Comic Review: Buffy The Vampire Slayer #3

Buffy The Vampire Slayer #3

BOOM! Studios

Writer: Jordie Bellaire

Artists: Dan Mora & Raúl Angulo

For anyone who came to young-adulthood in the mid and late 90s, a reimagining of Sunnydale is a welcome sight. That the story takes place in 2019, rather than the mid-90s changes such a character-driven story considerably. While Buffy, Willow, Xander, et al. are, by and large, the same as they were in the 90s, writer, Jordie Bellaire, goes to great lengths to consider how our society has changed in the years since Buffy first aired on the small screen.

Buffy kills monsters. That’s what she does. So when a giant bat creates terrorizes Sunnydale, the expectation from readers is clear.  However, Camazotz (yeah, the giant bat has a name) is introduced as Buffy’s “Pegasus.” I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty excited for Buffy to have a giant bat companion to fly around on.

As touched on before–the characters in this comic are mostly the same characters we fell in love with so long ago. It’s a credit to the writer that much of the self-aware humor that made the TV show so loveable, has transferred over to #3, seamlessly. Buffy’s horror that Giles plays guitar made me laugh. Cordelia’s fashion sense comments at inappropriate times made me roll my eyes. While much has changed for our heroes, it also feels as though I’m visiting old friends. The only question I have is when Angel will appear. Both Spike and Drusilla have screen time thus far, but the original “good vampire,” has yet to grace these pages.

Comic art can fulfill so many functions depending on the story and premise. For Buffy, Dan Mora & Raúl Angulo do a great job of depicting known characters in an era we’ve never seen them in. But, in many ways, their art is rather invisible. I often found myself so drawn in and toward these characters that have meant so much to me for so long, I didn’t take much time to appreciate the art. This is both good and bad. It is immersive. It tells the story the writer has tackled. At the same time, it doesn’t amaze me in the way other comic art sometimes does. The place where this artist team shines through most though are in the style and design of Willow and Xander, who are both surer of themselves (at least on the outside) than in their previous television appearances.