The Long Way Home (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Vol. 1)

I was a huge fan of the Buffy TV Series. I really enjoyed these books, especially as Joss Whedon has some involvement. Enjoy!

Have you wondered what Buffy, Willow, Xander and Giles have been up to since Sunnydale imploded? Joss Whedon has the answers. Have you pondered the effect on the world of the sudden existence of countless powerful young women with Slayer powers? Joss knows, and he's willing to share. Has it occurred to you that someone -- or something -- might have survived in the rubble of Sunnydale? You might be surprised by that one.

Did you think it was kind of lame when we learned in "Angel" that Buffy was off bopping in Italy with the powerful Immortal? She wasn't. Whedon handily explains that away -- without messing up the continuity even a bit.

"The Long Way Home" is the first story arc of the new series, and it takes us to the Scottish castle where Buffy hangs her hat as leader of a Slayer commando unit, where Xander acts as a new Watcher and ops coordinator, where Willow takes care of both mystical and technical affairs, and where Dawn -- still kind of whiny, damn it -- parks her very, very, very large sneakers.

Without giving too much away, I'll say that Buffy is hit with a magical assassination attempt and the American military takes an unfriendly view of the Slayer army, which strikes where and when it sees fit without respect to international boundaries. And, to round out the book, there's the very touching and well-imagined stand-alone tale about a very special Slayer with a very unique assignment.

I was pretty sure that nothing would fill the large Buffy-shaped hole in my heart. I'm not sure a new comic series is as good as a new TV series or a string of big-budget films (hint, hint), but it does a far better job than I could have expected. With Joss at the helm, you know the story is good and the specific voices of his beloved characters sound exactly as they should. The art, by Georges Jeanty, falls just short of photorealism; it's beautiful stuff, well drawn and fluid, and the characters are instantly recognizable as the actors who portrayed them.

Buffy the Comic Book has been hit-or-miss over the years. This new incarnation is a bullseye. I can only hope the creative team, led by Whedon, can maintain this outstanding level of quality.

by Tom Knapp, Rambles.(net) editor

I was a huge fan of the seven seasons of "Buffy" -- even when some people complained about season six I saw exactly how it fit into the overall development of the characters. That developement continues in the graphic series. Rather than buy each separately I got the first five issues in one volume. Well worth the wait and I saved both money and paper in the process. We have the regular cast back -- Buffy, Willow, Xander, Giles, and even Dawn whose a bigger pain than ever before. I really like how we see some of the new slayers as well as the government reaction to what they preceive to be a new threat. Knowing that the 6th season of "Angel" is also coming to graphic series, I hope we get to see some interactions between the worlds again as we briefly did on the television shows. I look forward to volume 2 of season 8.

When the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show ended after seven seasons, there was talk about an animated series, big screen films, etc..., but the Slayer saga has continued in perhaps the one area that could truly do it justice...the comic books. Dark Horse has revived the Buffy comic, which originally ran for some sixty plus issues but with a remarkable twist. The new series is a direct sequel to the TV show and even carries the label, "Season 8" to prove it. Furthermore, the first story arc, contained in this trade paperback, was written by series creator Joss Whedon. Whedeon took a risk with this venture. By calling it Season Eight he's got a large audience to appeal to, perhaps many who had not even read the previous Buffy comic.

The series begins approximately a year after the events in the final TV episode "Chosen" and the destruction of the Hellmouth, and Sunnydale. Buffy is leading a team of young slayers against a demon stronghold. Buffy has now developed a worldwide network of Slayer teams with Xander running the command post in Scotland. Former Trio member Andrew is in charge of a Slayer team in Italy. At the start Willow is missing and Buffy's sister, Dawn, has grown into a giant, evidently a result of losing her virginity to a "thricewise" named Kenny.

Buffy has a new and perhaps her most deadly foe yet...the American Government. The Government views the Slayers as a terrorist group, citing the destruction of Sunnydale but in reality, they fear the Slayer's power and their ideology. What will the Slayers do if all the demons and vampires are destroyed? The military even has their own Thunderbolt Ross in the form of General Voll who begrudgingly realizes he'll need the aid of magic to capture Buffy. To this end, he allies himself with a near-crazed magician they've captured, Willow's former friend turned rat-turned enemy...Amy Madison. She sets a trap to not only capture Buffy, but to also lure Willow out of the woodwork. But there's an even more sinister old foe back to cause trouble.

I was really leery of this series having been a fan of the TV show. One thing that has happened, and it kind of happened in the final season anyway, is that the show lost a bit of its intimacy. The cast, with all the additional Slayers and other supporting characters has become very large and as such we get somewhat less of the main characters. Whedon dispelled some of my fears by infusing this book with his trademark snappy banter, particularly between Xander and Buffy. There is also that ongoing sibling rivalry carried over from the TV show between Dawn and Buffy. Dawn relates more to Willow as a mother figure than her own sister, causing Buffy to question her own relationship with Dawn. The first series has everything Buffy fans grew to love about the series...great action, lots of humor and sharp dialog, and menacing villains.

Artistically, I'm not ready to put Georges Jeanty on a par with long-time Buffy Artist Cliff Richards, but his art was very good and captured the characters look quite well and the painted covers by Jo Chen are phenomenal. The real question going forth will be how well the series does without Whedon writing the series as he only wrote the first five issues.

REVIEWED BY TIM JANSON

This was long awaited for many Buffy fans, who (like myself) would have loved for the show to continue as long as possible. Joss Whedon and his team of writers are just as cleaver as ever, and all of the characters stay true to their original selves. It was great, and I can't wait for the next one.