Panelhopper reviews Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8

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I'm afraid, dear readers, that this will not be a very good review. The reason this review will fail is not because I lack the eloquence or vocabularly, but because I have a very serious problem: I am utterly devoted to Buffy. therefore, I urge you to read on, safe in the knowledge that this review is completely unfair.


Buffy(as well as its spin off, Angel) has been one of my favourite TV shows for as long as I can remember, so it was a sad day when the show finally came to an end in 2003. When Angel finished a year later, I found myself abandoned in the Sci-Fi wilderness: Where was I to focus my nerdy devotion now? The non-canon offerings from Dark Horse were firstly, non-canon and, secondly uniformly dodgey. Not really safe ground for the true fan.


Thankfully, my wondering came to an end in March 2007 when the first issue of a brand new eighth season was released in comic book form. Penned by Joss Whedon himself, it was the offcial continuation of the show, picking up just over a year after the destruction of Sunnydale.
The first story arc may come riding a wave of nostalgia but is nevertheless extremely well written. When we are introduced to Buffy and the gang again it's as if they never left and the dialogue sparks as it pushes forward a story that feels very much like a lost episode of the show. The second arc, No Future For You, continued this way despite the introduction of a new writer and I personally found the focus on Faith's side of the story refreshing.
However, by the time we reach the third and fouth story arc the cracks are begining to show, as stories become unweildy and over-long. The loss of a major villian is also a blow, meaning that sometimes the characters spend whole issues simply talking.
This season certainly has flaws, especailly when compared other comic book series, however, as a die hard Buffy fan I will endeavour to overlook the cracks and keep on reading, if only to get my fix...See, I told you it wouldn't be a fair review.
Until next time,
Panelhopper

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