Comic Review: Buffy the Vampire Slayer #14

[jakebe]

You know, the Whedonverse version of Dracula has to be one of my favorites of all-time. He's suave but petty, powerful and painfully insecure. And his relationship with Xander is some of the best stuff written in the series so far. I could swear that look he gave his manservant when he kissed Renee was a jealous one.

Dracula's in Tokyo with the Scooby Gang (and a whole heaping Slayer Army) because they're taking the fight to the mysterious group of vampires who infiltrated the Scotland compound and stole Buffy's Axe, which is going to be pretty crucial for taking down Twilight. In this issue, we find out why: this group wants nothing less than to turn every Slayer human again, something that would likely have pretty bad consequences for the world.

The gang comes up with a few pretty clever ploys in their method of attack, and we finally get to see Dawn being useful. Having her tear through Tokyo was somehow surprising (we see it's going to happen on the cover) and really funny, though I'm not sure we want our Dawnie reveling in her big badness.

The 'shocking' finale is actually something you could see coming a mile off if you're well-versed in Whedon, and far from making me gasp it just made me grumble. Can we have one relationship in this place actually stick for once? It feels like we're finally just getting off the ground with Xander and Renee, and then a move like this gets pulled. Loved ones in peril isn't really shocking if it's going to happen *every* time someone falls in love. Seriously.

Still, it's an otherwise solid issue. The writing's sharp, the characterization is dead on, and I'm *finally* coming around to the new Slayer army. Even Satsu, Buffy's out-of-nowhere lesbian girlfriend, isn't so bad. With the way things are going, though, it looks like she'll be gutted shockingly in a mid-issue spread just a couple of months from now.

Rating: 7/10



I don't expect people to read this, but I thought I would post it up anyway. That way if folks get caught up (or interested) they can always double back and take a peek, discuss.