Review: Buffy the Vampire Slayer #24
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Writer:Â Â Jeremy Lambert
Art: Ramon Bachs
Colors:Â Raul Angulo
Letters:Â Ed Dukeshire
Reviewer:Â Tony Farina
Summary
Buffy must make the biggest decision of her life – fight the Watcher’s Council or save the world from the threat of the Multiverse. But where does Giles and the rest of Team Slayer stand? Whichever she chooses, the world(s) as Buffy knows it will never be the same again- and neither will the Scooby Gang…
Positives
Buffy the Vampire Slayer #24 features some cracking art from Ramon Bachs but once again, I think it is colorist Raul Angelo who steals the show. It is a dark comic. Dark in tone (sometimes) but also dark in place. When you go to hell or fight demons or fight demons in hell, it has to be dark. The onus is totally on Angelo to make us feel the dark while allowing us to see what is going on. No one wants to see a black blob of nothing. We also don’t want to pretend it isn’t evening. I simply can’t say enough about it. However, I will shut up so you can see the work below.
See. Told you. Amazing.
Lambert is willing to kill a fan favorite. Wonder if it will stick? It is a comic. There is a multiverse. We shall see. It was a bold move and I applaud the choice.
Negatives
Buffy the Vampire Slayer #24 is still a bit of a mess. There are way too many characters PLUS we have other dimensions. Yes, that has been teased for a year. It is about time. I really think we could have gotten here a bit sooner and with many fewer people. Ironically, many of these side stories were introduced in one shots and then are folded in. I do think it is problematic that a lot of this story happens in other one shots. Not everyone wants to buy a bunch of stuff to know what is going on. Just keep the story tight and keep it going.
Verdict
Buffy the Vampire Slayer #24 has a final page that is a kick to the brain pan. Oh man. It is maybe my favorite final panel in this entire two year run, and there have been some doozies. I still miss Bellaire’s quick witted Buffyisms, but Lambert has a plan he seems to be willing to do fold time and space while breaking a few hearts along the way to make it happen.
