All Kinds Of Fail - Buffy Comics
Jun. 1st, 2010 03:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
philosoraptor42Expect the following post to be spoilerific for the Buffy "season eight" comics.
There's an episode of the classic sci-fi comedy Red Dwarf called "Back To Reality". Those familiar with the series will know that the main feature of this episode is the crew waking up to discover that the entire five series of the show has actually been an immersive videogame (in which their particular team only managed to score 4% in four years). A fairly gruff maintenance man (played by Timothy Spall) chats condescendingly with them as they come out of their pods. He explains that the character Rimmer, known for being thoroughly unpleasant, was actually a secret agent programmed to be an arse so that no one would suspect that he was on a secret mission to guide Lister, the rather slobby protagonist, to his destiny as creator of the second universe. Apparently later in this videogame Lister would turn out to be God and jump-start the second big bang (although not before the crew visit the planet of the nymphomaniacs - which is another part of the videogame they turn out to have missed).
Naturally all of this is intentionally ludicrous. However, oddly the latest Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics have a similar sort of plot.
The basic gist of the recent plot is that there've been a group of bad guys out to destroy the (now numerous) slayers in an attempt to destroy all magic. They are led by an evil masked bad guy known as "Twilight" who is pretty much invulnerable and a definite match for Buffy. The recent revelation is that Twilight is Angel.
No, not Angelus (Angel's evil alter-ego). Angel.
It also turns out that Twilight, despite seeming notably evil right up to the last minute (he is brutally beating Faith shortly before he unmasks), is actually doing all this for Buffy's own good. He's on a secret mission, it seems, to direct Buffy towards her destiny as creator of the second universe. (No, I am not making this sh*t up!)
Upon Buffy discovering that Twilight is Angel, the two of them start glowing and have super-powered, mountain-destroying, ultra-violent destiny sex. Apparently they together mark a new stage in evolution and so eventually their shagging produces a new universe. (Oh my goodness I cannot even believe I am writing this.) This also means that monsters are able to flood from the various hells into the world, because it is no longer as important as the new world Buffy and Angel have created. Angel tries to persuade Buffy to leave the world to suffer its fate without her (but apparently he's not evil), but she rejects this idea and says they have to help their friends.
And that's the story so far....
Even up to this point the comics have been a bit lame, always introducing old characters like Amy, Warren (minus skin), Ethan Rayne, Riley, Harmony, Fray, Dark Willow, Dracula (helping Buffy now) and Oz.
Then there's the bizarre insistence across the board by various characters that Buffy having sex with a girl doesn't make her gay. Why is the entire cast of the comic suffering from denial? Well it's probably because Joss Whedon doesn't believe in bi-sexuality (yet Willow randomly 'converting' to lesbianism after her relationship with Oz doesn't seem to trouble him at all). *sighs*
There's also been a random storyline where Faith pretends ("My Fair Lady" style) to be English. She is put on a special secret mission to protect/investigate a rich anachronistic (obsessed with her royal ties, she refers to other English girls as "commoners" and calls Americans "colonists") English girl. We are then treated to absolutely ridiculous pop-culture references as if these girls are in their mid-fourties rather than late twenties. The line that stuck out for me was where Faith is asked, "What do you think I should use for the anthem of my coronation? [Coronation? - She's being crowned? Wtf?] Something old-school like The Clash or best-band-ever-of-the-moment like the Arctic Monkeys?" Faith replies "Split the difference maybe?" and they both inexplicably call out "The Stone Roses" together. Yeah sure, they might have heard of The Clash and The Stone Roses and they might be fond of the Arctic Monkeys however, these all sound like more likely choices for someone middle aged. Even the recent ex-Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was a fan of the Arctic Monkeys so it's not exactly a hip choice for youngsters. Brown is also a fan of Amy Winehouse, another musical artist randomly mentioned.
Apparently the Angel comics (known as "After The Fall"), despite seeming really weird and daft to start with, are actually now far better. It looks like one very good reason for this is the recent introduction of the fantastic Bill Willingham of Fables fame as the writer. How they are going to get any kind of sane storyline to fit in with the batshit Buffy comics plot that I mentioned above, I have no idea. I guess they'll find a way....
In spite of how awful the Buffy comics have been there were a few highlights. Actually the Fray story wasn't all that bad, but the best comic by far was the fifth issue. It was a one-off storyline about a Buffy double and how she comes to enlist with the other newly-powered Slayers. It's worth checking out, but just realise that it's all downhill from there. :(
There's an episode of the classic sci-fi comedy Red Dwarf called "Back To Reality". Those familiar with the series will know that the main feature of this episode is the crew waking up to discover that the entire five series of the show has actually been an immersive videogame (in which their particular team only managed to score 4% in four years). A fairly gruff maintenance man (played by Timothy Spall) chats condescendingly with them as they come out of their pods. He explains that the character Rimmer, known for being thoroughly unpleasant, was actually a secret agent programmed to be an arse so that no one would suspect that he was on a secret mission to guide Lister, the rather slobby protagonist, to his destiny as creator of the second universe. Apparently later in this videogame Lister would turn out to be God and jump-start the second big bang (although not before the crew visit the planet of the nymphomaniacs - which is another part of the videogame they turn out to have missed).
Naturally all of this is intentionally ludicrous. However, oddly the latest Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics have a similar sort of plot.
The basic gist of the recent plot is that there've been a group of bad guys out to destroy the (now numerous) slayers in an attempt to destroy all magic. They are led by an evil masked bad guy known as "Twilight" who is pretty much invulnerable and a definite match for Buffy. The recent revelation is that Twilight is Angel.
No, not Angelus (Angel's evil alter-ego). Angel.
It also turns out that Twilight, despite seeming notably evil right up to the last minute (he is brutally beating Faith shortly before he unmasks), is actually doing all this for Buffy's own good. He's on a secret mission, it seems, to direct Buffy towards her destiny as creator of the second universe. (No, I am not making this sh*t up!)
Upon Buffy discovering that Twilight is Angel, the two of them start glowing and have super-powered, mountain-destroying, ultra-violent destiny sex. Apparently they together mark a new stage in evolution and so eventually their shagging produces a new universe. (Oh my goodness I cannot even believe I am writing this.) This also means that monsters are able to flood from the various hells into the world, because it is no longer as important as the new world Buffy and Angel have created. Angel tries to persuade Buffy to leave the world to suffer its fate without her (but apparently he's not evil), but she rejects this idea and says they have to help their friends.
And that's the story so far....
Even up to this point the comics have been a bit lame, always introducing old characters like Amy, Warren (minus skin), Ethan Rayne, Riley, Harmony, Fray, Dark Willow, Dracula (helping Buffy now) and Oz.
Then there's the bizarre insistence across the board by various characters that Buffy having sex with a girl doesn't make her gay. Why is the entire cast of the comic suffering from denial? Well it's probably because Joss Whedon doesn't believe in bi-sexuality (yet Willow randomly 'converting' to lesbianism after her relationship with Oz doesn't seem to trouble him at all). *sighs*
There's also been a random storyline where Faith pretends ("My Fair Lady" style) to be English. She is put on a special secret mission to protect/investigate a rich anachronistic (obsessed with her royal ties, she refers to other English girls as "commoners" and calls Americans "colonists") English girl. We are then treated to absolutely ridiculous pop-culture references as if these girls are in their mid-fourties rather than late twenties. The line that stuck out for me was where Faith is asked, "What do you think I should use for the anthem of my coronation? [Coronation? - She's being crowned? Wtf?] Something old-school like The Clash or best-band-ever-of-the-moment like the Arctic Monkeys?" Faith replies "Split the difference maybe?" and they both inexplicably call out "The Stone Roses" together. Yeah sure, they might have heard of The Clash and The Stone Roses and they might be fond of the Arctic Monkeys however, these all sound like more likely choices for someone middle aged. Even the recent ex-Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was a fan of the Arctic Monkeys so it's not exactly a hip choice for youngsters. Brown is also a fan of Amy Winehouse, another musical artist randomly mentioned.
Apparently the Angel comics (known as "After The Fall"), despite seeming really weird and daft to start with, are actually now far better. It looks like one very good reason for this is the recent introduction of the fantastic Bill Willingham of Fables fame as the writer. How they are going to get any kind of sane storyline to fit in with the batshit Buffy comics plot that I mentioned above, I have no idea. I guess they'll find a way....
In spite of how awful the Buffy comics have been there were a few highlights. Actually the Fray story wasn't all that bad, but the best comic by far was the fifth issue. It was a one-off storyline about a Buffy double and how she comes to enlist with the other newly-powered Slayers. It's worth checking out, but just realise that it's all downhill from there. :(
