Retro-review: Buffy the Vampire Slayer #1-2 1998
I figured with the success of the new Buffy season 8 comic that I would re-read the original Buffy comics published by Dark Horse and retro review them.
Some people don’t know that prior to this year, Dark Horse published comics based on Buffy at the height of the show’s popularity circa 1998-1999.
In fact, the series featured artwork by Joe Bennett and Cliff Richards and ran for 63 issues. They were approved by both Joss Whedon and Sarah Michelle Gellar prior to publication.
I remember running out to the store every month to purchase each issue with both covers (one was artwork, the other was a photo shot usually of Sarah or of the entire Buffy cast) only to be slightly disappointed by the interior. Not that this was a bad comic, but it never exactly managed to capture the magic and the feel of the show. Maybe that’s why I stopped caring after 20 or 30 issues. Maybe I’ll try to scour for the remaining issues in the back issue bins and review them here. Some were definitely better than others.
One problem with issue #1 for example is that Buffy’s clothes are too form fitting and she was portrayed as the stunning blonde beauty who made jocks drop their basketballs when she walked by. This wasn’t the case in the show, she was cute but not drop dead gorgeous, or completely flashy like Cordelia.
In issue #1, Bennett makes Buffy too much the leggy blonde and even the Bronze is too jazzed up-more like a Hollywood “in place” than the cozy Sunnydale hole in the wall we all knew. The story isn’t too bad, Buffy goes up against an ancient vampire with martial arts skills while Xander takes self defense classes because he is getting tired of being dumped on and being defenseless. Unfortunately, this adversary is dispatched of rather hastily and while he would have made for a decent enough comic book recurring villain, he has none of the inherent charm of the Master or even Spike and Drusilla.
In issue #2, despite the beautiful cover, Bennett makes Willow’s hair too long and gets the color wrong. Watson makes references to the show by alluding to episodes like “I Robot You Jane” but his characterization is still not up to par. It’s as though he’s trying too hard to imitate the dialogue which just comes natural to the show’s writers. Once again, the story is not bad. Mad at her parents for over-reacting to her seeing Oz, Willow goes out on Halloween to meet him and ends up being abducted by a gang of vamps. Buffy has to cut her role as chaperone of kids on Halloween night short to rescue Willow from the vamps’ spooky hideout. Bennett’s artwork is more than adequate, even though his vamps and monsters look nothing like they do on TV. The most interesting part of the comic book for me came at the end where instead of a letters page, editor Scott Allie relates the events at San Diego Comic Con where the entire cast of the show (minus Sarah) appeared for a signing at the Dark Horse booth.
