Much Fandom-ness
Well, in the past couple of days. I've read Buffy 8x05 The Chain, watched Doctor Who TLE and read all of the Fray TPB.
The Chain
I quite liked the Chain. The story of a slayer besides Buffy is always interesting. Especially because they bring their own personality and history with them. The fact that we never discover the name of the decoy Slayer solidifies the theme for the issue; There is no truth.
I didn't like the portrayals of Vi and Rona. While I recognised Vi eventually, Rona was completely unrecognisable. It seemed like she was in her mid-20s when she's just only about 19. However, I did love the character design of the decoy, her face was very recognisable.
Doctor Who
I enjoyed TLE immensely. The idea of someone who absorbs the youth of others, while not an entirely original one, was so well written and explored such fresh areas that I was very impressed.
After the Doctor reversed the polarity of the machine, I sincerely believed that that was the end of the episode. It's a credit to the writer that I was so easily fooled. The final showdown in the cathedral was much better than any confrontation they could have had in the building. The fact that the Doctor only succeeded in killing Lazarus on his third try shows how original this villain is. By taking a cliche and using it to make a fresh and original story, the writer has created an excellent episode.
I quite enjoy Martha's mother who is like Jackie but with far sterner. You can easily understand her motivations and know that she really does want to protect her daughter. The scene in which the Doctor accidentally makes it seem as though he is Martha's boyfriend was hilarious, especially Tennnant's "Stuff." line.
One problem I did have was the portioning of the budget. You can easily tell that most of the budget was put into the Lazarus monster. Normally they would show at least one instance of the life being sucked from someone, but instead, we were shown withered skeletons falling to the ground. I can understand why they needed to pour their money into the excellently designed creature with a great background. The idea of a possible mutation still locked within our genes is an innovative idea.
Fray
I love Fray so much. It's this beautiful cross between Firefly and Buffy, retaining the sci-fi and main-character-as-a-thief aspects of the former and the Slayeriness of the latter. Reading Fray is like first watching Buffy, before she lost her sense of character. In fact, I get an almost Veronica Mars-y feel from her.
It was so wonderfully plotted and written, possibly better in quality than The Long Way Home. The art was most definitely better than Jeanty's art for TLWH with alot more expression and character in the faces. You can really get a sense of how Fray would be as a tv show.
Urkonn's character was interesting, his mysterious motivations and dry wit absorbed me into the character. Fray's backstory was beautifully presented with the short flashbacks slowly revealing her character's motivation. The revelation that Harth was a vampire didn't particularly surprise me but I loved the idea of a slayer's twin absorbing part of the heritage.
I laughed out loud when Erin dumped her car on top of Icarus and when Melaka got hit by a girder. I just want to reiterate that the writing was superb and so very Joss.
Now, to leave you with the most addictive thing ever:
The Chain
I quite liked the Chain. The story of a slayer besides Buffy is always interesting. Especially because they bring their own personality and history with them. The fact that we never discover the name of the decoy Slayer solidifies the theme for the issue; There is no truth.
I didn't like the portrayals of Vi and Rona. While I recognised Vi eventually, Rona was completely unrecognisable. It seemed like she was in her mid-20s when she's just only about 19. However, I did love the character design of the decoy, her face was very recognisable.
Doctor Who
I enjoyed TLE immensely. The idea of someone who absorbs the youth of others, while not an entirely original one, was so well written and explored such fresh areas that I was very impressed.
After the Doctor reversed the polarity of the machine, I sincerely believed that that was the end of the episode. It's a credit to the writer that I was so easily fooled. The final showdown in the cathedral was much better than any confrontation they could have had in the building. The fact that the Doctor only succeeded in killing Lazarus on his third try shows how original this villain is. By taking a cliche and using it to make a fresh and original story, the writer has created an excellent episode.
I quite enjoy Martha's mother who is like Jackie but with far sterner. You can easily understand her motivations and know that she really does want to protect her daughter. The scene in which the Doctor accidentally makes it seem as though he is Martha's boyfriend was hilarious, especially Tennnant's "Stuff." line.
One problem I did have was the portioning of the budget. You can easily tell that most of the budget was put into the Lazarus monster. Normally they would show at least one instance of the life being sucked from someone, but instead, we were shown withered skeletons falling to the ground. I can understand why they needed to pour their money into the excellently designed creature with a great background. The idea of a possible mutation still locked within our genes is an innovative idea.
Fray
I love Fray so much. It's this beautiful cross between Firefly and Buffy, retaining the sci-fi and main-character-as-a-thief aspects of the former and the Slayeriness of the latter. Reading Fray is like first watching Buffy, before she lost her sense of character. In fact, I get an almost Veronica Mars-y feel from her.
It was so wonderfully plotted and written, possibly better in quality than The Long Way Home. The art was most definitely better than Jeanty's art for TLWH with alot more expression and character in the faces. You can really get a sense of how Fray would be as a tv show.
Urkonn's character was interesting, his mysterious motivations and dry wit absorbed me into the character. Fray's backstory was beautifully presented with the short flashbacks slowly revealing her character's motivation. The revelation that Harth was a vampire didn't particularly surprise me but I loved the idea of a slayer's twin absorbing part of the heritage.
I laughed out loud when Erin dumped her car on top of Icarus and when Melaka got hit by a girder. I just want to reiterate that the writing was superb and so very Joss.
Now, to leave you with the most addictive thing ever: