Whedon dreams up Victorian superheroes in ‘The Nevers’
First episode impressions (TV review): This is HBO, so there’s more nudity and violence than we’re used to, but “The Nevers” is recognizably Whedonian.
The top 25 ‘Buffy’ and ‘Angel’ comic book arcs
Comic book list: From Dark Horse to IDW, John scours the long boxes to find his 25 favorite “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel” comic book arcs.
Netflix MCU goes out on a competent but familiar note with ‘Jessica Jones’ Season 3
TV review: The last Netflix MCU season delivers a strong treatise on the costs of doing evil and good.
‘Buffy’ flashback: All 8 short stories from ‘Tales of the Slayer, Vol. 4’ (2004), ranked (Book review)
The fourth and final “Tales of the Slayer” collection (November 2004) is also the only one centered around a theme: specifically, the Cruciamentum – as seen in “Helpless” (3.12) — wherein the Slayer is weakened by drugs and forced to defeat a vampire via only her wits and fighting skills. Remarkably, these aren’t just eight
‘Buffy’ flashback: Season 9, Issues 21-25 (2013) and special issues (2011-13) (Comic book reviews)
Writer Andrew Chambliss and artist Georges Jeanty stick the landing to conclude the character-driven yet suitably epic “Buffy” Season 9 with the five-issue “The Core.” It’s a crying shame that this marks Chambliss’ finale in the Buffyverse. He gets the saga back on track after the uneven Season 8 and keeps threads percolating for Season
‘Buffy’ flashback: Season 9, Issues 11-20 (2012-13) (Comic book reviews)
In this next batch of 10 issues, Season 9 becomes slightly less Buffy-centric, somewhat to its detriment, but Andrew Chambliss continues to be a sharp writer and I trust he knows where the wider narrative is going. The only major misstep in this batch, surprisingly, is when “Buffy” veterans Jane Espenson and Drew Z. Greenberg
‘Buffy’ flashback: All 10 short stories from ‘Tales of the Slayer, Vol. 2’ (2003), ranked (Book review)
Drawing a better overall crop of writers, “Tales of the Slayer, Vol. 2” (January 2003) makes a huge jump in quality from the first volume. The authors have a blast playing with our expectations of how Slayers, Watchers and vampires should behave while using familiar Buffyverse beats to teach us about societies throughout human history.
‘Buffy’ flashback: Season 8 ‘MySpace/Dark Horse Presents’ short stories (2009-10) (Comic book reviews)
In addition to the 40 main issues and three one-shots, “Buffy” Season 8 also features five “MySpace/Dark Horse Presents” e-comics from the waning days of that social media platform. None of these short stories are essential, but a few of them reinforce this new era where vampires are celebrities instead of monsters.
‘Buffy’ flashback: Season 8 one-shots (2009-10) (Comic book reviews)
In addition to the 40 regular issues of “Buffy” Season 8, three one-shots flesh out specific aspects of the saga: what it’s like to be a street-level vampire in this new era, how Willow gets her superpowers between Seasons 7 and 8, and how and why Riley joins Twilight’s organization in order to spy on
‘Buffy’ flashback: Season 8, Issues 21-30 (2009) (Comic book reviews)
My reviews looking back at “Buffy” Season 8 continue as we enter the second half of the 40-issue season with several standalones (to borrow TV show parlance), which nonetheless move the narrative forward, and one epic five-parter. SPOILER WARNING: If you are reading these issues for the first time, I will analyze the character of