Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Wolves at the Gate (Season 8, #3) by Joss Whedon - Ashley's Review

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Title: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Wolves at the Gate (Season 8, #3)
Authors: Drew Goddard (Scriptwriter), Joss Whedon (Scriptwriter), Georges Jeanty (Penciller), Andy Owens (Inker), Michelle Madsen (Colorist), and Richard Starkings (Letterer)
Publication Date: November 19, 2008

My The Long Way Home (#1) Review
My No Future For You (#2) Review

Synopsis: Vampires that, at will, can transform into wolves, panthers, insects, or fog invade the Slayer base of operations in northern Scotland, and not only walk away unscathed, but in possession of Buffy's scythe, the symbol of Slayer power worldwide. Buffy and the Slayer legion travel to Tokyo in order to learn more about their dangerous new foes, as Xander journeys to Transylvania to solicit the only person they've ever known to possess such power: Dracula.

* The celebrated Buffy Season Eight continues with Drew Goddard (Cloverfield, Lost) writing Wolves at the Gate, with Joss Whedon continuing his role as executive producer, and Georges Jeanty as series artist.

* Includes the stand-alone issue written by Buffy creator Joss Whedon, "A Beautiful Sunset."

* Collecting issue #11-15 of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight series

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Review: This is the first volume where the title is just so obvious that I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. There are literally wolves at the gate. And then I laughed a little bit because the villain is called Twilight and the vampires transform in wolves. 

I'm just going to throw it out there that vampires who can transform into wolves, bees, panthers, fog, etc. are way more terrifying than your normal, every day vampires. Dracula was bad enough by himself, but a whole legion of vamps with his powers? NO THANK YOU. I'm glad these vamps didn't show up until the comics, because I'm pretty sure they would have given me nightmares had they been in the show. 

My favorite part about this volume was that Dracula was back and that we got to learn a little bit more about what Xander did between the end of Season 7 and the beginning of Season 8. I mean, everyone just assumes he jumped right into running the Slayer operations, right? I did. But I like that he went to Transylvania even more! And I loved that the relationship between Xander and Drac is still very much the same. Maybe a little more respect from Drac, but still basically the same. 

This was actually a pretty Xander heavy volume. Between the explanation of his travels, his relationship with Dracula, and his budding relationship with Renee, it was nice to see more about him. I missed his wit and his humor in the first two volumes (it's there, but not as much as I would have liked), and I just missed him in general. 

Oh, there's also a giant mechatronic Dawn. Which is kind of awesome. I was definitely on the same page as Andrew for that one, although I did not ever think that this was a viable scenario. It was fun and exciting and broke up the whole Slayers-staking-Vampires thing happening for the majority of the fight scenes. 

I really enjoyed this volume, and would recommend Wolves at the Gate to anyone who has read the first two volumes. Might as well keep reading, right? I'm glad the show got continued in comic book form, and I can't wait to read the next volume! 4/5.


--Ashley

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: No Future For You (Season 8, #2) by Joss Whedon - Ashley's Review

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Title: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: No Future For You (Season 8, #2)
Authors: Brian K. Vaughan (Scriptwriter), Joss Whedon (Scriptwriter), Georges Jeanty (Penciller), Cliff Richards (Penciller), Andy Owens (Inker), Dave Stewart (Colorist), and Richard Starkings (Letterer)
Publication Date: May 14, 2008

My The Long Way Home (#1) Review

Synopsis: When a rogue debutant Slayer begins to use her power for evil, Giles is forced to recruit the rebellious Faith, who isn’t exactly known for her good deeds. Giles offers Faith a clean slate if she can stop this snooty Slayer from wreaking total havoc--that is, if Buffy doesn’t beat her to it.

Georges Jeanty (The American Way) remains at the top of his game as series artist, and Whedon continues as Executive Producer in this direct follow-up to Season Seven of the smash-hit TV series.

* Eisner award-winning writer Brian K. Vaughan (Y:The Last Man, Ex Machina) tackles Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight.

* Collecting issue #6-10 of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight 

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Review: I was really excited when I found out that Faith would be featured in No Future For You. She's always been one of my favorites, so I'm glad that she factors in to this season of Buffy! I thought it was really interesting that Giles chose Faith to save Buffy from the crazy English debutante Slayer, considering Faith & Buffy's history. It makes sense, I guess, since Buffy won't hurt another human, but still. 

This volume seemed to be way more cohesive than the first volume, The Long Way Home. There's still a little bit about Twilight, but most of this volume is focused on Faith. I enjoyed the flashbacks from her perspective, even though I'd already known about them from the show. It was still interesting to see that, through everything, the only time she had felt loved was with the Mayor. She's felt alone at every other point in her life, and that's just so sad. I also enjoyed how Robin made a brief appearance, since he was such a big part of Season 7.

It did kind of annoy me how rude Buffy is to Faith. I mean, I know they don't like each other, but Buffy doesn't even give Faith any chance to explain anything. She just jumps right in to assuming Faith is the bad guy...even when her mission is to save Buffy. I was also annoyed when Buffy got mad at Giles for calling Faith instead of her. Come on, get over yourself. Things like this annoyed me about Buffy in the show too though, so at least she's consistently annoying.

The art in No Future For You was just as excellent as in the previous volume, and I was really excited that I could tell who Faith was supposed to be before they even mention her name. I love that the characters aren't exact portraits of the actors/actresses who played them (although the resemblance is much closer on the covers and included artwork), and that the artists portray them in their own style. 

No Future for You is a closer return to the television show than The Long Way Home, I thought, and I'm hoping that the rest of the series continues in this direction. We don't learn too much more about Twilight here, but it's ok because we get to see a little bit of what Faith has been up to. I would definitely recommend this volume to anyone who has already read The Long Way Home, and I would recommend these comics to fans of the show in general. It's definitely not the same as watching season 1-7, but I think it's getting there! 4/5. 


--Ashley

How They Met, and Other Stories by David Levithan - Ashley's Review

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Title: How They Met, and Other Stories
Author: David Levithan
Year Published: 2008

My Pre-reading
Paul's Review

Synopsis: Where Did They Meet?

It was on a plane. It was at Starbucks. It was in physics class. It was during the war.

How Did They Meet?

It was a setup. It was completely random. They were dancing. One of them ordered a pizza and the other showed up.

What Happened?

It was instant. It took time. It was a disaster. It lasted.

In this new gathering of stories, award-winning author David Levithan writes all about love, and about all kinds of love. From aching for the one you pine for to (reluctantly) being the one pined after, from standing up and speaking up for the one you love to the pure joy and happiness delivered on the smile of someone else, these stories explore the mysterious magnetism that draws people together in ways both expected and unexpected.

Love is a varied, complicated, addictive, volatile, scary, wonderful thing ... and it's all on display in How They Met, and Other Stories.

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Review: I think that collections of short stories are really fun. You can only spend a limited amount of time with a certain st of characters, so you can only learn things that are relevant to the story. The settings are often simple, since you can't really waste a lot of time and space with just the set up, and this usually causes the pacing to be pretty quick. But good short stories aren't as easy to come by as you would think; the author still has to tell a complete story but in a much smaller space. David Levithan is one of those geniuses that turns a short story into a masterpiece.

This collection of stories has probably been one of the best I've read. Some of the stories are only a few pages, and others are upwards of 30, but each and every one tells a complete story that left me wishing that they didn't have to end. Some of the stories are very conclusive and it's pretty easy to infer what would happen next in the lives of the characters. Others are so open-ended that I was left wondering if the main character and his/her love interest even end up as a couple. But I enjoyed all of them. 

One of the things I really thought was ingenious was how Levithan doesn't necessarily reveal the gender, skin color, age, etc. of his characters right away. Sometimes, you start out thinking a narrator is one gender and several pages later find out that you were very wrong. But you know what? I think it helps get the message across that love is love is love, regardless of physical traits. Most of the characters are of high school age, but can be very young or elderly. The couples are both opposite and same sex, but the relationships are exactly the same at their cores. 

It's kind of difficult to review this book as a whole, since there are so many stories that make it up, but it was still a book I found myself not wanting to put down. It's not full of action or adventure or magic or science fiction or fantasy. It's just real life, down to earth love and relationships and people. But Levithan still makes it enchanting and captivating, and I'm looking forward to reading more of his books and stories.

I would totally recommend this to someone who is a fan of Levithan but hasn't read these stories yet, and also to anyone looking for some stories that are easy to read but still make you think about life and love and all of those things. A 4/5 on this collection!

--Ashley

How They Met, and Other Stories by David Levithan - Ashley's Pre-Reading

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Title: How They Met, and Other Stories
Author: David Levithan
Year Published: 2008

Paul's Review

Synopsis: Where Did They Meet?

It was on a plane. It was at Starbucks. It was in physics class. It was during the war.

How Did They Meet?

It was a setup. It was completely random. They were dancing. One of them ordered a pizza and the other showed up.

What Happened?

It was instant. It took time. It was a disaster. It lasted.

In this new gathering of stories, award-winning author David Levithan writes all about love, and about all kinds of love. From aching for the one you pine for to (reluctantly) being the one pined after, from standing up and speaking up for the one you love to the pure joy and happiness delivered on the smile of someone else, these stories explore the mysterious magnetism that draws people together in ways both expected and unexpected.

Love is a varied, complicated, addictive, volatile, scary, wonderful thing ... and it's all on display in How They Met, and Other Stories.

Why?: I've really enjoyed everything else I've read by David Levithan, so I was pretty excited when I found out he wrote a collection of short stories. I love short stories, and I love David Levithan, so I'm pretty sure this is going to be made of lots of win.

Expectations: I expect some cute little stories about love and such. I think the stories will showcase all the different facets of love, so I think it will be interesting to see the situations that are presented. I'm not sure what else to expect though, so hopefully I'll be surprised by what I find!

Judging a book by its cover: I like the symbolism of the magnets, but that's pretty much all I like about this cover. I'm not a huge fan of orange covers (they make me think the book is about Halloween or something), so I'm not sure I would pick it up if I saw it on a shelf somewhere. It's just not my type of cover. 


--Ashley