A review by dr_matthew_lloyd
Buffy: The High School Years - Parental Parasite, by Kel McDonald
2.0
After [b:Slayer|34723130|Slayer (Slayer, #1)|Kiersten White|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1528468297s/34723130.jpg|55903822] left me with positive vibes towards Buffy the Vampire Slayer continuation/spin off media, I decided to give some of the comics another try. But as I wasn't feeling positive enough to actually buy any, and my library doesn't have much of Season 9 in physical format, I ended up going for volume three of Buffy: The High School Years (which, in fairness, I had once upon a time planned to read).
My response to this volume was pretty much the same as my response to volumes 1 and 2: both art and script lack dynamism and are thus unengaging; the concept is strong, but the execution weak; I'm struggling to see who these stories are for. I didn't laugh out loud at this one, though.
The specific problem with "Parental Parasite" is pretty much what I expected: this story is pretty close to that of "No Place Like Home", in which Buffy suspects that her little sister Dawn is somehow causing her mother's illness, except that in this story, the little sister actually is evil. The concept is a good one - a demon that takes advantage of Joyce Summers' parental concern to show up how Buffy fails to meet her expectations, then reveal that Buffy is actually the better daughter because she's not so dependent on her Mom, or something. But the sense that we've been here before, and done better, never went away.
I'm not unaware that my pro-Dawn stance is a minority position, but redoing that story, set at an earlier date, but then having it go completely without comment at the later event strains my credulity a little. Not to mention that, for me, the most interesting possibility in doing new BtVS stories set in the High School years is showing those events as Buffy and friends remember them following the alteration of their memories by the Monks of Dagon. The demon in this story doesn't even get the chance to come across as sinister as Dawn does, either, and I can't imagine that there's any BtVS fan out there who wouldn't make that comparison.
My response to this volume was pretty much the same as my response to volumes 1 and 2: both art and script lack dynamism and are thus unengaging; the concept is strong, but the execution weak; I'm struggling to see who these stories are for. I didn't laugh out loud at this one, though.
Dawn: "I tell you I have this theory? It goes where, you're the one who's not my sister. 'Cause mom adopted you from a shoe box full of baby howler monkeys, and never told you 'cause it could hurt your delicate baby feelings."
Buffy: "That's your theory?"
Dawn: "Explains your fashion sense... and smell."
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 5, Episode 5: "No Place Like Home"
The specific problem with "Parental Parasite" is pretty much what I expected: this story is pretty close to that of "No Place Like Home", in which Buffy suspects that her little sister Dawn is somehow causing her mother's illness, except that in this story, the little sister actually is evil. The concept is a good one - a demon that takes advantage of Joyce Summers' parental concern to show up how Buffy fails to meet her expectations, then reveal that Buffy is actually the better daughter because she's not so dependent on her Mom, or something. But the sense that we've been here before, and done better, never went away.
I'm not unaware that my pro-Dawn stance is a minority position, but redoing that story, set at an earlier date, but then having it go completely without comment at the later event strains my credulity a little. Not to mention that, for me, the most interesting possibility in doing new BtVS stories set in the High School years is showing those events as Buffy and friends remember them following the alteration of their memories by the Monks of Dagon. The demon in this story doesn't even get the chance to come across as sinister as Dawn does, either, and I can't imagine that there's any BtVS fan out there who wouldn't make that comparison.