A few thoughts about Buffy #4

[locker_monster]

So bought Buffy #4 on Friday which meant I spent two days avoiding spoilers. Reminded me of the days when Buffy used to be on T.V. Spoilers could pop up anywhere. They were like ninjas. :-)

Now that I've had a few days to think about it, I do see why some people were unhappy with Joss' new interpretation of the show's continuity.

However, I do think it's possible that Amy could have been watching Willow towards the end of season six. That I have no arguments with. The part about Amy stepping in to save Warren, that's something I'm having a hard time accepting. So the burning of Warren was just a light show and Willow didn't kill him at all. She did, however, torture him and went through the acting of killing. But it sort of undermines the whole arc Willow went through during season seven. She thought she had killed someone and totally went over the edge. Now it turns out she didn't kill Warren at all. That's the kind of retcon I don't like. Adding something we didn't know to a character is fine. So Buffy spent time in an insane asylum. Cool, not mentioned anywhere before season six but it's not something you'd openly talk about. Undermining a character's development? Not cool. It reminds me of what they did with Hal Jordan, aka Silver Age Green Lantern, in the comics. At one point he goes crazy and kills most of the Green Lantern Corps. Then he's punished and then later on he dies. Then he comes back, as all good heroes do in comics, and they say it wasn't him who did all the killing. He actually possessed by some alien. That's so dumb. Hal killed a bunch of people. Just because a writer wanted to bring him back doesn't mean you should ignore past actions or make them null. I think Amy could have brought back Warren in a better way; scooped up his ashes and made a sacrifice or something.

The rest of the story I didn't mind. This isn't Buffy going to war. This is Buffy going to save her friend. And kicking some army butt while she's at it, but she's fought army types before. Xander keeps making snappy comments every time someone calls him a Watcher; I hope this gets touched on more. And it looks like Satsu might be the mystery kisser. That would be an interesting way to go. The girls see Buffy as their leader and probably idolize her. It's totally possible that some of them might fall in love with her, too. It's a shame that Ethan's dead; I was hoping he would get a scene or two with Giles. And no Giles. :-( I really hope he gets a story line to himself. What does it mean that he's not a Watcher anymore?

And the whole Slayers versus humanity reminds me of an arc they did on Justice League Unlimited. There, it was also feared that the collective joining of superheroes would lead to something darker because the heroes would want to keep the world as orderly as possible. I foresee the army experimenting with making super soldiers of their own so combat the Slayers. It also raises a fine point: Slayers don't kill humans. Buffy says so to Satsu before they leave. If they're up against an army of normal guys, what can they do?

I'm sort of glad the comics have a month off, saves me from having to make a trip to the comic book store, but I want to read more. I want to see what Faith's been up to since the show finished. And Buffy #5 sounds interesting, too. Gah, these things need to be released bi-weekly or weekly.

Comments

[newnumber6.livejournal.com]

Another thing that was pointed out to me - if Warren hadn't died, the First shouldn't have been able to use his form in Season 7.

I love Joss, but sadly continuity is not his strong suit. :(

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

My gosh, you're right. Maybe Warren died for a millisecond?

Looks like "bringing back the dead" can join "math skills" on the list of things that Joss can't do very well. ;-)