Spotlight on Fandoms: Fray
"All I know is that I wanted something vaguely futuristic, and I really wanted there to be flying cars. I needed flying cars in the story because I wanted them there because -- and I can't say this enough -- THEY ARE SO COOL!"
- Joss Whedon
In the future, the slayer line continues with another girl. Her name is Melaka Fray.
The Premise:
Sometime in the 21st Century there was an epic battle between good and evil. (Since this is the Whedonverse it no doubt took place when one of the major characters lost his or her virginity. Dawn? I'm looking at you.) To quote a certain demon: "A Slayer, possibly with some mystical allies faced an apocalyptic army of demons. And when it was done, they were all gone. All demons, all magicks, banished from this dimension. It is not known if the Slayer lived, but the demons being gone, she was the last to be called. The line did continue, there were girls with the power, but they were never called, never trained. The Council of Watchers fell to ruin, held together only by fanatics and fools. Those that believed the demons would return."
200 years or so later the vampires, now dubbed lurks, have returned and haunt the city. In order to combat this threat a new Slayer is called: a professional thief named Melaka Fray. With the Watchers' Council flakier than a bowl of cereal, a group of "neutral" demons send the demon Urkonn to prepare Melaka Fray for the war that is to surely come.
And for what starts off as a "Bad day" for Mel continues to get worse as she's force to deal with a destiny she doesn't want; a mutated crime boss who's manipulating her for various jobs; Lurks who want her dead, a sister who wants her arrested and a brother whose death still haunts her to this day.
The Characters: (Spoilers!)
Melaka "Mel" Fray: A 19-year-old thief and Vampire Slayer. Unlike other Slayers she has had no prophetic dreams of her destiny or of the Slayers before her. She holds herself responsible for the death of her brother, and is now trying to figure out what her destiny as the Slayer entails.
Urkonn: A demon who trains Mel as a Slayer in lieu of her actual Watcher (Her Watcher had instead chosen to immolate himself). Serving as her guide and confidant, a budding friendship grows from the previously harsh mentor-student relationship, but he ultimately betrays her in order to harden her resolve and kills Loo. After defeating her brother, Mel discovers Urkonn's betrayal and lures him into a trap, killing him.
Loo: A mutated girl who is friends with Mel, and ends up murdered by Urkonn in order to motivate Melaka in confronting her brother.
Icarus: The vampire that killed Harth four years ago. Was killed by Erin right before the big battle.
Harth Fray: Mel's twin brother, who was attacked by a vampire during a theft with Mel. To save his life, Harth deliberately drank the vampire's blood, thereby becoming a vampire himself. It is unprecedented for a Slayer to have a twin and, as an odd side-effect of this, Harth possesses the prophetic dreams and visions of past Slayers that Mel lacks.
Erin Fray: Mel's older sister. On opposing sides already because of her job as a cop and Melaka's thieving, Erin also blamed Mel for the death of their brother for a long time. Eventually, in the big battle against their vampire brother, the two reconciled.
So why should I read Fray?
Dude! Flying cars!
Honestly? It's a darn good comic book. And you also get to see the kind of story Joss would do if his scope isn't limited to the technology of special effects, budgets or network censors. You're probably not going to see a vampire's head go flying through the air or a slayer fall 30 stories through the air bouncing off multiple flying cars right before she hits the ground (almost always on her face).
Additionally in recent interview regarding the Season 8 Buffy comic, Joss has mentioned that what he plans to do there will eventually provide additional connections to Fray's story. (Including how the world goes from hundreds of slayers to only one again)
Is the Fray Mini-Series the only place I can find Melaka Stories?
No! Mel did have a short story in "Tales of the Slayers" where she chased a spider-monkey demon through Haddyn ending with her discovering an abandoned headquarters of the Watchers.
Of course it's only one story with Mel, but the other stories about the other slayers before Buffy were pretty well written.
Where can I find copies of Fray?
Gosh! Look! links to Amazaon:
Fray TPB!
Tales of the Slayers TPB!
So there it is. Questions? Comments? Pie?
- Joss Whedon
In the future, the slayer line continues with another girl. Her name is Melaka Fray.
The Premise:
Sometime in the 21st Century there was an epic battle between good and evil. (Since this is the Whedonverse it no doubt took place when one of the major characters lost his or her virginity. Dawn? I'm looking at you.) To quote a certain demon: "A Slayer, possibly with some mystical allies faced an apocalyptic army of demons. And when it was done, they were all gone. All demons, all magicks, banished from this dimension. It is not known if the Slayer lived, but the demons being gone, she was the last to be called. The line did continue, there were girls with the power, but they were never called, never trained. The Council of Watchers fell to ruin, held together only by fanatics and fools. Those that believed the demons would return."
200 years or so later the vampires, now dubbed lurks, have returned and haunt the city. In order to combat this threat a new Slayer is called: a professional thief named Melaka Fray. With the Watchers' Council flakier than a bowl of cereal, a group of "neutral" demons send the demon Urkonn to prepare Melaka Fray for the war that is to surely come.
And for what starts off as a "Bad day" for Mel continues to get worse as she's force to deal with a destiny she doesn't want; a mutated crime boss who's manipulating her for various jobs; Lurks who want her dead, a sister who wants her arrested and a brother whose death still haunts her to this day.
The Characters: (Spoilers!)
Melaka "Mel" Fray: A 19-year-old thief and Vampire Slayer. Unlike other Slayers she has had no prophetic dreams of her destiny or of the Slayers before her. She holds herself responsible for the death of her brother, and is now trying to figure out what her destiny as the Slayer entails.
Urkonn: A demon who trains Mel as a Slayer in lieu of her actual Watcher (Her Watcher had instead chosen to immolate himself). Serving as her guide and confidant, a budding friendship grows from the previously harsh mentor-student relationship, but he ultimately betrays her in order to harden her resolve and kills Loo. After defeating her brother, Mel discovers Urkonn's betrayal and lures him into a trap, killing him.
Loo: A mutated girl who is friends with Mel, and ends up murdered by Urkonn in order to motivate Melaka in confronting her brother.
Icarus: The vampire that killed Harth four years ago. Was killed by Erin right before the big battle.
Harth Fray: Mel's twin brother, who was attacked by a vampire during a theft with Mel. To save his life, Harth deliberately drank the vampire's blood, thereby becoming a vampire himself. It is unprecedented for a Slayer to have a twin and, as an odd side-effect of this, Harth possesses the prophetic dreams and visions of past Slayers that Mel lacks.
Erin Fray: Mel's older sister. On opposing sides already because of her job as a cop and Melaka's thieving, Erin also blamed Mel for the death of their brother for a long time. Eventually, in the big battle against their vampire brother, the two reconciled.
So why should I read Fray?
Dude! Flying cars!
Honestly? It's a darn good comic book. And you also get to see the kind of story Joss would do if his scope isn't limited to the technology of special effects, budgets or network censors. You're probably not going to see a vampire's head go flying through the air or a slayer fall 30 stories through the air bouncing off multiple flying cars right before she hits the ground (almost always on her face).
Additionally in recent interview regarding the Season 8 Buffy comic, Joss has mentioned that what he plans to do there will eventually provide additional connections to Fray's story. (Including how the world goes from hundreds of slayers to only one again)
Is the Fray Mini-Series the only place I can find Melaka Stories?
No! Mel did have a short story in "Tales of the Slayers" where she chased a spider-monkey demon through Haddyn ending with her discovering an abandoned headquarters of the Watchers.
Of course it's only one story with Mel, but the other stories about the other slayers before Buffy were pretty well written.
Where can I find copies of Fray?
Gosh! Look! links to Amazaon:
Fray TPB!
Tales of the Slayers TPB!
So there it is. Questions? Comments? Pie?