Long-winded thoughts about Buffy #2

[locker_monster]

I dashed out to the comic book store today so I could buy Buffy #2 before I had to go to my first class. Of course, I ended up arriving early so I hunkered down outside the classroom and read the comic on the hard floor. But so totally worth the sore butt. :o)

Yay, for seeing the rest of the gang! I noticed that people were miffed that Giles only had the opening panels, but Joss did say he would introduce everyone slowly. Also, I think if he hadn't put in Giles and Willow, he would have had a fan mutiny on his hands. ;-) Still, I want to see more of Giles just so we can see what he's been up to. His opening lines sound so full of angst (at least, they sound full of angst in my head). I don't think that's the word I want, but he's also been affected by the calling of all the Potentials. Like he said, there used to be hundreds of Watchers and now it's just him (so I assume). That must be pretty hard for a guy who was fired by the Council because they thought he cared too much. Now he's got all these Slayers to look after, fifty or more, but I really don't see him connecting with all of them like he was able to connect with Buffy.

I hope we find out what Willow's been up to. Not loving her outfit; looks like she was spending time in, I dunno, Holland. :-) Can't tell where Andrew is though. There are mountains behind him for his section, but he's dressed in a tunic and short pants. His clothes reminded me of monk's for some reason. Maybe he's taken up being a pacifist to make up for the fact that he used to be a "super villain"? And I agree with everyone on this: his gun comment sounds like foreshadowing. Not to mention Tara died by a gun shot so bad memories all around there.

The Bander moment made me go "whoa!" before I realized it was a dream. Before that though, for some reason, when Xander's head popped off, I thought Buffy had made a Xander robot. But it raises a lot of questions. Was the dream all Amy's spell or only the part after Buffy gets sucked out of the window? If the conversation with Xander was Buffy's, then I'm intrigued. Does Buffy see Xander in a romantic way? Or is she just afraid of ruining the one good relationship she has with a guy who is her own age? Amy's "true love" spell is also interesting. Only someone "passionately devoted" to Buffy can wake her. But does passionately have to mean in love? Xander's proven he's devoted to Buffy, so I can totally see him kissing Buffy, waking her up, and much awkwardness ensuing. Also, it's easy to forget that Xander was totally in love with Buffy in the first season. You have to wonder after losing Anya if Xander's up to lighting that torch again (Hmm, bad metaphor. My brain's not so good with the words right now).

And so far we've had three "used to be" statements. Giles saying he used to be a Watcher, Xander with his "used to be in construction" and Buffy gets a "used to be one Slayer". Pair that with the first arc title "The Long Way Home", I totally see the overall story being about the gang trying to get back to where they once were, or, at least the gang banding together to face the crazy people at the army. Issue 2 had three full page spreads; it really showed the scope of the world everyone's in and just how separated they are.

And whoo, extra Joss-y goodness this month! Buffy #2 and Runaways #25. And next month, triple the Joss-y goodness. Buffy, Runaways, and Astonishing X-Men. It'll be an awesome overload. :-D

Comments

[lorelei-frolick.livejournal.com]

"Still, I want to see more of Giles just so we can see what he's been up to." Me too. Especially since it looks like he's in Russia, or some other Eastern European country, and apparently requisitioned a whole public square for the mock slayer battle. There's some crazy s*** that goes on in that part of the world. I guess I'm being unrealistic in my hopes that Joss might touch on some of that, but I think it would make an interesting parallel to the portrayal of the US gov't to see how the Ruskis are responding to the slayers. Hey! Maybe if the USA sees the slayers as a threat, Russia would be like, "Hey, we like these guys, let's secretly give them funding!" That would be fun. Russia's fun. In an insanely scary kind of way.

"His opening lines sound so full of angst (at least, they sound full of angst in my head)."
I hope he really is angsty, and not just in your head. I know I've been expecting a nervous breakdown from him since the end of the second season.

"Like he said, there used to be hundreds of Watchers and now it's just him"
Or maybe, not even him. Since we can infer from his opening line that he no longer identifies himself as a watcher. It will be interesting to see what he does define his job as since it looks like he's doing some pretty watchery stuff to me.

"Now he's got all these Slayers to look after, fifty or more, but I really don't see him connecting with all of them like he was able to connect with Buffy."
Definitely not. I wouldn't be surprised if his character arc actually took him in the direction of becoming more emotionally removed, to the point of being Machiavellian. It's not an arc I would necessarily want to see, but I wouldn't be surprised by it.

"Not loving her outfit; looks like she was spending time in, I dunno, Holland."
Yeah. It's pretty fugly.

"Can't tell where Andrew is though."
In the last issue, if you remember, Xander said something about him being in Southern Italy.

I just realized, Andrew's in Italy, Buffy and Xander are in Scotland, Giles is in Russia (presumably) and Faith is reportedly hangin' around England. Remarkably Eurocentric. Foo.

"Maybe he's taken up being a pacifist"
Except for the times when he's like, training slayers. ;-)

"when Xander's head popped off, I thought Buffy had made a Xander robot"
LOL!

Regarding the Buffy/Xander love, blueanddollsome and I have been saying all along that the love story for this series will be all about the Bander. :-)

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

It's so great that Joss decided to put Giles in Russia. Totally subverted everyone's expectations. But yeah, hopefully it means something. Of all the places Giles could have gone, he goes to Russia.

I wouldn't be surprised if his character arc actually took him in the direction of becoming more emotionally removed, to the point of being Machiavellian. I've seen this idea a lot in fics. I wouldn't say it's the next logical step for Giles as a character, but he trained as a Watcher to look after one girl. What do you do when you've got fifty of them, all with differing personalities?

I keep wondering just how much Joss is going to follow, or not follow, what was established in Angel season five. Clearly everything Andrew said in Damage was a lie, but Wesley also knew how to contact Giles. They're not worried about revealing Giles' location?