Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight Review – “#22, Swell”

I’m slowly catching up on my reviews.

General Information

Title: Buffy the Vampire Slayer #23

Author: Steven S. DeKnight

Illustrator(s): Georges Jeanty (pencils), Andy Owens (inks) and Michelle Madsen (colors)

Cover Date: February 2009

Cover Price: $2.99 US

Premise

Kennedy arrives in Japan to do a performance review on Satsu. They discover a plot to use Vampy Cat dolls to invade parts of the world, but ending that plot may not have the long term effect they wanted it to have.

High Point

Kennedy: You could have mentioned that in your report.

Satsu: Was gonna. After I got done playing with it.

Low Point

The Swell. Doesn’t that concept fail in the color distribution alone? Shouldn’t it have been a merger, as in the second or third season of the series?

The Scores

This was somewhat original. It made some good strides for characters and relationships, though the nature of the enemy wasn’t unusual or unprecedented in the series. I give it 4 out of 6.

The artwork was very good. Jeanty was a great choice for the series, and he’s delivering very well. I give it 5 out of 6.

The story mostly works. Long term implications are in place and interesting, though the mechanics of the Swell still irk me. I also get the impression that DeKnight wasn’t allowed to use the word “ovaries” on network television, so he’s trying to make up for it by using it frequently here. I give it 4 out of 6.

The characterization is strong, particularly for Kennedy and Satsu. I give it 5 out of 6.

The emotional response is pretty good. There’s a lot of interest and amusement. Yeah, the swell bugs me, but that’s literally one page. I give it 4 out of 6.

The flow is smooth, moving us through the issue nicely, and tying it together with much that we’ve already seen. I give it 5 out of 6.

Overall, despite the rehash in the villain, it’s a generally enjoyable and entertaining issue. I give it 5 out of 6.

In total, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight #22 receives 32 out of 42.

Past “Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight” Reviews