The Night Lord
Wise-cracking Sidekick
The Long Kiss Goodnight
There can be no love. Only pain exists[Mo0:1]
Posts: 2,654
|
Post by The Night Lord on Jul 4, 2010 3:30:09 GMT -5
Went out the window, along with a lot of sense and whatever resided of everyone's sanity
|
|
|
Post by Emmie on Jul 4, 2010 3:50:15 GMT -5
Bwah! Yeah, the lack is really affecting the story. The balance is askew.
|
|
|
Post by wenxina on Jul 4, 2010 9:44:51 GMT -5
The coloring should match the art style, though. While I understand what you're saying about needing to set a darker mood, Madsen's colors have always employed a more saturated and yes, cartoony palette. That's just her style, and it works well with Jeanty's more cartoony pencils. Mantovani was working with Urru's already more moody style. And it was set at night. In hell. All things that build on each other. Madsen was working with Jeanty's more cartoony style, and it was set in the day. Unless there was some kind of artificial conceit, like the smoke cover in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, it wouldn't have been dark and gloomy. Just as I'm sure wars don't appear dark and gloomy to the people fighting them during the day. But hey, "Retreat" was a clumsily executed arc. The pacing was all wrong, and there's blame enough to go around. I wish I felt the Espenson love, really, but as far as S8 goes, she's been one of the poorer contributors, IMO.
But hey, the return of Joss... that's gotta be good, right?
|
|
|
Post by AndrewCrossett on Jul 4, 2010 11:09:35 GMT -5
Well, that one preview page alone makes me think that Joss knows what's been going wrong and is going to make sure everything comes together and makes sense.
At least I'm a bit more hopeful now than I was before I saw the page.
|
|
|
Post by Emmie on Jul 4, 2010 11:10:46 GMT -5
Oh, I think the fire, explosions and general gore make it appear dark and gloomy enough. Scenes in "Saving Private Ryan" were sunny enough at times, but damned if the tone didn't maintain dark and gloomy all the way through.
I'm just saying that the tone ever since Retreat has been less a contrast of Scooby brightness amidst dark horror, and instead mostly just Scooby brightness and psychedelic outrageous. Even the tone of #34 with the world ending felt off because of the content and artistic choices. There's a lack in the gravity of the moment, and I don't think it's wholly to do with the writing all the time, but also the art's tone and style.
I'm afraid it just compounds the problem. Jeanty's already cartoonish style pushed into the extreme with Madsen's coloring. And Jeanty doesn't have to go full-out cartoony, but he does for this book. So really, it's something I'm assuming is being directed at him.
And if so, it's a bad choice. It's less prevalent in the first fifteen issues or so, obviously not in ToYL, and still dark in much of Predators and Prey, but by Retreat, the tone of the book has gone off track into the "can't be taken seriously" realm. The grave moments, the horror--just not feeling it. The Goddesses are the best example of it being taken too far into cartoonsville.
Frankly, I think Buffy's fight with the Goddesses in Turbulence was a bit laughable because of how they looked and also how Jeanty drew it from a wide-shot angle.
The panels of Buffy rising into the sky? Good. But after that it just gets silly in tone.
I'm very glad Joss is returning, of course. I have high hopes for his arc and expect that he'll meet them too. I'm just still frustrated with the middle here and I'm thinking about what the art might be like for Season 9. While I do appreciate Jeanty's focus on character expression and emoting, plus his attention to detail in the background (when he does give it that attention), I'm starting to want a change in art. Though I'm worried it might just be a step in the wrong direction.
|
|
|
Post by wenxina on Jul 4, 2010 11:23:32 GMT -5
The fight with the goddesses was supposed to be laughable, IMO. You have Buffy, tiny as a gnat to these goddesses doing the Atom Ant. They weren't aiming for gravity at that point. We had an issue of them stomping around, wreaking havoc. Then, for the most part of #31, we had Willow trying to do battle with them, but being tossed about like a ball. And in trademark irreverence, Buffy dispatches with the goddesses in a matter of seconds. It's the moment where the seemingly insurmountable odds are beaten. Popeye and his spinach, perhaps?
I disagree that the book hasn't honored the "horror" bits when called for, since "Retreat". I think the best example that defies that statement in in #32, when Willow starts finding the dead girls everywhere. There is a palpable sense of horror every time she "fwit"-ted to a new location. And despite how the rest of "Twilight" played out (which, btw, according to my reviews, I mostly liked... some things here and there that worried me, but I'll wait until I read Joss' last issue before I deal with those), #32 was exceptionally well-written. Many of us (including you) were impressed with Meltzer's handle of the book then, and had high hopes for the rest of his run.
I would love for Jeanty to continue. His work doesn't have the gritty realism of say John Cassaday's stuff, or the extreme quirk of Frank Quitely, but he manages to tread a pretty good balance of the two. I'm currently going through BtVS again with my boy... we're in S5 now. And so far, there has always been an element of farce in most of the episodes. Even the tougher eps have some of that. There's hardly an episode where everything is just gloom and doom (I think "The Body" is one of the few exceptions, and even then, there's some punning with Dawn and that guy, before she finds out about Joyce). The show's always kept one foot in the horror genre, but stuck the other one where it pleased. I guess what I'm saying is that Jeanty's art matches the tone of the show. So, do I know that he will stay on for S9? No. He has worked hard for about 4 years now, and I can understand him wanting to take a break, or move on to shorter, more varied gigs. And given the revamped format of S9 (shorter more self-contained arcs, from my understanding), I've a feeling that Dark Horse may adopt the philosophy of the Batman and Robin books written by Grant Morrison, where a single artist is only attached to the project for 3-issue arcs at a time. If that's the case, I'd expect that Jeanty will get a callback, but he won't be the primary artist of S9. Perhaps we'll hear some more talk about S9 at SDCC...
|
|
|
Post by Emmie on Jul 5, 2010 2:18:10 GMT -5
See, that's my problem. If it's supposed to be laughable, then I find that a step in the wrong direction. Just as the world-destroying sex was laughable.
How are we supposed to emotionally invest and care when the climax of these most recent arcs are supposed to be over-the-top ridiculous?
Compare this to the emotional power of NFFY, WatG and ToYL's conclusions. The comics have stopped taking themselves seriously in these most crucial moments. Not only is Buffy's fight laughable, but when the Goddesses are attacking in Retreat it's lacks the feeling of dire.
The balance of the dark and horror is out of whack in Retreat and Twilight. The sense of gravity never takes hold, never manages to ground the moments and let the emotion fully resonate. In the two arcs where the stakes should never be higher, I care less about the outcome than I did in the beginning arcs.
It's a problem with execution.
|
|
|
Post by wenxina on Jul 5, 2010 9:56:04 GMT -5
See, I wasn't arguing that the execution was right in "Retreat". "Retreat" is where the art did fail to convey the horror of the massacre. Problem is, I don't think the writing gave too much space for that... the last couple of issues of "Retreat" felt really rushed, and the quality of the writing was more chaotic than the scenes we were supposed to get. However, I stand by my assertion that the ending of "Turbulence" was indeed played for laughs. I mean, if nothing else, the last couple of panels of Buffy and Willow discussing Xander and Dawn cement that idea. The gravity of that particular issue lay in the Buffy/Xander talk. That was the emotional core of that story. And that played out as sensitively as could be expected. The fight with the goddesses at the end... not so much. That's where the laughs come in, to offer a momentary respite from the gloom and doom from the previous issues, and setting us up for the next arc.
Space sex was never funny to me. I personally didn't think it was being played for laughs, but I know some people thought it was funny. And hey, it's reader response, so it's valid.
As for things being too over-the-top to care... that's not entirely true. "OMWF" is a totally over-the-top episode, and yet, there is plenty of stuff to care about. As much of a failure that "Retreat" was, its final pages made me care. "Turbulence" made me care a whole lot. The beginning of "Twilight" was great... the later parts still questionable to me in terms of execution, but that's mostly because I need to know how it all plays out before I stamp it either a failure or success. However, I'd also point out that it's also possible that the reason why the gravity of the moment never takes hold for some is because they already checked out of the story. It's entirely possible, and quite natural for one's dislike of a particular story element to kick one out of the story.
|
|
shslibrarian55
Common Vampire
Perspective Guy
For the safety of puppies and Christmas![Mo0:37]
Posts: 74
|
Post by shslibrarian55 on Jul 5, 2010 10:15:50 GMT -5
Yes, they did.
Completely agree. I really think it will play in well in the next issues...into whatever Joss has planned (uber-slayer race, what have you). I don't think the title helped..."Them F&%$ING," but it's a comic and it's Buffy. Honestly.
As is true for most of Buffy and Joss's other works. It's a dramedy. Things are cheesy or taken too far in all of it. Buffy is so cheesy 90s, but I've always loved that it looks like that, and then underneath, there's this whole other layer that can really get you involved. I think the tone of the comics (for the most part) stays true to that of the series, but they're able to take it a little further because of the format. Whether or not that's a good thing is up to the reader, I'd say.
|
|
Billie Erin
Ensouled Vampire
"I go back to December"
"I picked up a hitchhiker. You've got to when you hit them."[Mo0:0]
Posts: 1,536
|
Post by Billie Erin on Jul 5, 2010 12:17:08 GMT -5
I'm really apprehensive about this arc but this cover looks pretty good. I think the reassuring back to school theme helps, it implies that Joss won't negate the TV series with a few careless blows now
|
|
neowhobaz
Respected Watcher
"Beyond the Shadow you settle for, there's miracle illuminated"[Mo0:0]
Posts: 594
|
Post by neowhobaz on Jul 5, 2010 15:44:00 GMT -5
I think its time we get to the end of the longest season to date. The worst of it is we've bilut up to this for several years only to see a conclusion which in essence won't really be an end with season nine in the near future. Obviously no season of the show was ever meant to be self contained but then no season of the show was ever built so heavily upon events from nearly every year of the show prior to it. I hope the end isn't so unbelievable that it makes the thought of season nine a group of us standing and scratching our heads wondering what could possibly be next.
|
|
Dorotea
Potential Slayer
[Mo0:0]
Posts: 145
|
Post by Dorotea on Jul 5, 2010 21:22:34 GMT -5
See, I wasn't arguing that the execution was right in "Retreat". "Retreat" is where the art did fail to convey the horror of the massacre. Problem is, I don't think the writing gave too much space for that... the last couple of issues of "Retreat" felt really rushed, and the quality of the writing was more chaotic than the scenes we were supposed to get. You know, the Retreat arc is really worth re-reading a few times - and probably is one of the most hidden-content-heavy in the entire season. It has tons of cryptic, mythology/easter egg type messages that aren't quite obvious at first. The Goddesses themselves, for starters. It took me 4 re-reads and somebody's accidental insight into the link to S4 to figure out they are supposed to be Tara's - (Tara (Sanskrit: तारा, tārā) or Ārya Tārā, also known as Jetsun Dolma (Tibetan language:rje btsun sgrol ma) in Tibetan Buddhism, is a female Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism who appears as a female Buddha in Vajrayana Buddhism.) check the wiki for details. Thus their multicoloredness and a few other amazing aspects. The whole Buffy looking into the blue Tara eyes - before assuming her aspect as a Goddess is amazing - but you need to put two and two together to get it. Then, there is entirely hidden message of Andrew's 'Storyteller' episode - it is so full of hidden content - it is staggering. Plus the story with Willow - in fact it only became clear to me what the TOYOL Dark Willow was doing after re-reading the Retreat arc a few times. This arc is probably one of the richest in the season - yet it remains under-appreciated and much bemoaned. I am not getting why, honestly. That arc also had Buffy revealing her powers as a goddess and Willow dealing with it, not to mention the heart-breaking moment with the dying soldier and nearly dying Riley. Xander-Buff talk was a nice wrap-off of the entire season's emotional build up - but it was a rather passing moment. IMHO Buffy-Willow and Willow-getting her wiccan powers back moments were much more important in that issue. The fight with the Goddesses explained why Willow was never the one who opened that temporal rift - and what exactly Buffy became. IMHO It was not funny - as for the reader 'response' - well, there are many explanations for that - one of the many is shipper aspect. Ridicule and laugh at what you dislike and maybe they will blink and write it off based on your reaction - is a good enough explanation to me. Once again, I want to emphasize how much I disagree with what the Retreat arc is getting in reviews , etc. It really needs rereading and cross-referencing - and IMHO will get a much better marks after the season is done.
|
|
|
Post by wenxina on Jul 5, 2010 22:15:22 GMT -5
When I reviewed "Retreat", I already covered the whole Boddhisatva stuff. In other words, did the research on all three goddesses, their appearances, the symbolism, etc. I've reread the arc multiple times over, and really, it fails on a fundamental storytelling aspect. The entire arc basically stinks at pacing itself. It spins its wheels, then throws a lot of stuff at us towards the end, including internal continuity errors (see Monroe's death, then non-death). There'll be no change in marks for execution, whatever the outcome of the season may be. "Retreat" remains poorly written. Buffy looking into Remati's eyes is a red herring of sorts, no? Initially, that was the assumption that many had. It's not an unreasonable assumption, since Buffy's god-like powers were apparent after she was dropped by Remati. However, from what we know now, her newfound powers are the product of the universe's grand plan. Nothing to do with the goddesses at all.
|
|
Dorotea
Potential Slayer
[Mo0:0]
Posts: 145
|
Post by Dorotea on Jul 5, 2010 22:37:11 GMT -5
When I reviewed "Retreat", I already covered the whole Boddhisatva stuff. In other words, did the research on all three goddesses, their appearances, the symbolism, etc. I've reread the arc multiple times over, and really, it fails on a fundamental storytelling aspect. The entire arc basically stinks at pacing itself. It spins its wheels, then throws a lot of stuff at us towards the end, including internal continuity errors (see Monroe's death, then non-death). There'll be no change in marks for execution, whatever the outcome of the season may be. "Retreat" remains poorly written. Buffy looking into Remati's eyes is a red herring of sorts, no? Initially, that was the assumption that many had. It's not an unreasonable assumption, since Buffy's god-like powers were apparent after she was dropped by Remati. However, from what we know now, her newfound powers are the product of the universe's grand plan. Nothing to do with the goddesses at all. I don't think that was Remati, honest. Blue Tārā, associated with transmutation of anger. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tara_%28Buddhism%29#T.C4.81r.C4.81_as_a_Tantric_deityHere is a quote from wiki In this case during the creation phase of Tārā as a yidam, she is seen as having as much reality as any other phenomena apprehended through the mind. By reciting her mantra and visualizing her form in front, or on the head of the adept, one is opening to her energies of compassion and wisdom. After a period of time the practitioner shares in some of these qualities, becomes imbued with her being and all it represents. At the same time all of this is seen as coming out of Emptiness and having a translucent quality like a rainbow. Then many times there is a visualization of oneself as Tārā. One simultaneously becomes inseparable from all her good qualities while at the same time realizing the emptiness of the visualization of oneself as the yidam and also the emptiness of one's ordinary self.
This occurs in the completion stage of the practice. One dissolves the created deity form and at the same time also realizes how much of what we call the "self" is a creation of the mind, and has no long term substantial inherent existence. This part of the practice then is preparing the practitioner to be able to confront the dissolution of one's self at death and ultimately be able to approach through various stages of meditation upon emptiness, the realization of Ultimate Truth as a vast display of Emptiness and Luminosity. At the same time the recitation of the mantra has been invoking Tārā's energy through its Sanskrit seed syllables and this purifies and activates certain psychic centers of the body (chakras). This also untangles knots of psychic energy which have hindered the practitioner from developing a Vajra body, which is necessary to be able to progress to more advanced practices and deeper stages of realization.
Therefore even in a simple Tārā sadhana a plethora of outer, inner, and secret events is taking place and there are now many works such as Deity Yoga, compiled by the present Dalai Lama, which explores all the ramifications of working with a yidam in Tantric practices.
The end results of doing such Tārā practices are many. For one thing it reduces the forces of delusion in the forms of negative karma, sickness, afflictions of kleshas, and other obstacles and obscurations. The mantra helps generate Bodhicitta within the heart of the practitioner and purifies the psychic channels (nadis) within the body allowing a more natural expression of generosity and compassion to flow from the heart center. Through experiencing Tārā's perfected form one acknowledges one's own perfected form, that is one's intrinsic Buddha nature, which is usually covered over by obscurations and clinging to dualistic phenomena as being inherently real and permanent.
The practice then weans one away from a coarse understanding of Reality, allowing one to get in touch with inner qualities similar to those of a bodhisattva, and prepares one's inner self to embrace finer spiritual energies, which can lead to more subtle and profound realizations of the Emptiness of phenomena and self. Basically - yes, Buffy's transmutation was the work of the Universe, but she had to be pushed into doing all of the hard work - ie poring all that anger into the image of the Goddess, then getting it all back - all by herself. This would not have happened unless she decided to go to Tibet in particular - and to give up her powers - as a personal sacrifice and decision made by herself. Which would not have happened in the Dark Willow did not make her kill herself and then Buffy did not decide to try and save 'present time' Willow from getting dark. This is such an elegant and cruel circuit - and completely impossible without the Retreat arc. This is why I consider Buffy-Willow plot the main one in Retreat and why I think Retreat is such a great arc. IMHO of course.
|
|
|
Post by wenxina on Jul 5, 2010 23:15:23 GMT -5
Remati (also known as Palden Lhamo) is the name of one of the three goddesses summoned. And like most eastern religions, gods and goddesses have multiple facets, which are often emphasized in different contexts. That said, there is no denying that the blue goddess is Remati. Of the three goddesses, Remati is the only one that's often associated with "wrath", whereas the other two are often ascribed transmutational qualities. In fact, Ekajati is the one that's also known as the Blue Tara. And yes, her coloring is usually described as being blue as well, but she is often depicted as pink or some similar shade. Moreover, Ekajati is also described as having "a split tongue or a forked tongue and a single tooth. She is dressed in a skull necklace and with a tiger and a human skin. She is surrounded by flames representing wisdom." This description matches the pink goddess, not the blue one. In fact, check out this picture of Ekajati: Looks pretty much exactly like the pink goddess.
|
|
Dorotea
Potential Slayer
[Mo0:0]
Posts: 145
|
Post by Dorotea on Jul 6, 2010 21:36:57 GMT -5
Remati (also known as Palden Lhamo) is the name of one of the three goddesses summoned. And like most eastern religions, gods and goddesses have multiple facets, which are often emphasized in different contexts. That said, there is no denying that the blue goddess is Remati. Of the three goddesses, Remati is the only one that's often associated with "wrath", whereas the other two are often ascribed transmutational qualities. In fact, Ekajati is the one that's also known as the Blue Tara. And yes, her coloring is usually described as being blue as well, but she is often depicted as pink or some similar shade. Moreover, Ekajati is also described as having "a split tongue or a forked tongue and a single tooth. She is dressed in a skull necklace and with a tiger and a human skin. She is surrounded by flames representing wisdom." This description matches the pink goddess, not the blue one. In fact, check out this picture of Ekajati: Looks pretty much exactly like the pink goddess. I suspect that the description might not be as important in nailing out the exact Goddess as the content of the story. But if you have a closer look you would see that Blue Tara (personification of transmutation of anger into positive energy) has three eyes and wears the tiara of sculls and giant hoop earrings - same as the blue Goddess from the comic. What is important is that Tara in fact is the same deity in all of her personifications (Tara is actually the generic name for a set of Buddhas or bodhisattvas of similar aspect. These may more properly be understood as different aspects of the same quality, as bodhisattvas are often considered metaphoric for Buddhist virtues.) - but each color represents different aspect (blue being only one of many). And yes, over time the local protector-deities sort of merged with the Buddhist variants of themselves ( hence the different names of the elder deities) resulting ion a curious merger - older, pagan demon-like entities became the personification of meditation deities used as centers for channeling personal grievances into something positive and even divine (..the practice then weans one away from a coarse understanding of Reality, allowing one to get in touch with inner qualities similar to those of a bodhisattva, and prepares one's inner self to embrace finer spiritual energies....). I think that the Goddesses are in fact multifaceted - onion-like entities - like almost every other aspect of Buddhist religion - and your original explanation of their nature is equally correct. I just want to add that awfully many characters in Buffyverse seem to be traveling to Tibet for spiritual enlightenment and learning about 'astral projections'. Buffy transmuting her anger and finally achieving " one's own perfected form" just sounds too close to what happened... dunno. I thought it was very well thought out of them.
|
|
|
Post by wenxina on Jul 6, 2010 21:53:34 GMT -5
Jeanty was very literal with his depictions of the goddesses. Typing in "Ekajati" into Google brings up more images of the pink goddess than any other depiction, despite her title as the Blue Tara. And while I understand that there is a lot of melding in terms of eastern religious beliefs, when it comes to literal drawings of them, I don't for a second doubt that the Remati was the blue one (since she's always blue anyway), Vajrayogini the red one, and Ekajati the pink one. And while i would love to believe that the choice of goddesses was a specific thematic element (covered this in my review HERE), I'm not confident that they weren't merely used as a plot device. I would love to be mistaken on this one. However, bottom line is, I can accept that Buffy may have achieved some kind of enlightenment while suspended some 50 feet up in the air, but that should have been covered some, instead of merely left up to interpretation. And in any case, she wasn't peering into the giant eye of Ekajati, but rather Remati. Which is not to say that there was no transmutational possibility... these goddesses are afterall different embodiments of the various spiritual aspects of Tibetan-Buddhism.
|
|
Dorotea
Potential Slayer
[Mo0:0]
Posts: 145
|
Post by Dorotea on Jul 6, 2010 22:28:02 GMT -5
I can accept that Buffy may have achieved some kind of enlightenment while suspended some 50 feet up in the air, but that should have been covered some, instead of merely left up to interpretation. And in any case, she wasn't peering into the giant eye of Ekajati, but rather Remati. Which is not to say that there was no transmutational possibility... these goddesses are afterall different embodiments of the various spiritual aspects of Tibetan-Buddhism. The whole point is - Tara is a multifaceted Goddess - wherein there is one incarnation of her - there are all of them present - sort of folded into one. I don't understand why you can accept that pink-colored entity is 'blue Tara' and cannot imagine that the blue-colored one is also Tara (and Remati at the same time)? And is not the image in the comic and of the Blue Tara likeness strikingly similar? I think they are all Tara's - just different aspects and at the same time they retain their original primal names. See all Tara really is - is an embodiment of perfect God-like oneself - just different aspects of it. It also makes sense that Tara ( whose likeness Jeanty was practicing to depict by his admittance) turns out to be the Tibetan deity rather than the dear lost love. And it makes a lovely link to the tarot card of power that 'real ' Tara once offered Buffy in a dream. As to why it was not spelled out in the comic more clearly - exactly because the writer/s enjoy making us sweat. Feed on our paranoia and anxiety. Grumble.
|
|
|
Post by wenxina on Jul 6, 2010 23:01:02 GMT -5
I have no issue accepting that in Buddhist teachings, each colored Tara is a separate facet of the same quality. Thus, in this case, we have three separate entities, all separately named, and in teachings, representing different facets. Which is why I'm arguing against the blending of the facets, because in this case, they are made to be distinctly separate. And so, all I'm saying is that the Blue Tara=/=Remati. Because that title is ascribed to Ekajati, who just about always appears to look like the pink goddess (barring when she appears blue and has something like 24 arms). I'm quite happy that Jeanty was quite respectful when translating these goddesses to paper, not taking many liberties, other than censorship (they are rather naked) with their design. Jeanty has drawn Tara before in a panel in #27. Yes, it's just a panel, but Jeanty practices drawing new characters all the time, to make sure that he's able to do it. Other than that, he's done at least two headsketches of Tara for people who purchased his sketch books. Click HERE and HERE. So no, I don't think Jeanty was referring to the goddesses when he said that he had been practicing.
|
|
|
Post by Emmie on Jul 7, 2010 5:21:40 GMT -5
There's lines to be drawn in over-the-top. What we got with Space Sex was more worthy of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: the Movie and not the reason we're all here: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: the Series.
Not intended as funny? Surely it was--the dialogue bubble played a joke about no sound in space so Buffy's scream of pleasure couldn't be heard. That panel? Absolutely meant to be funny and ridiculous and over-the-top. And anyone saying it wasn't meant to be funny--okay, then how in the stratosphere was it meant to be serious because that? HILARIOUSLY BAD.
I'm saying the tone of what went down in Meltzer's arc took what was waffling into over-the-top ridiculous and jettisoned it into the stratosphere. There was a way to execute that story so that it could be taken seriously (see Promethea)--they chose not to do it that way.
Sure, "it's Buffy." But more the movie than the show. The show knew when to be serious and when to be funny--the show had a great mastery over the mixture of tone. As Whedon himself said in discussing Buffy's role in EW's top 100 characters, they often write overblown storylines on Buffy, but it's the actors who grounded it and made the moments lovely so the audience could connect.
#34 denied emotional connection, but was more a spectacle to be gaped at and disturbed by. The horror to me was that the comic even went there, not in what was happening. Because I'll be frank--the world ending in the Buffyverse happens every Tuesday. What matters are the unspeakable decisions people make that resonate: Angel sleeping with Darla in despair, Buffy choosing to kill herself to save the world, Giles killing Ben. Haunting moral decisions that create human drama.
The emotional disconnect #34 and strange characterization of Angel in #35 make the Twilight arc a horribly uneven mess that never manages to successfully drive home the drama.
Meltzer was fine writing Buffyverse comedy in #32 (though he went overboard in his geekgasming--too many references made it feel bloated) and he did well enough in #33 (I have problems with the use of the glow at all for how it raises the question of dubious consent), but the end of the arc was a mess.
|
|