Review: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 1 - The Long Way Home

A year after the destruction of Sunnydale, Buffy Summers has established a stronghold in Scotland where she leads a contingent of slayers against worldwide supernatural threats. With the help of her friends Xander and Willow, she must contend with the re-appearance of old foes and the mysterious new menace known only as Twilight.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 1: The Long Way Home collects Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight issues 1-5, written by Joss Whedon and illustrated by Georges Jeanty and Paul Lee.

Picking up after the conclusion of the television series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight presents itself as the official continuation of the beloved supernatural franchise. With this first arc, it’s clear that Joss Whedon was taking advantage of the comic book medium by writing in more visually striking demons and effects that would have been difficult on a modest television budget. He also transplants the series’ setting from the small town of Sunnydale to the sprawling green hills of Scotland. While all the characters sound like themselves, it’s clear from the get-go that this continuation feels like something different altogether. Everything feels bigger and like the stakes are higher. There’s a complete tonal shift, but Whedon is smart enough to include throwbacks that remind fans that this is still very much a story rooted in the Buffyverse.

The Long Way Home is a strong opening arc. Buffy and Xander are both leaders in an organization based out of a castle in Scotland, one which deploys teams of trained slayers to deal with a veritable smorgasbord of demonic nuisances. Xander has fashioned himself into a bit of a Nick Fury type while Buffy has settled comfortably into the role of den mother to hundreds of slayers. Dawn is skulking around the castle too and has been turned into a giant. It’s an odd choice and continues to beg the question ‘why did Dawn survive season seven and not Anya?’ These annoying Dawn interludes aside, Whedon handles the dialogue and pacing really well. It’s clear that he hadn’t lost the voices of these characters following the series finale. They’re still as funny as ever and we get plenty of punchy banter between Buffy and Xander. Whedon also deftly generates intrigue with the introduction of the enigmatic Twilight. Twilight’s purpose is unclear at this point, but the mystique alone is enough to create tension. He further deserves props for bringing back Amy and Warren as pseudo-henchmen to the bad guys. Amy poses a genuine threat when she re-appears, putting Buffy into a Sleeping Beauty-esque sleep and duking it out with Willow while she unleashes an army of zombies to keep the slayers busy. It’s really cool and proves just how badass Amy can be. It kind of makes you wonder why she wasn’t utilized as a primary baddy in season six instead of the eye roll worthy nerd troika.

Georges Jeanty’s art from the first four issues is impressive. He really knows how to capture the essence and appearance of the main cast – especially Buffy. He’s updated her wardrobe to look a little more tactical, but it’s still obvious that it’s her. Of course, it helps that he’s adept at capturing Sarah Michelle Gellar’s likeness. Jeanty understands the expressiveness necessary for pulling off the humour in Whedon’s dialogue, as well as how to render a compelling action scene. He also avoids posing female characters as props or models, which is a rarity in the comic book world. This helps to emphasize its nature as a spin-off of a TV series. The characters look, act and move the way we’d expect them to.

Overall, The Long Way Home is an effective and affecting opening arc for the eighth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The art is evocative and the dialogue is on point. The tonal shift works for the most part, particularly as it takes risks with the Buffyverse and allows it to grow in a way it never could when its titular heroine was stuck in Sunnydale. The changes that have happened since the season seven finale are organic and feel like a natural evolution of where we left off. Buffy, Xander and Willow are given defined roles within the book and each serve an important purpose. I also rather like how Andrew and Giles are utilized in their much smaller roles, as well as Amy’s presence as the arc’s primary villain. What The Long Way Home didn’t do was make Dawn any less annoying. The scenes she’s in feel wasted and the pacing would have been stronger had Whedon just written her off as being away at school. Similarly, the filler issue (#5) does nothing to really further the plot and feels more like a sharp diversion than an elaboration on the events that proceeded the destruction of Sunnydale. Even still, these are two minor problems in the minus column in comparison to a rather full plus column. The Long Way Home is enjoyable and brimming with potential. There’s a sense of direction here that is both promising and intriguing. As far as Buffy season openers go, this one ranks high.

RATING: B