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A review by kimberlea
Buffy the Vampire Slayer #3 by Dan Mora, Raúl Angulo, Jordie Bellaire
3.0
This issue finally has some action and let me tell you, I have missed it greatly. Every episode of Buffy was action-packed, so having the first few issues that were essentially the first 15 minutes of an episode made me scratch my head a little. One thing I would like to know: when did Willow and Xander get so proficient at fighting? While I can't really be sure of how much time has passed between each issue, I can only assume that the events of one immediately follow the one before it. Willow and Xander haven't really had a lot of time to become relatively competent fighters. I actually also liked the ending for this issue because I feel like now we're getting to the good stuff. We're ramping up for something big — and I'm excited to see where this one goes!
I can't keep telling you how much I love Dan Mora and Raúl Angulo's work. At this stage I'd just be repeating everything I said in my last two reviews — they are brilliant. I love everything they do, and they make a wonderful team. David López has been announced as the artist for issues #5 & 6, so I'll definitely be interested to see how he interprets Jordie Bellaire's story. This issue has also emphasised just how good Bellaire is at taking Whedon's dialogue and making it her own. The dialogue feels like something straight out of the show, just updated for the 21st century.
Most of the characters feel true to form, even if they aren't in the same place as the characters were in season one of Buffy. Cordelia feels more like Angel-era Buffy, Willow is more like the Willow we saw in season four of Buffy. Xander is still Xander, just slightly more evolved. The only characterisation I really have a problem with is Spike and Drusilla. Their roles feel reversed and it just feels odd to me. I never really cared for Spike throughout the series run — of the pair, Drusilla was always the more interesting of the two to me, and the same rings true with the comic books — but I am confused that he has been relegated to Drusilla's sidekick, rather than making plans. That's a big change of character — even when he was in a wheelchair and unable to take care of himself, Spike was scheming.
At this stage I think it's safe to say that if you don't like the Buffy comics, you will never like them. They take place in an alternate universe to the television show and I don't think are meant to be taken as canon, so if you're a lifelong Buffy fan and not feeling it, you can probably walk away and not really miss anything. I have been enjoying the series so far and will probably keep reading on because BOOM! have so many cool things planned for their corner of the Buffyverse (in addition to the Angel series that BOOM! secretly planned, they also just announced a comic book series focused on the origins of slayers), however I also want more from this series. I'm a sucker for pretty covers, so I'll probably keep buying the issues as they are released but this is definitely a series I would recommend reading when the trade paperbacks are published.
I can't keep telling you how much I love Dan Mora and Raúl Angulo's work. At this stage I'd just be repeating everything I said in my last two reviews — they are brilliant. I love everything they do, and they make a wonderful team. David López has been announced as the artist for issues #5 & 6, so I'll definitely be interested to see how he interprets Jordie Bellaire's story. This issue has also emphasised just how good Bellaire is at taking Whedon's dialogue and making it her own. The dialogue feels like something straight out of the show, just updated for the 21st century.
Most of the characters feel true to form, even if they aren't in the same place as the characters were in season one of Buffy. Cordelia feels more like Angel-era Buffy, Willow is more like the Willow we saw in season four of Buffy. Xander is still Xander, just slightly more evolved. The only characterisation I really have a problem with is Spike and Drusilla. Their roles feel reversed and it just feels odd to me. I never really cared for Spike throughout the series run — of the pair, Drusilla was always the more interesting of the two to me, and the same rings true with the comic books — but I am confused that he has been relegated to Drusilla's sidekick, rather than making plans. That's a big change of character — even when he was in a wheelchair and unable to take care of himself, Spike was scheming.
At this stage I think it's safe to say that if you don't like the Buffy comics, you will never like them. They take place in an alternate universe to the television show and I don't think are meant to be taken as canon, so if you're a lifelong Buffy fan and not feeling it, you can probably walk away and not really miss anything. I have been enjoying the series so far and will probably keep reading on because BOOM! have so many cool things planned for their corner of the Buffyverse (in addition to the Angel series that BOOM! secretly planned, they also just announced a comic book series focused on the origins of slayers), however I also want more from this series. I'm a sucker for pretty covers, so I'll probably keep buying the issues as they are released but this is definitely a series I would recommend reading when the trade paperbacks are published.