Buffyversity: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine Issue #3

Every so often, there’s a book that surprises you. The story itself may not necessarily “shock” you, but when a book’s previous volume disappoints, you don’t expect for the next volume to work out as well as you hoped before. Then a book like this one comes and blows all those lowered expectations out of the water. And the only thing you have to say is “holy crap, this book is GOOD.”

Andrew Chambliss, the writer for the series under Whedon’s watchful eye, is crafting a season that fits in with the series perfectly. Buffy’s trademark wit matched with her angst is an example of this. It’s done in such a way that feels very genuine. Even her penchant for attracting the wrong guys is evident here (in the sense of getting into trouble). The character work, on her part is spectacular, and even better, everyone else feels just like the characters there’s supposed to represent. This book FEELS like a continuation in every way. Prepare to laugh along with the characters like Andrew and Xander, who are both put in the book mostly for comic relief. However, while they are put here for comic relief, that’s not exactly a new concept for either character. The question that begs being answered has to do with what exactly Andrew is doing. He only shows up for one panel, and while it’s hilarious that he’s singing along with Lady Gaga, when will his workshop pay off?

Beyond that, the plot has that familiar Buffy “smell” (so to speak, I don’t advocate sniffing Sarah Michelle Geller). This new Severin character feels like a very “Whedonesque” character, down to his name. His ability (being able to suck the life out of vampires) feels like real fallout from the Season Eight business, and his connection to Buffy was surprising yet organic.

It’s an interesting dynamic this new male “slayer” has to our hero Buffy. It starts with his gender, but everything else about him runs in opposition to The Slayer. They’re both magically powered, but where Buffy is a reluctant hero, Severin is jumping into it headfirst, and in a self-serving manner on top of it. He is not a hero in any way, shape or form. He’s self, and possibly evil. If there was ever an Anti-Slayer (imagine Zod to Buffy’s Superman), it’d be him.

That being said, there is at least one nit-picky issue I took with the story. This little imp that Spike meets up with to find the person hunting for Buffy tells him that they were at, and I quote: “a place where no one will find him.”

He was holed up in Alcatraz. Alcatraz is essentially the Stature of Liberty for the bay area. It seems a little odd that a person who requests not to be found would be set up in a place where hundreds (if not thousands) of people visit every day, right? But alas, there he is.

But that is the only real problem I have with the book as a whole. Even Georges Jeanty, who I always like on the book, but who felt a little off-point in the previous issue, looks like he’s back to his normal outstanding work. There’s not much I can say that I haven’t already said about his work over these previous issues and volumes, but his work’s inherent energy is as present as it ever was, with beautiful renderings of the characters we all know and love along with the kinetic action scenes we’re used to. It’s still one of the best parts of the book, and I’m glad he’s here to provide the stability throughout all the books. Good stuff indeed.

The chemistry between Chambliss and Jeanty is present too. It’s something that can be appreciated when you can look at a book and realize that the writer lets the artist do as much storytelling as he can without relying too much on speech bubbles to tell the story. That gets tiresome. It’s another welcome addition that makes the book as stellar as it is.

If you’re a Buffy fan who has somehow not picked up this book, I implore you to, it’s worth every penny. Pick this up!

Final Verdict: 9.0 — Any book that causes and audible “wow” deserves a BUY.