Characters Seen:
Amy
Andrew
Buffy
Dawn
Faith
Giles
Oz
Riley
Warren
Willow
Xander

This issue picks up with the Slayer/Wiccan team advancing on the soldiers as the Goddesses they summoned in the last issue lay waste to the battlefield.

Xander is calling for the Slayers to advance into the cleared areas and hold the territory.  In the meanwhile Slayers turn to one another asking if they have their powers back yet, but thus far they are all still powerless.

As the Goddesses continue destroying the soldiers, Warren is complaining to Amy and Twilight (there he is!  I knew he had to be somewhere around the fight!) that all of this was unnecessary, and that he was making progress with Andrew in tempting him to their side.

The General working with Twilight wants to pull his troops out, but Twilight says he wants the battle to continue so he can observe it.  The General says the Goddesses won’t stop until the troops are gone, but Twilight poses the thought that even that won’t stop them.

Xander & Dawn are giving the Slayers a talk on how to hold the ground they gain as the Goddesses push the troops back, and how they need to not just occupy it, but really make it theirs.  Dawn warns the Slayers that giants have a hard time knowing where they are stepping, so be careful.  Dawn asks Xander if her pores were that big when she was a giant, but Xander gives her a nervous & stuttering “no”.

Buffy and a few other Slayers are trying to turn a jeep upright and finally calls over Xander and Dawn to help them because they are still so weak.  Once it’s turned over, Buffy says she needs to get to something she saw in the middle of the battlefield, and Willow and Satsu (I think … I really hate Georges Jeantry’s art, it is impossible to tell who half the characters are as he lacks so many details) jumps in with her to head out.

Andrew and Giles are handing out more guns to the Slayers (er … shouldn’t that have been done ages ago?  Like, in issue #29?), and Andrew comments how he thought the Goddesses were supposed to make this be over quickly, but Giles say apparently they were wrong on that matter.

Inside the temple, Oz sits beside the ailing Bay who wants to know if the Goddess had come.  Oz tells her they did, and Bay says that they shouldn’t have come, which Oz isn’t sure if she means the Slayers or the Goddesses.  Bay simply replies with “We gave them everything.”

The jeep drives across the battlefield and Buffy keeps Willow from falling out as they get rocked by the footstep of one of the Goddesses.  Amy and Twilight watch through binoculars (which Warren wants to know why he doesn’t have a pair) and note that the Goddesses almost killed them.  As the jeep races across the battlefield, Buffy scrams at the Goddesses that they are the good guys, but then she notices that one of them is grabbing Slayers as well as the soldiers …

Buffy: The Goddesses, they’re not on our side.
Willow: What? We — They –
Buffy: They’re not on anyone’s side. They’re killers and we’re not getting our powers back.
Willow: We didn’t bring help. We brought death.

Dawn figures this out about the same time and calls for the Slayers to fall back to the temple.  As they enter, Oz asks Andrew why everyone is coming in and he says the Goddesses are killing indiscriminately.  Oz is confused since they called them, but Bay says it has been too long since they shared the surface with humans, they don’t recognize them.  A Slayer asks Faith if they are going to get their powers back, but she simply replies with, “No.”

Buffy finds Riley in the middle of the battlefield (HEY!  There he is!  We haven’t seen him since like issue #19!), he’s badly injured and she grabs him up into the jeep and tells Satsu (I’m still not sure …) to get him back to the temple for help.

As they drive back, they yell for the Slayers to take shelter where they can, and once back at the temple, Buffy gets Riley inside.  She calls for Xander who walks in and she runs over and hugs him with a smile, telling him she was worried about him (uh oh … after 8 seasons, we’re going THERE?!?).  A Slayer walks up and asks if Riley is a prisoner, Buffy says he isn’t and that he’s been working with them all along and he will tell them what Twilight has planned … which Andrew says he needs to wake up first.

Amy wonders why Buffy took Riley, which Twilight says he knows Riley was working with her all along.  Warren is confused as if Twilight knew this all along or is just figuring it out.  Amy tells him to shut up and they start arguing as Twilight starts to tell them they can’t trust anyone, anymore, and … he gives up as Amy and Warren continue arguing and walks away.

Buffy sits next to Riley and goes on about how he needs to wake up and help them figure out how to take out Twilight and the Goddesses at the same time, and how they need their powers back, and … Riley wakes up and says she needs a miracle, and he’s out.  He doesn’t know how she can win this.  Buffy wipes away tears and says, “No miracles.  No magicks.  So I guess what we have is …”

“… A losing battle.  Sometimes we fight them.  It’s unavoidable,” says Twilight.  The General says that they are just letting his men die, but Twilight says they were mortal and had to die sometime.  He says the Goddesses (who have now dug up the submarine and tossed it) will cleanse this valley and then move on to the next.

Buffy rallies the Slayers and Wiccans and tells them they aren’t getting their Magicks back, and they can’t run due to the Goddesses would move faster than they can.  So Buffy says they will stay at the temple, but do nothing to attract attention to themselves.  She says they need to collect their wounded, but then corrects herself to say also collect the wounded soldiers.  That they need to protect anything that bleeds.

As they march out, a soldier takes aim at Buffy, a Slayer shoves her out of the way, shooting the soldier, but in the meantime she shoves Buffy right into the hand of one of the Goddesses.  The Goddess lifts her up, looks at her, and drops her.

Five hours later Buffy wakes up, covered in snow and the Slayers and Wiccans are being marched off by the soldiers.  Buffy looks on from the distance, horrified.  She tries to center herself, she closes her eyes, meditates while standing up, opens her eyes and … screams “WHAT THE HELL?!” as she finds herself floating in the air high above the temple.

Decent issue, but the Riley thing would have had a lot more impact if we had seen him more than just the once so far this season.  It really lacked any emotional impact.  And, seriously, someone please replace Georges Jeanty as artist!  I am not one normally for knocking art, but when I have to figure out who is talking by knowing who is talking to them, your art sucks.  I know it isn’t always easy to capture a real person’s likeness, but this guy misses the mark so often it is actually distracting.

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Post from: SeanPAune.com

Buffy Season 8, Issue 30

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Characters Seen:
Andrew
Buffy
Dawn
Faith
Giles
Oz
Willow
Xander

The Slayers are preparing for traditional warfare as they know Twilight is coming.  Since they have been at Oz’s temple, they have surrendered their magicks up to the Earth to hide themselves, and now they are learning you can’t just flip a switch to bring them back.

The original Scoobies have split off to talk to various groups of Slayers about the coming attack, and the fact that without magicks they will have no force fields, no rapid healing and people will die.  Willow seems the most distraught by this and has an outburst during Buffy’s talk with a group of Slayers, Buffy tells her they need to have a sidebar.

They go off to speak with Oz and Bay (his Tibetan girlfriend in case you forgot), who is holding their baby.  Willow is screaming about how they said it would take months for the magicks to go away, but Bay explains that once you commit to it, you can’t just get it back on a whim.  Willow explains that this isn’t a “whim”, it’s a “need.”

Oz tries to comfort her, but Willow is still going on about how they agreed to be made weak.  Bay interrupts saying that they brought an army to her peaceful home, so who really has the right to be angry.  Oz asks Bay to hand him the baby, but Willow says there is no need to protect the baby, she isn’t mad at them, but instead is mad at herself.  She points to her eyes and says, “I’m so angry at me, I can’t believe these aren’t black.”

Willow goes on about this being the wrong decision, how she knows now she can’t have a family, that she must die in the future, which Buffy half-heartedly confirms.  The two old friends hug as Willow says that she could have all of this, but now she has lost everything.

Xander and Dawn are in the Slayer’s armory demonstrating a wide assortment of weapons to the now powerless girls.  Machine guns, mortars, various types of grenades, self-loading auto cannons and tons more.  Andrew asks Xander about “the big thing”, but he tells him not to worry about that.

Giles and Buffy are looking at two Chinese assault rifles on a bed when Buffy asks why he needs two.  He says one is for her, but she replies that Slayers don’t need guns.  He reminds her she is no longer a Slayer.  He asks what’s bothering her, but she brushes it off and says they need to find Andrew to discuss an idea she has.

We cut back to Xander and Dawn now training some Slayers on how to monitor the radar station, and trying to teach them the difference between “noise” and actual aircraft.  The Slayers feel out of place, like they won’t get it, but Xander and Dawn explain that they never had powers, and they could do this stuff, so surely the girls can.  One of them refers to the Scoobies as “Mama and Papa” which Dawn and Xander just smile about.

Buffy is talking with Andrew, she wants him to create illusions that they still have magicks.  While they talk, Andrew asks how she’s doing considering what she saw (we see a flashback to Xander and Dawn kissing), but she brushes it off.  An hour later Andrew has all sorts of smokes and potions cooking to make it appear that they still have their magicks

The temple is now surrounded by weapons, Dawn comments on how Buffy is strong even when she is weak, and she is worried about how they had to retreat even when they were strong.  Xander tries to comfort Dawn, and gives her a kiss, Buffy looks on with a pained look in her eye.

A Slayer spots a plane on the radar, three Slayers pop out with surface-to-air shoulder missiles and take it out, but it doesn’t matter as tanks are now rolling in across a small creek.  As the Slayers prepare, a werewolf appears and transforms into Monroe, the man that Oz mentioned left the temple.  He says his wolves have come to help as Twilight’s group wants to destroy all magicks, so this puts them on the same side.

The fight is joined and both sides are hitting each other hard.  The werewolves attack as they can, but …

Willow: Buffy, look.  We’re not even slowing them down.
Buffy: Yeah, I’m starting to think there’s a reason no one’s written a suspense novel where the conflict is wolves vs. tanks.

Xander shows up at Buffy’s request, she tells him she needs his big secret weapon … Xander says that sounds like a come-on if he’s ever heard one.  She says she has no time for jokes, but he says it used to amuse her.  She just tells him, “Get it.  Use it.  Now.”

The tank commanders are surprised to see a torpedo sliding down the hill towards them.  A Slayer asks is torpedoes even work on land … a tank explodes … someone shouts “TORPEDOES WORK ON LAND!”

The Slayers regroup in the radar room, but they are concerned they are losing, and they need the magicks.  It suddenly dawns on Willow that Bay has kept saying they “redirected” them, Buffy goes to find Bay and finds Oz is carrying a wounded Bay through the battlefield.  Oz asks for help to take care of Bay, but Buffy has to ask her where the magicks go.  Bay says they go into the Earth, but Buffy doesn’t believe her.  They get Bay inside and lay her down, and Buffy continues questioning her and says one of the words in the chant they have been doing is “invocation” and she knows they have been begging for something to help them, Bay says it is “wrathful goddesses.”

Bay says that is just ancient names for the Earth, but Buffy thinks “Earth” is just the modern word for these goddesses, and she thinks the magicks have been sucked out of them by the goddesses, and the more they got, the faster they took the magicks.  Bay says they have conducted a trade, and by giving them their powers, the goddesses protect them.  Buffy says she wants to cash in their trade.  Willow tells Buffy Bay has passed out from her wounds.

Willow runs off to get the scrolls, and Giles asks if this will work, going from pulling back to full-throttle forward.  Buffy says it does when she punches someone, and Giles says she has a good point.  Willow returns with the scrolls as the temple is rocked by an explosion, Buffy tells Xander and Dawn to buy them 10 minutes while they work on the scrolls.  Willow says it would be easier if they could read them, and Buffy says Bay can.  Buffy tries to wake up Bay, but Oz stops her.  Buffy says they need her help to keep everyone alive, and Bay wakes up long enough to say that if they have anger in them, they can call them … Buffy says she has some anger.

Outside the war rages on … the Earth cracks open … colored mist shoots out of it, and three ancient looking goddesses appear in giant size as the issue draws to a close.

Nice to see a lot of action in this issue, although the cover misleads you and you never see Twilight in this issue.  You aren’t sure if Buffy is jealous of Dawn kissing Xander instead of her, or is she’s just disturbed by the whole situation.  For the first time in quite a

If you enjoy these recaps, please consider purchasing your Buffy, the Vampire Slayer trade paperbacks through the links below to help support this site.

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Post from: SeanPAune.com

Buffy Season 8, Issue 29

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Characters Seen:
Amy
Andrew
Buffy
Dawn
Faith
Giles
Oz
Willow
Xander

We open up this issue with Andrew going to see Giles in the middle of the night.  Giles informs him there had better be a demon attack, and Andrew replies there is … or could be.  Giles goes to close the door, but Andrew puts his hand up and tells Giles that there is a spy in their midst.

Andrew tells him that he feels Warren finding him in the catacombs of Rome confirms it.  Giles says he doesn’t see the connection, but Andrew says that Twilight is good at being evil and at turning people, even making them kill.  Giles tells Andrew that is he starts spreading this theory that it will just result in finger pointing in other badness and tells him to drop it.  Andrew keeps on point, but Giles tells him to go to bed.

Not yet discouraged, Andrew heads back to his room and retrieves a video camera he had Xander pick up for him on his last trip in to town (remember they are still at Oz’s temple in the Himalyas – Sean).  He says he will start observing everyone, including Oz’s puppy as he struck Andrew as being “a bit dodgy”.

Andrew decides to start by speaking with Bay, Oz’s new girlfriend, about the process of getting magicks out of your life.  She tells him it is all about redirecting them into the Earth.  She tells him that it is also a mixture of meditation and hard work that will let you disconnect from the magicks, so Slayers are doing things like weaving, farming, churning butter, taking apart the submarine to trade its parts for high tech defenses and more.  They are also training the Slayers in traditional forms of fighting as they realize the girls will still face dangers.

With that interview complete, Andrew opts to start talking with the more disgruntled Slayers that are unhappy with how things are going.  This includes a brief interview with Satsu who’s only real comment is that she feels weak, and she doesn’t like it.  A few other Slayers complain, but they don’t linger on it for long.

Andrew decides to hide in a tree and observe Faith as she has always stood apart from the others.  He finds her and Buffy attempting to move a large boulder out of a field while a cat plays around on the boulder.  The conversation he captures isn’t one he expected:

Buffy: Man, this sucks.
Faith: Oooof
Buffy: Maybe we could just plant the garden around the boulder and call it a feature?
Faith: You miss what we’re giving up, don’t you?
Buffy: You don’t?
Faith: (she and Buffy are now using part of a tree to leverage the boulder out) It got to me. What we had to do. What I had to do. I’m not strong enough to have to be that strong. Good riddance.
Buffy: Every life meant something to you. Every one.
Faith: They did to you, too.
Buffy: Did they? I don’t know. I guess that’s why I need this. I need to feel that connected. I don’t want to stand … to stand over people any more.
Faith places a comforting hand on Buffy’s shoulder.

Andrew finds the bonding nice and moves on to observing Xander and Dawn as every one is a suspect.

Dawn: What do you suppose this says?
Xander: On the Chinese land mine? That says, ‘This side towards enemy.’
Dawn: How do you know? That’s what is says on claymores, but maybe the Chinese label the other side?
Xander: Humans point to the danger, not the sage. It’s a thing about humans.
Dawn: Maybe we should point to the safe sometime.
Xander: Maybe that’s what we’re doing here?
Dawn: Right. A chance. To have a life. For you to go for what you want, Xander.

Andrew wonders about Dawn’s cryptic reference, and is the thing Xander wants something that Twilight can give to him?

When he next catches up to Xander, he is sitting on a hill top with Buffy … and a yak.  Xander wants to know if Buffy has told Willow the big secret yet.  Buffy asks which one, and Xander reminds her of killing Willow in the future.  She says she worries about telling her because it might be what turns her evil.  While they talk, Buffy is sucking her thumb, and Xander asks if that is because of the secret, but Buffy informs him she has a splinter and it hurts like heck.  Apparently her powers are indeed leaving her if a splinter can hurt her now, and Buffy speculates she can feel more now.  Xander takes her hand in both of his and asks her to tell him.

They lay on the hilltop, and you get the distinct feeling of a potential kiss between the two as Buffy says there are very few people she loves … she resolves to talk to Willow.  Xander says she should come find him as soon as the two of them have talked, and she promises she will.

Andrew goes to interrogate Giles about knowing that Willow is going to go Dark Willow again.  Andrew confronts Giles about Will going Dark again, and Giles attempts to avoid it, but Andrew finally screams at him to answer the question, and he does … Willow will go Dark again.  Andrew says he wants to follow her for the safety of everyone, and if he finds anything they can deal with her.  Giles agrees with him, much to Andrew’s surprise.

The video switches to Andrew filming himself drawing a picture of Dark Willow coming after him and Jonathan.  It’s child-like in nature, but you get the idea, and he says they have a past, but he loves “real Willow”, and so he finds this all –he flips the page he’s drawing on to a snapped apart heart — heartbreaking.

Oz is sitting on Willow’s bed, holding his baby, as Willow is talking angrily about how she can’t seem to get a handle on dumping the magicks.  In the background the cat and the “dodgy” puppy are playing.  Oz is telling her it’s easy, she just has to work at it, instead of pulling the energy from around her, she needs to dump it in to the Earth instead of bottling all of the “poison” inside herself.  She asks, “But without the poison, what am I?”  Oz says that was a telling statement.

Willow continues being pissed off, and Oz wants to know why.  She says she’s angry with him because he got out of the game, he went out and had a real life, but now she feels like he is being fake and his true self.  He says this is real, and Willow can have a child too if she wants, she says he can’t.  Oz says there’s adoption and donors … Willow says it’s more about what she is and what she has to do.  Oz hugs her and tells her again she can just let it go, but she says she can’t.  Oz asks if she wants to watch the baby for a while, Willow seems shocked Oz would trust her, and asks him such.

Andrew cuts the video to himself again and says that was intense and he should follow Willow, but he can’t find her at first.  When he does finally catch up with her, Buffy has found her, and Willow seems to be enjoying her time with the baby.  As Willow begins talking about how she is finally believing she could have a life, that for so long she had thought she was just a force, and that meant no babies, but now she’s thinking different, and … “I killed you in the future,” Buffy interjects.

Buffy continues her apology:

Buffy: I went to the future and you there and very dark and I killed you and and I’m so sorry I didn’t tell –
Willow: It wasn’t me.
Buffy: What?
Willow: Sorry, because I know you meant this to be all dramatic and cleansy, and I know it must’ve been terrible for you, but that … if that was a possible me, I don’t think it still is.

And if it still is, well … I’ll work harder at this no-magic thing. So that it won’t be possible.
Buffy: It’s really — we’re really okay?
Willow: We’re great.

They hug, and Buffy says she is going to find Xander as she promised to find him after they talked.  Willow says Xander is a good guy, and Buffy agrees.  Willow adds after her, “We can all have futures, Buffy.  Even you.”

As she walks the halls, she tells Andrew to leave her alone with the camera, and as she gets to a door, Andrew dramatically narrates the scene of something stopping Buffy in her tracks … Andrew peaks in the room to see Xander and Dawn kissing.  He pans back to Buffy who looks stunned and finally says, “Go away, Andrew.”

At last Andrew gathers the Slayers to tell of his suspicions, and he apologizes to Willow dor suspecting her, and … as he talks, the cat that has been in the background all issue disappears in a light … Xander announces it must have been Amy.  Buffy calls for the Slayers to get ready … Twilight is coming for them.

You know, when this Buffy series started, I thought it would be nice to do these posts for the world, but 28 issues later, these things are taking me a minimum of 3 hours to write up as I have to decide how to describe each scene, what to quote, etc.  Please, for the love of all things Buffy, let us get to the end of this season!

That being said … interesting issue.  It felt like more stuff got advanced than it has in a long time.  The Xander/Dawn kiss is … well … it’s kinda icky.  The tension has always been there, but it just feels weird to “see” it happen finally.  Especially with Buffy apparently finally getting feelings for him.

Willow just saying, “Oh, I won’t go Dark, la la la” … um, yeah, this is Joss Whedon we’re talking about here, she just doomed herself to going full-on Dark again.

See ya in a month.

If you enjoy these recaps, please consider purchasing your Buffy, the Vampire Slayer trade paperbacks through the links below to help support this site.

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Post from: SeanPAune.com

Buffy Season 8, Issue 28

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Wow… just… wow.  This is huge news in the entertainment industry, and just business in general.  Here is the official announcement:

August 31, 2009
DISNEY TO ACQUIRE MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT

Burbank, CA and New York, NY, August 31, 2009 —Building on its strategy of delivering quality branded content to people around the world, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) has agreed to acquire Marvel Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:MVL) in a stock and cash transaction, the companies announced today.

Under the terms of the agreement and based on the closing price of Disney on August 28, 2009, Marvel shareholders would receive a total of $30 per share in cash plus approximately 0.745 Disney shares for each Marvel share they own. At closing, the amount of cash and stock will be adjusted if necessary so that the total value of the Disney stock issued as merger consideration based on its trading value at that time is not less than 40% of the total merger consideration.

Based on the closing price of Disney stock on Friday, August 28, the transaction value is $50 per Marvel share or approximately $4 billion.

“This transaction combines Marvel’s strong global brand and world-renowned library of characters including Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Thor with Disney’s creative skills, unparalleled global portfolio of entertainment properties, and a business structure that maximizes the value of creative properties across multiple platforms and territories,” said Robert A. Iger, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company. “Ike Perlmutter and his team have done an impressive job of nurturing these properties and have created significant value. We are pleased to bring this talent and these great assets to Disney.”

“We believe that adding Marvel to Disney’s unique portfolio of brands provides significant opportunities for long-term growth and value creation,” Iger said.

“Disney is the perfect home for Marvel’s fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses,” said Ike Perlmutter, Marvel’s Chief Executive Officer. “This is an unparalleled opportunity for Marvel to build upon its vibrant brand and character properties by accessing Disney’s tremendous global organization and infrastructure around the world.”

Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of Marvel including its more than 5,000 Marvel characters. Mr. Perlmutter will oversee the Marvel properties, and will work directly with Disney’s global lines of business to build and further integrate Marvel’s properties.

The Boards of Directors of Disney and Marvel have each approved the transaction, which is subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, certain non-United States merger control regulations, effectiveness of a registration statement with respect to Disney shares issued in the transaction and other customary closing conditions. The agreement will require the approval of Marvel shareholders. Marvel was advised on the transaction by BofA Merrill Lynch.

This just blows me away as someone who has been in and around the comic book industry for decades now. I remember when Marvel was trading below a dollar a share and it looked like the company was going to completely collapse. If anyone had ever told me this was coming, I would have laughed my behind off.  (If I also had bought shares like I considered at one point, I would be dancing a jig right now…)

Marvel was truly on its last legs there for a while, and then thanks to some new owners coming in, the company turned around and started to grow like crazy.  The core business is no longer the comic books, but that is still the base upon how all of the other properties grow.  It is no exageration that Marvel has a stable of 5,000 characters, and what Disney can do with them could be massive.  You thought the Marvel movies were doing well before?  Just wait until you see what happens with them now that the Disney marketing machine will be behind them.

After the initial dust settles here, it will be interesting to see how things shake out.

• Will we see Marvel properties on TV?  Disney owns a slew of television property, they could fill time slots until our eyes bleed.
• How will the theme parks settle out?  Universal Studios currently features Marvel characters, so will they have to relinquish those licensing agreements, or will they now be paying a license fee to Disney?  (something I am sure they will hate doing)
• Will all current movie plans stand as-is for now?  I.E. will we still see the mondo Avengers movie that is being planned?

This is absolutely huge, and honestly somewhat difficult to wrap your brain around.  The deal prett much came out of nowhere, and everyone seems to be going “wha…?”  The concept of Disney owning characters like Wolverine and the Punisher IS highly amusing though…

I am sure this won’t be the last post you see on this.

Post from: SeanPAune.com

Walt Disney Buys Marvel For $4 Billion In Stock And Cash

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Characters Seen:
Amy
Buffy
Dawn
Giles
Oz
Warren
Willow
Xander

We open on Amy peering into a bowl and telling Twilight (HEY!  Remember him?  The big bad of this “season”?  Yeah, nice to see him again!) that all of the Slayers drowned.  He screams that the bowl lies and smacks it from Amy’s hands.  He also informs her that he “knows Buffy too well” to believe she would die silently.  Warren picks up on the reference, but nothing is said about it as they continue to search for all the missing Slayers.  Someone else in the room says they think they know where all of them went, and…

We cut to the submarine still sitting in the mountains in Tibet next to a temple.  Willow, Buffy, Giles, Dawn and Xander sit on the porch drinking tea with Oz.  A woman named Bay is serving the tea, and Oz explains “She’s the rest of me.”  He also says they should all meet the baby… a puppy barks and everyone jumps and stares at it.

Oz: Yeah. No.  See that’s the dog.

Another woman appears carrying a baby, and Oz introduces them all to him, but Giles and Buffy press Oz with the subject that they need to know if he can help them suppress the magical footprint they leave everywhere they go.

Oz flashes back to arriving at the temple, and the monks greeting him silently.  He tells them that a warlock in Romania sent him and he would appreciate it if they could do something soonish as the full moon is rising in the sky.  He changes and crushes the tea cup in his hand.

Next time we see him he is in a cage and Bay is offering him butter tea.  She sits outside the cage and they stare at one another.

Oz says they gave him herbs, charms and chants to help push the wolf down, and although he slipped a few times, he felt he was getting better.  he decided he could try to go back to America and we see a one panel reference to the episode where he changed and attacked Tara.  After that he went back to the temple and tried again, though he admits he sometimes has to fight the urge to just give in to it.

We cut back to Twilight talking with the guy who said they may have figured out where to locate the Slayers due to a spike in magic readings.  Another person says it’s an artifact, but Twilight wants to go to the location and check it out.

Oz continues his tale of learning to control his wolf side.  Bay says it was she that stopped Oz from giving into the wolf, and she taught him about the original religion of Tibet, Bon.  She taught him about the spirtual being in all things around them, and that if they just sat there and watched it, they would know they were a part of it.

He learned that containing the wolf wasn’t the way to do things, but you have to let the energy pass through you, back into the Earth.  From the art, this is when Oz fell for Bay, but he doesn’t discuss it.  We learn that more people started coming to the temple to learn how to control their werewolves (this isn’t made clear until later, but I’m spoiling you now to save myself trouble later on)  Specifically Oz tells them about an Englishman named Monroe he suffered terribly, but at the temple he find almost immediate relief.  He goes on about how you have to let the wolf pass through during the full moon and pass back in to the Earth.  (Yes, it jumped randomly in the book, I didn’t skip ahead)

Bay offers everyone more butter tea, they all pass saying they aren’t used to butter in their tea, but Bay says it isn’t really butter, just milk directly from Yaks.  (Everyone yaks)  Bay offers them a tour, and as they go to leave, Oz asks Willow if they’re okay.  She says something is bothering her, but not what he thinks and she’ll tell him later.

Oz tells them it takes about a year of full moons to get it right.  When Monroe felt he was ready, he went back in to the world and brought back dozens of new followers.  Then they discovered they had a rival to deal with.

Buffy: The Buddihists?
Oz: yeah, those safron-robed jerks were kicking our ass.
Giles: Really?
Oz: No, not really.  They don’t do that.

It seems that  Monroe decided to set up his own school of training that thinks like, Willow says “Like Veruca”, and Oz confirms it.  The group of werewolves that Monroe leads embraces their wolf sides.  Darn says Slayers are similar, but everyone shoots her a dirty look.

Monroe’s werewolves attacked Oz’s temple during a full moon while the bad wolves were at their strongest, and Oz’s were at their weakest.  The monks were killed, and just as Monroe is coming at Oz, Oz stops the story and Dawn cries out “Suspenseful!”

Amy is casting a spell for Twilight, and she believes she has pinpointed the source of the magical spike.  Someone else in the group comments on how wrong it is for them to be using magic when they are against it, but it goes unheard.

Back to Oz, Bay transformed and attacked the werewolf facing down Oz, killing it.  The others ran off, and Oz says from then on they carried knives.  Bay regrets what she did as she fears she made him in to a martyr.  Oz apologizes to Willow for not telling her about Bay and the baby, but Willow says that isn’t her problem.  She says she is jealous of his life and future, and she apologizes to him for being like that.

Meanwhile, Buffy and Bay talk:

Buffy: Twilight is tracking us, we need to learn to not be magical.
Bay: Really?  Because not teleporting submarines is a good first step.

The group conversation continues and Giles asks if Oz thinks his ways can help, to which Buffy adds that he must remember that Slayers are all magic all the time.  Oz thinks that his methods will help tone things down.  Bay says they most be devoted, if they don’t let it take complete hold that it could be more dangerous than not trying at all… Bay is interrupted as a werewolf attacks, she cuts it in the side with a knife and it runs off.  Oz continues and says that if this doesn’t work, Buffy has just made his home into a very big target.

Twilight and his people arrive where they think the spike happened to discover no one is there.  One of the random Twilight soldiers explains that the echo probably bounced due to the mountains, but Twilight says that this will not stand.

Oz says the Slayers need to exert themselves physically to wear themselves down to the mental aspect… so they go to bury the submarine.

Twilight says the man who found the spike is to be killed, and no one is to worry, Buffy and the Slayers can’t help what they are, and they will find them eventually.

If you enjoy these recaps, please consider purchasing your Buffy, the Vampire Slayer trade paperbacks through the links below to help support this site.

Buffy Season 8, Vol. 1	Buffy Season 8, Vol. 2	Buffy Season 8, Vol. 3
Includes Issues #1 – #5	Includes Issues #6 – #10	Includes Issues #11 – #15
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Includes Issues #16 – #20	Includes Issues #21 – #25	Includes all 8 issues of the series
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Post from: SeanPAune.com

Buffy Season 8, Issue 27

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Back in February I talked about having just completed watching all of Batman: The Animated Series, and commented how nice it was to see some form of media outside of the comic books get the Batman formula correct. Well, after completing that series I moved on to the next animated Batman project, Batman Beyond.

Running from January 10, 1999 to December 18, 2001, Batman Beyond took place approxiamtely 20 years in the future (um… yeah… flying cars, impossibly large buildings, completely AI robots, all of that’s only 20 years from now… uh-huh) after an ailing Bruce Wayne has had to retire the mantle of the Batman.  Gotham City has been without a Batman for several years now, and crime is again on the rise: random crimes, teenagers who worship the deceased Joker run gangs called The Jokers, corporate crimes and a whole lot more.

Terry McGinnis is a 16-year-old that has a troubled past, but after his father is killed for discovering wrong doings at the Wayne-Powers corporation, he becomes obsessed with discovering why his father was killed.  While trying to figure out what happened to his father, he questions Bruce Wayne and stumbles across his long buried secret.  Terry decides to take up the idenity of the Batman against Wayne’s wishes, but he begrudgingly accepts him for training and they form a partnership where Bruce stays in the Bat Cave and directs him via video and audio feeds.  (Much, much later, it was revealed in an episode of Justice League Unlimited that Bruce was actually Terry’s biological father via DNA manipulation, but even Bruce was unaware of this early on)

Having watched all three seasons I have to say it wasn’t nearly as bad as some people have made it out to be.  The villians weren’t quite as strong as Batman’s original Rogue’s Gallery which leads to some moments where you feel no real challenge to Terry’s Batman.  The series did seem to spend a lot more time on actual character development than Batman: The Animated Series, which as fine with me as I prefer seeing characters develop over time as opposed to just never ending fight after fight.  Considering some of the views online, I appear to be pretty much alone in this opinion, but oh well, I liked it.

Apparently Comcast subscribers can check out the first season on the Kids WB on Demand service, beyond that you can pick it up fairly cheap on DVD and it’s worth a look if you missed it when it aired and are desperate for something to watch.  Would I go out of my way to see it?  Doubtful, but it was entertaining while I was lifting weights.  Next up: The Batman (which I am already in season 2 of, just didn’t have time to write this up before)

Post from: SeanPAune.com

Batman Beyond

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Gizmodo found this little gem being produced by Universal Designs.  While there is no price announced yet, I’m imagining it won’t be cheap.  Just take a look a gander at some of the information about it:

• Strong Cordura Mesh Base with Heavy-duty 4 way stretch Spandex inserts.
• Removable CE Approved Body Armor in both Jacket and Pants
• Highly detailed, removable lightweight interior lining.
• Form Molded Leather and Kevlar Armor Sectons.
• Made from Quality Tanned Cow Hides

Who in the world is the target demographic for this thing?  Somehow I don’t see many comic book geeks being bikers, and I don’t see a whole lot of bikers wanting a bat emblem on their chest and the hooks coming off of the gauntlets.  This one is really a head scratcher, and I’ve seen some wacky product tie-ins in my day, but this one ranks pretty high on the list for sure.

Now… if I could just have a Bat Pod to drive while wearing it..

Post from: SeanPAune.com

How To Get Laughed Out Of A Biker Bar

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Ryan Reynolds, known for movies such as Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Smokin’ Aces, Waiting, Van Wilder and so on has been cast as Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern of Sector 2814, in the upcoming Warner Brothers Green Lantern movie.  This ends all of the speculation that has been circulating for ages now as to who would play the arguably deepest comic book role to come to come to the silver screen yet.

Yes, you heard me right, this is a lot deeper role than most people would suspect.  While I would still probably give the crown to Batman/Bruce Wayne as the deepest character, Hal Jordan is a very, very close second.  Hal is a flawed man from long before Abin Sur, the previous Green Lantern for the sector, gives him the ring.  Sure a Green Lantern is to be a person without fear and a strong will, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t flawed in other ways.  Hal’s biggest problem is his sense of self-righteousness that, while it serves the purposes of the Green Lantern Corps at times, can also lead to many conflicts between himself and the Guardians of the Universe (the creators of the Green Lantern Corps).

While the character of Hal has always has a strong sense of humor, something Reynolds is best known for playing, I am completely unsold on his ability to bring the depth to this character that it needs.  The only time I have seen him play something close to a serious role was in Smokin’ Aces, and that was really only the closing scene of the film.  I haven’t seen his version of The Amityville Horror, and perhaps that would sell me more, but I’m doubting it.

Martin Campbell (Casino Royale, The Mask of Zorro) has been chosen as the director, so the film is finally beginning to take shape.  The big questions we are left with now is how much of the film will cover of Hal’s origin.  Will the Corps even be mentioned, or will it be saved for a possible sequel?  Who will be the villain?  Will they wait to introduce Sinestro?  Will Carol Ferris, Hal’s long time love, be factored in?  Will Hal utter his famous oath to recharge his ring?

In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night
No Evil Shall Escape My Sight
Let Those Who Worship Evil’s Might
Beware My Power, Green Lantern’s Light

… that had better be in the film or I may scream.  And they had better not change one word of it either!

If the studio plays its cards correctly, they have the beginnings of a whole new franchise series on its hands, and that is another part of Mr. Reynolds casting that worries me.  He has been the lead in comedies for the most part, and I am concerned that they really are going the comedy route with this role than the drama it could be.  They have to find the right balance between the funny side of Hal Jordan, and the angst ridden man who reluctantly accepts the mantle of a galactic cop.

I wish every one involved with the film the best of luck, but I also hope that you don’t mess this up… please, don’t mess this up…

Post from: SeanPAune.com

Ryan Reynolds Is Green Lantern

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Characters Seen:
Amy (mentioned/off screen)
Andrew
Buffy
Dawn
Faith
Giles
Kennedy
Oz
Warren
Willow
Xander

We open on a sea gull carrying a fish, and the fish is complaining about how it liked the other way they did, but the seagull says they are all about sneaky now.

(No… I did not imagine all of that… stop looking at me funny! – Sean)

The seagull (who is obviously Willow) says to the fish (Buffy), that people now report when they see a witch and a Slayer flying, leading Buffy to concede it’s for the best.  Buffy asks Willow to turn her so she can look down and they discuss how their new base if fully concealed on an island, and it appears to be totally uninhabited.

After landing on the ground, and turning back to their normal forms, the pair walk in to a new castle discussing how they just need to keep from being found, and that Willow has an army of witches going day & night to keep the magicks powered.  They are using so much power now that Willow says they are beginning to warp the grid.  Buffy immediately turns to ask her if she’s alright or if she’s being pushed too far, to which Willow says she is fine, but is confused why Buffy is so concerned all of a sudden.  (Remember, Buffy encountered Dark Willow in the future a few issues back – Sean)

Buffy says she’s just being vigilant and that the best thing for them to do right now is to disappear, to which Satsu (huh?  When did she show back up? – Sean, yet again) questions what they are waiting for, “The judgment of history?”

We cut to Berlin where we find Faith and Giles living/hiding in a Nazi bunker from World War II.  Faith isn’t thrilled with where they are, but Giles assures her it is for the best.  Faith leaps up at the sound of pounding, and Giles says not to worry as the door is ten-inch thick steal.

… the door blows inwards, and demons pour into the bunker.

Faith says being underground was a bad idea since that is where demons live, but Giles reminds her that above ground humans fear them.  They fight their way to another room and lock themselves in.

In Rome, Andrew leads a group of Slayers through the catacombs under the city.  As they wander through a room filled with human bones in a decorative pattern, they hear a noise in another section that Andrew decides to go check out on his own.  As Andrew shines a light in the room, he sees a bloody foot with no skin on it moving… it’s Warren.  While Andrew screams and tries to run, Warren begs him to stay.  He says that Amy is done with him and is removing the spell that replaces his skin a ittle at a time so he is in horrible pain.

Warren says that he wanted to see Andrew one last time before he dies, and that he was misled and wrong.  He really felt that if Andrew killed Jonathan that they could live as gods.  He says he feels like a fool and is ashamed, but he figures Andrew knows how that feel living with the Slayer fascists.

Andrew says it’s nothing like that, but Warren informs him that Keith Olbermann referred to them as modern day “black shirts”.  Andrew is aghast “Keith” said that.  Just as Warren says he has a proposal for Andrew, a Slayer screams “GOATMEN!  GOATMEN!” and a young Slayer falls dead near Andrew.  He turns to see a large goat creature, and Warren shouts about Amy not giving him enough time to trick Andrew.  A massive fight breaks out with Andrew shouting at the Slayers to use the decorative bones in the room as weapons.  One Slayer finally shouts there is a way out.

Next we see Buffy and Faith riding in a box car across Germany, and that they need to get to Buffy… Andrew mumbles “Buffy” as he rides in the bed of a truck with his remaining Slayers… Willow and Kennedy are asleep in bed when Willow sits upright and yells out she needs to find Buffy.

Kennedy, Willow, Xander and Dawn stand outside Buffy’s bedroom door while Willow knocks and asks if she’s alone and can they come in.  They all agree it’s a good idea to check… (remember, they all walked in on Buffy in bed with Satsu – Sean)  Once they get in, Willow deals out the bad news:

Willow: I just got an alert.  They found us.
Buffy: Who found us?
Willow: Everyone.
Buffy pauses
Buffy: Which everyone?
Willow: Giles Faith, Andrew, five Slayers from the Italian group and every demon in Scotland.
Willow: … They’re not together.
Buffy: Use your magic! Get them inside!
Dawn: Not the demons.
Buffy: Not the demons.
Dawn: Good call.

The command center of the Slayer HQ is filled with hugging reunions as Willow hugs Giles and Andrew hugs Faith.  Satsu tells Buffy they snuck them in under the barricade and that’s it for people in or out unless they get breached.

Buffy hugs Giles and tells him she’s glad he’s back and he agrees.  (Okay, another interjection here… all “season” we’ve been told they had a falling out and it was ugly, and now they just hug and that’s it? – Sean)  After Buffy wipes her tears away she wants a run down of the defenses.  Xander says he has cameras and after that it is all Willow’s magicks team, and she rattles off a long list of defenses until Satsu calls out that the demons have arrived and another Slayer says the shields are already heating up.

Xander’s camera are quickly taken out so everyone heads to the roof as Willow has Wicca-Slayers up there alreadyw ith three layers of shielding.  Once they get up there we see just how many demons there are, and there is a bunch.  Xander spots they’ve brought siege engines with them to take the castle, and as Buffy makes a comment about midevial tech, a tank begins to roll across the bridge to the castle. Willow calls out for the birdge spell to go down and suddenly the land bridge disappears, dropping the tank and numerous demons into the water.

They think they have this won since this only leaves them with catapults, and then they see they are loading those with napalm, impact bombs and more.  A Wiccan-Slayer calls out that another shield has fallen just as napalm comes at them and you see numerous Slayers on the ground fly away from the explosion.  A Wiccan-Slayer falls over in a look of shock, Willow says she’s got brain-fry and is dead.

Satsu bring up a demon prisoner and Willow leaps at him saying she’s take him and both of them disappear in a crackle of pink energy.  Giles wonders where they went while Faith is ready to jump into the fray and Buffy says something has to be done as girls are dying.  Willow returns and says that a certain skinless demon just told her that they are all using the magicks as a beacon.  Just then the Wiccan-Slayers call out that the final shield is down and Buffy calls for everyone to head to the submarine.

We cut to Buffy and Giles talking on the sub where Buffy is defending Willow’s methods of getting the information, but Giles interjects that Buffy is going to lose Willow again, to which Buffy replies that he doesn’t know the half of it.  Buffy fills him on her trip to the future and how she had to kill Future Dark Willow.  Giles says normally he would be asked to be convinced, but he figured they don’t have the time to discuss it.  They move on to how the magicks are acting like a beacon to Twilight, and Buffy begins to wonder if maybe people are right about them being evil, and as she ponders it, Faith walks in asking if they know where they’re heading.  Giles says “no”, but Buffy says “yes” and says they need Willow to cast one last big spell, but they are going somewhere to be with a person who is about the most non-magic person around.

A shrine in the mountains, calm, peaceful, a man sits on the porch meditating until a wind chime tings, and his eye pops open.  In front of the shrine, on dry land, sits a submarine.

Oz says “huh”.

Okay… you know, I’ve complained about the stand-alone issues, but this issue is the first of a new story arc and I feel like I have been raced through a ton of events here.  What is the story behind Giles and Buffy now?  When did Twilight discover their hiding spot?  After two years of this series, it’s nice to see us finally getting back to the original story.

On a side note… I despise Georges Jeanty’s artwork.  Half the time I have to piece together who’s talking, or judge it strictly on hair color.  He is not a good artist, sorry, but it’s true.

See you back here for issue #27.

If you enjoy these recaps, please consider purchasing your Buffy, the Vampire Slayer trade paperbacks through the links below to help support this site.

Buffy Season 8, Vol. 1	Buffy Season 8, Vol. 2	Buffy Season 8, Vol. 3
Includes Issues #1 – #5	Includes Issues #6 – #10	Includes Issues #11 – #15
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Buffy Season 8, Vol. 4	Buffy Season 8, Vol. 5	Fray Mini-Series
Includes Issues #16 – #20	Includes Issues #21 – #25	Includes all 8 issues of the series
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Post from: SeanPAune.com

Buffy Season 8, Issue 26

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As with almost every comic book character that makes it to the big screen, numerous changes have been made to Whiplash.  You can read the rather lengthy official bio over at the Marvel Comics website, but essentially he was an American that went to work for Stark Industries (as in Tony Stark’s company), fell in with a bad crowd, became a supper villain… you know how that goes.  Well, somehow in the moie he is now Russian, and reportedly just escaped from prison (check the orange outfit on his lower half in the large picture).

When it was first reported that Rourke was playing a Russian villain in the film, the natural conclusions where that he was either playing Titanium Man or The Crimson Dynamo, but instead they have to mess around with another character for no good reason.  Luckily I have a lot of trust in Jon Favreau as a director and storyteller, so I won’t totally scratch my head at this one yet, but it does seem like a totally unnecessary change.

If you’re wondering about the lighted piece on his chest looking so much like Iron Man’s, Mr. Favreau said to USA Today that is intentional and somehow figures into the plot of the film.  I have my suspicions of how, but I won’t spoil it for those who aren’t familiar with the overall driving forces of the Iron Man series.

Iron Man 2 is due for release May 7th, 2010 with Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Sam Rockwell (playing Justin Hammer), Scarlett Johansson (playing Black Widow), Don Cheadle and Samuel L. Jackson.

Post from: SeanPAune.com

Mickey Rourke As Whiplash In Iron Man 2

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