Buffy the Last Vampire Slayer #1 has fun writing, but the art trips it up.
Buffy the Last Vampire Slayer #1
Ario Anindito (Cover); Ed Dukeshire (Letters); Francesco Francivillica (Cover); Casey Gilly (Writing); Gloria Martinelli (Colors); Oriol Roig (Art); Suspiria Vilchez (Cover)
BOOM! Comics
August 2, 2023
Buffy The Last Vampire Slayer is a sudden blast to the future for Buffy fans. The series continues with the work begun in the same-titled series from last year, and it has its ups and downs as it goes forward another three years. Plagued by eternal nighttime, the apocalypse had arrived, and Buffy Summers – 50 but still filled with grit – is trying to hold on to her ideals. This is a comic that dares to give us a Buffy still struggling with the weight of her duties years later, even though she is standing in Giles’ shoes, trying to figure out how to guide. The characters’ patter is rapid-fire, and the writing is genuinely suspenseful, but the art is mixed in quality, and washed-out color drags the book’s engagement down.
Thessaly “Thess” Maclay Rosenberg is now 21 years old. Spike and Buffy have succeeded in raising up their potential into a full-fledged Slayer and are now both acting as her watchers (as well as her adoptive parents) from their new home base in Santa Carmen, California. The sun is back, normality has partially resumed, and Buffy heads the Watcher’s Council. She and Spike are often away on business, and Thess yearns to patrol on her own. Buffy – understandably mega protective after losing so many of her friends in the apocalypse – insists upon getting her a babysitter even though she’s well over the legal age to drink and tags Anya to keep an eye on Thess as a temporary watcher. But Thess rebels, going out on surreptitious dates with Cora Devonshire, a co-worker at the local pier. Cora and Thess might be the real thing, but Thess has no idea what she is in for — not even when she sneak-reads details of her mission behind Anya’s back.
The writing here is fantastic. Buffy is realistically torn between trying to be a good mom and trying to head the Council. Spike is dry-eyed and filled with humor. Thess has emerged as a character in her own right after being a bit of a plot football during the previous series; she is spunky and fun to follow, even if she makes some silly teenage mistakes. Cora is an interesting new wrinkle. Anya is the weakest link here, and only occasionally sounds like her old self, but still gets off some great one-liners. She isn’t the only reminder of the past the comic has on tap. Santa Carmen will definitely remind you of Santa Carla, the notoriously vampire-laden beach town where the Emerson boys take root in The Lost Boys. Thess even works a booth at the boardwalk, which has a large Ferris wheel.
The problem here is the art. Every character is fails to resemble their onscreen counterparts to some degree, too sharp or too broad when compared to the actors in question. But Buffy and Spike are recognizable as themselves, and Thess and Cora have unique designs of their own. Unfortunately, Anya looks nearly identical to Thess, and so generic that I had a hard time trying to figure out who she was until she was explicitly called Anya. This is unfortunate because Roig is good at large panoramic scenes, but the characters are not distinct enough to look interesting. Martinelli’s color work is also sallow and muted, though when portraying moody darkness and glittering oceans it pops more easily to life. But when we’re in a close-up situation, I should be able to know who I’m looking at.
Dukeshire once more proves to be an excellent letterer, adding color to the right words, and punching up already great dialogue. It’s the art that makes Buffy’s latest slay a little more messy than it should be.
