It shouldn’t be a secret that I’ve not been a fan of this series. Quite recently, I said that I just wanted it to end so I could see if Season Ten would be an improvement. Having just finished Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine #25 (written by Andrew Chambliss, illustrated by Georges Jeanty) I don’t even have that optimism anymore. No, it’s not completely dead in the water and it would be possible for them to right the ship again, as shown by the awesome series that was Angel & Faith, but they don’t leave me with much confidence.
The problem is, I can’t tell you why I’m so frustrated with this issue. It’s the polar opposite of Angel & Faith #22 in that, while everything that affected me is a spoiler, they’re all in a bad way. Like that issue, I’m going to have to be very oblique here – I may do something like I did there and spoil the hell out of it in a later article because, well, this kind of needs it. It makes almost all the mistakes that Angel & Faith avoided, and I know I’m spending a lot of time comparing the two, but they set themselves up for it by publishing the two concurrently and putting out the finale of one before the other.
When I got to the end of this issue, I felt like the majority of the season was wasting time, which I already suspected but hoped they’d be better than. With one huge exception, which has a laundry list of its own problems, things haven’t really changed from the status quo at the beginning of the season. I can’t even say that it’s needed for the sake of continuity, so there’s not even that going for it.
That big exception? Can’t talk about it here, and all I do is shake my head at how dumb it is. More on that some other time.
One of the reasons that I hate how badly this book affects me is the art. I quite enjoy Georges Jeanty’s art, and it’s not at fault for what’s wrong with the series. He’s been drawing this series and these characters since 2007 now, and it shows. There’s really nothing new here anymore, so if you liked his art earlier in this series or even in Season Eight (he didn’t draw all of it, but a lot of it), you’ve already seen just about everything and it’s only improved since.
I wish I liked this more. I wish I could recommend this issue at all, but unless you’re a completionist who was already going to buy this anyway, don’t. I love Buffy, kind of obsessed really, and even I’m going to wait until I can get the trade for $10 instead of paying $2.99 for an issue. It’s just not even worth it. I can hope that Season Ten is better and I’m not giving up on that, but I’m glad this is done and afraid of what the future might hold.
Zac Kandell (known mostly on the internet as Mischlings) will admit that Christos Gage taking over the main Buffy series in Season Ten would change his mind in a second, but knows better than to hope too much. If you find what he says interesting, follow him on Twitter at @Mischlings for more, shorter thoughts. Occasionally.
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