Type of bind: Comic
Label: Dark Horse Comics
Manufacturer: Dark Horse Comics
Printing Date: 2008
Publishing house: Dark Horse Comics
Sale Popularity Level: 1306651
Studio: Dark Horse Comics
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Rated by buyers -
Warning! Littered with spoilers!
I had the option of buying either of the two covers at my local comic book store, but I really disliked this alternate cover. It is rarer, but to be blunt, simply not very attractive.
I really enjoyed this issue. The A plot focuses on Xander and Renee's visit to Dracula, where we learned a great deal about Master and his Manservant. One of the ongoing jokes on BUFFY involved non-homophobic pokes at Xander's sexuality. That is taken to a new level here, where we learn that Dracula and Xander have more of a relationship than we'd have ever expected. It turns out that Xander actually spent some time with Dracula following the death of Anya and after he left the Count apparently missed his servant. There are some pretty funny moments as one realizes that the two like each other more than either would admit.
The B plot deals with the Japanese vampires who stole Buffy's sythe in the previous issue. After learning where the vampires are, Buffy and entire slayer army go off to Japan to confront the vampires and recover the sythe.
There is surprisingly little in the issue about the big event of Issue No. 12, in which Buffy and Satsu were found in bed together, after a bout of passionate lovemaking. Willow and Satsu talk a bit in a nice scene, where Willow tries to minimize any expectations on Satsu's part by explaining the Buffy is, well, straight. After explaining all this in detail, Willow comes right out and asks what Buffy was like in the sack. Despite Willow's insistance on details -- e.g., in making love does she make the same sound she makes when shrieking about shoes being on sale -- Satsu seems determined not to share any details.
All in all, this was another thoroughly enjoyable issue in a superb string of stories. Those who have been keeping up on Season 8 will definitely not be disappointed.
Rated by buyers -
*This is the same comic as the regular version, the only difference being this one has a cover by Georges Jeanty instead of Jon Foster. This is the 1:4 variant, so is the rarer of the two*
Whedon and Goddard rule.
This, as I suspected, it going to be a very comedic arc. This issue is basically set-up for things to come, but it does its job very well. We've pretty much got three things going on at once:
+ Xander and Renee try to enlist Dracula's help. Not only do we get some insight into why Antique happened (as well as confirmation that it is canonical), we also get great Xander/Dracula banter, hilariously pretentious/angry Dracula moments, and even a scene where Andrew explains (with a chalk board and all!) what's the dealio with Dracula and Xander. Loved this.
+ We've also got stuff going on back at Slayer Central, though admittedly not much. Satsu is dealing with the night she spent with Buffy, but Buffy is pretty much not dealing at all. We get some emotional and hilarious stuff from Willow, and the characterization for all the leads in this section of the story is spot-on. Willow's voice has been very weak this season, but this is the issue where I felt it getting stronger.
+ Finally, a few pieces of the story deal with Toru (the main villain of this miniseries) and his vamps. Not going to reveal much, because the scheme they have cooked up is spoileriffic, but it's a really inventive idea.
The art is consistently good at this point. Jeanty seemed to struggle with Toru in Issue #12, but here things are much better. And really... this man draws Dracula perfectly. I'd almost go as far as to say that his depiction of Dracula is his best likeness so far. As far as the characters he's been drawing, I'd say he's improved most with Andrew's likeness. I mean, compare his Andrew in this issue to the almost unrecognizable Andrew from #12. Hell, compare any of this to his work in the earlier issues. Jeanty keeps getting better and better.
This issue of Buffy has me once again waiting with bated breath for the subsequent part of the story, because each of these twenty-two pages burst with laughs and shocks. If you don't laugh at loud at a few moments in this issue, you might want to check your pulse.
9/10
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