This was a Joss Whedon penned one shot titled “Anywhere But Here.”
General Information
Title: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight #10: Anywhere But Here
Author: Joss Whedon
Illustrator(s): Cliff Richards (pencils), Andy Owens (inks), Dave Stewart (colors)
Original Publication Date: cover dated January 2008
Cover Price: $2.99 US
Premise
Buffy and Willow visit a Sephrilian, which walks between realities, in hopes of learning more about Twilight. They learn that this is the war between humans and the world of magic, but they also learn of lies each of them has told to themselves and others.
High Point
“Wow. Your bad is way better than mine.”
Low Point
This felt a little early to be revealing dirt on these characters. I wanted to have less serious fun with the return of these characters just a little bit longer before we started with the dirt dishing.
The Scores
This is somewhat original, as the mistakes these characters are making are new ones for them. We’ve definitely established a much larger scale for this season than for any that appeared on TV, as well. I give it 5 out of 6.
The artwork is solid, with very recognizable faces matching up with the actors. I give it 5 out of 6.
The story is good, though I’m not used to getting this much revealed so early in a season. Perhaps it’s because I’m thinking of each story arc as an episode, and not each issue, so I’m still thinking of this as episode 4 instead of episode 10. I give it 5 out of 6.
The characterization is, again, very solid. Whedon knows his characters well. I give it 6 out of 6.
The emotional response is good, particularly with the reveals of the nature of the conflict and of Buffy’s mistake. I give it 5 out of 6.
The flow has a few very sudden scene changes, but otherwise works well. I give it 4 out of 6.
Overall, it’s another solid entry in the series. This has had very consistent quality across its first ten issues. Issue 11 shipped yesterday; expect that review this weekend. I give this issue 5 out of 6.
In total, Buffy Season Eight #10 receives 35 out of 42.
Likenesses
So does Buffy look like SMG now?
Re: Likenesses
Not really. I’m pretty sure it’s a likeness rights issue, since she doesn’t look like SMG with a new artist, but does look just like the character the other artist drew instead of SMG.