SlayAlive Blog Just another bloody weblog

Buffy Season 8 #29 review

And so we reach the penultimate chapter of Espenson’s arc. What happens? Twilight’s goons meet the depowered Slayers in a head-on battle, complete with MANPADS, Chinese assault rifles, and pretty much not a chance in hell for Team Buffy. “Yeah, I’m starting to think there’s a reason no one’s written a suspense novel where the conflict is wolves vs. tanks” pretty much sums it up.

Art: Kinda torn on this one. There are some panels of brilliant story-telling narrative, but it doesn’t quite hit the high notes of the previous issue. Part of the problem is presenting the scope of a battlefield. The strongest panels in the midst of all the chaos are the ones that focus on the character moments. Jeanty’s ability to tell the reader what exactly is going on in Buffy’s head is the highlight of the issue. And the couple of panels of Faith preparing to go into battle, when read with the context of the Buffy/Faith conversation in the previous issue really made me feel for Faith.

Things to pick out:
1. Andrew’s Union Jack jacket makes a comeback.
2. The Wiccan girl with the Mickey Mouse ear-hair is back. If you’ve no idea who I’m talking about, she’s in #1 in the first panel we see of Xander standing in the Scotland command center. She’s one of the two girls generating a glowing ball between them. She’s also seen in “ToYL”, in the panel where Rowena commands the Slayers to obliterate the snake-demon army.
3. The return of Buffy’s pigtails, albeit temporary.

Writing: After last month’s solid issue, Espenson’s script was quite disappointing this time around. The story moved along fine, and there was a fine mix of drama, action, and laughs, but the gripes are in the details. There are several instances of rather awkward dialogue transitions. For one, the transition between Oz asking Bay to hand him the baby, and Willow exclaiming “No! Don’t protect the baby!” is odd. Perhaps the art doesn’t quite translate the scene, but it doesn’t look like Oz is asking for the baby to protect him from Willow at all. The other instance is during the discussion about “noise” vs. something real. It’s a rather big leap to go from discussing RADAR to “Hey—the two of us – we never had magic.” I get what was being expressed, but it just seemed like a random outburst to me.

And again with the bloody inconsistency with the spelling of “magic/magick”! Yes, some have stated that “magics” is probably not acceptable, thus “magicks”, but why use “magickal” then when “magical” is wholly correct? Especially when the blurb on the inside cover uses “magical”. Editorial fail again?

Another thing is just the random waste of certain characters. Faith and Kennedy feature quite prominently in several scenes, and yet their lines are mostly throwaway ones that could’ve been given to just about any character. Faith, particularly, feels wasted, kinda like she was towards the end of S7, except even more so. The only scene in which she felt remotely consequential was in the scene where she prepares to go to battle. The Monroe sidestory just seems like a random addition now. I was hoping for something more substantial than just having werewolves help out in the battle. Speaking of editorial fails, why the hell in Monroe alive? Bay specifically mentions her regret for attacking him in #27 because it may have made him a martyr. Implying that she killed him. As in ripped out his throat. Monroe was shown lying on the ground with a ripped out throat, while his werewolf buddies skedaddled and left him behind. And yet he’s alive and well? And Andrew’s little special assignment… well that was an utter waste of yak hair since it didn’t come into play at all!

Final thoughts: Interesting that it’s implied that it is Buffy, not Willow, who unleashes the wrathful goddesses. In light of the solicitations for #31, her decision here will come back into play. However, to give credit where it’s due, it is Buffy who once again thinks outside the box for what seems to be a solution. It also seems that Buffy is now done “retreating” and is now going “full-throttle forward”.
Sidebar: Remati is the other name for Palden Lhamo, so whoever pointed that out over at Whedonesque was right. Funny thing is, only Remati (of the three goddesses mentioned) is usually considered wrathful. Vajrayogini is usually associated with “methods for preventing ordinary death, intermediate state (bardo) and rebirth (by transforming them into paths to enlightenment), and for transforming all mundane daily experiences into higher spiritual paths” (Wikipedia). Ekajati’s “ascribed powers are removing the fear of enemies, spreading joy and removing personal hindrances on the path to enlightenment. Ekajati is the protector of secret mantras and "as the mother of the mothers of all the Buddhas," represents ultimate unity” (Wikipedia). Now… Jeanty mentioned that Espenson had done a bunch of research on these goddesses, so I hope he’s not overselling her efforts here, and that her choice in goddesses will come into play soon, presumably in #31. Aside from Remati, the other goddesses play a role in assisting in the achieving of enlightenment, and Ekajati is supposed to represent the ultimate unity. Perhaps they can show Buffy the way to achieving a more holistic unity of Slayer and person…

~Xi