Comic Info
Comic Name: Buffy the Vampire Slayer—Season Eight
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Writer: Joss Whedon
Artist: Georges Jeanty
# of Issues: 5
Release Date: 2007
Buffy the Vampire Slayer—Season 8 #1
Reprints Buffy the Vampire Slayer—Season 8 #1-5 (March 2007–July 2007). Sunnydale is destroyed, and Buffy is now leading an army of Slayers. With Slayers being trained all over the world, Buffy needs help and fortunately she has the friends to do it. Dawn finds herself in a new problem after a night out, but Dawn’s problems could be minor when a new threat arises for Buffy in the form of the military and a mysterious cult. Plus, with Slayers all over the world, there missions could get deadly, and a new recruit has the ultimate mission to the underworld.
Written by Joss Whedon, Buffy the Vampire Slayer—Season 8 Volume 1: The Long Way Home takes place after the end of Buffy the Vampire Slayer the series. The series was published by Dark Horse Comics and features art by Georges Jeanty.
There has always been some complaints how Josh Whedon wrapped up his popular series. Both Angel and Buffy had ambiguous endings that were left open for more. For fans of the show this can be a nice return to familiar characters and storylines. In the last season, Buffy changed the world and as everyone knows change isn’t always accepted.
Season 8 picks up maybe a year after the destruction of Sunnydale and has Buffy leading a group (as even joked about in the series, it is kind of like S.H.I.E.L.D.) and Xander is helping coordinate the attacks as a quasi-Watcher. Giles does make a few cameos as one of the trainers around the world, and Dawn is revealed to have been turned into a giant when she had sex. Willow returns a couple of issues in as Buffy falls under attack from rival witch Amy who’s working with a military operation that isn’t too happy about Buffy’s new found army. It does feel like the TV series, but also has no budget limits, making it on a grander scale that viewers might not be use to.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer—Season 8 #3 Variant
The art is pretty basic comic art, but it always is weird when artists are trying to turn actors into characters. If they are drawn wrong, it makes them look really weird, so it often feels like they are just putting a ton of detail into the heads. It also means that when a new character shows up (or some that look different than the actors), it can be a bit confusing as to who they are suppose to be (it also doesn’t help that Buffy continues to draw from all seasons of her show for plot points so the reader has to keep up).
The stand-alone issue #5 shows potential for the series, but I really doubt it would have happened as a stand-alone episode if there had been a Season 8 (which defeats the purpose of the series). It feels like something that should be in another Buffy comic or something like a Friends of Buffy or a Buffy’s Army title. I doubt that TV would devote a whole episode to this unknown Slayer (of course TV series did occasionally try to spin-off new titles as backdoor pilots) and if the point of the series is to really feel that it is a continuation of the series, they probably should avoid issues like this or put them out as specials.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer—Season 8 works just like Buffy the Vampire Slayer: either you like it or you don’t. It is hard to be on the fence on a series like this, but I was actually always on the fence about Buffy after the first couple seasons. There was creative writing that was highly influential, but there was also a lot of stuff I didn’t like…kind of like here. It is a real mixed bag, but real fans won’t care and people who weren’t fans probably shouldn’t read on. Buffy the Vampire Slayer—Season Eight 1: The Long Way Home is followed by Buffy the Vampire Slayer—Season Eight 2: No Future for You.
Related Links:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer—Season Eight 2: No Future for You
