Books

Books : reviews

Joss Whedon, Karl Moline, Jeph Loeb.
Time of Your Life (#16-20).
Dark Horse Books. 2009

rating : 3.5 : worth reading
review : 2 June 2009

Buffy season 8 continues, with episodes #16-#20. In the usual way, we have a four-parter followed by a stand alone episode. The four-parter is a "crossover" tale, as Buffy finds herself 200 years in the future, with Slayer Fray (apparently Fray's story is told in another comics series, but I had never come across her before). Buffy is dismayed to learn that Fray is once again a lone Slayer, and that the bad guys are running rampant. But that's nothing compared to when she meets an old friend. Meanwhile, back in the present, Dawn has transformed into something less gigantic but much weirder, and the Slayer HQ has to fight off a devastating magical attack. The stand-alone episode, by contrast, has Buffy going back in time, if only in a dream, to when things weren't as much simpler as she remembers.

A good addition to the season, with its smart-mouthed dialogue and complex plotting, although I suspect some of the Fray elements were lost on me.

Joss Whedon, Andrew Chambliss, Georges Jeanty, Karl Moline.
Welcome to the Team (#16-20).
Dark Horse Books. 2013

Rededicated to the Slayer mission, Buffy is reducing the zompire population one by one—until she is ripped from a battle and transported to Los Angeles. The demon Illyria and a mystical council make the Slayer an unwilling recruit in a team formed to take down an increasingly powerful enemy—the Siphon. Having regained his strength after a showdown with Buffy, he’s back in action, gathering power and endangering whatever remnants of magic linger in the world. Meanwhile, in San Francisco—unbeknownst to Buffy—the loss of magic is hitting closer to home than ever…

Joss Whedon, Andrew Chambliss, Georges Jeanty, Jane Espenson, Karl Moline.
The Core (#21-25).
Dark Horse Books. 2014

When Dawn falls mysteriously ill, Buffy, Xander, and Willow set out to find a supernatural cure in a world sorely lacking magic. As they traverse the center of the earth, this trio of friends will confront new enemies—a super being bent on revenge, a Slayer gone rogue, and the ancient god who created vampires—in a battle that will change the shape of the world. Buffy, with a little help from her friends, will rediscover what it truly means to be a Slayer in a story of self-discovery and heroics.