chosen that has made me hate all of the scoobies ever since.
no subject
Date: 2007-03-18 01:50 pm (UTC)I never had much problem understanding Buffy in the series, she didn’t emote constantly but whenever she did have any confessional scenes they always made sense to me. I suppose that’s the thing with character identification, you supply the depth yourself. Probably why I find myself relatively uninterested in Spike/Angel comics. I liked this one though it seemed over so soon and I had your misgivings about the accents (but it’s a Buffyverse tradition) and muppety Odin talk being unBuffylike. Although it might be different if she’d actually just met one. Plush, priapic Vikingy goodness.
no subject
Date: 2007-03-18 02:13 pm (UTC)I'm no expert, but I think addiction may come out of a need to be special or the feeling that one is not special, not worthy, beneath others - and the addiction is their way of escaping that feeling or compensating for it. After all - both Angel and Spike - felt unspecial, unworthy as humans. Liam was made to feel that way by his father. William by his peers. Both escape the feeling in a vampire's arms and whenever they are made to feel that way as vampires, they compensate by attacking the person and sucking their blood, getting off on the rush of the blood. Willow compensated through magic, which she escapes into and loses herself in. Dawn compensates through her studies, a sort of mini-Willow. Buffy - who became the Chosen one and was special - is the opposite, she'd love to be like Willow and Dawn and thinks they are special, her job is to protect their lives, to ensure they can be what they are. And even on a certain level resents the fact that they can be that way, live normal ordinary lives, when she can't. That they have the choice. This is a common theme in superhero comic books - the X-men really have played around with it. Ordinary folks who envy the Mutants for having superpowers and the Mutants envying the ordinary folks.
I want to clarify something - I understood Buffy in the series. No problems at all. But she did feel remote at times - which was how Gellar portrayed here, and I say that it was Gellar's acting style based on seeing Gellar in other things. I'm a little ambivalent when it comes SMG's acting, which is why in some ways I'm pleased they are continuing the series via comics and not film or television. That does not mean the character's confessional scenes didn't make sense to me, they did. Just that there were episodes in which I felt the character was a tad remote and I'm not the only one, quite a few critics had similar complaints. So it has less to do with my love of the character and more to do with my ambivalent feelings regarding the actress. If that makes sense.