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shadowkat[Yes, I'm editing this post, because I posted it at midnight last night and woke up this morning realizing I forgot to talk about some of the best bits. ]
So, since it was such an incredibly beautiful day - I decided to hike up to the promenade, check out the aforementioned comics, the promenade and pick up miniature chocolate, key lime, and mango mousses from Green Mountain Grocer (they have great mousses, and well I've got a craving.) I was not planning on buying the comic - I was planning on just checking it out.
(Halfway through the Buffy comic)
Comic book store gal: Miss? Miss? [At least she's not calling me M'Am, I hate M'am.] Excuse me? I can't permit you to read the entire comic in the store. (I look up and at comic book store gal - who has really ugly tattoos all over her body, heavy-set, dressed entirely in black, with some weird heavy metal band or something on the t-shirt, glasses, black fizzy hair, nose and lip piercings and clearly no older than 20.)
Me : Yeah, I guess that makes sense since you sort of want me to actually buy the comic. (Pause) Would it help if I told you that I already know everything that happens in it? And am just checking it out to see if I want to actually buy the thing? Because you know they've gotten progressively worse? (Look of death) Guess not. (I proceed to flip through the Riley one-shot to see if it is worth the price of admission...and then, feeling tension, feel guilty and purchase them. I really miss RocketShip.) So, out of curiousity how are the sales going for this one?
Comic book store gal (mumbles): the Buffy comic? Okay I guess. (another polite look of death). (Alrighty then, It's been one of those weeks.)
I read the things when I got home. Figured what the hell. Wasn't planning on writing a review, because let's face it everyone and their significant other, best bud, and mother has beaten me to it. Do you really want to read another one? What else can possibly be said on the matter? I say this after having scanned or read over 20 of them - most of them on my flist. The most detailed are![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
moscow_watcher, local_max, beergoodfoamy , and 2maggie2 as well as angeria. My favorite? Is still aycheb but that's partly because I'm a movie buff and her review made me laugh my ass off. It should be noted, by the way, that as impossible as it may sound? I basically agree with all of these reviewers, at least in part. So, where was I? Wasn't planning on writing a review but thought, what the hell. You don't have to read it after all. Warning much snark ensues and some meta/analysis - on both issues, so if you don't like snark - you might not want to read it. It's not as snarky as beergood's, but close enough. In fact if you want - previouslies, go find his, most like on Dreamwidth. Also, a lot of spoilers - so if you haven't been spoiled by reading all the other reviews don't read this one.
Buffy Issue 36 and Riley One Shot Reviews
Let the emotional moments really land and don't use a lot of words to make that happen - it's all demonstrated through action - Jane Espenson's advice to inspiring writers. (Pity she didn't take her own advice while writing the Riley comic and Retreat, but what can you do?)
I've worked with Joss for more than ten-years, and I've picked up whatever I can about writing character-driven genre stories, but this was the best chance I've had to work hand in hand on a story. - Scott Allie (Hmmm, I thought editors work hand-in-hand with writers, particularly in comics on writing a story? Guess I was wrong. )
From the cover of Buffy 36 - to the epic battle, we expect passionate reactions from the die-hard fans - Scott Allie (Such as viceral hatred and vows never to read anything Dark Horse publishes ever again? Somehow I doubt that. Or incredulous laughter at the absurdity? Nah.)
[Warning - I think this is longer than the actual comics. Also multiple typos,because I did not proofread or edit this thing. I did proof and edit, but I'm human and I screw up, deal with it. I haven't even re-read it. So it's very rough. If you link to it and you have my permission to, of course, (I'm not necessarily asking you to, just granting permission - there is a difference. Yes, it's nice to be linked to, but... people who follow the link must behave themselves - which means no sending my blood pressure sky-rocketing through the roof because you hate my opinion. Rants against me or my friends or fellow fans must be restricted to your own journals. Disagreements are permitted, just no bashing of me, my frirends or fellow fans. And keep in mind these are just my opinions. They aren't gospel. ]
The Riley comic first - Commitment through Distance, Virtue through Sin
I picked up this comic because I thought it would tell me something I didn't already know about Twilight's plan and why Riley decided to play double-agent for Buffy. Also that it was necessary in order to fully understand what was going on in issue 36. Plus would actually develop Sam and Riley beyond the poor man's/watered down version of Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Silly me. While it does in some respects clarify the general romantic theme, and explain in no uncertain terms why Angel is a narcissistic, vain, douche that only an idiotic, somewhat shallow, and incredibly insecure 16 year old girl (ie. Bella) squeeing over Twilight novels could possibly adore - it doesn't really do much more than that. [As an aside - is it just me or is every B-list female writer hopping on the vampire gothic romance bandwagon. Talk about market saturation. Do we really need novels from Nancy Holder and Janet Evanovich on this topic? And can they be any more redundant? I know that there aren't any original plots, but this is getting ridiculous. They had ads for both in the comics.]
Espenson takes 16 pages to tell us why Sam persuades Riley to join Buffy. (I'm guessing if she knew it would result in him being critically injured by big TellyTubby Tibetian Goddeses - while the world went to hell in a hand-basket, because Buffy decided to boink Twilight - she might have had second thoughts. Seriously, feeling better about going on a crazy government assignment - without Riley in tow - is not worth that. ) Granted, during said conversation - which appears to take three-four days, as they not only disarm (or rather attempt to disarm) a missile, fly out and parachute to a boat that takes them to the coordinates the missile was set to target (to which, Riley comments - "Maybe it wasn't smart for us to come to the target coordinates" - you think?? ), then wander through a pitch black cave (where they continue to have this discussion - uh, considering you are supposed to be fooling Twilight into thinking that you are betraying Buffy and not working for her - don't you think you might want to be a little more careful about what you say? Riley - still not the brightest bulb in the universe. Although considering who Twilight is, I wouldn't worry too much. )
Meanwhile as a counter point, Angel has another deep and meaningful discussion with Whistler. Who has proven himself to be so trustworthy and reliable in the past, as for that matter have the PTB, that Angel barely questions what he has to say. I mean why should he not trust Whistler - after all Whistler told him to help Buffy and that he'd save the world in Becoming. And why should he mistrust the powers? It's not like their visions ever lead him astray or got any of his friends or the people he cares about killed in any way. Oh he does question him, well sort of, it's not very heartfelt, because all Whistler has to do to quiet Angel's qualms is promise that he'll be the "noble" hero. Whistler says exactly what Angel needs to hear - he's the boss, the important one, not Buffy, he'll save her by torturing her, his personal sacrifices will result in the greater good! Hey it's not like Angel hasn't fallen for this line before. He hasn't fucked some blond past love senseless, gotten her pregnant, so their son can screw his other ex, get her pregnant, give birth to a powerful god that will remake the world in her image - where everybody is happy, except for those poor unfortunate souls that get devoured and slaughtered in the process of creating a happy new world. Nor has Angel ever been tricked into throwing the world into hell just to you know get rid of a big bad. Nah, not Angel.
None of this comes as a revelation. The main point of the comic is this: " Riley and Sam work because they are partners, they discuss things, they trust one another implicitly, and are not seeking each other's approval and/or permission. Neither bosses the other around. Neither is superior. They are EQUALS in all ways. (Basically the cheap version of Aeryn Sun and John Crichton on Farscape). While Buffy and Angel have the classic abusive relationship from fairy tale and/or romantic fantasy hell. No trust. No meaningful discussion - and little communication. No support. One party dominating the other or forcing the other to do what they believe is right, and for their own good - often by violence. And they don't trust each other, because that just wouldn't be romantic. " Emphasis here on the word TRUST. Narcissus would be envious. Got it. Now, can we get back to the actual plot? Guess not. The comic ends with Riley agreeing to join Twilight and getting Twilight's signal carved into his chest.
The following bits of dialogue pretty much sum up the point of this issue and the emotional theme:
Riley (in response to Sam's statement that it's okay to go help Buffy and be separated from her): I don't like this. It makes me feel like...too free. Like you and me, like we're not tied together.
Sam: We're not. We're together because we want to be. There are no ties.
Riley: No ties. That's kind of scary as hell.
Sam: But Good. Riley. It's good. It's better. [Because I TRUST you!]
Twangel - You have to decide whether your loyalty lies with the girl or with the world?
Riley - Buffy. [Because I trust her to put the world first. She's saved it and me before.]
Earlier:
Twangel in response to Whistler's question will Riley sign up: Riley Finn? Maybe. He's no fan of magic. Very humans first. I don't get what she saw in him.
Simple. One word. Trust. Riley trusts Buffy. You won't.
[What astonishes me about the Riley One Shot and the entire Buffy comics arc - is that they go out of their way to underline all the deeply flawed character traits in Angel that most people can't stand. He is not sympathetic in this issue. He comes across as a narcissistic idiot. Who clearly hasn't learned a thing from what happened to Wesely, Cordelia, and Doyle or for that matter Connor. An on-going theme in the Angel series is that every time Angel tries to help or take you in, he destroys you. He trusts no one, so no one can trust him. And he's easily manipulated by villains because he so desperately wants someone to tell him he's important and has a higher purpose and being "cursed" with a soul means something besides you know being cursed for being a mean SOB. But at least in the series - he was sympathetic, we saw it through his pov and to a degree identified with his struggle. It is possible that I didn't give Boreanze enough credit as an actor in conveying that human vulnerability and desire to be good, while failing miserably at it. But I don't think so. I think the writing was tighter and better on the series than it is here. What they often accomplished in a five minute scene on Angel, they take 11 pages to convey here.]
Buffy Issue 36 Review.
It's probably worth stating that the titles of these issues actually are a clue. The Last Gleaming is a line from the Star Spangled Banner. "And Twilight's last gleaming, the banner yet wave..." or something like that. The Star Spangled Banner was I believe written during the Civil War - which Whedon continues to be obsessed with for some reason. Not the easiest song on the planet to remember. I personally prefer America the Beautiful, but that's just me. The Riley one shot was Committment by Distance - (Riley) and Virtue through Sin (Angel). [And as an aside? Buffy, hon, you got the worst taste in men. You had Riley, Xander, Spike and Angel to pick from and you pick Angel? WTF??] Not sure Riley's whole plan to help Buffy by spying on Twangel was the smartest move on the planet. It's not surprising he didn't figure out anything - a) he doesn't really know Angel, so how could he know Angel would don a Mexican Wrestler's mask as a homage to a dead and somewhat idiotic not to mention bitter Mexican wrestling superstar and superhero who nobly died with his five brothers to save the world? (That was supposed to a parable, but Angel being Angel decided to follow in the guys footsteps.) b) He also couldn't know that Angel doesn't trust anyone unless they are a talking dog, a Mexican Wrestling superstar, a funky demon who gets visions, or a representative of the powers, everyone else? Not so much. So getting close to Twangel to figure out his plan - not going to accomplish much. I think Riley's sole purpose in the comics was basically the same purpose it was in Season 4, 5 and 6, which is to comment on Buffy's insane penchant for abusive untrustworthy boyfriends over nice guys. An on-going theme. (Was Joss Whedon rejected in a former life for a douchebag? Was his father a douchebag? Did his mother skip town on his Dad for a douchebag? Or is this just a thinly disguised commentary on female romantic gothic fiction?)
Anywho...
Angel and Spike both accidentally destroy critical landmarks. Spike is amused, Angel sulks. But that's because Spike is gifted with a sense of humor, while Angel takes himself far too seriously and well the small fact that Angel apparently thinks he's destroyed LA again in an attempt to save it (he keeps doing that, you'd think he'd learn by now not to trust the PTB and uh, do nothing), Spike on the other hand is in a middle of a fight and sort of pleased that the wankers have disappeared. (Speaking of...if we have to bring back past big bads/wnakers? Why can't we have The Mayor, the Mayor had a sense of humor. Angel and the Master, not so much. Next, we'll probably have the annoited or is that annoying one, just to make things complete.]
Timeline? Not sure it really matters at this point. But I'm guessing from this issue that the Buffy comics take place at least two years after the events of Not Fade Away. Why? Because Spike clearly has been off in another dimension fighting space aliens for quite some time and not in hell LA. And get's back to London somewhere between Wolves at the Gate and Spacefucking. Takes him a bit of time to get up to speed, once he does - he rushes to the scene. Angel? I'm not sure where he's popped in from - I'm guessing Hell LA, but it could literally be anywhere. Also - it appears that Lynch's ATF is as I previously suspected canonical to this universe. Although, I think should be taken far more satirically than many took it. Also the ending was probably different. In short, no, Angel is not a noble hero, he was the idiot who took LA to hell while trying to save it and through no act of his, LA is back and the whole time in Hell did not happen.
Angel: Are you here to tell me I've got a higher purpose? [Sigh always wanting the higher purpose. You are a vampire, stupid. There isn't any higher purpose - outside killing people that is and well now that you have a soul, not killing people and helping them instead - didn't we already cover this way back in 2001 or was it 2000, can't remember? Sigh insecure, much? ]
Talking Dog: You betcha. (nah, he's here to tell you that you got the part on a tv series. What do you think?)
Angel: Does it involve killing? (Doesn't it always? What else are you good for? Besides spacefucking. Seriously?)
Angel: If this is a dream, I'm getting a shrink like Wesely begged.
(Yes, why don't you go do that? And plus - clear shout-out to Lynch ATF. Only the ending appears to have been somewhat changed.)
Talking dog easily convinces Angel to stay, by telling Angel exactly what he wants to hear. Angel grouses about not being a fan of complicated.
Talking dog: I know. Even when things get the most complicated, you remain doggedly simple. That's part of why you were chosen. [What's that saying? If at first you don't succeed in sending the world to hell? Try, try again? Note to PTB, ie Whedon - you might want to try manipulating a less simple soul next time...just saying. Although to be fair - Angel has almost sent the world to hell at least twice now...so who knows, the third time might be the charm? Now, if that tricky character Spike just would not get in the way...]
Then Oceanic Flight 815 pops up and splits apart over Hollywood, California, as opposed to the island, as it did on tv. (Did we just pop into the Lostverse for a minute? Isn't this universe wonky enough without doing a cross-over with Lost? No wait, Angel saves the plane -- so Lost never happens in the Buffyverse. Whew. One group of lost and insane characters is enough, I imagine. Is that supposed to be Kate from Lost that Angel is embracing? Nah, no freckles, just a mole or is that a pimple, hard to tell. No, it's the talking dog who has now taken the form of Kate or a random passenger. ]
Now we leap over to Spike - and find out what he's been up to. Or have we landed in Farscape? First Lost, now either Doctor Who or Farscape, can't decide which. A bit more steam-punk than Who or Farscape though. Wait, maybe it is Buckaroo Bonzai? Or Buck Rodgers. Nah, has to be British. I know, Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy by way of Buckaroo Bonzai. With a bunch of mechanical bugs who appear to be Spike's acolytes or servants, not quite henchmen. (Note - Jeanty is better at drawing mechanical bugs than Centaurs and humans, I'm guessing he's doing the wrong genre.) Spike and the mechanical bugs have been fighting Wankers. Also Spike like Angel can survive out in the open air - oxygen not being an issue. (And yes, regardless of what that blurb in tiny print at the front of the issue states - Spike is still a vampire. Apparently that was a typo? Wait, typo? Doesn't this thing have an editor? Goes back to check - it has three editors. I guess they figured no one reads the tiny blurbs at the front of the issue? Doesn't explain the rest of the issue though.]
Spike doesn't get any visitations from PTB. Makes sense - after all Spike keeps foiling their plans. (Stupid Trickster character...you weren't supposed to last more than 4 episodes. Stop messing with my plan to send the world to hell! )Instead he does research via newspapers and computers. (Does Angel even know how to use a computer? Can't remember him ever using one? Course why would he need to? That's what henchmen, visions, and the PTB are for.)
Present day at Castle Buffy, apparently we've moved from Tibet to Castle Buffy sometime between issue 35 and issue 36.
Satsu (at least I think it is Satsu, hard to tell, could be Faith or Kennedy): Let's move people, in case you haven't noticed there are giants in the sky. [Actually they looked like demons to me, but whatever.]
And we get the Buffy/Angel talk. Which doesn't really tell us anything we didn't already know from issues 34-35, but hey just in case we weren't paying attention...
Angel (regarding Spike): Buffy I don't trust him. (Angel, hon, you don't trust anyone except for talking dogs, and random strangers who talk to you out of nowhere and tell you that they are the PTB and you have a higher purpose. Considering Spike's saved your behind and Buffy's a few times, plus your son's and several other people, and fought by your side the last time you sent the world to hell...yet, you trust Whistler (a guy who never does anything but talk) and a talking dog?)]
Buffy: Angel I don't trust you, but you have my heart. So what can I do? (Doesn't matter if you kill all my friends, destroy my world, etc - I still love you, because you remind me of my Daddy and I just can't help myself because you know, he abandoned me when I was 16 and you came along and took me ice-skating and stuff. With you I can be sixteen forever. Bad taste in men? Buffy? Nah. Buffy, hon...if you want to know why OZ, Riley, Willow, Xander, and Dawn have found happiness in their relationships and you just get angst - it's one little word? TRUST. Sigh, you are still unbaked cookie dough, we get it. But we thought you had an epithany in S6 when you told Spike that wild passionate love without trust was not love, and would destroy everything. What happened to that Buffy? Did she get replaced by a pod!Person? Because I want that Buffy back.) And he has a ship - (yep, one that is rescuing all of your friends from the demons that you and Angel unleashed on the world.)
Angel: It's too convenient him showing up now? He's got an agenda. [Yep, he probably wants to stop you from destroying the world again. Because he happens to like the world, happy meals on legs, smashing big ben, and Manchester United.]
Buffy: Well it's like to be a lot simpler than yours. [You hope. And actually Ange;s wasn't that complicated. Manipulate you into Fucking his brains out so you can give birth to a new reality, where no one but you and Angel exist and can have babies and be Adam and Eve. While everyone else perishes. You just want it to be complicated. Spike's on the other hand...sigh. ] And right now it's useful. [Remains to be seen, but hey at least he's rescuing people and not killing anything. Point for Spike.]The last time I saw spike he died saving me and my people (While the last time I saw you, you were trying to kill me and my people. Does my taste suck or what?)
Angel: He told me like four thousand times. (Actually only twice. You exaggerate. Poor baby. Pets Angel.)
Now I love this speech:
Buffy (who appearsto be possessed by channeling Sookie Stackhouse and Bella, two heroines who think with their crotchs, still reassuring an insecure Angel...who she's just had space sex with and apparently loves no matter what he's done or made her do): This is the weirdest, bestest day of my life, what you've done - for me, I can't describe (cartoon sex), I can't pronounce (orgasmic sex), you gave me perfection ( a world where I don't have to give a shit about anyone or anything but myself, narcissistic bliss plus did I just mention? Orgasmic sex! By the way - orgasmic sex - results in a sort of oblivion, you leave your body or appear to and are high! Buffy is a sex addict, who knew.), Jesus Angel, that's not just the love of my life. That's the guy I would live with. (I can't trust you. You are always telling me what to do. OR I'm telling you what to do. You don't trust me. And our relationship apparently hasn't evolved past the 11th grade. Plus you apparently have the IQ of a dog (no offense to dogs, but they are not the brightest animals on the planet) But hey, what's that matter, when we loooove each other and have great sex - apparently S6 Buffy and S7 Buffy is gone.)
Then Willow turns Angel into a Frog and states, Whoah, hey, I missed, my bad. (Something tells me she didn't. Why she turned him back, I'll never know. Come on Willow - Frogs - cute pets. By the way - isn't Willow afraid of Frogs? Maybe that's why she turned him back? )
Buffy: What we did - it released these demons. All over. They're gonna target slayers.
Angel: Are you sure? (nah, Angel, they are gonna target vampires...what do you think?)
Buffy: Well everyone else has. (yep, including your true love, but let's not think about that.)
Angel: I got more powerful not remotely mature (or intelligent for some reason) I'll find you soon.
Buffy: You better. (sigh. But not before I save the world with Spike again.)
Faith: Where's the man-bitch formerly known as Angel? (Faith, you have such a way with words.)
Buffy: Protecting slayers (because apparently sending out the guy who was targeting slayers and convincing everyone to kill and torture slayers is the best person in the world to protect them. But hey, we're going to keep his henchmen in prison because they are so much more dangerous...you know the henchmen who switched teams and tried to help us stop him.)
Buffy and Spike chat.
Buffy: Let's do this in order. One, thanks for saving us from the ubervamps, that was crazy studly, and sorry I haven't been in touch but as you can see I'm somehow leading an army. [Okay - I've waited four years for that sentence? Seriously, Joss, you couldn't have written that a lot earlier? Talk about anti-climatic! And of course it's all about Buffy, no one else matters and on one else exists outside her scope.]
Spike: Your Wel - [Why bother Spike? Seriously?]
Buffy: Two, what do you know and how can you help. No jokes, no snark, no British slang that just means something dirty. [What? Come on give a guy a break. You just buggered the villain in front of everybody which caused the apocalypse. At least let us snark and make jokes about it. You are frigging lucky we aren't doing anything else.]
Spike: One under all that demon viscera, you still reek of him (and seriously the demon viscera smells better but I'm being polite) and that's not a treat for me - but it can't be Buffy if she doesn't boink the bad guy right? [Yes. Sigh. Buffy - you really need to get help for that sex addiction. Just saying.]
Buffy: snark. [Honey, you lost the right to complain when you boinked Twangel in space.]
Spike: Comes with the sizable package. Two you can under no circumstances trust him.
[Yeah, she knows that. But that doesn't mean she can't fuck him. Sex addiction. Hello?]
Buffy: Can everybody just agree not to trust anybody and you get to the frikkin point?[Especially not you. Honey, if you trusted your brain and not your crotch, we wouldn't be in this situation. Also may I just point out that we have a heavy focus on the word TRUST here? Buffy can't trust anyone. See, it's hard to trust people - they let you down, their crap gets in the way, but if you don't trust people - you end up alone and disconnected and miserable. So really? You sort of have to take the risk at some point.]
[In short: Buffy tries to dominate Spike and put him in his place, treat him like he's the untrustworthy person in the mix, the guy with the agenda. But he shuts her down by pointing out that a) she boinked the big bad again, b)her fuckfest gave birth to a brand new universe which she promptly ditched because you know, everyone was dying because of it, and said universe is going to mightily upset about being abandoned. (Apparently universe's have feelings and ship relationships, who knew? Actually, the universe appears to be an actual "character". I don't remember this happening in Star Trek. Note to Whedon - sci-fi? So...not your forte. Excuse me, not universe, higher dimension, there is a difference. I think. He appears to use both word synomously.) ]
Spike launches into exposition. Because you know, it's not like we don't know what's going on or anything. Wait we don't. We have no clue who the bad guy is - or who the good guys are or even what Twilight is. Or the problem for that matter. Or why Buffy has sold herself body and soul to Twangel, after Twangel killed half her army, Riley, OZ, and Bay (at least I think he did, can't tell what happened to OZ, Riley, and OZ's wife Bay - they sort of disappeared after Buffy got superpowers). [Also, this is issue 36 - now we are getting the exposition? And from the letter's page it will apparently continue into much of issue 37. I thought exposition was something you did at the beginning of a story, not at the very end to explain said story to the reader? It's suppose to you know set up the story, give us an idea who the bad guys are and who the good guys are, and what the problem is. It's not supposed to explain the problem and bad guys to us after the fact. Who is editing this thing? ]
And Spike announces with great drama: "the seed of wonder" - this is apparently the thing causing all their problems. [Hmm Seed of Wonder...not say Seed of Glory or Seed of Destruction...but Wonder, which is sort of a synomyme for Gleaming and effulgent. And why are we just hearing about this now?] (In Allie's interview - he said they didn't have time to do any character exploration with Spike. Or discuss the whole Buffy/Spike relationship or show how she found out Spike was alive. Makes sense - they need to explain the plot first and that's going to take at least two - three issues, and then they need to tell us the theme because it's not like we haven't been discussing the themes for the last 36 issues plus all the one shots. (In case you were asleep - it has to do with Trust and Power.] And if we waste time developing these characters and showing you these little tid-bits, it will be boring...much more fun is we talk about the seed of wonder and have Buffy convey her undying devotion and love to Twangel who has stupidly sent the world to hell again, killing half her friends, and forcing her to try and save it with Spike, again. That's a much more interesting story after all. Also, we must of course show skinless Wareen kissing Amy...must have time for that. Because skinless Warren is cool! (even if Willow burned him up in the actual tv series, the PTB (writer) liked him - so he's back.)
Now...Spike tells us that we're currently on the road to the heart of all magic (not Stonehenge, because that would be cool, no...) There was one time, a house of worship (I think its the one Willow raised, but not positive), swallowed by the earth, over which they built a city (also swallowed by the earth)...gee, wonder what this place is? Can you guess? Give up? It's Sunnydale! And guess who is back holding the seed of wonder in the hellmouth? The Mayor? No, because that would be funny and it can't be funny. Glory? Of course not. Adam? Definitely not. The First? Hardly. Drusilla? Nah. No...it's The Master. (Wait, didn't Buffy smash his bones into smithereens in S2? Yeah, well, here's the thing about bad guys in soap operas, fantasy films and tv shows, and comic books - they can't die. Remember the Terminator? I'll be back?? Well, this is apparently true of all the big bads on Buffy - that the writer happens to be attached to. Nice characters like Tara, Joyce and Anya? Yes, they die and often stay dead forever. You can't bring them back because that would lessen the whole impact. But nasty monsters and bad guys? No. Because if you kill them, you have to create a new villain and what would be the fun in that? Much more effective, not to mention easier, to resurrect the old villain. You don't have to develop them or anything. Plus - you got the whole evil immortality metaphor working for you. As Straub states in A Dark Matter - evil is staying alive forever, wanting to never die, cheating death. That said, Joss, you couldn't have brought back the Mayor instead? He's a father figure too - granted for Faith, but still. And..granted not a vampire - so you have the annoying snake metaphor instead of the immortality metaphor. Plus too obvious. Much safer to go with MR. Punch Mouth. Even if it is far less entertaining to the readers. I mean why go with an interesting villain when you can go with your fans least favorite villain (okay, my least favorite villain). And well, the Master is the grandsire of both Angel and Spike. Also the sire of Buffy's death - which by the way was instigated by Angel's devotion to Prophecy. Angel according to Whistler was supposed to get Buffy killed by giving Giles the prophecy which caused Buffy to go to her death, and then save the world himself from Accathla. That was the prophecy. But Xander, who unlike Angel, trusted Buffy over silly prophecies, brought her back to life and helped Buffy and Spike defeat Angel and Accathla from sending the world to hell. Got to hate those tricky characters.)
Buffy to Dracula: Oh please, I watch your movies you always come back. {And so does the Master apparently.)
In case you are wondering why Whedon chose the Master? It's Buffy's Daddy issues. Instead of featuring Hank Summers as the big bad, which I guess would have been too obvious and direct, Whedon is trying to be subtle and introducing the MASTER. The Master was the villain in S1, the guy who poppped up after her Daddy told her she sucked in Nightmares and turned her into a vampire. Nightmares pretty much sums up the whole Buffy psych regarding vampires, Daddy, and abusive boyfriends/fathers.
Conclusion - or why bother bashing Buffy and Angel, and Bangle, when Whedon can do it for you?
What I find mind-boggling about all this - is that Whedon has managed to do quite a number on Angel and Buffy. He's managed to turn Angel into a loathsome, narcissistic, self-absorbed, holier-than-thou, jerk, and Buffy into a mindless lovesick, narcissistic, nitwit. Kudos. Granted it's not that hard to do with Angel, but Buffy...took considerable work. Most writers tend to veer away from doing that sort of thing. But not Whedon. I can't quite decide if this is brave or incredibly stupid? But you have to admire the effort and detail that went into it. I've read grudge fanfic writers that fans have targeted as masters of character assignation and bashing that didn't do it quite this well.
And Whedon didn't do it by himself or in just one issue either - this has been a sustained effort over the course of 36 issues and four years. Deliberate in fact. He literally underlines all the flaws in both characters and diminishes or in some cases, erases their strengths, to the point that they aren't even mildly sympathetic any longer.What their detractors dislike about them the most. Not only underlines but emphasizes it. Then, he takes it a step further - he underlines why the Buffy/Angel relationship was inherently destructive to not one but both characters evolution and growth. Together - they are stunted. They literally bring out the worst in each other. With him, she's cloying, needy, whiny, and stupid. With her, he's cloying, needy, whiny, and stupid. They share some of the same character flaws - which make it difficult for them to connect to others - such as an inability to trust.And they enable one another to continue to NOT trust anyone, including each other. Although Buffy to be fair, did manage to trust people and did let them in and help her. She did tell them what was happening eventually. Angel, not so much. Trust is a huge deal to Whedon. The guy obviously has trust issues, I can relate. They both lie or hold back crucial information. They both have serious Daddy issues. Both don't like to discuss their emotions. And both have superiority/inferiority complexes.
Together they are disastrous. Apart...capable and mature. Talk about star-crossed. These are two people that you wouldn't want to put in the same room together. They would not only destroy each other, but everyone around them. And have on one too many occasions. They remind me of the two heroes in that Will Smith film - Hanncock - when they get together they lose their powers and can't help anyone. Here, it's the opposite - when they get together they gain power but lose all perspective, they lose themselves in each other and in their desire to be in that bubble of bliss, which is pure fantasy. Orgasm only lasts a few minutes, you have to come back to earth sooner or later. Both are also to a degree addicted to power and well, sex. Power over each other, over their friends. And both fear the power, fear that love of it.
But why drop all pretense and go there? Actually rip the characters and that relationship apart, make them so loathsome that it's hard to take them seriously or even care if they live or die? Why risk alienating your readers? Don't you want them to keep reading?
My guess - is there is going to be a last minute redemption sequence at the end of this thing. With Buffy sacrificing herself to save everyone, which will of course create the Frayverse. It will probably happen after she loses a few people close to her, and her friends abandon her. I'm guessing Dawn's going to be a causality of this - and Xander most likely will hold Buffy responsible. Personally, I want Angel to pay for this more than Buffy. But it is Buffy's book not Angel's - he's merely a pawn or catalyst. (But can't we have him see a demon that he unleashed rip apart his son in front of him? Or better yet, have his son look at him with hatred? )
Anyhow. I have to admit I laughed my head off reading these two issues. They were so bad, they were funny. It's possible reading all those reviews first helped.
Grade? Hee. you got to be kidding me.
So, since it was such an incredibly beautiful day - I decided to hike up to the promenade, check out the aforementioned comics, the promenade and pick up miniature chocolate, key lime, and mango mousses from Green Mountain Grocer (they have great mousses, and well I've got a craving.) I was not planning on buying the comic - I was planning on just checking it out.
(Halfway through the Buffy comic)
Comic book store gal: Miss? Miss? [At least she's not calling me M'Am, I hate M'am.] Excuse me? I can't permit you to read the entire comic in the store. (I look up and at comic book store gal - who has really ugly tattoos all over her body, heavy-set, dressed entirely in black, with some weird heavy metal band or something on the t-shirt, glasses, black fizzy hair, nose and lip piercings and clearly no older than 20.)
Me : Yeah, I guess that makes sense since you sort of want me to actually buy the comic. (Pause) Would it help if I told you that I already know everything that happens in it? And am just checking it out to see if I want to actually buy the thing? Because you know they've gotten progressively worse? (Look of death) Guess not. (I proceed to flip through the Riley one-shot to see if it is worth the price of admission...and then, feeling tension, feel guilty and purchase them. I really miss RocketShip.) So, out of curiousity how are the sales going for this one?
Comic book store gal (mumbles): the Buffy comic? Okay I guess. (another polite look of death). (Alrighty then, It's been one of those weeks.)
I read the things when I got home. Figured what the hell. Wasn't planning on writing a review, because let's face it everyone and their significant other, best bud, and mother has beaten me to it. Do you really want to read another one? What else can possibly be said on the matter? I say this after having scanned or read over 20 of them - most of them on my flist. The most detailed are
moscow_watcher, local_max, beergoodfoamy , and 2maggie2 as well as angeria. My favorite? Is still aycheb but that's partly because I'm a movie buff and her review made me laugh my ass off. It should be noted, by the way, that as impossible as it may sound? I basically agree with all of these reviewers, at least in part. So, where was I? Wasn't planning on writing a review but thought, what the hell. You don't have to read it after all. Warning much snark ensues and some meta/analysis - on both issues, so if you don't like snark - you might not want to read it. It's not as snarky as beergood's, but close enough. In fact if you want - previouslies, go find his, most like on Dreamwidth. Also, a lot of spoilers - so if you haven't been spoiled by reading all the other reviews don't read this one.Buffy Issue 36 and Riley One Shot Reviews
Let the emotional moments really land and don't use a lot of words to make that happen - it's all demonstrated through action - Jane Espenson's advice to inspiring writers. (Pity she didn't take her own advice while writing the Riley comic and Retreat, but what can you do?)
I've worked with Joss for more than ten-years, and I've picked up whatever I can about writing character-driven genre stories, but this was the best chance I've had to work hand in hand on a story. - Scott Allie (Hmmm, I thought editors work hand-in-hand with writers, particularly in comics on writing a story? Guess I was wrong. )
From the cover of Buffy 36 - to the epic battle, we expect passionate reactions from the die-hard fans - Scott Allie (Such as viceral hatred and vows never to read anything Dark Horse publishes ever again? Somehow I doubt that. Or incredulous laughter at the absurdity? Nah.)
[Warning - I think this is longer than the actual comics. Also multiple typos,
The Riley comic first - Commitment through Distance, Virtue through Sin
I picked up this comic because I thought it would tell me something I didn't already know about Twilight's plan and why Riley decided to play double-agent for Buffy. Also that it was necessary in order to fully understand what was going on in issue 36. Plus would actually develop Sam and Riley beyond the poor man's/watered down version of Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Silly me. While it does in some respects clarify the general romantic theme, and explain in no uncertain terms why Angel is a narcissistic, vain, douche that only an idiotic, somewhat shallow, and incredibly insecure 16 year old girl (ie. Bella) squeeing over Twilight novels could possibly adore - it doesn't really do much more than that. [As an aside - is it just me or is every B-list female writer hopping on the vampire gothic romance bandwagon. Talk about market saturation. Do we really need novels from Nancy Holder and Janet Evanovich on this topic? And can they be any more redundant? I know that there aren't any original plots, but this is getting ridiculous. They had ads for both in the comics.]
Espenson takes 16 pages to tell us why Sam persuades Riley to join Buffy. (I'm guessing if she knew it would result in him being critically injured by big TellyTubby Tibetian Goddeses - while the world went to hell in a hand-basket, because Buffy decided to boink Twilight - she might have had second thoughts. Seriously, feeling better about going on a crazy government assignment - without Riley in tow - is not worth that. ) Granted, during said conversation - which appears to take three-four days, as they not only disarm (or rather attempt to disarm) a missile, fly out and parachute to a boat that takes them to the coordinates the missile was set to target (to which, Riley comments - "Maybe it wasn't smart for us to come to the target coordinates" - you think?? ), then wander through a pitch black cave (where they continue to have this discussion - uh, considering you are supposed to be fooling Twilight into thinking that you are betraying Buffy and not working for her - don't you think you might want to be a little more careful about what you say? Riley - still not the brightest bulb in the universe. Although considering who Twilight is, I wouldn't worry too much. )
Meanwhile as a counter point, Angel has another deep and meaningful discussion with Whistler. Who has proven himself to be so trustworthy and reliable in the past, as for that matter have the PTB, that Angel barely questions what he has to say. I mean why should he not trust Whistler - after all Whistler told him to help Buffy and that he'd save the world in Becoming. And why should he mistrust the powers? It's not like their visions ever lead him astray or got any of his friends or the people he cares about killed in any way. Oh he does question him, well sort of, it's not very heartfelt, because all Whistler has to do to quiet Angel's qualms is promise that he'll be the "noble" hero. Whistler says exactly what Angel needs to hear - he's the boss, the important one, not Buffy, he'll save her by torturing her, his personal sacrifices will result in the greater good! Hey it's not like Angel hasn't fallen for this line before. He hasn't fucked some blond past love senseless, gotten her pregnant, so their son can screw his other ex, get her pregnant, give birth to a powerful god that will remake the world in her image - where everybody is happy, except for those poor unfortunate souls that get devoured and slaughtered in the process of creating a happy new world. Nor has Angel ever been tricked into throwing the world into hell just to you know get rid of a big bad. Nah, not Angel.
None of this comes as a revelation. The main point of the comic is this: " Riley and Sam work because they are partners, they discuss things, they trust one another implicitly, and are not seeking each other's approval and/or permission. Neither bosses the other around. Neither is superior. They are EQUALS in all ways. (Basically the cheap version of Aeryn Sun and John Crichton on Farscape). While Buffy and Angel have the classic abusive relationship from fairy tale and/or romantic fantasy hell. No trust. No meaningful discussion - and little communication. No support. One party dominating the other or forcing the other to do what they believe is right, and for their own good - often by violence. And they don't trust each other, because that just wouldn't be romantic. " Emphasis here on the word TRUST. Narcissus would be envious. Got it. Now, can we get back to the actual plot? Guess not. The comic ends with Riley agreeing to join Twilight and getting Twilight's signal carved into his chest.
The following bits of dialogue pretty much sum up the point of this issue and the emotional theme:
Riley (in response to Sam's statement that it's okay to go help Buffy and be separated from her): I don't like this. It makes me feel like...too free. Like you and me, like we're not tied together.
Sam: We're not. We're together because we want to be. There are no ties.
Riley: No ties. That's kind of scary as hell.
Sam: But Good. Riley. It's good. It's better. [Because I TRUST you!]
Twangel - You have to decide whether your loyalty lies with the girl or with the world?
Riley - Buffy. [Because I trust her to put the world first. She's saved it and me before.]
Earlier:
Twangel in response to Whistler's question will Riley sign up: Riley Finn? Maybe. He's no fan of magic. Very humans first. I don't get what she saw in him.
Simple. One word. Trust. Riley trusts Buffy. You won't.
[What astonishes me about the Riley One Shot and the entire Buffy comics arc - is that they go out of their way to underline all the deeply flawed character traits in Angel that most people can't stand. He is not sympathetic in this issue. He comes across as a narcissistic idiot. Who clearly hasn't learned a thing from what happened to Wesely, Cordelia, and Doyle or for that matter Connor. An on-going theme in the Angel series is that every time Angel tries to help or take you in, he destroys you. He trusts no one, so no one can trust him. And he's easily manipulated by villains because he so desperately wants someone to tell him he's important and has a higher purpose and being "cursed" with a soul means something besides you know being cursed for being a mean SOB. But at least in the series - he was sympathetic, we saw it through his pov and to a degree identified with his struggle. It is possible that I didn't give Boreanze enough credit as an actor in conveying that human vulnerability and desire to be good, while failing miserably at it. But I don't think so. I think the writing was tighter and better on the series than it is here. What they often accomplished in a five minute scene on Angel, they take 11 pages to convey here.]
Buffy Issue 36 Review.
It's probably worth stating that the titles of these issues actually are a clue. The Last Gleaming is a line from the Star Spangled Banner. "And Twilight's last gleaming, the banner yet wave..." or something like that. The Star Spangled Banner was I believe written during the Civil War - which Whedon continues to be obsessed with for some reason. Not the easiest song on the planet to remember. I personally prefer America the Beautiful, but that's just me. The Riley one shot was Committment by Distance - (Riley) and Virtue through Sin (Angel). [And as an aside? Buffy, hon, you got the worst taste in men. You had Riley, Xander, Spike and Angel to pick from and you pick Angel? WTF??] Not sure Riley's whole plan to help Buffy by spying on Twangel was the smartest move on the planet. It's not surprising he didn't figure out anything - a) he doesn't really know Angel, so how could he know Angel would don a Mexican Wrestler's mask as a homage to a dead and somewhat idiotic not to mention bitter Mexican wrestling superstar and superhero who nobly died with his five brothers to save the world? (That was supposed to a parable, but Angel being Angel decided to follow in the guys footsteps.) b) He also couldn't know that Angel doesn't trust anyone unless they are a talking dog, a Mexican Wrestling superstar, a funky demon who gets visions, or a representative of the powers, everyone else? Not so much. So getting close to Twangel to figure out his plan - not going to accomplish much. I think Riley's sole purpose in the comics was basically the same purpose it was in Season 4, 5 and 6, which is to comment on Buffy's insane penchant for abusive untrustworthy boyfriends over nice guys. An on-going theme. (Was Joss Whedon rejected in a former life for a douchebag? Was his father a douchebag? Did his mother skip town on his Dad for a douchebag? Or is this just a thinly disguised commentary on female romantic gothic fiction?)
Anywho...
Angel and Spike both accidentally destroy critical landmarks. Spike is amused, Angel sulks. But that's because Spike is gifted with a sense of humor, while Angel takes himself far too seriously and well the small fact that Angel apparently thinks he's destroyed LA again in an attempt to save it (he keeps doing that, you'd think he'd learn by now not to trust the PTB and uh, do nothing), Spike on the other hand is in a middle of a fight and sort of pleased that the wankers have disappeared. (Speaking of...if we have to bring back past big bads/wnakers? Why can't we have The Mayor, the Mayor had a sense of humor. Angel and the Master, not so much. Next, we'll probably have the annoited or is that annoying one, just to make things complete.]
Timeline? Not sure it really matters at this point. But I'm guessing from this issue that the Buffy comics take place at least two years after the events of Not Fade Away. Why? Because Spike clearly has been off in another dimension fighting space aliens for quite some time and not in hell LA. And get's back to London somewhere between Wolves at the Gate and Spacefucking. Takes him a bit of time to get up to speed, once he does - he rushes to the scene. Angel? I'm not sure where he's popped in from - I'm guessing Hell LA, but it could literally be anywhere. Also - it appears that Lynch's ATF is as I previously suspected canonical to this universe. Although, I think should be taken far more satirically than many took it. Also the ending was probably different. In short, no, Angel is not a noble hero, he was the idiot who took LA to hell while trying to save it and through no act of his, LA is back and the whole time in Hell did not happen.
Angel: Are you here to tell me I've got a higher purpose? [Sigh always wanting the higher purpose. You are a vampire, stupid. There isn't any higher purpose - outside killing people that is and well now that you have a soul, not killing people and helping them instead - didn't we already cover this way back in 2001 or was it 2000, can't remember? Sigh insecure, much? ]
Talking Dog: You betcha. (nah, he's here to tell you that you got the part on a tv series. What do you think?)
Angel: Does it involve killing? (Doesn't it always? What else are you good for? Besides spacefucking. Seriously?)
Angel: If this is a dream, I'm getting a shrink like Wesely begged.
(Yes, why don't you go do that? And plus - clear shout-out to Lynch ATF. Only the ending appears to have been somewhat changed.)
Talking dog easily convinces Angel to stay, by telling Angel exactly what he wants to hear. Angel grouses about not being a fan of complicated.
Talking dog: I know. Even when things get the most complicated, you remain doggedly simple. That's part of why you were chosen. [What's that saying? If at first you don't succeed in sending the world to hell? Try, try again? Note to PTB, ie Whedon - you might want to try manipulating a less simple soul next time...just saying. Although to be fair - Angel has almost sent the world to hell at least twice now...so who knows, the third time might be the charm? Now, if that tricky character Spike just would not get in the way...]
Then Oceanic Flight 815 pops up and splits apart over Hollywood, California, as opposed to the island, as it did on tv. (Did we just pop into the Lostverse for a minute? Isn't this universe wonky enough without doing a cross-over with Lost? No wait, Angel saves the plane -- so Lost never happens in the Buffyverse. Whew. One group of lost and insane characters is enough, I imagine. Is that supposed to be Kate from Lost that Angel is embracing? Nah, no freckles, just a mole or is that a pimple, hard to tell. No, it's the talking dog who has now taken the form of Kate or a random passenger. ]
Now we leap over to Spike - and find out what he's been up to. Or have we landed in Farscape? First Lost, now either Doctor Who or Farscape, can't decide which. A bit more steam-punk than Who or Farscape though. Wait, maybe it is Buckaroo Bonzai? Or Buck Rodgers. Nah, has to be British. I know, Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy by way of Buckaroo Bonzai. With a bunch of mechanical bugs who appear to be Spike's acolytes or servants, not quite henchmen. (Note - Jeanty is better at drawing mechanical bugs than Centaurs and humans, I'm guessing he's doing the wrong genre.) Spike and the mechanical bugs have been fighting Wankers. Also Spike like Angel can survive out in the open air - oxygen not being an issue. (And yes, regardless of what that blurb in tiny print at the front of the issue states - Spike is still a vampire. Apparently that was a typo? Wait, typo? Doesn't this thing have an editor? Goes back to check - it has three editors. I guess they figured no one reads the tiny blurbs at the front of the issue? Doesn't explain the rest of the issue though.]
Spike doesn't get any visitations from PTB. Makes sense - after all Spike keeps foiling their plans. (Stupid Trickster character...you weren't supposed to last more than 4 episodes. Stop messing with my plan to send the world to hell! )Instead he does research via newspapers and computers. (Does Angel even know how to use a computer? Can't remember him ever using one? Course why would he need to? That's what henchmen, visions, and the PTB are for.)
Present day at Castle Buffy, apparently we've moved from Tibet to Castle Buffy sometime between issue 35 and issue 36.
Satsu (at least I think it is Satsu, hard to tell, could be Faith or Kennedy): Let's move people, in case you haven't noticed there are giants in the sky. [Actually they looked like demons to me, but whatever.]
And we get the Buffy/Angel talk. Which doesn't really tell us anything we didn't already know from issues 34-35, but hey just in case we weren't paying attention...
Angel (regarding Spike): Buffy I don't trust him. (Angel, hon, you don't trust anyone except for talking dogs, and random strangers who talk to you out of nowhere and tell you that they are the PTB and you have a higher purpose. Considering Spike's saved your behind and Buffy's a few times, plus your son's and several other people, and fought by your side the last time you sent the world to hell...yet, you trust Whistler (a guy who never does anything but talk) and a talking dog?)]
Buffy: Angel I don't trust you, but you have my heart. So what can I do? (Doesn't matter if you kill all my friends, destroy my world, etc - I still love you, because you remind me of my Daddy and I just can't help myself because you know, he abandoned me when I was 16 and you came along and took me ice-skating and stuff. With you I can be sixteen forever. Bad taste in men? Buffy? Nah. Buffy, hon...if you want to know why OZ, Riley, Willow, Xander, and Dawn have found happiness in their relationships and you just get angst - it's one little word? TRUST. Sigh, you are still unbaked cookie dough, we get it. But we thought you had an epithany in S6 when you told Spike that wild passionate love without trust was not love, and would destroy everything. What happened to that Buffy? Did she get replaced by a pod!Person? Because I want that Buffy back.) And he has a ship - (yep, one that is rescuing all of your friends from the demons that you and Angel unleashed on the world.)
Angel: It's too convenient him showing up now? He's got an agenda. [Yep, he probably wants to stop you from destroying the world again. Because he happens to like the world, happy meals on legs, smashing big ben, and Manchester United.]
Buffy: Well it's like to be a lot simpler than yours. [You hope. And actually Ange;s wasn't that complicated. Manipulate you into Fucking his brains out so you can give birth to a new reality, where no one but you and Angel exist and can have babies and be Adam and Eve. While everyone else perishes. You just want it to be complicated. Spike's on the other hand...sigh. ] And right now it's useful. [Remains to be seen, but hey at least he's rescuing people and not killing anything. Point for Spike.]The last time I saw spike he died saving me and my people (While the last time I saw you, you were trying to kill me and my people. Does my taste suck or what?)
Angel: He told me like four thousand times. (Actually only twice. You exaggerate. Poor baby. Pets Angel.)
Now I love this speech:
Buffy (who appears
Then Willow turns Angel into a Frog and states, Whoah, hey, I missed, my bad. (Something tells me she didn't. Why she turned him back, I'll never know. Come on Willow - Frogs - cute pets. By the way - isn't Willow afraid of Frogs? Maybe that's why she turned him back? )
Buffy: What we did - it released these demons. All over. They're gonna target slayers.
Angel: Are you sure? (nah, Angel, they are gonna target vampires...what do you think?)
Buffy: Well everyone else has. (yep, including your true love, but let's not think about that.)
Angel: I got more powerful not remotely mature (or intelligent for some reason) I'll find you soon.
Buffy: You better. (sigh. But not before I save the world with Spike again.)
Faith: Where's the man-bitch formerly known as Angel? (Faith, you have such a way with words.)
Buffy: Protecting slayers (because apparently sending out the guy who was targeting slayers and convincing everyone to kill and torture slayers is the best person in the world to protect them. But hey, we're going to keep his henchmen in prison because they are so much more dangerous...you know the henchmen who switched teams and tried to help us stop him.)
Buffy and Spike chat.
Buffy: Let's do this in order. One, thanks for saving us from the ubervamps, that was crazy studly, and sorry I haven't been in touch but as you can see I'm somehow leading an army. [Okay - I've waited four years for that sentence? Seriously, Joss, you couldn't have written that a lot earlier? Talk about anti-climatic! And of course it's all about Buffy, no one else matters and on one else exists outside her scope.]
Spike: Your Wel - [Why bother Spike? Seriously?]
Buffy: Two, what do you know and how can you help. No jokes, no snark, no British slang that just means something dirty. [What? Come on give a guy a break. You just buggered the villain in front of everybody which caused the apocalypse. At least let us snark and make jokes about it. You are frigging lucky we aren't doing anything else.]
Spike: One under all that demon viscera, you still reek of him (and seriously the demon viscera smells better but I'm being polite) and that's not a treat for me - but it can't be Buffy if she doesn't boink the bad guy right? [Yes. Sigh. Buffy - you really need to get help for that sex addiction. Just saying.]
Buffy: snark. [Honey, you lost the right to complain when you boinked Twangel in space.]
Spike: Comes with the sizable package. Two you can under no circumstances trust him.
[Yeah, she knows that. But that doesn't mean she can't fuck him. Sex addiction. Hello?]
Buffy: Can everybody just agree not to trust anybody and you get to the frikkin point?[Especially not you. Honey, if you trusted your brain and not your crotch, we wouldn't be in this situation. Also may I just point out that we have a heavy focus on the word TRUST here? Buffy can't trust anyone. See, it's hard to trust people - they let you down, their crap gets in the way, but if you don't trust people - you end up alone and disconnected and miserable. So really? You sort of have to take the risk at some point.]
[In short: Buffy tries to dominate Spike and put him in his place, treat him like he's the untrustworthy person in the mix, the guy with the agenda. But he shuts her down by pointing out that a) she boinked the big bad again, b)her fuckfest gave birth to a brand new universe which she promptly ditched because you know, everyone was dying because of it, and said universe is going to mightily upset about being abandoned. (Apparently universe's have feelings and ship relationships, who knew? Actually, the universe appears to be an actual "character". I don't remember this happening in Star Trek. Note to Whedon - sci-fi? So...not your forte. Excuse me, not universe, higher dimension, there is a difference. I think. He appears to use both word synomously.) ]
Spike launches into exposition. Because you know, it's not like we don't know what's going on or anything. Wait we don't. We have no clue who the bad guy is - or who the good guys are or even what Twilight is. Or the problem for that matter. Or why Buffy has sold herself body and soul to Twangel, after Twangel killed half her army, Riley, OZ, and Bay (at least I think he did, can't tell what happened to OZ, Riley, and OZ's wife Bay - they sort of disappeared after Buffy got superpowers). [Also, this is issue 36 - now we are getting the exposition? And from the letter's page it will apparently continue into much of issue 37. I thought exposition was something you did at the beginning of a story, not at the very end to explain said story to the reader? It's suppose to you know set up the story, give us an idea who the bad guys are and who the good guys are, and what the problem is. It's not supposed to explain the problem and bad guys to us after the fact. Who is editing this thing? ]
And Spike announces with great drama: "the seed of wonder" - this is apparently the thing causing all their problems. [Hmm Seed of Wonder...not say Seed of Glory or Seed of Destruction...but Wonder, which is sort of a synomyme for Gleaming and effulgent. And why are we just hearing about this now?] (In Allie's interview - he said they didn't have time to do any character exploration with Spike. Or discuss the whole Buffy/Spike relationship or show how she found out Spike was alive. Makes sense - they need to explain the plot first and that's going to take at least two - three issues, and then they need to tell us the theme because it's not like we haven't been discussing the themes for the last 36 issues plus all the one shots. (In case you were asleep - it has to do with Trust and Power.] And if we waste time developing these characters and showing you these little tid-bits, it will be boring...much more fun is we talk about the seed of wonder and have Buffy convey her undying devotion and love to Twangel who has stupidly sent the world to hell again, killing half her friends, and forcing her to try and save it with Spike, again. That's a much more interesting story after all. Also, we must of course show skinless Wareen kissing Amy...must have time for that. Because skinless Warren is cool! (even if Willow burned him up in the actual tv series, the PTB (writer) liked him - so he's back.)
Now...Spike tells us that we're currently on the road to the heart of all magic (not Stonehenge, because that would be cool, no...) There was one time, a house of worship (I think its the one Willow raised, but not positive), swallowed by the earth, over which they built a city (also swallowed by the earth)...gee, wonder what this place is? Can you guess? Give up? It's Sunnydale! And guess who is back holding the seed of wonder in the hellmouth? The Mayor? No, because that would be funny and it can't be funny. Glory? Of course not. Adam? Definitely not. The First? Hardly. Drusilla? Nah. No...it's The Master. (Wait, didn't Buffy smash his bones into smithereens in S2? Yeah, well, here's the thing about bad guys in soap operas, fantasy films and tv shows, and comic books - they can't die. Remember the Terminator? I'll be back?? Well, this is apparently true of all the big bads on Buffy - that the writer happens to be attached to. Nice characters like Tara, Joyce and Anya? Yes, they die and often stay dead forever. You can't bring them back because that would lessen the whole impact. But nasty monsters and bad guys? No. Because if you kill them, you have to create a new villain and what would be the fun in that? Much more effective, not to mention easier, to resurrect the old villain. You don't have to develop them or anything. Plus - you got the whole evil immortality metaphor working for you. As Straub states in A Dark Matter - evil is staying alive forever, wanting to never die, cheating death. That said, Joss, you couldn't have brought back the Mayor instead? He's a father figure too - granted for Faith, but still. And..granted not a vampire - so you have the annoying snake metaphor instead of the immortality metaphor. Plus too obvious. Much safer to go with MR. Punch Mouth. Even if it is far less entertaining to the readers. I mean why go with an interesting villain when you can go with your fans least favorite villain (okay, my least favorite villain). And well, the Master is the grandsire of both Angel and Spike. Also the sire of Buffy's death - which by the way was instigated by Angel's devotion to Prophecy. Angel according to Whistler was supposed to get Buffy killed by giving Giles the prophecy which caused Buffy to go to her death, and then save the world himself from Accathla. That was the prophecy. But Xander, who unlike Angel, trusted Buffy over silly prophecies, brought her back to life and helped Buffy and Spike defeat Angel and Accathla from sending the world to hell. Got to hate those tricky characters.)
Buffy to Dracula: Oh please, I watch your movies you always come back. {And so does the Master apparently.)
In case you are wondering why Whedon chose the Master? It's Buffy's Daddy issues. Instead of featuring Hank Summers as the big bad, which I guess would have been too obvious and direct, Whedon is trying to be subtle and introducing the MASTER. The Master was the villain in S1, the guy who poppped up after her Daddy told her she sucked in Nightmares and turned her into a vampire. Nightmares pretty much sums up the whole Buffy psych regarding vampires, Daddy, and abusive boyfriends/fathers.
Conclusion - or why bother bashing Buffy and Angel, and Bangle, when Whedon can do it for you?
What I find mind-boggling about all this - is that Whedon has managed to do quite a number on Angel and Buffy. He's managed to turn Angel into a loathsome, narcissistic, self-absorbed, holier-than-thou, jerk, and Buffy into a mindless lovesick, narcissistic, nitwit. Kudos. Granted it's not that hard to do with Angel, but Buffy...took considerable work. Most writers tend to veer away from doing that sort of thing. But not Whedon. I can't quite decide if this is brave or incredibly stupid? But you have to admire the effort and detail that went into it. I've read grudge fanfic writers that fans have targeted as masters of character assignation and bashing that didn't do it quite this well.
And Whedon didn't do it by himself or in just one issue either - this has been a sustained effort over the course of 36 issues and four years. Deliberate in fact. He literally underlines all the flaws in both characters and diminishes or in some cases, erases their strengths, to the point that they aren't even mildly sympathetic any longer.
Together they are disastrous. Apart...capable and mature. Talk about star-crossed. These are two people that you wouldn't want to put in the same room together. They would not only destroy each other, but everyone around them. And have on one too many occasions. They remind me of the two heroes in that Will Smith film - Hanncock - when they get together they lose their powers and can't help anyone. Here, it's the opposite - when they get together they gain power but lose all perspective, they lose themselves in each other and in their desire to be in that bubble of bliss, which is pure fantasy. Orgasm only lasts a few minutes, you have to come back to earth sooner or later. Both are also to a degree addicted to power and well, sex. Power over each other, over their friends. And both fear the power, fear that love of it.
But why drop all pretense and go there? Actually rip the characters and that relationship apart, make them so loathsome that it's hard to take them seriously or even care if they live or die? Why risk alienating your readers? Don't you want them to keep reading?
My guess - is there is going to be a last minute redemption sequence at the end of this thing. With Buffy sacrificing herself to save everyone, which will of course create the Frayverse. It will probably happen after she loses a few people close to her, and her friends abandon her. I'm guessing Dawn's going to be a causality of this - and Xander most likely will hold Buffy responsible. Personally, I want Angel to pay for this more than Buffy. But it is Buffy's book not Angel's - he's merely a pawn or catalyst. (But can't we have him see a demon that he unleashed rip apart his son in front of him? Or better yet, have his son look at him with hatred? )
Anyhow. I have to admit I laughed my head off reading these two issues. They were so bad, they were funny. It's possible reading all those reviews first helped.
Grade? Hee. you got to be kidding me.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-09-05 04:43 pm (UTC)I believe Whedon is taking Buffy back to the beginning so she'll face that moment that damaged her, let go of Angel and be fully healed. It's therapy by being forced to relive it. I never thought Whedon would do it--actually let Buffy heal--but that's what I think is happening. It's Restless and OMWF wrapped up into one--where Buffy is out of control in acting upon her deepseated psychological issues, she's out of control and made monstrous as her Id is forced to the surface and her subconscious takes hold.
Whedon is healing Buffy and because he recently said "Buffy is me", I have to wonder if he's not doing so because he wants to heal himself. As a writer, I think this is true. Whedon also recently said all stories are born from a place of pain. And actually, I recently had a discussion where I talked about how writing is a way for us to work out our issues, to exorcise our demons. I think that's what Dark Horse and Whedon are doing.
Why risk alienating your readers? Don't you want them to keep reading?
Because this isn't a story for the readers. It's a story for Whedon and for Buffy. I've been saying this again and again whenever someone says Whedon is doing the comics to milk them for cash (not you, but I run across it all the time in fandom)--uh, no. Whedon is Hollywood. He knows where the money is and it's not in Portland at Dark Horse.
This is a story of pure artistic vision. It's a high concept tale not for a single episode, but for an ENTIRE season. We've been watching Restless the entire time in Season 8 and nobody noticed. Actually, everyone did notice it was WTF--but nobody wondered if it was deliberate. Whedon's taken the wacky of the Hellmouth and said the entire world has gone wacky and overblown with power--because the Seed of Wonder, the source of magic, is making the world go wacky. It's 40 issues of global Once More, With Feeling/Restless. It's psychological puppeteering that's forcing the characters to look in the mirror and see their ugly inner psyche. Buffy has to confront that and heal.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-05 07:00 pm (UTC)When an author starts over-identifying with a character like that, it generally presages badness. Laurel K. Hamilton, Anne Rice type badness.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-06 02:52 am (UTC)An creative writing professor in college (who'd written for television, film and published novels) once told us - be careful about first person, because you'll overidentify with the character and write about yourself and the problem with writing about ourselves - is we either come across as pathetic assholes or too fantastic and wonderful for words. It's a trap many amateur writer fall prey to.
Many fans critique Doug Petrie's writing of Riley - stating he overidentified or worshiped the character...and that may well be true.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-06 03:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-06 03:48 am (UTC)Yet, I know writers who write best in first person. Jim Butcher certainly does. And their third person just doesn't quite work.
So I think it depends on the writer. Also you can just as easily over-identify and write about yourself in third person. The style doesn't necessarily prevent this.
So, like all things...I think it may well depend on the writer.
As an aside - so agree on Anne Rice and Laurell K. Hamilton - they were doing fine until they started over-identifying.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-06 03:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-06 03:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-06 02:48 am (UTC)Ah. That old debate again.
I remember posting about this in my journal a long time ago - although it had zip to do with Whedon. It was about why we write. A lot of fanfic writers, I know, write mainly to appease readers or for readers ...and will often change passages to fit what their readers want. Their readers come first.
I, as you may or may not have noticed, am not that type of writer. While like all writers, I do of course care how my readers respond and do of course want them to like what I've written - I really don't write for them or think about them when I'm writing. I do to an extent of course - you have to. Whedon certainly cares about his readers, or he wouldn't bother posting on whedonesque or writing a comic book. And he certainly cares what they think and how they react. Perhaps too much.
There's an odd relationship that goes on between writer and reader, regardless of financial income - although that does play a role in it and will change the relationship. (I don't think we know what Whedon's financial status is or how much he's making or what amount he gets royalty wise from Fox for the Buffy/Angel franchise - that information is strictly confidential. We can speculate of course, but we don't know.)
When someone is paying you for what you are writing regardless of the amount - you have promised them that you will give them something that is worthy of that payment. That they haven't wasted money on you. Forget about time for now. It's a contract. They give you money. You give them a product. The value of that product should not be predicated on the amount of money you get for it. James Joyce wrote Ulysses and got paid less than 100 dollars for it. He died a pauper. Shakespeare wrote plays for a living and made little on a good percentage of them. And a lot on others. There are other writers and artists, including Vincent Van Gough - who made no money on their art.
Who died poor. Starving artist - ring any bells?
Stephanie Meyer didn't write Twilight for the money, any more than JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter. Sure, They made a lot of money from it. But that's partly dumb luck. Nor did they cater to fans or write for readers. But they did care what their readers thought and they did work hard to provide their readers with a product that they'd enjoy. Stephen King states in his memoir On Writing - how it is important to serve the story above all else, including oneself.
When we write a story - we need to be careful as writers not to let theme or plot dictate characters actions. The actions must come from the characters - they must drive the tale. Tara's death must come organically from each of these characters. And it does actually, even if Whedon wrote the death scene before he figured out who killed Tara or why. And Willow's reaction must come organically from Willow. Same deal with the attempted rape - Spike's attempt to rape Buffy and his subsequent search for and fight to obtain a soul as a result of it - must be organic to Spike, and I believe it was.
Is Angel's actions in the BTVS comics organic to Angel? I don't know.
Whedon has stripped Angel down to his essentials, ignoring the things Angel must have learned...Angel's manipulation is almost too easy and too much like Jasmine. If you want to see a manipulation story done well - okay, well enough (forget the whole Cordy bit for a moment) - watch that arc again. Jasmine's purpose made more sense than Angel's - she actually did create peace on earth, she actually did make people happy. When Angel kills that - she tells him, look what you have done, you've thrust the world back into chaos, destruction - is this a better world?
Out of Eden into Hell, but hey free will. Angel did it for Free Will and he was right to do so. Or was he? That's good story-telling. And it was done for money.