If someone picked up the latest issues of Dark Horse’s “Buffy” (Issue No. 32) and IDW’s “Angel”(Issue No. 30) as their introduction to post-TV events, they’d hardly recognize these worlds. The story has certainly moved forward in comic-book form.
The biggest jolt of the post-TV events is that now everyone in the world knows about Slayers, vampires, demons, magic and alternate dimensions. I have mixed feelings about this: If this is how “Buffy” and “Angel” had started — in worlds of pure fantasy rather than being rooted in reality — I would have never become a fan. But since it got to this point organically, I’m willing to go along for the ride. I miss the simpler days when the Scooby Gang was still in high school, but you know, I can always watch the DVDs, and maybe, hopefully, fresh Sunnydale High-era stories can be told at some point.
Other than the complete re-defining of the world around our heroes, everything else is comfortably familiar. The characterizations in both books have always been spot-on. Additionally, there are good arcs going on right now. Xander’s improved self-confidence and luck with the ladies has been a joy to read (he finds himself in a love triangle with Dawn and Buffy, and he’ll get no sympathy from me).
The artwork is excellent. “Angel,” with art by Brian Denham, is more of a “get the likenesses right” type of comic at the moment. “Buffy” does that too, but Georges Jeanty puts his own style to it — he draws a particularly cute Buffy — and Michelle Madsen fills it in with bright, cartoony colors that contrast effectively with the rather dark story.
In both books, the stories are character-based. Buffy has Superman-like powers (she’s always been a superhero, but not to this degree). This development allows issue No. 32, by newcomer Brad Meltzer, to be light and comedic. Xander has fun testing Buffy to see what powers she has acquired (Faster than a speeding bullet? Check. Ability to fly? Check. Super-vision or super-hearing? Nope, sorry.). But it turns out she got those powers because Slayers are dying in droves in the war against Twilight. Not so light and comedic, that. But it’s a smart development because, you know, it must be tricky for the writers to keep track of all those tens of thousands of Slayers anyway.
I’m not crazy about the blatant “X-men” comparisons. The lair of Twilight (the mysterious Season 8 Big Bad whose identity will be revealed next issue) is identical to a design from an old “X-men” yarn, and while the dialogue blatantly acknowledges this, and while there will probably be some point to it, I don’t really like it. Joss Whedon loves “X-men,” sure, but “Buffy” is too good to crib from it, right?
While “Buffy” is a worldwide story (for the record, the gang is based in Tibet at the moment), “Angel” is L.A.-based. But L.A. has become a world of its own, and the in-flux Angel Investigations (actually, I’m not sure if they still call it that) is investigating stuff again, only now the gang doesn’t have to be secretive about it (because, remember, the citizenry knows about the supernatural world now).
Recent issues have randomly introduced new characters to the gang whose names I don’t know and who I don’t care about. But Issue No. 30, by Bill Willingham, has a character-based twist that could’ve very well happened in the TV days. Illyria makes a deal with Angel: She’ll free him from captivity if he lets her court his son, Connor. As fans know, the arc of Illyria, an ancient demon who is learning all of our bizarre human customs in the body of the woman she killed, was cut off midstride (along with the wonderful performance by Amy Acker) when The WB prematurely canceled “Angel.” But this comic is the next best thing.
I didn’t care for “Angel’s” “After the Fall” arc — it was too whimsical (what with the talking, floating fish) and story-oriented (what with endless battles to fill L.A.’s power vacuum). But newcomer Willingham is guiding the title back to its character-driven roots.
“Buffy” Season 8, more firmly under Whedon’s guidance than “Angel” is, has always been about the Scoobies’ lives, and I’ve picked up every issue anxious to see what’s between the covers (even if it means finding Buffy and Satsu between the covers earlier this season).
I have followed “Angel” out of appreciation for a once-great saga. Thanks to Willingham, I think it could be great again.