Book Review: The Long Way Home by Joss Whedon
The Long Way Home
As a television show, Buffy was on TV for seven seasons and ended on a really cool idea. Joss Whedon, the man behind the Buffster, is continuing the story in comic book form.
The first time I read this volume, which collects the first five issues of the comic book release, I found it exciting, comforting, but a bit confusing. I was expecting it to be a self-contained story of some kind, and it is on a certain level, but it really is an introduction to what comes next and next and next.
I know this now. I’m through volumes 2 and 3, and on my reread of volume 1, a lot of what I missed the first time around became clear. But, I still feel that it still progresses very disjointedly in many places.
Character-wise, two second tier characters are poorly drawn and would be unrecognizable if I wasn’t told who they were. As for the Scooby gang, they fared a lot better.
In particular, Buffy and Xander are very well done. I can hear each actor’s voice and line reading in my head as I went through the book. And that, all by itself, made me smile many, many times.
Dawn is still annoying, but hey, I’ll take that consistency if I get to play in this world again for a little while.
[...] first volume was a nice introduction and re-entry into the Buffyverse, but it didn’t have a meaty story [...]
[...] Smarty Pants Know It All reviews the Long Way Home, the first volume of season 8 for Buffy the Vampire Slayer – I found it exciting, comforting, [...]
I used to be obsessed with everything Buffy. The books and the show. Nice, and unique, addition to the Bookworms Carnival.