[Buffyfest] Buffy #39 Review-ish (BIG TIME HOLLYWOD SPOILERS)
The Preamble/Review, well salted, with spoilers aplenty and maybe a
little soapbox preaching:
Before looking at this, you should read the comic first. I'm not going
to talk about everything, just share the thoughts I had after reading
it. If you've read someone's summation on a forum, you've done yourself
a disservice. There have been many issues I've posted detailed
summaries of shortly after their release but none were quite like
Buffy #39. I can't express how disappointed I am that so many peoples'
first impression will be based off of a mediocre description written in
broken english.
I read this issue about three weeks ago and I'm still in shock. That's
how powerful it is but now there are all these people saying "that
sounds stupid". This will get me in trouble but, for once, I'll really
speak my mind. Read the issue. Actually absorb it and formulate an
opinion of your own instead of parroting what your buddies are saying.
Try to place your shipping preferences aside. This isn't a competition.
It's not about who winds up with who. It's about how these characters
who, for better or worse, have all made sacrifice after sacrifice to
try to save the world, and have all failed in one way or another. It's
about how they betrayed each other, it's about how they betrayed
themselves. And for one of them, it's the end.
In a way, it's not until now, as I write this review, that I'm actually
feeling the loss. Rupert Giles is dead. No alarms, no surprises, no
retcons. You can say what you want about things he may have done wrong,
about how he wasn't there for Buffy in the final two television seasons
or how he was noticeably absent for much of the comic but, when you
look beyond all that,you see the truth.
Giles is Buffy's dad and now there's just a body. He'll never talk
about the smell of books or drink tea, ever, and he'll never get that
confused look on his face or rub his glasses thoughtfully, not ever.
And Buffy will cry but he won't be there to comfort her.
They saved the world but at a terrible cost. Willow embraced the seed's
power, seemingly falling prey to old temptations only to have all magic
ripped not just from her, but torn from the whole world. Xander stood
frozen, desperately looking for the one right answer that doesn't
exist. Buffy, with nothing left to lose, destroys the one thing that
makes her world everything that it is. Destroying the seed is like
destroying the meaning of life. It's the soul of the world and it's
shattered because she did the shattering.
And Angel. He can't hide behind Twilight. He chose his path and, as he
becomes fully aware and in control again, he has to accept that he has
finally done something that Buffy should never forgive. There's
something hopeful and dreamlike in the idea that there is someone out
there for you, who you were born to love and who was born to love you.
But that's not Buffy's world anymore and it was Angel's chasing after
destiny that brought it's destruction.
Spike's off chasing monsters. He wasn't part of the crew this season
and, frankly, lucky him. He's smarter than the rest, though. He knows
that, even though this is tragedy of the highest order, that Buffy will
go on living because she has to. He knows there's more to life than a
seed of wonder. That's why Season 8 wasn't his story, particularly. The
lessons that Buffy and Angel had to learn are ones Spike already knows.
Thus endeth the climax with Buffy writhing on the floor, Angel only
becoming aware of what he's done, Xander trying to find a way to pick
up the pieces and a broken-bodied Willow going insane. And Buffy's
father, and, in a way, all their fathers, really, lies silent, never to
be heard again.
It was heartbreaking. It was beautiful. It had a giant vagina monster
attacking a lesbian witch but, other than that, it was really, really
good.
little soapbox preaching:
Before looking at this, you should read the comic first. I'm not going
to talk about everything, just share the thoughts I had after reading
it. If you've read someone's summation on a forum, you've done yourself
a disservice. There have been many issues I've posted detailed
summaries of shortly after their release but none were quite like
Buffy #39. I can't express how disappointed I am that so many peoples'
first impression will be based off of a mediocre description written in
broken english.
I read this issue about three weeks ago and I'm still in shock. That's
how powerful it is but now there are all these people saying "that
sounds stupid". This will get me in trouble but, for once, I'll really
speak my mind. Read the issue. Actually absorb it and formulate an
opinion of your own instead of parroting what your buddies are saying.
Try to place your shipping preferences aside. This isn't a competition.
It's not about who winds up with who. It's about how these characters
who, for better or worse, have all made sacrifice after sacrifice to
try to save the world, and have all failed in one way or another. It's
about how they betrayed each other, it's about how they betrayed
themselves. And for one of them, it's the end.
In a way, it's not until now, as I write this review, that I'm actually
feeling the loss. Rupert Giles is dead. No alarms, no surprises, no
retcons. You can say what you want about things he may have done wrong,
about how he wasn't there for Buffy in the final two television seasons
or how he was noticeably absent for much of the comic but, when you
look beyond all that,you see the truth.
Giles is Buffy's dad and now there's just a body. He'll never talk
about the smell of books or drink tea, ever, and he'll never get that
confused look on his face or rub his glasses thoughtfully, not ever.
And Buffy will cry but he won't be there to comfort her.
They saved the world but at a terrible cost. Willow embraced the seed's
power, seemingly falling prey to old temptations only to have all magic
ripped not just from her, but torn from the whole world. Xander stood
frozen, desperately looking for the one right answer that doesn't
exist. Buffy, with nothing left to lose, destroys the one thing that
makes her world everything that it is. Destroying the seed is like
destroying the meaning of life. It's the soul of the world and it's
shattered because she did the shattering.
And Angel. He can't hide behind Twilight. He chose his path and, as he
becomes fully aware and in control again, he has to accept that he has
finally done something that Buffy should never forgive. There's
something hopeful and dreamlike in the idea that there is someone out
there for you, who you were born to love and who was born to love you.
But that's not Buffy's world anymore and it was Angel's chasing after
destiny that brought it's destruction.
Spike's off chasing monsters. He wasn't part of the crew this season
and, frankly, lucky him. He's smarter than the rest, though. He knows
that, even though this is tragedy of the highest order, that Buffy will
go on living because she has to. He knows there's more to life than a
seed of wonder. That's why Season 8 wasn't his story, particularly. The
lessons that Buffy and Angel had to learn are ones Spike already knows.
Thus endeth the climax with Buffy writhing on the floor, Angel only
becoming aware of what he's done, Xander trying to find a way to pick
up the pieces and a broken-bodied Willow going insane. And Buffy's
father, and, in a way, all their fathers, really, lies silent, never to
be heard again.
It was heartbreaking. It was beautiful. It had a giant vagina monster
attacking a lesbian witch but, other than that, it was really, really
good.