Review: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Every Generation #1
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writers: Hilary Magruder, Morgan Beem, Lauren Garcia, Caitlin Yarsky
Artists: Lauren Knight, Morgan Beem, Caitlin Yarsky
Colors: Alex Guimaraes
Letters: Jim Campbell
Reviewer: Tony Farina
Summary
There are three stories in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Every Generation #1. The first follows some version of Buffy into the Hellmouth. We’ve been there before in recent months. Time and space are crazy down there. The second takes place in the Philippines in 1910 where a slayer and a demon find a way to work together. Sure, it sounds crazy, but we all know it happens.  Finally, in Dublin, 1947, we meet a slayer who gives the ultimate sacrifice to save a friend and try to stop Angelus, you know, before he got his soul back. He isn’t in it, but his evil nuns are.
Positives
This is a delight for so many different reasons. First, this ties directly into the new continuity. There are multiple dimensions. Our TV Buffy exists and yet, these other, new and old Buffys do too. This one has lost Willow and is in love with Cordy. OK. That is an interesting take on the tale we love. What works here is that in it, Buffy, regardless of who she is or whom she loves, is still willing to give up everything for those she loves. Slayer power on full display.
The other stories, while not directly Buffy related, fill in some excellent Slayer tales. I love Slayer tales and you will too. These are fast, but worth taking your time with. The art work by Morgan Beem in story two and Caitlin Yarsky in story three could not be more different, but they are both beautiful in their own rights. Beem’s panels feel like water color paintings come to life and Yarsky perfectly captures the dark and dirty feel of the 1940s in Dublin. Plus, evil nuns are always a plus.
Negatives
I don’t really see anything too terrible about these stories. They flow nicely. They are well written. They manage to create lasting characters in just a few pages. I suspect people will complain that Buffy is only in one story, but honestly, that is a minor issue and I have no problems with it.
Verdict
In the regular book, I like Buffy to be there, but this is a stand alone one shot that will move the main book along. In fact, I would prefer more of these. That way, the actual main book can just be about Buffy and the new Scoobies and these other stories can be told this way. If Joss and company wanted to make Every Generation a monthly, I think fans would really love that.
