Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight
by Joss Whedon and Georges Jeanty
Dark Horse

"What are we going to do now?" little sister Dawn asked as the camera closed in on the lead heroine just before the screen turned to black. Thus ended the 144th and final episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on May 20, 2003, putting an end to one of the biggest cult-favorite television series in the medium's history.

Or did it? A few months ago, Dark Horse began releasing new Buffy comic books. Nothing unusual there; comic book publishers have always produced issues based on popular television shows and motion pictures. In fact, Dark Horse had released close to 100 Buffy comics during the show's initial television run. The difference this time were the words "Season Eight" off to the side — comics have always been on offshoot of the source material, a continuation of the characters by writers not associated with the source, containing stories that were never considered "canon," i.e., they never "actually" happened within the confines of their fictional universes.

These new comics, however, are canon, with the first four-issue story-arc written by series creator Joss Whedon, who will then oversee the remainder in the role of "executive producer." It turns out the story did not end on that Tuesday night back in May 2003, but simply took a brief hiatus, as well as a change in medium.

The final issue of that initial quartet, entitled "The Long Way Home," was released in June. And while the series started off a little too "comic-booky," as Buffy might say, what with James Bond-like parachuting out of helicopters, thought-balloons enabling readers to get into the characters' heads, and little sister Dawn now 50 feet tall (apparently sleeping with a thricewise demon has such an effect), once the central characters had been re-established and the main plot kicked in, there could be no doubt: Buffy was back.

In some ways, better than ever. While the first five seasons, all on the WB, are television at its finest, the final two seasons, on UPN, were never considered up to the same standard by fans and critics alike. Some of this had to do with Whedon stepping down as the day-to-day showrunner in order to pursue other projects, namely the ill-fated Firefly. And some of it had to do with darker story-lines that many didn't appreciate, at least not at the time. With Season Eight, however, the story comes full circle as these books live up to the reputation of the early seasons while continuing plots explored in the final ones.

As the fourth issue of "The Long Way Home" concludes, for instance, we discover that the motives behind a shadowy military organization bent on bringing down Buffy, even going so far as to brand her a "terrorist," have to do with Buffy's decision at the end of season seven to have witch Willow draw upon the power of The Slayer to "activate" the thousands of potential slayers in the world in order to defeat the First Evil.

"Do you really think we were going to sit by and let you create a master race?" the leader of this new military unit asks in Season Eight. "You've been to war with the demons, with the First, but believe me you picked the wrong side. If you win then you'll decide the world still isn't the way you want it and the demon in you will say just one thing: 'Slay.' We're not waiting for that to happen — you're at war with the human race." Buffy's response? "Oh—," with an initial look of surprised confusion that evolves into steadfast, bring-it-on determination as she continues with "—Kay."

Buffy has crossed paths with the government before. In season four, it was the Initiative, a military band of demon-fighters whose methods led to disaster. Buffy's reaction was simply: "This is not your business. It's mine. I'm the Slayer. You're playing on my turf," she told the commanding general in the episode "Primeval," effectively summing up one of her predominate traits. Yes, her love life has been a bit of a disaster. She has suffered heartbreak, with the death of friends at the hands of vampires, and the death of her mother by natural causes. And let's not forget her relationship with kid sister Dawn, which is apparently just as complicated as ever. But when it comes to her "calling," her powers, there is no doubt that Buffy is fully in charge.

In the season seven episode "Conversations With Dead People" it was referred to as a "superiority complex," and soon manifested itself in her iron-handed training of the potential slayers. This led to a mutiny against her in favor of fellow slayer Faith, but then climaxed with her eventual willingness to share her powers with the potentials. Season Eight makes it clear that she is still Slayer Number One, and her "Oh—Kay" response says that this superiority complex is still firmly in place. And with these "concerns" that the government has being somewhat legitimate (did she create a "master race"? what would she do if all demons were destroyed?), Season Eight has set up a story-hook that should keep fans coming back for more.

Not that it's necessarily needed. The first issue of Buffy Season Eight sold out its first day, and each subsequent issue has been in the top ten of all comics sold during their respective months of release, making it one hot commodity. Even author Janet Evanovich cites it as her "must read" for the summer in a recent issue of Time magazine.

It's a shame that Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or any Joss Whedon series, is not on television at the moment. But shows do not last forever, either because of bad ratings, the desire by actors to move on, or simply the drying up of satisfying storylines. Season Eight certainly proves the latter does not apply to Buffy, and we should be gratified that the story does indeed continue. And it may even have started a trend: IDW will soon start releasing Season Six of another Whedon series, Angel, and DC Comics has even approached Veronica Mars mastermind Rob Thomas about doing a Season Four of that recently cancelled show.

Which just goes to show that nobody, not even television executives, can kill great writing, great characters and great storytelling. At least not permanently.

— Anthony Letizia (anthonyletizia at hotmail dot com)