[Buffyfest] Buffy #40 Analysis - SPOLIERS (but only a little)
Disclaimer: This is not a review. If you're looking for the full on
spoiler fest, you ought to poke your peepers elsewhere. This here is
some fine genuine analysis so get the darn comic and, when you're done
flipping through it a few times, put on your best smarty pants, and
then read this thing.
Hope.
It might just be the theme, not just of season 8, but of Buffy as a
series. Sometimes hope can be the thing that leads us to salvation but,
sometimes, it can lead us astray. Sometimes the road to hell is paved
with hope.
I suspect that was Brad Meltzer's intention during the "Twilight" arc
as he cobbled out this idea that one girl vs. innumerable vampires,
demons, ad infinitum works but an army of slayers makes for a topsy
turvy world gone wrong. We all know that Buffy's decision in Chosen was
going to have consequences, that her decision to call all the
potentials at once meant taking the choice away from countless other
women but, at the same time, I don't think it's enough to say "Buffy
was wrong". I don't think a writer can ever say, simply, "that was bad,
no cookie for you" nor can we, as viewers or readers ever say,
conclusively, what the truth of things is.
All that being said, Buffy was wrong. She betrayed herself, she
betrayed her girls, her family, her friends, and the world. That's the
theme after all. Betrayal. And hope, but we're not there just yet. Keep
that one in your back pocket for now.
Buffy #40 is the end of the great experiment that was Season 8. Can you
take a show that aired for seven seasons and turn it into a successful
comic book? Can an army of slayers unite to fight the forces of
darkness? Can fandom not bicker and , in general, behave like a bunch
of collective dillweeds for five seconds? One of the best (and worst)
things about Season 8 is how all of these things have become so
interconnected. Buffy, Joss, you and I… we're asking the same
questions, fighting the same struggles; we're just doing it on
different playing fields in different ways. But this is Joss's baby
and, before everyone else has their final word, el jefe gets to say his
piece.
What's he saying? Well, I think he's saying that there is no one single
ideal that can keep hundreds of unique voices in synch forever. I think
he's saying that Buffy is a charismatic leader but, then again, so was
Hitler. I think he's acknowledging some of the flaws that have been
repeatedly pointed out, most especially that sex in space is kind of
silly.
Buffy #40 is an entire issue that simultaneously gets back to the old
formula while also saying "Don't get too comfy just yet". It's a pinch
of fan service with a few heaping spoonfuls of "I'm still in charge,
alright?" This is the last time we'll probably see all the Scoobies
contained within the same pages for a while and we don't even see them
all together at once. This is Buffy's POV, so it all ekes out a little
at a time.
What we do get is gloriously familiar. Buffy with Xander and Dawn is
the humor and intimacy of family. Buffy with Willow is the shared pain
of regret, the labored love and resentment that two best friends can
only share when they've given and taken away everything from each
other. Buffy and Faith are the separated sisters still in constant
competition despite themselves, both still vying for the love of a
father that can't hear them anymore. Buffy and Spike are the old
lovers, uneasy in their own skin whenever they're close but still
trying to look beyond the scars they've given each other and still
reach out for…
Hope. Because changing the world aint all it's cracked up to be.
Sometimes when you try to build a better world you sort of kind of
accidentally almost destroy the entire universe in the process.
Sometimes you don't change anything at all and, even when you do, it's
never in the way you intended it.
But, if you're Buffy, there's always hope. It's the thing that
separates her from Angel, and the reason I think Joss chose to mirror
the end of "Not Fade Away". Funny thing about a mirror, what you see in
the reflection is the same but opposite.
Hope is the one thing we all struggle to keep. We're all hoping that
out lives will have meaning, that we can make a difference. Whether
your demons are literal or metaphorical, whether you're the one who
created it all or are part of the community that binds it together, we
all hope for more, for better, from each other, from ourselves, from
the world.
I just hope we don't all accidentally have a fan orgy in the vacuum of
space and destroy the universe in the process. All I'm sayin'!
spoiler fest, you ought to poke your peepers elsewhere. This here is
some fine genuine analysis so get the darn comic and, when you're done
flipping through it a few times, put on your best smarty pants, and
then read this thing.
Hope.
It might just be the theme, not just of season 8, but of Buffy as a
series. Sometimes hope can be the thing that leads us to salvation but,
sometimes, it can lead us astray. Sometimes the road to hell is paved
with hope.
I suspect that was Brad Meltzer's intention during the "Twilight" arc
as he cobbled out this idea that one girl vs. innumerable vampires,
demons, ad infinitum works but an army of slayers makes for a topsy
turvy world gone wrong. We all know that Buffy's decision in Chosen was
going to have consequences, that her decision to call all the
potentials at once meant taking the choice away from countless other
women but, at the same time, I don't think it's enough to say "Buffy
was wrong". I don't think a writer can ever say, simply, "that was bad,
no cookie for you" nor can we, as viewers or readers ever say,
conclusively, what the truth of things is.
All that being said, Buffy was wrong. She betrayed herself, she
betrayed her girls, her family, her friends, and the world. That's the
theme after all. Betrayal. And hope, but we're not there just yet. Keep
that one in your back pocket for now.
Buffy #40 is the end of the great experiment that was Season 8. Can you
take a show that aired for seven seasons and turn it into a successful
comic book? Can an army of slayers unite to fight the forces of
darkness? Can fandom not bicker and , in general, behave like a bunch
of collective dillweeds for five seconds? One of the best (and worst)
things about Season 8 is how all of these things have become so
interconnected. Buffy, Joss, you and I… we're asking the same
questions, fighting the same struggles; we're just doing it on
different playing fields in different ways. But this is Joss's baby
and, before everyone else has their final word, el jefe gets to say his
piece.
What's he saying? Well, I think he's saying that there is no one single
ideal that can keep hundreds of unique voices in synch forever. I think
he's saying that Buffy is a charismatic leader but, then again, so was
Hitler. I think he's acknowledging some of the flaws that have been
repeatedly pointed out, most especially that sex in space is kind of
silly.
Buffy #40 is an entire issue that simultaneously gets back to the old
formula while also saying "Don't get too comfy just yet". It's a pinch
of fan service with a few heaping spoonfuls of "I'm still in charge,
alright?" This is the last time we'll probably see all the Scoobies
contained within the same pages for a while and we don't even see them
all together at once. This is Buffy's POV, so it all ekes out a little
at a time.
What we do get is gloriously familiar. Buffy with Xander and Dawn is
the humor and intimacy of family. Buffy with Willow is the shared pain
of regret, the labored love and resentment that two best friends can
only share when they've given and taken away everything from each
other. Buffy and Faith are the separated sisters still in constant
competition despite themselves, both still vying for the love of a
father that can't hear them anymore. Buffy and Spike are the old
lovers, uneasy in their own skin whenever they're close but still
trying to look beyond the scars they've given each other and still
reach out for…
Hope. Because changing the world aint all it's cracked up to be.
Sometimes when you try to build a better world you sort of kind of
accidentally almost destroy the entire universe in the process.
Sometimes you don't change anything at all and, even when you do, it's
never in the way you intended it.
But, if you're Buffy, there's always hope. It's the thing that
separates her from Angel, and the reason I think Joss chose to mirror
the end of "Not Fade Away". Funny thing about a mirror, what you see in
the reflection is the same but opposite.
Hope is the one thing we all struggle to keep. We're all hoping that
out lives will have meaning, that we can make a difference. Whether
your demons are literal or metaphorical, whether you're the one who
created it all or are part of the community that binds it together, we
all hope for more, for better, from each other, from ourselves, from
the world.
I just hope we don't all accidentally have a fan orgy in the vacuum of
space and destroy the universe in the process. All I'm sayin'!