This blog entry is definitely late. First, this issue (#10) came out over a month ago (Issue #11 is already out). Second, I first was inspired to write about it almost a week ago when Emily made mention of how she found the end of Amory Wars devastating, which made me think about how not so long ago I had read a comic book that I also considered pretty devastating, and then decided to reread it that next day to find it even more moving and affective than I did the first time around.
I also probably can't continue this entry without mentioning what has kept me from blogging which was this fantastic weekend with Valentine's Day (the first great one in a long time), Emily's parents in town, my cousin Nadia's first birthday, and Emily's aunt's 60th birthday dinner at the Pump Room.
Joss Whedon has always been great at devastating. Although some of those moments have come along with a bit of heavy-handedness, between Buffy, Angel, and Firefly, I can think of several moments that he has written or directed that have had my jaw on the floor or my eyes filling with tears including (spoilers ahead): Buffy closing the portal to Acathia by shoving a sword through Angel as he just regained his soul in "Becoming, Part 2," Buffy realizing the meaning of "death is her gift" in "The Gift," "The Body," "A Hole in the World" and the loss of Fred, Tracey's funeral at the end of "The Message" (which is all the sadder because it also acted as a funeral for Firefly itself), and the shocking deaths in Serenity.
Little did I expect that he would be capable of the same emotion in comic book form.
Season Eight has really been a mixed affair for me. Regardless of the stories being told, the form is just never going to be the same. The three act structure of a television show is not something that lends itself to the new medium. So far, while it's nice to see the plots not constricted by a television budget and the high costs of special effects, allowing the depictions of a giant Dawn, a Slayer Army, and Warren (gross), and it's also just nice to not have to only imagine what has happened to all my favorite characters and to hear them speaking again (really some of the dialogue is so quippy and spot on that I can just hear the actors speaking it while I am reading), I haven't felt very invested in the ongoing plot, especially in the multi-part stories. The one-shots have really allowed Joss to shine in The Chain (Issue #5), but especially here.
I always got the feeling that while Joss Whedon had some impact and guidance with Seasons 6 and 7 of Buffy, he had pretty much handed the reins to the other writers for better or worse while he took the time to develop Firefly. With three shows in production, the man had worn himself thin. The best parts of Season 8 have provided the oppurtunity for Joss not to revise the final seasons of Buffy, but to redirect our viewpoint to the emotional nuances and depths of what took place from the time that Buffy jumped into "heaven" to that final smile when the Hellmouth collapsed in upon itself and it was no longer just her alone to stand against the vampires, demons, and the darkness.
What works so well about "Anywhere But Here" are the revelations we get, and the way they are so masterfully woven and edited together. I really was getting annoyed with a giant Dawn (though it can provide for some funny moments) but even the reveal of what exactly happened between her and Kenny was extremely sad. Maybe Dawn's betrayal and lies are really only so effective because of its juxtaposition with the Willow reveal, but it sure does work.
I guess I never really thought about how Willow could see the choice she made to bring back Buffy as directly leading to the death of Tara. When Season 6 started, the Scooby gang looked anything but happy having to fight without Buffy, and when that lame demon biker gang came in, it seemed all but necessary to bring her back, but for Willow, Xander, Dawn, and even Giles, they could have turned their backs on Sunnydale and tried to live a semblance of a normal life. It really makes Tara's death seem all the more tragic. I can't wait to see how the rift between Willow and Buffy plays out, though I have my doubts that it will at all with writers switching for another multi-parter.
And yet with all the emotions already on high for this story, Joss was able to add yet another layer of tragedy which makes this issue even sadder. As explained in the letters section, to promote the launch of the comic, Joss hosted a contest on Myspace asking fans to write in telling how Buffy changed their lives. The winner would be drawn into the comic for a guest shot. That winner was Robin whose husband wrote the letter. Robin suffers from acute schizophrenia, and as her condition began to worsen she discovered Buffy on DVD. The letter describes how she began to relate to characters like Drusilla and how the character of Buffy "gave her the strength to battle her demons." It might seem a little trite, but to me, it's one of those true stories that is just powerful enough to be inspiring that someone is able to find such identification with a piece of art, especially one that I love so much.
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