Is it possible that the best season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer might be one that isn’t even televised? I say yes and the latest “episode”, issue #32 of the Season Eight comic could certainly stand with the best of the video adventures of Buffy and Company. This is the first part of the “Twilight” storyline that unmasks this season’s big bad and, ostensibly, reveals the plot behind the curtain. By the way, the fact that Twilight’s identity has already been spoiled online is, to me, incidental to the fact that Joss named the principle bad guy Twilight. What else do we know that uses the same name and is vampire related? Back on topic, there are some great moments in this story, like Andrew’s comments about the villain’s HQ and one jaw-dropping moment that reveals why Buffy now has several super-hero type powers. Yeah, you read that right, Buffy is faster than a speeding bullet and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound in addition to much more, all of which is giddily and geekily tested by one Mr. Alexander LaVelle “Xander” Harris. The question as to Twilight’s identity may no longer be a mystery, but there’s still the why and how of his motivations as well as what does Buffy do with her new-found powers and how does she deal with the terrible price of said powers? Where do we go from here, indeed.
Brad Meltzer steps in as scripter this issue and he just knocks it out of the park. The only question I have regarding Meltzer’s writing is why wasn’t he allowed on this book sooner? He absolutely gets the Buffy-verse and its denizens and nails the character’s voices dead-on. Now that Buffy is essentially Power Girl, a die-hard comics writer would naturally be the perfect choice to take the reins. But Meltzer takes it a few notches above the norm as his love and deep knowledge of not just super-heroes, but also Buffy and the Scoobs is so right in so many ways for this comic.
Georges Jeanty has, in my eyes, made himself as synonymous with Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Joss Whedon. No one else should ever draw a Buffy comic. No one. Jeanty manages to convert the character likenesses from real people to comic book art in a way that keeps the essence of what hey look like, but makes them look perfect in the cartoon world. These aren’t caricatures nor are they photo tracings. The characters appear as if they were always meant to be in the four-color world. With each scene that he depicts it’s as if Jeanty takes on the Director role like he was shooting a TV episode. He handles big action sequence as deftly as he does the small, emotional scenes. Sometimes I forget to read the words, that’s how easily his artwork draws me in (pun intended). Just pick up the book and you’ll very quickly see what I mean.
Great story, terrific art and, hey, it’s the official continuing adventures of Buffy, so this issue gets as many stars or thumbs up as your personal ratings system allows. Buy it now, buy it often!
