#34: Some more reaction
So I realize I'm in a pretty good mood after reading #34.
I suppose it's because I really am all about Spike. And I had been really quite worried about what was supposed to make Spike fans so upset. I thought it'd be Buffy's declarations of undying love to Angel along with (in the worst scenario) some specific disavowal of any serious feelings for Spike. I guess when your expectations are low enough anything can be seen as pretty good.
As already mentioned, we get two very Spike-positive things. First, affirmation that in Willow's eyes at least, Spike is one of Buffy's two truest loves. I also like that the panel shows Spike as short -- not sure why, but I have a great affection for my vampire's short stature. Anyway, this was the exact opposite of my worst fear. So yay for that. Second, when Spike shows up he'll be fighting side by side with Buffy. That panel is a double-win, because it also suggests that Buffy will be back from planet Twilight at some point and in fighting trim again. It is, at least, a hopeful sign for her. Spike fighting in a mirror image pose with Buffy is my favorite Spuffy thing, actually. The two of them as partners who are in tune -- something we saw as early as Becoming II.
It's interesting that they drop that panel in, because it doesn't really fit the flow of anything. I wonder if that wasn't a way of helping Spike/Spuffy fans get through the issue without fatal damage. It's hard to see what other purpose it serves than to say that the boink fest is not hardly the last word about Buffy's story.
The third thing is that the Bangel continues to be hugely subverted. I'd say bringing the world to a bloody miserable end is a small sign that this isn't just happy hearts and flowers romance. And at the end, Buffy seems to be coming back to herself in a way that is fairly shocked by what's just happened. Meanwhile, all the boinking continues to have Buffy say nothing romantic. She didn't say anything romantic in #33, either. Consider this dialogue:
Angel: "You have any idea how much I missed you?"
Buffy: "I do. I have lots of ideas."
That would be lots of ideas about creative ways of boinking. She doesn't murmur back about missing him either. She never says anything that isn't related to the lust. Now, I'm not going to say Buffy doesn't lurve Angel. Probably she does. But that's not what's playing in the theater so far. Angel had lots of sugar romance stuff in #33. Buffy only said he doesn't know her any more. The characterization of them as having love and passion comes from Willow. But Willow characterizes Buffy and Spike the same way.
There's a cut to boinking that's overlaid with a line about a fairy tale.
So I think Joss is still blasting away hard and openly at romantic, hearts and flowers, Bangel as fairy tale stuff.
That said, the epic pornography also reminds me of an awful lot of Spuffy fanfic I've read, and I'd say that there's at least a faint mocking of fairy tales that revolve around explicit pornography. And as commentors in my previous post have pointed out, the general notion here is that sex with vampires is pretty cataclysmic -- and that would tar the Spuffy tale as well as the Bangel tale.
Still, I'm not enough of a Spuffy to be much bothered if the aim here is to cast a shadow on slayer-vampire romance in general. I love Spike dearly. But he is a corpse, and well, necrophilia really isn't all that sexy if you think about it too hard.
I'm still not happy about the endless pages of hard core porn. I'm holding off on judging the great turn in the mythology. Hard to know what it means at this juncture. I can certainly understand complaints about pacing, and how well the long withholding of essential details works as a narrative technique. I want to see the story as a whole before making my own judgments on that stuff.
But my Spike-centric heart is feeling pretty good right now. I like the inversion we get here. Spuffy was about the sex and Bangel was about the romance and the side-by-side fighting. Well, Bangel is now about the sex, and Spuffy just got some romance and a promise of more side-by-side fighting. I'm *very* happy that Spike will be making his entrance soon. And I think it's kind of funny that when Bangels get everything they thought they wanted all twisted around, they also have to give away something precious -- Angel isn't Buffy's one and only true love. What can I say? I'm a shallow kind of a girl -- especially after the last month's worth of Bangel posting I've waded through.
ETA: I was telling my brother about the pornfest, and this line popped into my head:
"It wasn't one time. It was lots of times. And lots of different ways. I can make sketches."
The resonance amuses me.
ETA: Who'd have thought Bangel!Boink!Day would be such a splendid holiday? Please have a gander at eilowyn 's offering!