Saturday, September 25, 2010

Why Buffy?




"Into every generation a Slayer is born: one girl in all the world, a chosen one. She alone will wield the strength and skill to fight the vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers. She is the Slayer."



The first two season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer had this speech at the beginning of each episode. It tells you of the legacy of the Slayer, what a Slayer is, and who a Slayer slays. The particular Slayer we follow is that of a young Buffy Anne Summers.

In a long line of Chosen One’s, Buffy herself appears to be chosen. She constantly defies tradition and prophecy, fights the Big Bads with both her wooden steak and razor whit, all the while trying (in vain...or vein if I wanted to make a horrible pun) to live a normal teenage life.

While Ms Summers is recognised mainly from the TV, she has also appeared in the comic field. During the show’s original run, comic book nut and comic book creator Joss Whedon lent his chief protagonist, as well as her motley crew of supporting characters, to a series of comics.
After Buffy the Vampire Slayer concluded on TV with Season Seven, her adventures continued within the comic medium with the aptly titled 'Season Eight'.

So what makes Buffy so appealing? Is it her looks? Her powers? Her being based on Kitty Pryde? I will leave it up to my fellow tenured writers to give you their interpretation of this pop-culture classic femme.

5 comments:

  1. “WHAT IF… BUFFY HAD A MARVEL CROSS-OVER?”


    PANEL ONE
    Close on Buffy, standing with stake in hand, looking focused and determined.

    CAPTION: Come on, me, you can do this. You’re a plucky young teenager with no fear.

    BUFFY: You can do this!


    PANEL TWO
    From over Buffy’s shoulder we see a mass of Vampires before her. Every species from the Charniputra Sect, to the Nosferatu, to the Atlantians are there. They are closing menacingly upon her.


    PANEL THREE
    Close on Buffy again, looking a little scared this time. A menacing figure is standing silhouetted in the shadows behind her, eyes glowing for effect. It is Blade.

    BLADE: Looks like you could use a little help.


    PANEL FOUR
    Close on Blade’s face, grinning.

    BLADE: Let me show you how it’s done.


    PANEL FIVE
    Montage splash of Blade slicing and dicing the various vampires with ease. This should be conveyed with as much gore as possible.


    PANEL SIX
    Blade is standing in a cool finishing position with his sword out behind him.

    BLADE: See how easy that was?


    PANEL SEVEN
    From in front of Blade, we see that his sword is through Buffy’s stomach. She is clutching at it in horror.

    BUFFY: -> <-


    PANEL EIGHT
    Buffy is seen on the ground, presumably dead, with Blade walking away, back into the shadows.

    BLADE: What a damn shame.


    [I was going to sit this one out, but then I thought, "Where's the fun in that?" :-P]

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  2. It was accidental of course : )

    ... or was it?

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  3. I like that Blade doesn't really seem to care that much. That's pretty funny, it made me laugh, that's for sure.

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  4. Wacky script there Danial. Though it did make me think of that Mel Gibson Simpsons episode ("Why did Mr Smith kill the President?" "Because he went nuts!")

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