The latest entry in Buffy’s comic book season eight hit shelves last week.
General Information
Title: Buffy the Vampire Slayer #25
Author: Doug Petrie
Illustrator(s): Georges Jeanty (pencils), Andy Owens (inks) and Michelle Madsen (colours)
Cover Date: May 2009
Cover Price: $2.99
Premise
Dawn Summers, cursed all season by a Thricewise, has transformed yet again into a porcelin doll and been captured. It’s up to the rest of the Scoobies to find and save her.
High Point
Andrew goes incognito.
Low Point
This feels a bit rushed. We know virtually nothing about Dawn’s capture or her captor. Taking two issues to tell this story wouldn’t have been a bad thing.
The Scores
This doesn’t feel like an original issue. It’s another story about the relationship between the sisters (which was common on television, if not the comics) and wraps up a plotline we’ve known would need wrapped up since the first issue. I give it 3 out of 6.
The artwork by Jeanty is nice. He’s always been great at the visual storytelling end, and his likenesses are improving. I give it 5 out of 6.
The story does its job, but it does so very quickly. The story beats are here, but a two issue stretch could have helped. The main plot could use eight more pages, so the secondary plotlines (with Kenny and Cradle) could have expanded to fill the rest. Knowing that next month sees a one shot special rather than a numbered issue also supports the idea of having one more issue in place. I give it 4 out of 6.
The characterization works well. Dawn, Buffy, Xander and Andrew all have varying degrees of exposure, with the majority of the time spent on the Summers girls. I give it 5 out of 6.
The emotional response was good, but could have been better. In my opinion, the longer a plotline is waiting to be resolved, the greater scale the resolution requires. For something that started 25 issues ago that didn’t even seem to be ending until the midpoint of this issue, wrapping it up that quickly just seems unsatisfactory. I give it 3 out of 6.
The flow is smooth, running from scene to scene nicely. I give it 5 out of 6.
Overall, it’s a decent issue, and one that will be obviously missing if you skip it, but it just doesn’t feel quite up to the level of the stories that led to it. I give it 4 out of 6.
In total, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight #25 receives 29 out of 42.
[…] fiziko placed an observative post today on Bureau 42 | Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season Eight Review – Issue 25Here’s a quick excerptOverall, it’s a decent issue, and one that will be obviously missing if you skip it, but it just doesn’t feel quite up to the level of the stories that led to it. I give it 4 out of 6. In total, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight … […]