BtVS Comic #37

[shipperx]

So thanks to the wonders of the interwebz, I read the most recent issue of the Season 8 comic.

I'm not going to give a big thoughtful review. There are others who do that and do that far better than I ever could.

And I won't analyze the metaphors because, while I admire it, that's just not the way that I follow things. I appreciate metaphor. For example, Mad Men has produced some stunningly beautiful visual metaphors this season. But metaphors and meta are always secondary for me, which leads me to the thing that struck me the most in the issue, which is the realization (not new but newly reinforced) that comics aren't my thing. They don't do the things story-wise that feed my kinks. It's just not the medium for it.

I'll keep up with the comic just to see where things end. I'm a completionist that way. But, at the end of the day, they just aren't the medium for me.

Comments

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

They definitely aren't the medium for me, either--I could never care about them the way I do a book, a movie, or a TV show. They don't feel like canon to me. So I definitely know where you're coming from. I'm at the same place.

Is it possible to point me in the direction of a dl link?

[fangfaceandrea.livejournal.com]

Ive come to the conclusion that if I do finish readin s8 they'll find a way to pull me into S9 . So I'm pre-emtively quitting...or as I sai on my LJ trying and half failing to excersise some self control when it comes to BtVS crazy wanky week.

[sockmonkeyhere.livejournal.com]

Here's a dl, I believe:

http://infinitewhale.livejournal.com/5996.html

One of the many turn-offs for me comic-wise is the all-over-the-map artwork. There's too damn many artists drawing these things, and while some of their art is good, much of it sucks dead, rotting gophers through a hose.

(That, plus the fact that their plots are garbled, incoherent gibberish. And that their writers couldn't find their own asses with both hands and a flashlight. And that no one at these companies has the slightest clue about accurate characterization. And that few of them seem to have actually watched either of the TV series.)

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I already found one, but you're very kind!

I agree--I'm very, very, very picky about artwork, and it's very hard to please me. (You have an excellently gross turn-of-phrase, btw.)

(Yeah, the lack of continuity and the silly plots and the lack of characterization drives me CRAZY. I know the really good comics don't have that problem, and so I enjoy them, but they're few and far between, and I still can't invest in them completely.)

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

LOL! I was trying to be politic.

That said, I've basically reached a conclusion of the comics are much like Glee. They are quite colorful and sometimes entertaining, but they are equally likely to make no sense whatsoever or demand that the audience have regular bouts of amnesia.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Totally understand.

I'm just happy that this issue probably won't take me three weeks to recover from so that I can return to fanfic. There is that at least.

[2maggie2.livejournal.com]

I totally get this. I really had a hard time being affected by the comics. But once the story clicked into place in my head, I go back and now I find lots that is genuinely moving. But, yeah, I completely get not being moved by the medium.

[sockmonkeyhere.livejournal.com]

*grin* Gopher/Hose=OTP

Hey, congratulations to y'all on the Spuffy bits in this last issue! I'm glad for you. :)

[sockmonkeyhere.livejournal.com]

Hee, I haz no politic. XD

It isn't a good medium for the Buffyverse because its creators are accustomed to writing for young male fanboys, and that's just not what the Buffyverse fandom consists of -- and these creators are apparently unwilling to adjust their craft to suit their audience.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

That is super sweet! Thanks! I was mostly just glad to see them snarking and bantering and fighting side-by-side. That's my ship!

[infinitewhale.livejournal.com]

I love metaphors, too. When it comes to that, though, the reader brings their own to the party most of the time, so a story dependent on that to work at all fails at the outset. Especially when the reader needs to basically disregard the actual story and characters to be able run with the metaphor.

As far as explanations for the comics, most of everything I read comes of as very tenuous to me. IMO, there's very little in-story to support it and also I think it goes against Joss's style as a writer. He tells big little stories.

[angearia.livejournal.com]

This is how I feel, too. I'm feeling way more emotionally connected to the story now and that's awesome. But it's not immediate the way it was with the show. I kinda have to puzzle it out, then once it makes sense, all the emotion floods forward.

[sueworld2003.livejournal.com]

The thing is comics can be a wonderful. They can be beautifully written and deliver big emotional story's, Sadly Joss's 'little' effort didn't go down that route, and we ended up with what we got, which imo was just a big trashy mess with mad plots and poorly written characters.

[flake-sake.livejournal.com]

I really really would not come to that conclusion on the sample of the Buffy comic. Because it's a really bad example. There's a multitude of better comics out there, that do the trick. They have great characterisation and are moving and exciting.

I can't change your mind of course, but really, reading comics are bad because of S8 is like reading books are bad because of Twilight. Its judging a medium on one of it's weakest specimen.

[calturner.livejournal.com]

I was mostly just glad to see them snarking and bantering and fighting side-by-side. That's my ship!

Yes, that was what I liked the most too. My Spuffy heart can't help but melt just a little bit at the thought of Spike and Buffy fighting side by side again. :)

[calturner.livejournal.com]

I'll keep up with the comic just to see where things end. I'm a completionist that way. But, at the end of the day, they just aren't the medium for me.

That's exactly how I feel. There are things I liked about the latest issue (Spike and Buffy fighting side by side for example), but I can't see the comic medium ever really working for me.

[ms-scarletibis.livejournal.com]

They are quite colorful and sometimes entertaining, but they are equally likely to make no sense whatsoever or demand that the audience have regular bouts of amnesia.

Oh man, that sums up that last ep so hardcore...

Srsly, what the crap is going on over there?