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BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER SEASON 8 Library Edition VOLUME 1

9/5/2017

1 Comment

 
by Jai Hutchison 
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The Long Way Home:
Writer- Joss Whedon
Letterer- Richard Starkings
Pencils- Georges Jeanty
Inks- Andy Owens
Colours- Dave Stewart
Comicraft’s- Jimmy Betancourt
 
The Chain:
Writer- Joss Whedon
Letterer- Richard Starkings
Pencils- Paul Lee
Inks- Andy Owens
Colours- Dave Stewart
Comicraft’s- Jimmy Betancourt
 
No Future For You:
Writer- Brian K. Vaughan
Letterer- Richard Starkings
Pencils- Georges Jeanty
Inks- Andy Owens
Colours- Dave Stewart
Comicraft’s- Jimmy Betancourt
Anywhere But Here:
Writer- Joss Whedon
Letterer- Richard Starkings
Pencils- Cliff Richards
Inks- Andy Owens
Colours- Dave Stewart
Comicraft’s- Jimmy Betancourt
 
Always Darkest:
Writer- Joss Whedon
Letterer- Richard Starkings
Art- Jo Chen
Comicraft’s- Jimmy Betancourt
 
Cover Art- Jo Chen
Designer-Justin Couch
Editors- Scott Allie & Sierra Hahn
Published by- Dark Horse Books
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‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ the television show, is 20 years old this year and is still going strong. But back in 2003, on May 20th when the finale episode aired for the first time, we all thought the world of Buffy was over, that the Scooby gang had packed up and were finished with their demon fighting days. But four years later the amazing Joss Whedon resurrected Buffyverse from our screens and whacked it into the comic book world. Some were unsure, many were excited, but one thing we could all agree on was that we wanted, NEEDED, to know what happened next! The Buffy comics pick up about a year after Sunnydale has been annihilated, and not only do they bring back our beloved favourite characters from the show, but also some unexpected blasts from the past, (that you really will not be expecting) and some new editions too. 
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In the TV show’s finale ‘Chosen’, Willow used the essence of the scythe to cast the slayer activation spell, which bestowed every potential slayer with the powers and abilities of a full-fledged slayer. The Scoobies, now scattered across the globe and teamed up with the newly activated slayers, of which there are approximately 1,800: 500 of them working with our Scoobies, are divided into squads: Giles is in England, Andrew is in Italy, Vi is in New York, Rona is in Chicago, Robin is in Cleveland, and Buffy and Xander are running command central in Scotland, where they are now based in a sweet looking castle rigged out with top technology. For Buffy's protection and because her name is feared worldwide, two of the newly activated slayers are used as decoys and put in place: one partying in Rome and the other on a mission in demonic underground caverns.
 
Also at the new Scottish base is Dawn; still as annoying as ever, however she is now a tad bigger than we remember her…
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This transformation is due, we find out, to her sleeping with a Thricewise; a demon that can take human form, and is known to be a mischievous trickster. Just as she did in the TV series, Dawn spends most of her time complaining and trying to figure out where and how she fits into the world. Incase it didn’t quite come across clearly enough; Dawn is not my favourite character, I find her a tad annoying. 
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Back working with the Scoobies again in Season 8 is Faith. She teams up with Giles on a mission that requires her to go a little Eliza Doolittle, which is way outside of her comfort zone and quite comical. This is a different side to the Faith we know and love (well some of us love), but then again what is Faith if not unpredictable? And as long as she doesn’t go all evil and start trying to kill the good guys again, we’re five by five. Faith is sent to find and kill rogue slayer Gigi, who plans to take down, and take the place of Buffy. Gigi is trained by an Irish warlock known as Roden, who serves Twilight; the big bad in season 8, and as part of his training of Gigi he has her assassinate other slayers. 
 
As you can see a lot has changed since we’ve left Sunnydale, and then again not so much; at the beginning of season 8 we dive right back into the action with Buffy working with some of the newly activated slayers to take on some very nasty looking demons. However these guys are not the big threat that Buffy will face. 
The American government sees Buffy and the new slayers as a threat and joins forces with some surprise past enemies of Buffy’s to take them out. These enemies are members of Twilight, the big bad I previously mentioned that Buffy and the gang will have to take on in Season 8. 
 
Luckily for Buffy, when an unexpected witch we all know from the past teams up with Twilight and attacks her, she has the almighty Willow Rosenberg by her side who swoops in after being missing for some time. But does Willow save the day? I’m afraid you’ll have to read season 8 to find out. 
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The artwork of season 8 varies throughout as each artist has their own take, but overall it is very consistent with the television show; Jo Chen’s cover art in particular is brilliant. I really love how the characters that have transitioned into the comics still look the same; this could have easily had disaster written all over it but worked out really well. Although the comic is its own entity, the characters have very strongly and clearly been translated on to the pages: in image as well as personality. In an interview with Geek Nation, Georges Jeanty talks about his process when drawing the Buffy characters and how he tried to assure he kept the character’s similarities. 
 
What is great about the Buffyverse moving mediums is that there is room to expand within imagination and really push where you can go with character profiles and plots in the comic in comparison with the TV show, and I feel that the team has really taken advantage of that. In an interview with Dark Horse, Joss Whedon talks about how the comic has given him the opportunity to try different things, and had season 8 been a television show Giant Dawn would not be a reality. 
 
I was really excited when Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 8 was released; it is a fantastic continuation of the show and if you are a Buffy fan I am sure you will enjoy it too. And if you are not a Buffy fan, give it a try and I’m sure you’ll be converted; there’s a reason the show has stayed on the air for 20 years! Fans will also be glad to know where Whedon takes us next with Buffyverse in the comic world. Buffy continues on with Joss Whedon and some other fantastic writers, and Season 11 Volume 1 is due for publication on August 2nd 2017. There have also been some tie-ins including ‘Willow Wonderland’, ‘Spike: A Dark Place’, ‘Spike- Into The Light’, several issues of ‘Angel &Faith’ and ‘Fray: Future Slayer’. So although Sunnydale may have fallen in 2003, our heroine still stands tall, Buffy and the Scoobies are still battling evil and continue to entertain fans worldwide. 
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​I give Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 Library Edition Volume 1
5 out of 5 Ben-Day Dots
 

 
 

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You can check out the latest Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics HERE, and you can watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer from the beginning on SyFy UK, weekdays 16:00 – 18:00 
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