Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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42 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Like the sweetest hit for an ex-smoker, November 2, 2007
I must admit that as a Buffy fan who hasn't read a comic since age 7 I was a skeptic...but a skeptic in serious withdrawal willing to slurp down just about any Buffy chum Joss flung my way (sorry fan-fictors but there's Payless and then there's Prada). This volume seriously delivers. I read it twice in 24 hours, once quickly to get the major points (who's back, who's bad, who's bedding who), and then again slowly to savor the dialogue and story line. It comes off as basically a two-hour, two-dimensional Buffy movie in what would naturally be a trilogy of films (ahh, only in my and James Marster's dreams I'm afraid). Artwork really pops, transitions are smooth and cinematic, and the trademark Buffy-speech humor is dead-on. Sure there are a few small holes in the storyline (like where a certain character mysteriously recovers from grotesque disfiguring brain surgery w/out a single panel's explanation). Ok, that's a big hole. And yes there are baby slayers with bad Euro trash accents to ignore. But let's chock it up to suspension of disbelief and ooh! look at Buffy she still has her shiny red axe thingy! This volume probably would be meaningless to anyone who had not watched all 7 seasons and memorized the lyrics to Once More with Feeling when they couldn't get a date to the prom, but who cares about them! Losers!
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22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Buffy lives, November 1, 2007
It's no secret that every Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan on the planet has been missing the snappy brilliance of Joss Whedon's critically acclaimed series, but fear not. Whedon, who has crafted the best X-Men stories in quite some time for Marvel with Astonishing X-Men, returns to his most popular creation with Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight; a canon comic continuation of the series that picks up where the show left off. Buffy is in Scotland training and leading groups of newly cristened Slayers in the battle against evil demons and vamps, but soon finds that a sinister plot is at hand which involves a cult and the government. Soon enough, some surprising old foes re-appear to wreak havoc on Buffy, Xander, Willow, and the rest of the old crew. What makes Long Way Home so good is that Whedon is relishing in crafting a Buffy flavored comic, while he also ties up some loose ends and adds a nice deal of in-jokes to boot. The dialogue is poppy and snappy, the action is fierce, the twists and surprises are great, and by the book's end, you'll be begging for more. The TPB concludes with a stand alone segment entitled "The Chain" (featuring guest art from Paul Lee), in which a newly powered Slayer is given a very special mission. The rest of the artwork by Georges Jeanty and Whedon's Fray inker Andy Owens is great as well, and rounds out this excellent package. Needless to say, The Long Way Home is a must own for any and every Buffy afficiondo, regardless of whether or not you're into comics in the least.
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20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Season 8 is a hit in print, December 9, 2007
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
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