Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8: #2 - Dark Horse (2007)

The new Buffy Season 8 comic is a lot like Runaways #25 in that you pretty much know what you're getting into. Except with Buffy it's even moreso:

Snappy, hip dialogue: Check
Monster Fightin': Check
Teen Angst: Triple Check

Joss Whedon has shown that he can write. That's not in question. Despite a few speedbumps along the way, he wrote the hell out of the Buffy TV series. He could have fallen back on all the old notes from the TV show but he is using the comic to add a lot of stuff to the story that would have been hella expensive on screen. For example, about a trillion slayers.

The first issue was solid and this one held my interest. The pacing is spot on and except for a dream sequence which was more confusing than it was intended to be, the story is fun and feels appropriately Buffy-ish. Most of the characters who didn't show up in the first issue are in the second and I'm glad to see that. I'm not sure that this sort of thing would have worked on TV but it doesn't have to. Whedon recognizes the differences between media and is doing a great job in the comics world. Also, his stuff seems to be on time which is, y'know, a bonus.

The art is good and the only complaint I have is that I wasn't able to recognize all of the characters upon first appearance. For example, Giles (see below) looks reasonably Anthony-Stewart-Head-like but only after I stare at the picture for a while. I know that one of the hardest things to do is draw a real person who actually looks like that person so I'll cut Georges Jeanty some slack. He nails the characters most of the time and he's really good with the action which, for this title, might just be more important.