By Dante' Maddox

I know this is a men’s site, but does that mean that a story with a female lead character gets discounted? Well unless it’s Barbie or something no, a good story is a good story, and no one is spinning stories as consistently good as our man Joss Whedon.

The scribe that is blazing through one of the best X-Men stories ever has set the ball rolling for one of his best creations; Buffy Summers: Vampire Slayer. Even though the title probably did the story more damage than anything else in the eye’s of most dudes, those who shy simply because the title doesn’t ‘work’ for them are simply missing out on a great story. The trick is seeing what the Buffy book does that goes above and beyond what it has to.

The Buffy story is well established, the characters, the settings, all of it. Despite already having everything in place, the creators have done away with those familiar trappings and have given readers an almost brand new story and without seemingly turning their backs on the long time fans. What Whedon did was give all parties concerned a reason to read the comic book series, new readers catch on to the story where Buffy is in the midst of a major transition, and a new direction. While there are references to the past, they don’t typically leave the reader scratching their collective heads; instead time is taken to include the new comers through well placed conversations and flashbacks. The same can be said for the way the cast interacts with one another. Old relationships have evolved to reflect the progression of the characters since they first hit the small screen.

By issue ten, the next major crisis that Buffy has to face is beginning to come clear. She finds herself no longer alone as the earth’s only slayer, now she leads an army of amazons; oops I mean slayers into the future. Whedon does a great job of imparting to the reader the idea that Buffy isn’t quite sure what she is doing as a general more or less, and that everything she encounters from here on in will be a learning experience. Now that’s what I call character progression, how she is likely to react to any situation is completely unclear, meaning that we learn as she does. If you can get over your ‘doodness’ long enough to start reading this book series, I can almost guarantee that you’ll be hooked.

Writer: Joss Whedon
Pencils: Cliff Richards
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Cover Price: $2.99

CraveOnline Rating: 7 out of 10