Review: Buffy the Vampire Slayer #10
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer:Â Jordie Bellaire
Art:Â David Lopez
Colors:Â Raul Angulo
Letters:Â Ed Dukeshire
Reviewer:Â Tony Farina
Summary
Buffy The Vampire Slayer #10 starts with some bad news for Sunnydale. Buffy is still missing. The good news is there is a new Slayer in town, Kendra is her name. Her new Watcher is none other than Robin Wood, son of a former slayer and 16 year old high school student so, he is totally prepared, or not.
Meanwhile Cordy is abducted on her way to school and the Scoobies need to jump into action. Robin and Giles have some tense words as well. Yikes. While there is tension there, Willow tells Xander about her break up with Rose. Rose gives us some exposition about coming out to her dad. She wanders to Luke’s house. Then…Well, you’ll just have to read on to find out what happens there. There is such a thing as too many spoilers
Positives
Buffy the Vampire Slayer #10 is full of excellent art by David Lopez. There is not a lot of slaying in this issue but there is a lot of angst. He captures it perfectly. Robin is mad, he shows it. Kendra is put off, he shows it. The is so much showing and not a lot of telling. In visual mediums, that is kind of perfect. The fact that Lopez just lets us stew with the characters is an excellent choice. We get to know them so much better that way. Just take a look below
Negatives
This book could be called Sunnydale instead of Buffy. Sure, she looms large over the events, but we have not seen her outside of the Hellmouth series in a while. I suspect folks who are reading one are reading them all, but it is off putting to not have a glimpse of her. Also, Giles is kind of a rage monster. I get that this is not the Giles we know and love, but there is no real good reason for him to explode at Robin that way. It is unneeded drama in a series that has kidnapping, monsters and a mouth to hell. Yes, Buffy has always been about the drama too, but not like this. It just doesn’t work. It takes away from what is otherwise a snappy issue.
Verdict
Buffy the Vampire Slayer #10 continues to pull on the nostalgia strings. I love to see the scoobies together even though Xander is a vampire and Giles is a bit of a tool. The writing is strong. The art is fantastic. The book is just damn good. Plus, the last panel of this one is fantastic.
