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moscowwatcher I was able to read Buffy S8 Comic Issue 32, without leaving the comfort of my home. Printed the dang thing out - which did in my black ink and colored ink catridges. Won't do that again. From now on - slide shows.
This meta surprisingly enough has no Twilight Spoilers. Please respect those who are not spoiled, and do not put any Twilight Spoilers in the comments. Thank you!
The art is rather interesting in this issue, which makes me wonder how much input the writer has on the art? I'm guessing it depends on the writer and how familiar they are with the comic book medium? It has also made me change my mind a bit about Jeanty.
In this issue I noticed a difference in the art, that no one else has, and that's probably because I'm one of those crazy people who has on occasion spent hours in a comic book store and browsed through 80 different types of comics just to compare art and layout styles. You wouldn't pick up on this unless you've read a broad range of comics both mainstream and non-mainstream - a la magna, indie, mainstream, "girl or bubblegum comics", contemporary, etc and compared them. Up until now - the art per Whedon has represented a sort of bubblegum magna style - or what I like to call "teen girl comics". A specific trope that is marketed to young women. I've read them. Japan puts out more than the US actually, but they do exist. Examples include but aren't limited to: old Archie, Sailor Moon (which I was hooked on for a bit), Barbie, My Little Pony, and their ilk.
Anyhow - in case you didn't figure this out already, Jeanty's cover of this issue is important. It is a homage to a historic 1938 comic book. And not just any 1938 comic, but the comic that introduced Superman and the "straight-up" superhero as they have become defined in our popular culture to the world. In 1938 - the superhero comic was created. Before this issue, Superman did not exist except in the minds of his creators. Say what you will about the character - but if it weren't for Superman, all the others would not have followed. Batman premiered under the Detective Comics heading in 1939. Superman was a result of a difficult time in world history. 1938 has a lot in common with 2008 and 2010, in that the world was in a deep financial crisis. Wars were being fought. Countries were in serious debt. Right-wing facism was on the rise. People were increasingly retreating to the movies and comics and radio for escape. There were tent cities across the US. Banks were going under or being supported by the government. People were homeless, jobless, etc. Sound familiar? That was 1938. It is also to a degree now. Back then - the industrial revolution was at its height and taking its toll, as the information revolution was just getting under way.
The cover is a deft homage to that 1938 cover. Although that cover has been homaged quite a bit. Even the lettering fits the old Action Comics logo. Except here it is "Buffy Comics". DC used to be Detective Comics - they did mainly pulp noir mysteries, and did what we might call subgenre imprints - sort of like Vertigo is DC Comics current noir art series? Back then Action Comics was their action/adventure series - which introduced Superman. [For more about the history of comics, go read Michael Chabon's faux memoir of a creative team based up the team that created Superman in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. Jonathan Lethem followed suite with The Fortress of Solitude - but with less success.
Anyhow here's the original Action Comics Cover by co-creator Joe Shuster, June 1938, Debut of Superman:
This is a brief description from Wiki about the introduction of Superman, and how the character was originally conceived by his creators:
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster saw their creation, Superman, aka Kal-El (originally Kal-L), launched in Action Comics #1 in April 1938 (cover-dated June). Siegel and Shuster had tried for years to find a publisher for their Superman character (originally conceived as a newspaper strip) without success. Superman was originally a bald madman created by Siegel and Shuster who used his telepathic abilities to wreak havoc on mankind. He appeared in Siegel and Shuster's book Science Fiction. Siegel then commented, "What if this Superman was a force for good instead of evil?" The writer and artist had worked on several features for National Periodical Publications' other titles (Slam Bradley in Detective Comics, for example) and were asked to contribute a feature for National's newest publication. They submitted Superman for consideration, and after re-pasting the sample newspaper strips they had prepared into comic book page format, National decided to make Superman the cover feature of their new magazine. The dynamic "Man of Tomorrow" was an instant hit, and he permanently changed the medium of comic books and comic strips by formalizing a new fantasy subgenre. Action Comics was soon followed by the Superman comic book series in 1939, along with a wealth of other comics starring numerous costumed superheroes. The cover to Action Comics #1 remains one of the most homaged covers of all time.
In 1959 - Supergirl was introduced. The female counterpoint to Superman, with similar powers, and similar issues. She was introduced as a teenage girl. Marvel comics not to be outdone created Captain America and Miss America (I kid you not). Neither were as successful. Captain America showed up in 1941 and fought in WWII. Created as a super-solider to fight the threat overseas.
Captain America is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941), from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics,[1] and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Over the years, an estimated 210 million copies of "Captain America" comic books have been sold in a total of 75 countries.[2] For nearly all of the character's publication history Captain America was the alter ego of Steve Rogers, a sickly young man who was enhanced to the peak of human perfection by an experimental serum in order to aid the United States war effort. Captain America wears a costume that bears an American flag motif, and is armed with an indestructible shield that can be thrown as a weapon.[3]
An intentionally patriotic creation who was often depicted fighting the Axis powers of World War II, Captain America was Timely Comics' most popular character during the wartime period. After the war ended, the character's popularity waned and he disappeared by the 1950s aside from an ill-fated revival in 1953. Captain America was reintroduced during the Silver Age of comics when he was revived from suspended animation by the superhero team the Avengers in The Avengers #4 (March 1964). Since then, Captain America has often led the team, as well as starring in his own series. Steve Rogers was apparently killed in Captain America vol. 5, #25 (March 2007), although he was later revealed to be alive; in any case, the Captain America series continues publication[4] with Rogers' former sidekick, James "Bucky" Barnes, having taken up the mantle with Rogers insisting he continue in that capacity at least for now.
Captain America is a lot like the character Twilight in the Buffy comics - a character created by the US Government to fight an international threat. A type of super-solider. Except a rather dark twist on the character. Marvel often created dark twists on DC type characters. Iron Man was Marvel's version of Batman ( a weapons dealer and inventor who gets injured and turns himself into a weapon, with serious Daddy issues). The Avengers were the dark version of the Justice League. Fans would often state that the Marvel verse showed the world as it would be if we had superheroes walking amongst us, and the DC verse showed the world as we hoped it would be if we had them walking amongst us.
That's comic book reference #1. There's several references to both heroes throughout the comics, and specifically in this one. The powers Xander asks about are references to Nightcrawler (teleports) Superman (breath),Wolverine (claws), Green Arrow (shots arrows), Batman (great detective and premiered in Detective Comics), Antman (I think it is Antman - he's a Marvel hero, relatively unknown and can change size), Iron Man (builds anything - there's another guy who can do it too, but I forget his name), and Kitty Pryde (phases through walls, and can control her molecular structure or she's a ghost and sinks into the ground. Also known as shadowcat or ariel, and yes that's where I got my user name from in case you are wondering, just changed the spelling a bit because shadowcat was already taken. Whedon focused his X-men arc - Astonishing X-men primarily on Kitty Pryde).
The boxes introducing the characters come from Action comics, and were original used back then. It is homage to the 1930s and 1940s style. Still used today. Often to make snappy jokes. I rather enjoy them. Part of the experience.
Buffy testing her powers with Xander - is in part a homage to X-men and Marvelverse comics. Although I think they also did it with DC. The framing is closer to superhero comics than previous issues have been - specifically the three hat trick panel, where Buffy flies Xander up to a roof top, drops him, and then catches him. It is also to a degree a homage to the films Superman I and Superman II - that premiered in the 1980s with Christopher Reeves and Margot Kidder in the lead roles.
Other references:
1. Uptown Girl - is a song by Billie Joel about Christie Brinkley, who he married then later divorced. He was considerably older than she was, and from the wrong side of the tracks - an Allentown boy in love with an Manhattan girl - hence the song title. Their divorce was not as ugly as her second marriage.
2. Goonies Never Say Die - is from a rather horrid 1980s Steven Spielberg/Richard Donner film entitled the Goonies. It is notable for being Josh Brolin's first major role - he plays the oldest boy and love interest for the girl Goonie. The Goonies for people who haven't seen it is about a bunch of kids who adventure underground to steal pirates treasure to save their foreclosed homes and befriend a mentally challenged/deformed boy who looks like a monster but isn't really.
3. the steam locomotive - Beginning in Britain, steam locomotives dominated railway usage from the start of the 19th century, until the middle of the 20th Century. They were gradually improved and developed in their over 150 years of development and use. Starting in about 1930 other types of engines were developed and steam locomotives were gradually superseded by diesel and electric locomotives. The one they get is from their castle's garden and therefore is not in use. The constant depiction of steam locomotives is again a reference to Superman comics - "faster than a speeding bullet, stronger than a locomotive..." or something to that effect. Locomotives were still in use in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. IF you look closely at the comics - references are made to these time periods. Each time period is notable for how women are portrayed - and dealt with and the arrival of superheros in pop culture. Women did not have many rights during these time periods. Also in recent years - there has been a desire to return to these "happier" and "simplier" times.
4. Shirley Hemphill - notable for being the main attraction of the tv show: What's Happening, a primetime comedy show that aired in the 1970s focusing on urban black Americans, but unlike it's predecessor Good Times, rarely went into social commentary. Here's what wiki states" The show, What's Happening ran from 1976 to 1979. Unlike Good Times, a contemporary show that also had African-American cast, What's Happening!! only rarely and mildly ventured into social commentary. TV Guide once famously referred to What's Happening!! as "a look at urban black life that manages to capture the offensiveness of Amos and Andy while avoiding that program's fun." Most episodes focused on the goals of teenage males — meeting girls, finding after school jobs, and planning for the future. Episodes sometimes featured subplots involving Mrs. Thomas, Raj's bratty sister Dee, or waitress Shirley.
5. Warren's Death Trap Machine that Andrew has discovered in Twilight's headquarters appeared in the X-men/Teen Titans Cross-over , which was amongst the few times the DC Comics and Marvel Comics, two rivals, did a cross-over event. It was published in 1982.
Here's the plot summary which is more or less close to my memory of it:
The evil space tyrant Darkseid is continuing his efforts to break through the Source Wall so that the power of The Source can give him dominion. Thinking that the energy associated with the Phoenix Force can help him penetrate the mysteries of the Source, Darkseid sets into motion a plan to recreate the Dark Phoenix by tapping into the memories of her former teammates, the X-Men, as well as drawing the residue of her power from a variety of sources. Both superhero teams are alerted to the dangers by the Titans' Starfire.
Despite their best efforts, each team is defeated and captured by Deathstroke the Terminator and Darkseid's shock troops. Darkseid brings the Dark Phoenix back to life. Both super teams work together, freeing themselves and taking Darkseid, Dark Phoenix, and Deathstroke in a climatic battle. Professor X and Cyclops convince what is left of Jean Grey's human consciousness that she is being manipulated, and she once again sacrifices herself to deal with Darkseid.[1]
The thematic arc was about power. And grief. It was in a way epic and similar themes are echoed in Buffy.
Cyclops, Scott Summers, who could shoot power out of his eyes, was deeply in love with Jean Grey, a telepath and telekinetic - but she was corrupted by her own power. And to obtain power, she drained the lives out of others.
Phoenix Tale from X-Men
The original tale starts out with Jean Grey/Marvel Girl and the X-men returning from space after having saved a group of people, their space-ship is compromised and the radiation will leak through once they attempt to break through earth's atmosphere to land. Scott is piloting the plane. Jean Grey knocks Scott out and takes over, using her telekinisis to keep the radiation back, protecting everyone in the back of the plane, and piloting it. Unfortunately she's not strong enough to protect herself from the sun's ultra-violet rays, just everyone else and in effect saves the X-men, especially Scott (her one true love), by sacrificing herself to radiation from the sun, basically burning up alive not unlike Spike does in Chosen. The Phoenix force - an spirit of light and energy was impressed and helps her, it also decides to take Jean's life-form and put Jean in a cocoon far below the ocean's surface. When the X-men landed in the ocean, Jean re-appeared but as Phoenix, a force of light. One of the members of a rival team of mutants, known as the Hell Fire Club, seduces Jean Grey. His name is Mastermind. He takes Jean to his London Estate which by the way looks a lot like Gigi's home in No Future For You. So much so, that Jeanty may have copied it. Mastermind doesn't take Jean physically, he enters her mind and creates this fantasy world inside it - giving her all her dark fantasies. He is able to do it during a moment of weakness and grief. She thinks she has lost Scott. They've been separated. And grief-stricken, she turns to Mastermind. By the time she finds Scott again, Mastermind, an expert illusionist and mental manipulator has already taken control and pulled out Jean's dark side.
Enter the Hell Fire Club - Jean becomes the Club's black Queen. Emma Frost the White Queen doesn't know about Jean's entry into the club and has take it upon herself to capture mutants. One of the people she captures or tries to capture is Kitty Pryde.
Who is introduced to the X-men in this story arc. This is the arc that Kitty makes her first appearance. Jean gets furious with how Emma Frost handles and treats Kitty, her power flares up, and that's when the subconscious hooks or triggers that Mastermind has planted in Jean take hold and the Black Queen emerges. The X-men are captured and at the Black Queen's mercy. Jean is back in Colonial Times. Scott is a colonial laborer, Storm a slave, etc. She is Mastermind's wife and their headmistress.
Jean's basically "Gigi" in No Future for You and Roden is Mastermind.
Roden is very similar to Mastermind in his manipulations of Gigi. Although at least in the X-men comics - Mastermind's world is literally back in the 1800s or thereabouts, while Gigi's world is supposed to be present day. But the art is so similar to that issue - that it feels like a direct homage, which of course went over everyone's heads. (Note - homages don't work if your audience isn't aware of them.)
Scott uses the telepathic link that Jean set up between them to enter her mind and challenge Mastermind to a duel. He loses. Mastermind kills him. And he suddenly falls lifeless to the floor. Jean is grief-stricken and her true power, the power of the universe overwhelms her. (a bit like DarkWillow in Season 6 Buffy). The Phoenix rises. She destroys the Hell Fire Club. Kills people. And drives Mastermind insane. They escape.
But Jean can't stop. Still filled with Rage and Hunger, she leaves the earth and attempts to get more power. She gets it by eating a sun, which creates a black hole and destroys an entire planet. She attacks the X-men. Until Professor Xavier finds a way to harness her power and remove it- he puts on the brakes so to speak. But an intergalatic force lead by Scott's long-absent and allegedly dead, father, shows up to take them all hostage and put Jean Grey on trial for the genocide of an entire race. (This genocide by the way is later referenced by Joss Whedon in Astonishing X-men, where they attempt to kill Colussus because they believe he will do the same thing Jean Grey did ages ago.) The trial consists of a series of tests or challenges. The X-men must fight all these champions, the test is to see how long Jean's brakes will last before she goes all Terminator on everyone. It doesn't last long. The moment someone blasts Scott or almost kills him, she goes nuts and realizing this, she kills herself to save the universe, to save them all.
But...being comics, that's not the end of the story. In 1982, the Teen Titans and X-men Cross-Over brings Dark Phoenix back. Darkseid - a DC villian.
The origin story of Darkseid relates that he was born Uxas on the planet Apokolips, the son of Yuga Khan and Queen Heggra, and second in line to the throne of Apokolips. He murders his brother, Drax, and claims the fabled Omega Force for himself, transforming him into a rock-like creature and takes on a new name, Darkseid. He falls in love with an Apokoliptian scientist named Suli, with whom he fathers a son, Kalibak; however Suli is poisoned by Desaad on Heggra's behalf, who believed that Suli was corrupting her son. After Suli's death, Darkseid grew even colder and had Desaad poison Heggra, becoming the supreme monarch of Apokolips. Darkseid briefly marries a woman, Tigra, with whom he fathers another son, Orion.[4] The destructive war between the rival planet, New Genesis, is stopped only with a diplomatic exchange of the sons of Highfather and Darkseid; Darkseid's second born son, Orion, is surrendered to Highfather, who grows up to value and defend the ideals of New Genesis in opposition to his father.
Darkseid seeks to eliminate all free will from the universe and reshape it into his own image and seeks to unravel the mysterious Anti-Life Equation, which gives its user complete control over the thoughts and emotions of all living beings in the universe. Darkseid believes humans possess collectively within their minds most, if not all, fragments of the Anti-Life Equation. Darkseid intended to probe the minds of every human in order to piece together the Equation.
The machine Darkseid creates is to harness or suck out the powers of the superheroes into Phoenix, who will in turn help him piece together the Equation.
The central theme is feed on power. Phoenix is about the drainage of power or obtaining power for its own sake. She becomes addicted to it. Each time the Phoenix tale is told - and it has been told about six times now, it is about a character who is powerless and desires power, sucks it down and becomes addicted to it. In contrast to Jean Grey, is her two lovers - Scott Summers and Wolverine - two characters who are a little bit afraid of their power and spend their lives harnassing it or feeling guilty regarding it. Not wanting the power. Scott - shoots the equivalent of bullets out of his eyes, every time he opens them without glasses. His eyes are lasers of an extremely high frequency. He is terrified of hurting others. And cannot quite control his power. He would prefer not to have it. Wolverine has the same problem, his power makes him a bit of an animal, he has claws, and a healing factor that makes him capable of living forever. He feels less than human. Jean - has power, and enjoys it, but struggles with it. Her clone - Maggie - Scott's wife, a pilot, who he meets after Jean dies, appears to be powerless, until she gets awakened. She feels weak, once she gets power, she goes nuts. The story is always about how to handle power and leadership. She like Jean - burns up. Actually Jean always burns up - fire is always associated with the Phoenix and each time she dies it is by burning up and she usually sacrifices herself.
The cover of issue 35 is a homage to Chris Claremont and John Byrne's historic Dark Phoenix arc. It's the episode when Scott Summers leaves the X-men after attending Dark Phoenix's funeral. The other issues are either homages to Superman or X-men.
Okay, enuf with the comic book references.
I'm not going to do a recap, stormwreath already did one. I'll just touch on the relevant bits:
Buffy is testing her powers with Xander. While Dawn worries in the background, not solely out of jealousy, but also out of fear. Buffy has too much power. Where is it coming from?
The Monkey's Paw which Dawn keeps referencing - is a famous short story by W.W. Jacobs - published in England in 1902 at the turn of the century and it concerns at its heart the fears of the industrial revolution. It is about a poor family at the turn of century and the height of the industrial revolution. They are given a monkey's paw, where they can make three wishes. The first one is about money - they get 200 pounds, as compensation for their eldest and only son's death on the job at a factory. Grief stricken - the wife requests that the second wish - bring the son back. Reluctant - the father wishes for it. Knowing however that the son was badly mutilated in the accident and been dead for more than two days, he realizes he'll come back a monster and when the boy knocks on the door, quickly uses the third wish to wish for death.
The moral of the story is contained in this description of the paw: '"It had a spell put on it by an old fakir," said the sergeant-major, "a very holy man. He wanted to show that fate ruled people's lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow"'.
This story has always haunted me. I've heard more than one version and first heard it in 1978. In the series - it has already been referenced at least once in the Season Five episode Forever - and it is Dawn who breaks the spell, not Buffy who is rushing to the door. Hence the reference by Dawn again regarding the fact that with power comes a price. Here as in the story - the price is death.
This leads us to the main or central part of the comic - two things happen:
1. Team Buffy discovers that Faith, Andrew and Giles are missing but not why or how.
[Andrew explains it to us - Amy used a transporter spell that Warren had been working on that could exchange three people for three other people. Turns out that I was right about the correlation between Amy, Warren, and General with Faith, Andrew, and Giles. Twilight has successfully sent all four of his main henchpeople willingly into Buffy's camp to join Buffy.
Team Buffy doesn't figure it out. At least not yet.]
2. Willow discovers after doing a spell to take her to the slayer who needs her most (assuming that will be Faith - apparently Willow has forgotten there are 1800 slayers out there) - that something is very wrong. She manages to piece together that Buffy's power is coming from the dead slayers.
I read some rather bizarre interpretations of this. So I'm going to break it down.
In Chosen - Willow used the scythe to "activate" not distribute, but "activate" the power in the potential slayers. It was Willow's spell! She did not take Buffy's power and give it to them - if she did, Buffy would not have any power. Also, remember Faith? The slayer line is continued through Faith not Buffy. If Buffy dies, another slayer would not be called. (That was amongst the justifications Willow used to bring Buffy back in Bargaining, there was no slayer. Granted they could have broken Faith out of prison, but they weren't exactly on speaking terms at that point.) When Kendra died - Faith was called. Which means after Prophecy Girl - Buffy fell off the radar, she was no longer the "source" of the line or mother. That was Faith.
The First was going after Buffy - because Buffy fell off the radar. Buffy had power that was not going to go to the line. It was separate.
Each time Buffy came back from the dead - she had more power. She was revitalized.
Stronger.
In Wolves at the Gate - they use the Scythe to remove powers - except, it appears Buffy may be immune.
So power is not passed on through Buffy. But Buffy possibly was able to use her power to help Willow activate the other slayers. Which may mean, that she is the source of the empowering activation spell. I'm not certain.
Willow discovers that slayers have been tortured and killed around the globe, allegedly by the Twilight organization. So Twilight has killed 206 or thereabouts.
1800-206=1595.[ETA about 294, if you consider only 500 are working with them.] So that's what, a quarter of her army? Willow states that the power Buffy has must have come directly from these slayers.
But, the slayers have been dying prior to the events of Retreat, and Buffy had not gained any powers prior to Retreat. Which means something happened during or after Retreat that enabled the dead slayers' powers to be transferred to Buffy.
What we do know for certain is Buffy didn't do anything to those slayers either directly or indirectly. She did not kill them. She did not torture them. She didn't even know they were in danger, well outside of the slayers who died on the battlefield. We also know that prior to Retreat, Buffy didn't gain powers when slayers died. And several slayers died prior to that point. So this has absolutely nothing to do with the nature of Buffy's power or the Chosen spell. If it did, we would have had SuperBuffy in Wolves at The Gate.
Something else triggered it. Possibilities include: the spell to unearth the three goddesses, and Warren's machine that he recently created. I'm guessing the machine - because I don't think Twilight was bright enough to guess Willow and Buffy would do a spell to unearth the goddesses at the exact same time he went about killing slayers.
Nor do I think unearthing the goddesses killed all those slayers - quite a few of them were dead prior to the spell. So the machine?
In either case - Buffy's blameless in this. And you can't really condemn her for enjoying her powers - she just lost a battle to a supervillian who can fly, and had suffered numerous causalities and is at the moment in hiding and trying to figure out how to save everyone from this nutjob supervillian.
Twilight however...not so sure about. It's not clear if Twilight killed all those slayers or had them killed. It appears that he did. But again it is not explicitly stated.
What Willow states is: When we were fighting -- those 48 hours we were out...so many slayers...there were attacks all over and I found..
Buffy: Will you're scaring me
Willow: You need to be scared. Don't you see? All the girls who died fighting here, plus out there, all this power...you're getting it from the girls, Buffy. Our girls. That's where all the power's coming from. You're sucking it from every slayer who dies.
She does not say that she is sucking it from them and killing them as a result.
Nor does she say that she is sucking it from them before they die. She says she is sucking it from every slayer who dies. The power's being sucked back into Buffy somehow or channeled. This basically means the slayer power is not flowing back into Faith, who is the alleged source or the scythe, but into Buffy herself. She's not eating her young. The power, much like the Phoenix power - goes back to its source. It has to go somewhere - afterall.
So the question is - where did it go before? The earth? Or back to Buffy? Where did Renee's power go? Or the Buffy under the earth? Or the slayer that Harmony killed?
Did the spell about the Goddesses - change where the power went? So that it no longer seeps back into the earth when each slayer dies, but instead goes to Buffy? Which makes me wonder about Willow and where her power came back to her from - the Goddesses??
It also begs the question - why were these slayers being tortured and killed. Attacked. Note - they didn't just drop dead and feed Buffy's battery. They were sought out and killed by someone - I'm guessing Twilight (although possibly not if they plan on making him not the Big Bad and from all the teasers, I'm willing to bet money at this point that Twilight is a mislead and there's something else far worse that we haven't seen that they need to fight.) They don't tell us. Which means it may not be Twilight.
Is it Chosen spell? No. There's no evidence to suggest that. Anywhere. If it were the Chosen spell - this would have happened earlier.
No the trigger happened during or immediately after Retreat. Note none of the other slayers appear to have their powers back. Which may mean that the spell they did to give up their powers to the earth redirected the slayer line back through Buffy, not Faith - and all of the power of that line with it. That would actually make logical sense. Although it is a comic, so I may be asking a bit much. Comics by their very nature don't make logical sense.
Thematically - I think it works better if Buffy is getting the power because of the nature of the power itself. It goes back to the Phoenix theme that lay at the center of the X-men comics - how power in of itself is not a bad thing, but it gets corrupted and has a price, also the guilt associated with having power, as well as the responsibility in wielding it. The desire to share it, to connect, to be less alone, and the inability to truly do so. These are all recurring themes in Superman, Captain America, and the X-men comics.
As for Twilight's Master Plan - my guess is it has to do with power. Twilight reminds me a bit of Darkseid.
Overall rating of this issue? B
Recommended for superhero comic book geeks, not sure non-superhero comic book geeks will enjoy it all that much. Keep in mind Dark Horse's readership tends to be superhero-comic book geeks. Hellboy is their feature title. Actually my main criticism of this issue, outside of the illogical plot bits that I attempted to figure out above, is that the writer/artist/editor may not realize that their audience is not made up of people like themselves aka Andrew Wells. They are clearly writing these things for people like themselves, but their audience unfortunately may be a bit more advanced culturally speaking, actually I think the audience has always been smarter than the writer. In other words - they are doing homages to mainstream pop superhero action comics, while the audience is busy reading obscure magna,literary, cult, and indie comics. You got to admit, it is rather amusing.
moscowwatcher I was able to read Buffy S8 Comic Issue 32, without leaving the comfort of my home. Printed the dang thing out - which did in my black ink and colored ink catridges. Won't do that again. From now on - slide shows.This meta surprisingly enough has no Twilight Spoilers. Please respect those who are not spoiled, and do not put any Twilight Spoilers in the comments. Thank you!
The art is rather interesting in this issue, which makes me wonder how much input the writer has on the art? I'm guessing it depends on the writer and how familiar they are with the comic book medium? It has also made me change my mind a bit about Jeanty.
In this issue I noticed a difference in the art, that no one else has, and that's probably because I'm one of those crazy people who has on occasion spent hours in a comic book store and browsed through 80 different types of comics just to compare art and layout styles. You wouldn't pick up on this unless you've read a broad range of comics both mainstream and non-mainstream - a la magna, indie, mainstream, "girl or bubblegum comics", contemporary, etc and compared them. Up until now - the art per Whedon has represented a sort of bubblegum magna style - or what I like to call "teen girl comics". A specific trope that is marketed to young women. I've read them. Japan puts out more than the US actually, but they do exist. Examples include but aren't limited to: old Archie, Sailor Moon (which I was hooked on for a bit), Barbie, My Little Pony, and their ilk.
Anyhow - in case you didn't figure this out already, Jeanty's cover of this issue is important. It is a homage to a historic 1938 comic book. And not just any 1938 comic, but the comic that introduced Superman and the "straight-up" superhero as they have become defined in our popular culture to the world. In 1938 - the superhero comic was created. Before this issue, Superman did not exist except in the minds of his creators. Say what you will about the character - but if it weren't for Superman, all the others would not have followed. Batman premiered under the Detective Comics heading in 1939. Superman was a result of a difficult time in world history. 1938 has a lot in common with 2008 and 2010, in that the world was in a deep financial crisis. Wars were being fought. Countries were in serious debt. Right-wing facism was on the rise. People were increasingly retreating to the movies and comics and radio for escape. There were tent cities across the US. Banks were going under or being supported by the government. People were homeless, jobless, etc. Sound familiar? That was 1938. It is also to a degree now. Back then - the industrial revolution was at its height and taking its toll, as the information revolution was just getting under way.
The cover is a deft homage to that 1938 cover. Although that cover has been homaged quite a bit. Even the lettering fits the old Action Comics logo. Except here it is "Buffy Comics". DC used to be Detective Comics - they did mainly pulp noir mysteries, and did what we might call subgenre imprints - sort of like Vertigo is DC Comics current noir art series? Back then Action Comics was their action/adventure series - which introduced Superman. [For more about the history of comics, go read Michael Chabon's faux memoir of a creative team based up the team that created Superman in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. Jonathan Lethem followed suite with The Fortress of Solitude - but with less success.
Anyhow here's the original Action Comics Cover by co-creator Joe Shuster, June 1938, Debut of Superman:
This is a brief description from Wiki about the introduction of Superman, and how the character was originally conceived by his creators:
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster saw their creation, Superman, aka Kal-El (originally Kal-L), launched in Action Comics #1 in April 1938 (cover-dated June). Siegel and Shuster had tried for years to find a publisher for their Superman character (originally conceived as a newspaper strip) without success. Superman was originally a bald madman created by Siegel and Shuster who used his telepathic abilities to wreak havoc on mankind. He appeared in Siegel and Shuster's book Science Fiction. Siegel then commented, "What if this Superman was a force for good instead of evil?" The writer and artist had worked on several features for National Periodical Publications' other titles (Slam Bradley in Detective Comics, for example) and were asked to contribute a feature for National's newest publication. They submitted Superman for consideration, and after re-pasting the sample newspaper strips they had prepared into comic book page format, National decided to make Superman the cover feature of their new magazine. The dynamic "Man of Tomorrow" was an instant hit, and he permanently changed the medium of comic books and comic strips by formalizing a new fantasy subgenre. Action Comics was soon followed by the Superman comic book series in 1939, along with a wealth of other comics starring numerous costumed superheroes. The cover to Action Comics #1 remains one of the most homaged covers of all time.
In 1959 - Supergirl was introduced. The female counterpoint to Superman, with similar powers, and similar issues. She was introduced as a teenage girl. Marvel comics not to be outdone created Captain America and Miss America (I kid you not). Neither were as successful. Captain America showed up in 1941 and fought in WWII. Created as a super-solider to fight the threat overseas.
Captain America is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941), from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics,[1] and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Over the years, an estimated 210 million copies of "Captain America" comic books have been sold in a total of 75 countries.[2] For nearly all of the character's publication history Captain America was the alter ego of Steve Rogers, a sickly young man who was enhanced to the peak of human perfection by an experimental serum in order to aid the United States war effort. Captain America wears a costume that bears an American flag motif, and is armed with an indestructible shield that can be thrown as a weapon.[3]
An intentionally patriotic creation who was often depicted fighting the Axis powers of World War II, Captain America was Timely Comics' most popular character during the wartime period. After the war ended, the character's popularity waned and he disappeared by the 1950s aside from an ill-fated revival in 1953. Captain America was reintroduced during the Silver Age of comics when he was revived from suspended animation by the superhero team the Avengers in The Avengers #4 (March 1964). Since then, Captain America has often led the team, as well as starring in his own series. Steve Rogers was apparently killed in Captain America vol. 5, #25 (March 2007), although he was later revealed to be alive; in any case, the Captain America series continues publication[4] with Rogers' former sidekick, James "Bucky" Barnes, having taken up the mantle with Rogers insisting he continue in that capacity at least for now.
Captain America is a lot like the character Twilight in the Buffy comics - a character created by the US Government to fight an international threat. A type of super-solider. Except a rather dark twist on the character. Marvel often created dark twists on DC type characters. Iron Man was Marvel's version of Batman ( a weapons dealer and inventor who gets injured and turns himself into a weapon, with serious Daddy issues). The Avengers were the dark version of the Justice League. Fans would often state that the Marvel verse showed the world as it would be if we had superheroes walking amongst us, and the DC verse showed the world as we hoped it would be if we had them walking amongst us.
That's comic book reference #1. There's several references to both heroes throughout the comics, and specifically in this one. The powers Xander asks about are references to Nightcrawler (teleports) Superman (breath),Wolverine (claws), Green Arrow (shots arrows), Batman (great detective and premiered in Detective Comics), Antman (I think it is Antman - he's a Marvel hero, relatively unknown and can change size), Iron Man (builds anything - there's another guy who can do it too, but I forget his name), and Kitty Pryde (phases through walls, and can control her molecular structure or she's a ghost and sinks into the ground. Also known as shadowcat or ariel, and yes that's where I got my user name from in case you are wondering, just changed the spelling a bit because shadowcat was already taken. Whedon focused his X-men arc - Astonishing X-men primarily on Kitty Pryde).
The boxes introducing the characters come from Action comics, and were original used back then. It is homage to the 1930s and 1940s style. Still used today. Often to make snappy jokes. I rather enjoy them. Part of the experience.
Buffy testing her powers with Xander - is in part a homage to X-men and Marvelverse comics. Although I think they also did it with DC. The framing is closer to superhero comics than previous issues have been - specifically the three hat trick panel, where Buffy flies Xander up to a roof top, drops him, and then catches him. It is also to a degree a homage to the films Superman I and Superman II - that premiered in the 1980s with Christopher Reeves and Margot Kidder in the lead roles.
Other references:
1. Uptown Girl - is a song by Billie Joel about Christie Brinkley, who he married then later divorced. He was considerably older than she was, and from the wrong side of the tracks - an Allentown boy in love with an Manhattan girl - hence the song title. Their divorce was not as ugly as her second marriage.
2. Goonies Never Say Die - is from a rather horrid 1980s Steven Spielberg/Richard Donner film entitled the Goonies. It is notable for being Josh Brolin's first major role - he plays the oldest boy and love interest for the girl Goonie. The Goonies for people who haven't seen it is about a bunch of kids who adventure underground to steal pirates treasure to save their foreclosed homes and befriend a mentally challenged/deformed boy who looks like a monster but isn't really.
3. the steam locomotive - Beginning in Britain, steam locomotives dominated railway usage from the start of the 19th century, until the middle of the 20th Century. They were gradually improved and developed in their over 150 years of development and use. Starting in about 1930 other types of engines were developed and steam locomotives were gradually superseded by diesel and electric locomotives. The one they get is from their castle's garden and therefore is not in use. The constant depiction of steam locomotives is again a reference to Superman comics - "faster than a speeding bullet, stronger than a locomotive..." or something to that effect. Locomotives were still in use in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. IF you look closely at the comics - references are made to these time periods. Each time period is notable for how women are portrayed - and dealt with and the arrival of superheros in pop culture. Women did not have many rights during these time periods. Also in recent years - there has been a desire to return to these "happier" and "simplier" times.
4. Shirley Hemphill - notable for being the main attraction of the tv show: What's Happening, a primetime comedy show that aired in the 1970s focusing on urban black Americans, but unlike it's predecessor Good Times, rarely went into social commentary. Here's what wiki states" The show, What's Happening ran from 1976 to 1979. Unlike Good Times, a contemporary show that also had African-American cast, What's Happening!! only rarely and mildly ventured into social commentary. TV Guide once famously referred to What's Happening!! as "a look at urban black life that manages to capture the offensiveness of Amos and Andy while avoiding that program's fun." Most episodes focused on the goals of teenage males — meeting girls, finding after school jobs, and planning for the future. Episodes sometimes featured subplots involving Mrs. Thomas, Raj's bratty sister Dee, or waitress Shirley.
5. Warren's Death Trap Machine that Andrew has discovered in Twilight's headquarters appeared in the X-men/Teen Titans Cross-over , which was amongst the few times the DC Comics and Marvel Comics, two rivals, did a cross-over event. It was published in 1982.
Here's the plot summary which is more or less close to my memory of it:
The evil space tyrant Darkseid is continuing his efforts to break through the Source Wall so that the power of The Source can give him dominion. Thinking that the energy associated with the Phoenix Force can help him penetrate the mysteries of the Source, Darkseid sets into motion a plan to recreate the Dark Phoenix by tapping into the memories of her former teammates, the X-Men, as well as drawing the residue of her power from a variety of sources. Both superhero teams are alerted to the dangers by the Titans' Starfire.
Despite their best efforts, each team is defeated and captured by Deathstroke the Terminator and Darkseid's shock troops. Darkseid brings the Dark Phoenix back to life. Both super teams work together, freeing themselves and taking Darkseid, Dark Phoenix, and Deathstroke in a climatic battle. Professor X and Cyclops convince what is left of Jean Grey's human consciousness that she is being manipulated, and she once again sacrifices herself to deal with Darkseid.[1]
The thematic arc was about power. And grief. It was in a way epic and similar themes are echoed in Buffy.
Cyclops, Scott Summers, who could shoot power out of his eyes, was deeply in love with Jean Grey, a telepath and telekinetic - but she was corrupted by her own power. And to obtain power, she drained the lives out of others.
Phoenix Tale from X-Men
The original tale starts out with Jean Grey/Marvel Girl and the X-men returning from space after having saved a group of people, their space-ship is compromised and the radiation will leak through once they attempt to break through earth's atmosphere to land. Scott is piloting the plane. Jean Grey knocks Scott out and takes over, using her telekinisis to keep the radiation back, protecting everyone in the back of the plane, and piloting it. Unfortunately she's not strong enough to protect herself from the sun's ultra-violet rays, just everyone else and in effect saves the X-men, especially Scott (her one true love), by sacrificing herself to radiation from the sun, basically burning up alive not unlike Spike does in Chosen. The Phoenix force - an spirit of light and energy was impressed and helps her, it also decides to take Jean's life-form and put Jean in a cocoon far below the ocean's surface. When the X-men landed in the ocean, Jean re-appeared but as Phoenix, a force of light. One of the members of a rival team of mutants, known as the Hell Fire Club, seduces Jean Grey. His name is Mastermind. He takes Jean to his London Estate which by the way looks a lot like Gigi's home in No Future For You. So much so, that Jeanty may have copied it. Mastermind doesn't take Jean physically, he enters her mind and creates this fantasy world inside it - giving her all her dark fantasies. He is able to do it during a moment of weakness and grief. She thinks she has lost Scott. They've been separated. And grief-stricken, she turns to Mastermind. By the time she finds Scott again, Mastermind, an expert illusionist and mental manipulator has already taken control and pulled out Jean's dark side.
Enter the Hell Fire Club - Jean becomes the Club's black Queen. Emma Frost the White Queen doesn't know about Jean's entry into the club and has take it upon herself to capture mutants. One of the people she captures or tries to capture is Kitty Pryde.
Who is introduced to the X-men in this story arc. This is the arc that Kitty makes her first appearance. Jean gets furious with how Emma Frost handles and treats Kitty, her power flares up, and that's when the subconscious hooks or triggers that Mastermind has planted in Jean take hold and the Black Queen emerges. The X-men are captured and at the Black Queen's mercy. Jean is back in Colonial Times. Scott is a colonial laborer, Storm a slave, etc. She is Mastermind's wife and their headmistress.
Jean's basically "Gigi" in No Future for You and Roden is Mastermind.
Roden is very similar to Mastermind in his manipulations of Gigi. Although at least in the X-men comics - Mastermind's world is literally back in the 1800s or thereabouts, while Gigi's world is supposed to be present day. But the art is so similar to that issue - that it feels like a direct homage, which of course went over everyone's heads. (Note - homages don't work if your audience isn't aware of them.)
Scott uses the telepathic link that Jean set up between them to enter her mind and challenge Mastermind to a duel. He loses. Mastermind kills him. And he suddenly falls lifeless to the floor. Jean is grief-stricken and her true power, the power of the universe overwhelms her. (a bit like DarkWillow in Season 6 Buffy). The Phoenix rises. She destroys the Hell Fire Club. Kills people. And drives Mastermind insane. They escape.
But Jean can't stop. Still filled with Rage and Hunger, she leaves the earth and attempts to get more power. She gets it by eating a sun, which creates a black hole and destroys an entire planet. She attacks the X-men. Until Professor Xavier finds a way to harness her power and remove it- he puts on the brakes so to speak. But an intergalatic force lead by Scott's long-absent and allegedly dead, father, shows up to take them all hostage and put Jean Grey on trial for the genocide of an entire race. (This genocide by the way is later referenced by Joss Whedon in Astonishing X-men, where they attempt to kill Colussus because they believe he will do the same thing Jean Grey did ages ago.) The trial consists of a series of tests or challenges. The X-men must fight all these champions, the test is to see how long Jean's brakes will last before she goes all Terminator on everyone. It doesn't last long. The moment someone blasts Scott or almost kills him, she goes nuts and realizing this, she kills herself to save the universe, to save them all.
But...being comics, that's not the end of the story. In 1982, the Teen Titans and X-men Cross-Over brings Dark Phoenix back. Darkseid - a DC villian.
The origin story of Darkseid relates that he was born Uxas on the planet Apokolips, the son of Yuga Khan and Queen Heggra, and second in line to the throne of Apokolips. He murders his brother, Drax, and claims the fabled Omega Force for himself, transforming him into a rock-like creature and takes on a new name, Darkseid. He falls in love with an Apokoliptian scientist named Suli, with whom he fathers a son, Kalibak; however Suli is poisoned by Desaad on Heggra's behalf, who believed that Suli was corrupting her son. After Suli's death, Darkseid grew even colder and had Desaad poison Heggra, becoming the supreme monarch of Apokolips. Darkseid briefly marries a woman, Tigra, with whom he fathers another son, Orion.[4] The destructive war between the rival planet, New Genesis, is stopped only with a diplomatic exchange of the sons of Highfather and Darkseid; Darkseid's second born son, Orion, is surrendered to Highfather, who grows up to value and defend the ideals of New Genesis in opposition to his father.
Darkseid seeks to eliminate all free will from the universe and reshape it into his own image and seeks to unravel the mysterious Anti-Life Equation, which gives its user complete control over the thoughts and emotions of all living beings in the universe. Darkseid believes humans possess collectively within their minds most, if not all, fragments of the Anti-Life Equation. Darkseid intended to probe the minds of every human in order to piece together the Equation.
The machine Darkseid creates is to harness or suck out the powers of the superheroes into Phoenix, who will in turn help him piece together the Equation.
The central theme is feed on power. Phoenix is about the drainage of power or obtaining power for its own sake. She becomes addicted to it. Each time the Phoenix tale is told - and it has been told about six times now, it is about a character who is powerless and desires power, sucks it down and becomes addicted to it. In contrast to Jean Grey, is her two lovers - Scott Summers and Wolverine - two characters who are a little bit afraid of their power and spend their lives harnassing it or feeling guilty regarding it. Not wanting the power. Scott - shoots the equivalent of bullets out of his eyes, every time he opens them without glasses. His eyes are lasers of an extremely high frequency. He is terrified of hurting others. And cannot quite control his power. He would prefer not to have it. Wolverine has the same problem, his power makes him a bit of an animal, he has claws, and a healing factor that makes him capable of living forever. He feels less than human. Jean - has power, and enjoys it, but struggles with it. Her clone - Maggie - Scott's wife, a pilot, who he meets after Jean dies, appears to be powerless, until she gets awakened. She feels weak, once she gets power, she goes nuts. The story is always about how to handle power and leadership. She like Jean - burns up. Actually Jean always burns up - fire is always associated with the Phoenix and each time she dies it is by burning up and she usually sacrifices herself.
The cover of issue 35 is a homage to Chris Claremont and John Byrne's historic Dark Phoenix arc. It's the episode when Scott Summers leaves the X-men after attending Dark Phoenix's funeral. The other issues are either homages to Superman or X-men.
Okay, enuf with the comic book references.
I'm not going to do a recap, stormwreath already did one. I'll just touch on the relevant bits:
Buffy is testing her powers with Xander. While Dawn worries in the background, not solely out of jealousy, but also out of fear. Buffy has too much power. Where is it coming from?
The Monkey's Paw which Dawn keeps referencing - is a famous short story by W.W. Jacobs - published in England in 1902 at the turn of the century and it concerns at its heart the fears of the industrial revolution. It is about a poor family at the turn of century and the height of the industrial revolution. They are given a monkey's paw, where they can make three wishes. The first one is about money - they get 200 pounds, as compensation for their eldest and only son's death on the job at a factory. Grief stricken - the wife requests that the second wish - bring the son back. Reluctant - the father wishes for it. Knowing however that the son was badly mutilated in the accident and been dead for more than two days, he realizes he'll come back a monster and when the boy knocks on the door, quickly uses the third wish to wish for death.
The moral of the story is contained in this description of the paw: '"It had a spell put on it by an old fakir," said the sergeant-major, "a very holy man. He wanted to show that fate ruled people's lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow"'.
This story has always haunted me. I've heard more than one version and first heard it in 1978. In the series - it has already been referenced at least once in the Season Five episode Forever - and it is Dawn who breaks the spell, not Buffy who is rushing to the door. Hence the reference by Dawn again regarding the fact that with power comes a price. Here as in the story - the price is death.
This leads us to the main or central part of the comic - two things happen:
1. Team Buffy discovers that Faith, Andrew and Giles are missing but not why or how.
[Andrew explains it to us - Amy used a transporter spell that Warren had been working on that could exchange three people for three other people. Turns out that I was right about the correlation between Amy, Warren, and General with Faith, Andrew, and Giles. Twilight has successfully sent all four of his main henchpeople willingly into Buffy's camp to join Buffy.
Team Buffy doesn't figure it out. At least not yet.]
2. Willow discovers after doing a spell to take her to the slayer who needs her most (assuming that will be Faith - apparently Willow has forgotten there are 1800 slayers out there) - that something is very wrong. She manages to piece together that Buffy's power is coming from the dead slayers.
I read some rather bizarre interpretations of this. So I'm going to break it down.
In Chosen - Willow used the scythe to "activate" not distribute, but "activate" the power in the potential slayers. It was Willow's spell! She did not take Buffy's power and give it to them - if she did, Buffy would not have any power. Also, remember Faith? The slayer line is continued through Faith not Buffy. If Buffy dies, another slayer would not be called. (That was amongst the justifications Willow used to bring Buffy back in Bargaining, there was no slayer. Granted they could have broken Faith out of prison, but they weren't exactly on speaking terms at that point.) When Kendra died - Faith was called. Which means after Prophecy Girl - Buffy fell off the radar, she was no longer the "source" of the line or mother. That was Faith.
The First was going after Buffy - because Buffy fell off the radar. Buffy had power that was not going to go to the line. It was separate.
Each time Buffy came back from the dead - she had more power. She was revitalized.
Stronger.
In Wolves at the Gate - they use the Scythe to remove powers - except, it appears Buffy may be immune.
So power is not passed on through Buffy. But Buffy possibly was able to use her power to help Willow activate the other slayers. Which may mean, that she is the source of the empowering activation spell. I'm not certain.
Willow discovers that slayers have been tortured and killed around the globe, allegedly by the Twilight organization. So Twilight has killed 206 or thereabouts.
1800-206=1595.[ETA about 294, if you consider only 500 are working with them.] So that's what, a quarter of her army? Willow states that the power Buffy has must have come directly from these slayers.
But, the slayers have been dying prior to the events of Retreat, and Buffy had not gained any powers prior to Retreat. Which means something happened during or after Retreat that enabled the dead slayers' powers to be transferred to Buffy.
What we do know for certain is Buffy didn't do anything to those slayers either directly or indirectly. She did not kill them. She did not torture them. She didn't even know they were in danger, well outside of the slayers who died on the battlefield. We also know that prior to Retreat, Buffy didn't gain powers when slayers died. And several slayers died prior to that point. So this has absolutely nothing to do with the nature of Buffy's power or the Chosen spell. If it did, we would have had SuperBuffy in Wolves at The Gate.
Something else triggered it. Possibilities include: the spell to unearth the three goddesses, and Warren's machine that he recently created. I'm guessing the machine - because I don't think Twilight was bright enough to guess Willow and Buffy would do a spell to unearth the goddesses at the exact same time he went about killing slayers.
Nor do I think unearthing the goddesses killed all those slayers - quite a few of them were dead prior to the spell. So the machine?
In either case - Buffy's blameless in this. And you can't really condemn her for enjoying her powers - she just lost a battle to a supervillian who can fly, and had suffered numerous causalities and is at the moment in hiding and trying to figure out how to save everyone from this nutjob supervillian.
Twilight however...not so sure about. It's not clear if Twilight killed all those slayers or had them killed. It appears that he did. But again it is not explicitly stated.
What Willow states is: When we were fighting -- those 48 hours we were out...so many slayers...there were attacks all over and I found..
Buffy: Will you're scaring me
Willow: You need to be scared. Don't you see? All the girls who died fighting here, plus out there, all this power...you're getting it from the girls, Buffy. Our girls. That's where all the power's coming from. You're sucking it from every slayer who dies.
She does not say that she is sucking it from them and killing them as a result.
Nor does she say that she is sucking it from them before they die. She says she is sucking it from every slayer who dies. The power's being sucked back into Buffy somehow or channeled. This basically means the slayer power is not flowing back into Faith, who is the alleged source or the scythe, but into Buffy herself. She's not eating her young. The power, much like the Phoenix power - goes back to its source. It has to go somewhere - afterall.
So the question is - where did it go before? The earth? Or back to Buffy? Where did Renee's power go? Or the Buffy under the earth? Or the slayer that Harmony killed?
Did the spell about the Goddesses - change where the power went? So that it no longer seeps back into the earth when each slayer dies, but instead goes to Buffy? Which makes me wonder about Willow and where her power came back to her from - the Goddesses??
It also begs the question - why were these slayers being tortured and killed. Attacked. Note - they didn't just drop dead and feed Buffy's battery. They were sought out and killed by someone - I'm guessing Twilight (although possibly not if they plan on making him not the Big Bad and from all the teasers, I'm willing to bet money at this point that Twilight is a mislead and there's something else far worse that we haven't seen that they need to fight.) They don't tell us. Which means it may not be Twilight.
Is it Chosen spell? No. There's no evidence to suggest that. Anywhere. If it were the Chosen spell - this would have happened earlier.
No the trigger happened during or immediately after Retreat. Note none of the other slayers appear to have their powers back. Which may mean that the spell they did to give up their powers to the earth redirected the slayer line back through Buffy, not Faith - and all of the power of that line with it. That would actually make logical sense. Although it is a comic, so I may be asking a bit much. Comics by their very nature don't make logical sense.
Thematically - I think it works better if Buffy is getting the power because of the nature of the power itself. It goes back to the Phoenix theme that lay at the center of the X-men comics - how power in of itself is not a bad thing, but it gets corrupted and has a price, also the guilt associated with having power, as well as the responsibility in wielding it. The desire to share it, to connect, to be less alone, and the inability to truly do so. These are all recurring themes in Superman, Captain America, and the X-men comics.
As for Twilight's Master Plan - my guess is it has to do with power. Twilight reminds me a bit of Darkseid.
Overall rating of this issue? B
Recommended for superhero comic book geeks, not sure non-superhero comic book geeks will enjoy it all that much. Keep in mind Dark Horse's readership tends to be superhero-comic book geeks. Hellboy is their feature title. Actually my main criticism of this issue, outside of the illogical plot bits that I attempted to figure out above, is that the writer/artist/editor may not realize that their audience is not made up of people like themselves aka Andrew Wells. They are clearly writing these things for people like themselves, but their audience unfortunately may be a bit more advanced culturally speaking, actually I think the audience has always been smarter than the writer. In other words - they are doing homages to mainstream pop superhero action comics, while the audience is busy reading obscure magna,literary, cult, and indie comics. You got to admit, it is rather amusing.
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no subject
Date: 2010-02-11 05:23 am (UTC)I'm not a comic book person. I didn't find that the references themselves left me cold. It was more that this just now *is* a comic book story. Or at least it's threatening to become one. I've reconciled myself to it with the thought that Joss is always playing off genre, and now he's playing off the superhero genre. It's just not a genre I know enough about to appreciate what subversion (if any) he's up to here.
I did catch the Kitty Pryde joke, though. (I tracked down a bit on the X-man at some point a while back).
Buffy *is* eating her young. However the power mechanics work, it was her spell that launched them as slayers. She's been the It girl in the organization. She's totally Mom. And she's consuming the power of the girls who've died. (To eat her young doesn't require that she have anything to do with killing them).
Nor is it the case that she has nothing to do with the fates of these girls. No slayer spell. Those girls aren't being hunted down and slaughtered like animals.
She's not guilty of their deaths. She hasn't (so far as we know) done anything 'evil' in regard to them. But her actions are a precondition for their current dead state. Unintended consequences and all that. They are still consequences. That's the story. How do you do with horrific consequences even when they are far from what you might have intended? If you wield power, things happen as a result of that power. But nobody ever has mastery of the power, ergo all those unintended consequences.
I wonder if this isn't her Faith moment. An unintended consequence of Faith's actions was the death of the assistant mayor. Faith's wrong turn was in how she *reacted* to that. We'll see soon how Buffy reacts to this. The slayers are worse off because of her. She has to make peace with that one way or another. Twilight's been gunning for her sense of moral certainty. This is a body blow at that. The most natural reaction would be to flee from the power to avoid doing harm again. A less common, but understandable reaction would be the Faith turn of just embracing evil, even if the precipitating event involved no moral culpability whatsoever. If power does harm, why make a pretense of wielding it for good? I can see a crisis of confidence brewing in that direction.
It's a great twist. And I love that Buffy connects her abilty to suck power from dead slayers with vampires' ability to suck life from humans. I wouldn't have gone there, but it's very in character for her to go there. She's always worried about how different she really is from her prey. And it speaks well of her that she deep down knows it's a question she has to answer.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-11 09:51 am (UTC)I think this has been a problem right from the start. Too much in the series has been aimed at the usual comic book audience, which has been frustrating for those who are new to the genre.
I did get some of the references, but quite honestly even though I've read many superhero comics in the past (only Marvel, not a DC reader), I'm really not that interested in homages.
Agree with you about Buffy, though. I daresay she will feel horribly guilty about how she got this power, but it's not her fault. She isn't culpable.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-11 10:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-11 12:31 pm (UTC)The First was going after Buffy - because Buffy fell off the radar. Buffy had power that was not going to go to the line. It was separate.
Each time Buffy came back from the dead - she had more power. She was revitalized. Stronger.
Yes!!!! You just provided me with a perfect explanation and a logical break-down of the events that happen in the s 7 fic I currently write. Thank you! *dances*
So Twilight has killed 206 or thereabouts. 1800-206=1595. So that's what, a quarter of her army? Willow states that the power Buffy has must have come directly from these slayers.
From issue 1: "Eighteen hundred now, that we've counted. Almost five hundred working with us, in ten separate squads".
My take is that the mob attacked only the "outed" slayers, those who work with Buffy. Those who hid their powers, weren't attacked.
No the trigger happened during or immediately after Retreat. Note none of the other slayers appear to have their powers back. Which may mean that the spell they did to give up their powers to the earth redirected the slayer line back through Buffy, not Faith - and all of the power of that line with it.
I suspect the machine in Twilight's headquarters was built specially for that purpose.
As for Twilight's Master Plan - my guess is it has to do with power.
I also think so. I think about the possibility of an upcoming apocalypse, unleashed by the existence of too much slayer power.
Back in 1997 we knew about one Hellmouth. Then the slayer line was split - and by 2003 we found out that there was another Hellmouth, in Cleveland. Maybe 1800 hellmouths are about to appear soon, and the only way to stop it is to return all the slayer powers back into Buffy and then to send her out of this dimension. (highlight for spoilers)
If Angels sends Buffy to hell to stop an apocalypse, it will be very Jossian.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-11 04:52 pm (UTC)It could be interesting to look if there's a work on comic tropes in there (beyond the reference of course).
There's also one question that's been around my mind for a while now: why did Whedon chose this particular style of drawing (what you call "bubble-gum")? Is it an attempt at recapturing the spirit of the show, this peculiar mix of campy, cheap,funny and dark or even noir, that constituted the trade mark of BTVS? (Provided of course that's a choice that has other reasons than "that'd be cool")
no subject
Date: 2010-02-11 05:03 pm (UTC)We may not like it, but it is by no means a recent occurrence. I could find references to superhero comics as far back as Prophecy Girl - which is a homage to Supergirl and Power Girl - there were apparently numerous takes on the female version of superman, before someone came up with Wonder Woman.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-11 05:05 pm (UTC)It's actually a better comic than most. And better plotted than most.
One of the reasons people are so elitist when it comes to comics - is the plotting is often all over the place and the arcs tend to junk detail for emotional and dramatic effect.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-11 05:12 pm (UTC)Okay so 500-206 = 294 left? Because if I were a slayer who hadn't been outed, I'd stay hidden at this point.
I think you are right - something is going to happen that will involve Buffy sacrificing herself to save the world, which means going into the other dimension with all the demons. Certainly fits the comic book tropes that they are doing homages too.
Phoenix - sacrifices herself to save the world repeatedly.
Superman - sacrificed himself to save the world.
Both do it after an epic battle. And both feel guilty regarding their powers.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-11 05:25 pm (UTC)I think both. There's a definite take on female empowerment. In the mainstream books - the male is the hero. In the Dark Phoenix story - the hero is well a Xander/Riley type character. Scott Summers is basically the child of Xander/Angel/and Riley. He inspires Jean. She dies to save him. It is her love for him that redeems her. Whedon did a nifty switcheroo on this one in S7 - with Spike sacrificing himself for Buffy, and it is his love for her that redeems him. Although he also does the original version with Willow and Xander - it is Willow's love and Xander's forgiveness and love that saves and redeems Willow.
It's a trope in the mainstream superhero comic book world - that a female character who is super-powered is corrupted by her power and drains it from others and must die. While the male hero who gets it from the sun and/or naturally, is born with it, didn't want it, etc - lives on with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Here Whedon flips it -
the male heroes - in the tv series, sucked power out of others, while
Buffy got here's by her birthright.
That's one interpretation.
There's also one question that's been around my mind for a while now: why did Whedon chose this particular style of drawing (what you call "bubble-gum")? Is it an attempt at recapturing the spirit of the show, this peculiar mix of campy, cheap,funny and dark or even noir, that constituted the trade mark of BTVS? (Provided of course that's a choice that has other reasons than "that'd be cool")
Well, he stated in an interview once that he wanted to do a comic that drew women realistically and not in a manner that gratified men.
He basically wanted to do a comic targeted to a girl geek audience.
OR a teenage girl audience. Much like he chose to do a tv series for a teen girl audience. A lot of people forget that Buffy was created for teenage girl demographic and marketed to a teenage girl demo. It's target audience was girls from the ages of 12-18. Of course it was written by people in their 30s and then 40s - so as a result referenced things only a 30 year old or 40 something year old would know. And mainly by men. Whedon is about 45 now.
So, I think the decision was made - because that was the audience they were targeting. I also think it was to a degree to re-capture the spirit of the show. It is definitely deliberate. He is aware of it. I didn't realize it until I saw this issue. I should have - because Karl Moline and Andrews art attempts to do the same thing and doesn't quite pull it off. In other words - the book is supposed to look like My Little Pony or Sailor Moon (although I like the Sailor Moon art a bit more). The pastel pallets and lighter colors. Whether it works for me or not is another issue, but yes, I think it is deliberate and in part because they thought it would be cool.
Okay did we read different comics?;-)
Date: 2010-02-11 06:20 pm (UTC)Eating one's young - is usually a mother who eats her dead babies, right? Or you can say - in the case of a vampire - someone who sucks the energy out of them when they die to regenerate itself. It is a dark metaphor - and has a lot of deep mythological connotations linked directly to the Mother Goddess. Devourer and Birther. Gives Birth and Kills. The gaping earth.
But in order for this analogy to work - you must demonstrate the following:
1. That the power inside the slayers is their life force. It's not. If it were, they'd have died the moment the Goddesses beneath the earth took their power in Retreat.
2. That the power inside them came directly from Buffy. (No evidence of this - it came from the Scythe.) If it came directly from Buffy - Buffy would have felt it. She'd be drained. She didn't have frigging superpowers prior to the last issue of Retreat. It's not like we had Superbuffy - she gave birth to a bunch of superslayers, and diminished her powers.
3. That Buffy regenerates the line - she doesn't, Faith does. If Buffy did, the line would have regenerated and a new slayer would have been called after The Gift.
4. That every slayer who died - sent her power directly to Buffy. (If this were the case - when Renee and other slayers died - Buffy would have started getting stronger and stronger. That did not happen.)
This is what I think makes a lot more sense - the power has to go somewhere. It's energy, once the slayers die - it goes back to its source. Prior to the spell that Buffy AND Willow did, which they got from Bay - to resurrect the Goddesses who'd taken their power, the slayer power went back into the earth. Now it is going in another direction - when the slayers die it goes into Buffy.
However the power mechanics work, it was her spell that launched them as slayers.
No. It was Willow's spell and the Scythe. All Buffy did was suggest it and ask everyone if they'd like to do it.
And she's consuming the power of the girls who've died. (To eat her young doesn't require that she have anything to do with killing them).
No. The power is flowing back into her. She's not sucking it out of them.
She's not eating it. It is being "channeled" back to her. Not the same thing.
How is she consuming it?
No someone or something is channeling the power of the dead slayers into Buffy.
Consume requires action. You can be forced to consume something, but it does require an action. Vampires do consume power from the living.
But the slayers were killed. Then their power instead of going into the earth or back to the line - has suddenly been channeled back through Buffy.
Those girls aren't being hunted down and slaughtered like animals.
What girls? The slayers? Yes, they are.
Girl Slayer to Willow: they found us, but the mob, they were a mob...all of us
or the containers where she finds the slayers chained and tortured and killed or the girls on the battlefield which Twilight's army slaughtered.
Sounds like the girls are being hunted down and slaughtered like animals to me.
How do you think they are dying?
Part II
Date: 2010-02-11 06:24 pm (UTC)Huh? Who has Buffy killed? I don't remember her killing anyone here? While Faith clearly did. Not comparable. Buffy isn't acting like Faith. Outside of one bank robbery - which she felt bad about and the Gigi bit, I haven't seen anything that I could describe as a Faith moment.
We'll see soon how Buffy reacts to this. The slayers are worse off because of her.
So the fact that they have power makes them worse off? And again how is this Buffy's fault exactly? Because she asked if they wanted to have power and share the responsibility with her??? What's evil or bad or improper or wrong about that? I always thought sharing and giving power was a good thing. Taking or ripping away not so good.
Twilight's been gunning for her sense of moral certainty. This is a body blow at that. The most natural reaction would be to flee from the power to avoid doing harm again. A less common, but understandable reaction would be the Faith turn of just embracing evil, even if the precipitating event involved no moral culpability whatsoever. If power does harm, why make a pretense of wielding it for good? I can see a crisis of confidence brewing in that direction.
She got her current "superpowers" from the dead girls, true. But it's not her fault. And it did not happen until recently. After the equivalent of four or five years AFTER the Chosen spell. She'll probably feel guilty about it. But she didn't kill those girls and she did not consume their power - it was thrown back into her.
The crisis is did she burden others by giving her power to them? Was her gift = death. Did she kill them by giving them power. Is the power itself cursed? Is all magic cursed?? That's the crisis. Should I have given them that choice? Should I have given them power? Does power only kill? Not "Buffy" but the power. Is that all power is. Is power evil? It is the same crisis that Willow struggles with - is her magic evil. Does magic kill? Was Buffy's decision to untap their power and share the responsibility the right one?
Of course it was. But she is questioning it. Power is not a bad thing in of itself. It is how we choose to perceive it, how we choose to handle it that can make it one. Whedon is showing how the world handles female empowerment, pretty much with the attitude that it is evil and corrupt and you are better off without any.
Re: Okay did we read different comics?;-)
Date: 2010-02-11 07:31 pm (UTC)All I mean by eating her young is that (a) they look at her as *the* slayer. She's been referred to that way multiple times over the comics. She's the queen. They are her girls. (b) She's sucking up their power. It's nourishing her. Consumption does not require action. People get fed through IVs all the time. People also are nourished by dead things (mostly they are). The fact that the power flows to Buffy automatically after they died has no bearing on whether their power is nourishing her. Assuming Willow is correct, they die, their power flows to her and nourishes her. I agree that this seems to be new -- as far as we can tell she wasn't nourished by the previous deaths. Allie says we'll be told what happened that created a situation wherein Buffy got access to a giant dead slayer battery.
"Eating her young" does carry a lot of connotations that go beyond the basic description. And I think that's the drama. It doesn't mean she's some guppy swimming around swallowing up her newly hatched offspring. But the difference mostly is that it's something happening to her. The horror of benefitting from the deaths of people she had a role in creating is present. It's ooky and therefore powerful.
It's not intentional. I'm not saying she's culpable of *anything* It's just a description of what's happening.
Buffy's role in the spell: Getting the scythe. Coming up with the idea. Enabling Willow to execute it. No Buffy. No Scythe. No Spell. Buffy did ask the girls in Sunnydale. She didn't ask the 206 girls who are now carcasses.
Again. Not intentional. Not culpable. Just a description of what happened. She's a necessary but not sufficient cause of their current status as carcasses.
Hunted down and being slaughtered. My writing was unclear and should be read as: "If there were no spell those girls would not be being hunted down and slaughtered like animals." The mobs aren't after non-slayers as far as we can tell.
On to next comment...
Re: Part II
Date: 2010-02-11 07:48 pm (UTC)Buffy's actions have also led to horrible, horrible results. Like Faith she never intended those consequences. She is NOT morally culpable. But what is at question is how do you respond when your actions set in motion terrible things, terrible things that would not have happened if you hadn't done what you did even though you have ZERO moral culpability. It was wrong for Faith to try to pretend that it was no big deal. It was a big deal. Even though she was not guilty of anything like murder. What's happened to the girls who became slayers because of Buffy (and Willow's) actions is a big deal. Buffy wouldn't be human if she did not struggle with how to handle it emotionally. There are differences, of course. On the one hand, Faith's actions directly led to the assistant mayor's death. Buffy's actions are the necessary condition for the deaths of the slayers but not (at all) the direct or immediate cause. On the other hand, Faith killed one guy. Buffy's action have resulted in 206 slaughtered girls.
I'm just starting to see that what we have here is a great meditation on the conundrum of power. It's not so much a question of whether it's used for good or for ill. It's that it means you have a lot of consequences to the use of that power that can be horrific. To use an imperfect (!!) analogy, Hiroshima is not the fault of nuclear physicists. But they are the ones who made it possible. The question isn't whether the scientists are evil. The question is how do you live with results of your actions that are 100% unintended, but also 100% horrific. And unlike the nuclear physicists, Buffy has the additional horror of having her own power bolstered a gazillion fold as a result of her actions. The girls are now dead. She's out playing at being superman. Not her fault. But not something that can be humanly ignored. It will be interesting to see what that does to her. When we realize that we've made the world worse off, even when we were trying to make it better, do we give up? Do we resolve to do better? Do we decide that since good intentions make no difference we should just do what we want?
It'll be interesting to see what she does with it. Up until now Buffy's power has mostly led to the world being better. This time it's led to the world being worse. That's what's new. Buffy's good intentions haven't changed; it's the consequences that have changed.
Re: Part II
Date: 2010-02-11 10:32 pm (UTC)So you are what equating Faith stabbing the deputy mayor through the heart with a stake with Buffy empowering 1800 women with slayer strength, ability, and prowess - enabling those women to slay demons?
That's..interesting. Don't see the connection. Maybe I misread?
Buffy's actions have also led to horrible, horrible results.
What actions? Giving the women the power, training them, taking them in, fighting demons alongside them?
They died because Twilight chose to slaughter them. So by your hypothesis - the shadowmen and the Watcher Council by creating the slayer caused the deaths of Nikki Wood, and all the other slayers?
Because after all they are the ones who created the slayer right?
Or are you stating her decision to take them to Tibet, remove their powers and hide?
Or was it her decision to train them to begin with?
Or the decision to empower 1800 girls with super-strength and agility? Apparently that is the same thing as dropping a bomb on Hiroshima and staking a human by mistake???? Huh?
Think about what you are saying here - you are equating the empowerment of women - giving women the ability to fight demons without having some Watcher control and tell them what to do, without being the only one to fight an army of demons and to die at their hands - you are equating that with building a bomb and dropping it on Hiroshima? That would be akin to saying that giving women the power to vote was horrible because Sarah Palin got to be Governor of Alaska and in a position of power, and ends up killing millions aka Hitler.
Buffy gave these women the power to fight demons. Sure it made them a target, but no more of one than before. The vampires were still out there. Still attacking them. Now, they have the power to fight back.
How is that horrible?
It was wrong for Faith to try to pretend that it was no big deal. It was a big deal.
Well, yeah - Faith staked a man through his heart thinking he was a vampire. Then refused to take responsibility and framed Buffy for the crime. Not quite the same thing as saying, hey, do you guys want to defend yourselves against these horrible demons for a change or would you prefer to continue cowering behind me or trying to do it without powers - because either way they are out there.
Even though she was not guilty of anything like murder. What's happened to the girls who became slayers because of Buffy (and Willow's) actions is a big deal.
You are assuming they'd be alive if it weren't for the slayer spell. That's a big assumption. People have been hunted down and killed by vampires. Not just the slayers. Prior to the slayer spell, Caleb was hunting them down and killing them along with the bringers and the First's vampires.
So what's Buffy supposed to do here? Keep everyone alive? Make sure no one ever gets hurt? She's not perfect.
And just because you got power, doesn't mean you had to use it or that you were anymore of a target than you were previously. (Again - go see Season 7).
. On the other hand, Faith killed one guy. Buffy's action have resulted in 206 slaughtered girls.
Again, apples and oranges here. Faith "staked" one guy - deliberately. The mistake was she didn't know he was human. When she found out - she framed Buffy. When Buffy fears that she has done something similar in Dead Things - she turned herself in.
Those two situations are analogous. These two are not analogous.
Buffy's actions did NOT result in the deaths of 206 girls.
Twilight's actions resulted in the deaths of 206 girls.
All Buffy did is give them power, then she attempted to hide them from Twilight, then she tried to fight Twilight.
I'm sorry I don't see how Buffy's actions lead to this. This is all on Twilight.
Nor can I see how Buffy enjoying her powers because that may make it possible for her to defeat Twilight and save everyone else, as something bad.
Your analogies don't hold water.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-11 10:44 pm (UTC)I did like Buffy finally getting a classic Superhero origin exploring her powers. Is that classic? Spiderman did it in the movies. She never really had that it was all duty and destiny from the beginning. Although of course there was a shadow hanging over this one the whole time - it started with a gun even before Dawn chipped in with her Cassandra act.
I also agree with you (let me count the ways) in disagreeing that Buffy can be said to be eating her young. She's being fed them and that's a very different thing with different, if still horrific associations. And while Buffy is bound to blame herself, for other people to finger her and not the people/organisation/masked superhero actually killing the Slayers seems frankly twisted. Slayers being hunted down by mobs is not a necessary corollory of them existing any more than Judaism necessitates a pogram or African Americans a Klu Klux Klan.
Re: Part II
Date: 2010-02-11 10:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-11 11:11 pm (UTC)I did like Buffy finally getting a classic Superhero origin exploring her powers. Is that classic?
Yes. They did it a lot in the comics of the 1960s, 1930s, and 1940s. You don't see it as much now...but that's only because Spiderman has been around for 30 years. The whole comic is a homage to the 1930s style in some respects, except with better art. Was never a fan of Kirby/Shuster box art.
She never really had that it was all duty and destiny from the beginning. Although of course there was a shadow hanging over this one the whole time - it started with a gun even before Dawn chipped in with her Cassandra act.
Agreed. Buffy's never been permitted the luxury of enjoying her power. You see the other slayers enjoy theirs. Faith does. But never Buffy - which may explain the somewhat odd reactions to it?
She's being fed them and that's a very different thing with different, if still horrific associations. And while Buffy is bound to blame herself, for other people to finger her and not the people/organisation/masked superhero actually killing the Slayers seems frankly twisted.
Agreed. What a lot of people are ignoring is the fact that up to now, before and after Chosen, slayers have died and Buffy didn't get more power. It is what I think the First Evil had planned on happening - by killing all the potentials - to have all the power reside in Buffy, then take over Buffy herself. Or something to that effect. But by choosing to share the power with all the potentials as well as the Scythe - Buffy circumvented the First's plan and nipped it in the bud.
So, what changed? Warren built a mechanism that would literally suck the power out of one person and put it into another. This mechanism was built somewhere between Retreat and now, right around the time - Buffy started getting super-powers. Which means Twilight found a way to make the First's plan work? Twilight is smarter than the First if that's the case.
The only other possibility is the Goddess Spell - which may have rechanneled the dead slayer power to Buffy as opposed to the earth or original source - whatever that is. Buffy is not the original source of the power - we know that from Get it Done.
It's odd, but people seem to be bending over backwards hunting for ways to excuse Twilight's actions. I don't see any excuse for them in the text.
Slayers being hunted down by mobs is not a necessary corollory of them existing any more than Judaism necessitates a pogram or African Americans a Klu Klux Klan.
Yes! It's like blaming the Holocaust on Judaism.
Re: Part II
Date: 2010-02-11 11:18 pm (UTC)We may just have very different perspectives on Chosen and the slayer spell. Which I actually loved quite a bit, and you didn't? (shrugs)
No harm done. I hope.
And sorry, been in a bit of a foul mood of late. ;-)
Re: Part II
Date: 2010-02-11 11:45 pm (UTC)Re: Part II
Date: 2010-02-12 12:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-12 09:35 am (UTC)I'm aware of this, but I think it's overkill here. Sorry.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-12 10:20 pm (UTC)But, then again, it is a comic book. Most of them do tend to...well, you've read Brian Lynch ;-)