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If Buffy, the petite pop-modern vampire slayer wasn't enough for you this second volume from Joss Whedon's "Season Eight" of Buffy brings tortured, anti-heroine slayer Faith back into play in a role even more suited to her than vampire and demon slaying.Part of the draw of the Buffy-verse is the balance of darkness and good. Government.Assassinating a Slayer, even if she is evil is not an easy task, as this volume proves.Furthermore, "No Future for You" also proves that the switch to comics was an excellent move for Whedon and the Buffy-verse as the format allows a lot more playing, and a hyperfocus on characters otherwise glanced over in the series. Buffy, Xander and even Willow are the Superman and the Spidermans of the Buffy-verse, but Faith and Giles are the Punishers.
But some characters start out from deeper in the evil well. After this trying scene Giles meets back up with Faith at her apartment and asks her to handle a special case for him, one he doesn't even want Buffy, Xander, Willow and the other Slayers to know about. Every character has had their dips into evil, from Xander's flirtations with all manner of monsters to Willow's grief-induced stint as the Big Bad.
This analogy is proven hard and fast from the first few pages when Giles calls on Faith to do what the other Slayers can't, walk into the house of a single mother who was turned into a vampire and slay the kids she turned. Giles and Faith are two of the darkest, Faith representing the out of control youth, caught in a cycle of violence from a young age and carrying on the chaos in her own life in a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. Giles' history, merely glanced upon in the TV series feels more like a betrayal, when you come to love this patient, always-trying man only to discover he has a hard core of frightening ruthlessness.
It stands to reason that not all the Potentials who are now endowed with Slayer powers would turn out good, especially as other creatures of power find and foster them since Buffy's operation is busy with the new threats from the mysterious "Twilight" and the good old U.S. Many plots dealt with Faith and her waffling between the forces of good and evil, but the glimpses we see of her past in these pages are heart breaking and enlightening at the same time.One could easily argue, after this addition to Season Eight, that Faith might make a better lead, if the audience can handle a grittier, darker, less reliable narrator.*Also, this volume features the cameo of my publisher's wife, Robin, which I was very glad to finally get to read.
Brian K. Seeing some things fro her point of view is great. Vaughan comes aboard and the story and dialog kepp clicking. Faith returns for a seriously "un-slayer" like mission but she's perfect for it. We also get some answers to some nagging little questions. Great stuff.
After reading the first arc that left me with a bad taste in my mouth, i bought this one to give it another chance.I can say i'm very, very glad that i did. Brian does a great job writing a solid story with Faith and Giles at the helm. It just felt like the show, great dialogue, just great writing.Definately the best arc of the series so far.
For me, this is the best one of the Buffy Season 8 so far. I love the stories with Faith and that no matter how good Faith's intentions are, she always ends up with her face meeting Buffy's fist. I also love the idea that Giles and Faith will team up in the future to protect Buffy from those things that she just shouldn't need to deal with.
This story takes us up to date with her and both her self-doubt and everyone else's doubt about who she is and whose side she fights on. Season 8 continues with a sizeable story about Faith and Giles, which were two of my favorite Buffy characters. In some ways, I enjoyed Faith's character development on Angel more than I did on Buffy, as she became as tormented as Angel about who she is and what she is to become. We also get up to date on the strange occurences with Dawn and why she is giant sized while we dig deeper into Willows memories of Tara and how she is trying to protect Kennedy from the same fate.While these stories are not as drawn out and detailed as the tv series was, it is a good fix and really does allow you to be drawn into Buffy's world once again. The characters and the dialogue are as sharp as ever in this second installation of season 8.
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