Things end, and things begin anew.
Creative Staff:
Scripts: Andrew Chambliss
Pencils: Georges Jeanty
Inks: Dexter Vines and Karl Story (Issue #25)
Colors: Michelle Madsen
Letters: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt
What They Say:
“The Core”
For once, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is trying to leave the world saving to someone else—Illyria and Koh—while she concentrates on family…Dawn, finally affected by the loss of magic, is lying in a coma as magic leaves her body. Xander, in desperation and anger, has made a deal with Simone and the Siphon—seeing their plan to turn back the clock as the only way to save Dawn. Meanwhile, unknown to Xander, Willow as returned, ready to lend a hand.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
And so we finally reach the culmination of everything, and that’s not really an exaggeration. Dawn’s slowly turning to magical smoke and everyone’s forgetting who she even is. Things are at their worst, and the Scooby Gang has faced the end of the world on several occasions. But never, never, have they been in a situation where they could save someone this close to them and can’t because of something they did. Destroying the Seed ruined a lot of things.
With this, we also learn what Simone’s master plan was. She wanted to turn herself into a vampire, become a slaypire. But she didn’t want to be a zompire, or a slazompire, or something. She needed the vampire that sired the first vampires, otherwise she might lose her mind. We’re back at the Deeper Well, which we saw previously in the Angel episode “A Hole in the World.”
The Siphon is trying to go back in time while Illyria’s trying to explain to him that she couldn’t even change the past at her strongest. But, as we learned in issue 20, people will do anything for the one they love. Even the wrong thing.
It’s tragic to see the Siphon, who had worked so hard and was manipulated up to this point, fall this far (both literally and figuratively). It’s the same path we just saw Xander go through and a similar path we saw Andrew go through. He’s just trying to help, but it’s ending up so wrong.
We’re getting callbacks to Angel, as well, in Illyria. There’s even a now-drawn panel of Illyria acting as Fred holding Wesley. That scene was not for the faint at heart. But that arc does end.
Willow and Buffy, leaving the world saving to others who are more capable, venture elsewhere in the Well to find the magic that can save Dawn. What they find is a new Seed, and it can restore magic to the world. It just needs the world’s biggest jumper cables to get started, otherwise it’ll take a millennia. Thankfully, the Siphon has that energy.
Ultimately, this chapter is about getting over loss. The Siphon is at the head of that story. He’s still clinging to his girlfriend, long gone. But, not surprisingly, Koh also has his own secrets. He was imprisoned for “Shawshanking” his family. He was framed for killing them, but he finally realized that getting vengeance won’t bring them back. What’s important is what they can save.
The Siphon can save the world if he powers up the Seed. Illyria stays behind to guide him and they make the ultimate sacrifice. This is her penance for what she did to Fred, because she feels every bit as bad as she should for killing her. She watched Wesley go through hell to get Fred back and it changed the former demon. The body she inhabits also provides some influence to her.
With a new Seed in place and Dawn back, all seems right with the world. Except the book Giles left Buffy is now blank and vampires seem to be no longer killed by sunlight.
In Summary:
There are a lot of things to like about these Buffy comics, most important that we get to hang out with these characters for some more of their world saving shenanigans. What I’ve loved the most, though, is that they put world saving to the backburner in this season and Dawn is the most important. I had my own qualms with Dawn as a character in the TV show, but she’s grown into someone who you can really like. Buffy, and Whedon’s material, has been grounded in character for good reason. When it’s so grounded, like this comic, you get the best sense of agency for what’s happening around them. It can’t be the other way around.
Content Grade: A+
Art Grade: A
Released By: Dark Horse
Release Dates:
Issue # 21: May 8, 2013
Issue # 22: June 12, 2013
Issue # 23: July 10, 2013
Issue # 24: August 14, 2013
Issue # 25: September 11, 2013
