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A review by princessrobotiv
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Long Way Home by Joss Whedon
4.0
Okay, so, I liked this way more than I thought I would.
I've seen screenshots of the comics constantly over the years, but I was always incredibly wary to dive into them. Some combination of my bitterness with Season 7's direction, the art style, and the mixed reviews put me off. This is somewhat wild considering I'm a major Buffy fan. I own all the seasons on DVD, man. It's one of those shows I continuously come back to throughout the years, so my bar is not what I'd call low.
Nevertheless, this worked for me. It felt like Buffy, which was the first and most important thing. The characters' speech patterns were true to the original series, their character design was overall decent, and their relation to the plot believable and--in most situations--satisfying. I especially loved the new role Xander occupied in the Scooby group. He was critically underutilized during the series, but his new status a pseudo-Watcher / general for the Slayers fit him perfectly. I also loved seeing Buffy regarded as the HBIC and actually getting some fucking respect for once (*cough*Season 7 can bite me*cough*). Likewise for Giles' role, though minimal.
I even enjoyed the Dawn subplot. I've seen people call it hokey, but honestly, I like the fact that the medium is giving the series a shot at concepts they wouldn't have been able to execute otherwise.
It wasn't perfect, however. The art isn't my cup of tea. The scenery and figures (especially the bodies during action sequences) are fine, but the faces drive me nuts. Especially Buffy's. For the titular character, she least resembled herself, and there's just something about her design that I dislike. I mean, it isn't as bad as the monstrosity that is Faith, but that's a grouse for another review.
I also wish a bit more time had been spent focusing on the characters' headspaces instead of rushing through the beginning of this plot with Twilight. A lot has changed with the Scooby gang, and I wanted to linger in that more than I found I could.
I'm not a huge fan of the inclusion of Amy and Warren, either, particularly their relation to one another. It felt forced.
Anyway--still a good showing. I expect the quality to decline over the seasons, of course, but I'm enjoying myself for now. I love being back in the Buffyverse!
I've seen screenshots of the comics constantly over the years, but I was always incredibly wary to dive into them. Some combination of my bitterness with Season 7's direction, the art style, and the mixed reviews put me off. This is somewhat wild considering I'm a major Buffy fan. I own all the seasons on DVD, man. It's one of those shows I continuously come back to throughout the years, so my bar is not what I'd call low.
Nevertheless, this worked for me. It felt like Buffy, which was the first and most important thing. The characters' speech patterns were true to the original series, their character design was overall decent, and their relation to the plot believable and--in most situations--satisfying. I especially loved the new role Xander occupied in the Scooby group. He was critically underutilized during the series, but his new status a pseudo-Watcher / general for the Slayers fit him perfectly. I also loved seeing Buffy regarded as the HBIC and actually getting some fucking respect for once (*cough*Season 7 can bite me*cough*). Likewise for Giles' role, though minimal.
I even enjoyed the Dawn subplot. I've seen people call it hokey, but honestly, I like the fact that the medium is giving the series a shot at concepts they wouldn't have been able to execute otherwise.
It wasn't perfect, however. The art isn't my cup of tea. The scenery and figures (especially the bodies during action sequences) are fine, but the faces drive me nuts. Especially Buffy's. For the titular character, she least resembled herself, and there's just something about her design that I dislike. I mean, it isn't as bad as the monstrosity that is Faith, but that's a grouse for another review.
I also wish a bit more time had been spent focusing on the characters' headspaces instead of rushing through the beginning of this plot with Twilight. A lot has changed with the Scooby gang, and I wanted to linger in that more than I found I could.
I'm not a huge fan of the inclusion of Amy and Warren, either, particularly their relation to one another. It felt forced.
Anyway--still a good showing. I expect the quality to decline over the seasons, of course, but I'm enjoying myself for now. I love being back in the Buffyverse!