That was quicker than usual. So flashback, interlude and then the main act. Very nice indeed.

Simon | September 15, 00:39 CET

Now thats a cover!!

A simply beautiful rendering of the pair of them.

sueworld2003 | September 15, 00:53 CET

This was an unexpected Friday treat. Can't wait for the real thing!

MadeToLoveJoss | September 15, 01:07 CET

Dark. Dark. Ha, ha, ha. Dark.

BKV, like JW, rewards rereads.

[ edited by Pointy on 2007-09-14 23:27 ]

Pointy | September 15, 01:13 CET

I love it. BKV's borderline creepy obsession with Buffy pays off in the end! He understands these characters so well, I'd think he was Joss, if I didn't know any better.
Um... I'm becoming really split on Georges's Faith. Sometimes she's good, sometimes she kind of looks like a demon that someone should be hurrying to slay. Am I being too picky?

leafblown | September 15, 01:19 CET

Willow looked like Tinkerbell. "Itty bitty things" made me laugh out loud but then I felt bad for laughing at tiny boob humor. Ah what the heck...it was funny!

skeezycheeses | September 15, 01:22 CET

And Giles looks great too!

punkinpuss | September 15, 01:23 CET

I'm becoming really split on Georges's Faith. Sometimes she's good, sometimes she kind of looks like a demon that someone should be hurrying to slay.

When she feels ugly she's drawn that way.

hayes62 | September 15, 01:24 CET

I love Georges Jeanty's drawing of action and distance scenes, and his close-up of Faith on the last page of this preview is absolutely gorgeous. I am VERY excited about this story line, and I'm glad we are seeing a little more of gigantor Dawny.

embers | September 15, 01:24 CET

That was indeed fast. Not that this is in any way a complaint.

Craig Oxbrow | September 15, 01:40 CET

"And Giles looks great too!"

I think it looks a bit too much like its source picture. Ends up looking like fan art.

Caroline | September 15, 01:45 CET

More Giant Dawn. Yay.

Sunfire | September 15, 01:49 CET

Is the Faith/Buffy subtext even "sub" anymore?

Sabbrielle | September 15, 02:01 CET

Georges is *really* starting to get Dawn--er, Giant Size Dawn. the teenage nonchalance fairly oozes.

and I sympathize with him not quite getting Faith yet...her features are pretty generic. and re: a Faith/Buffy subtext...not sure I read it like that; Faith's monologue reads more like the wistfulness of a friendship that went wrong.

anyway, the pages are beautiful, and best of all, it "feels" like a mid-season episode to me...main plotline stuff still going on, but room for a peripheral (?) story.

annagranfors | September 15, 02:12 CET

I'm tickle pink.

Run Joss, run!

Madhatter | September 15, 02:23 CET

Ha! You say that as if it's a bad thing!!

I've seen fanart that could give a professional artist a run for his money I can tell you.

Also I'd rather have something that actually looks like the character it's meant to be, and yet still has some 'power' behind it such as this one. At least he doesn't looked like a 'bobble head' anymore. :0

sueworld2003 | September 15, 02:28 CET

Pretty good stuff!

Now if only we could get a preview of 'After the Fall'...

Dan Corson | September 15, 02:33 CET

Absolutely amazing! Can't wait for the next part. BKV's writing is stellar, and I'm really starting to like Georges' art more. Great to see more Giant Dawn-ness and Willow-ness.

hitnrun017 | September 15, 03:10 CET

"Un-embiggen"?

It's a perfectly cromulent word.

zz9 | September 15, 03:10 CET

Not to mention, it appears that the colorist got Willow's eye color right this time - or at least, I suppose, as close as 4-color comic pages will let you get.

Which, being the inveterate nit-picker that I am, makes me hap-py...

Rowan Hawthorn | September 15, 04:14 CET

"Itty bitty things" quote made me laugh out loud. That was awesome.

I like the look of Faith in this one a lot more than the last; I think he captured her in the way he captures some of the other characters this time around. Her expressions felt right somehow.

dispatch | September 15, 04:28 CET

I love the "What did we discuss about calling me by my mother's name?" comment. :)

I love the development BKV's doing with Faith. He so totally owns this character, maybe even moreso than Joss. I'm amazed by the way he's able to get into her head. Now if only we could fix some of the artwork...

I'm sorry, it's not that Jeanty's absolutely horrible, but I really wish they would have switched artists for Faith's arc. His style really clashes with her character. Though I did like the Avengers nod.

deepgirl187 | September 15, 05:20 CET

I love all the Faith parts. The Dawn/Willow, not so much. I still have trouble hearing Willow's lines in the right voice. Even Renee repeating a Buffy line sounds more Buffyesque than Willow to me at the moment.

swanjun | September 15, 05:42 CET

Yeah...Willow doesn't quite read like Willow here, even the "itty bitty things" line (well, maybe especially). Dawn sounds beter. And Faith is a revelation.

As far as the "subtext," I think Faith's feelings for Buffy run a lot deeper than friendship, but it's not easily defined along romantic lines either. It's sort of sisterly but with some degree of sexual potency to it too. It's indefinable.

WilliamTheB | September 15, 06:05 CET

I think that "degree of sexual potency" vibe your catching William, probably has something to do with Faith not being able to relate to anyone without a touch of sexuality to it. I'm sure it's a subconscious thing, at least in Buffy's case. IMHO, probably caused by past abuses.

skeezycheeses | September 15, 06:36 CET

Oh this is very very frustrating. The Dark Comics site is either down or just too busy and I can't get in! Anyone know of any alternative links?

purplehazel | September 15, 09:07 CET

I got in to the DH site fine- with an internet connection that's so slow, it ought to be in a museum.
I thought #7 looked great-loved all the throwaway lines and cackled at the Lane Bryant reference. I do hope Dawn eventually gets a chance to redeem herself and not be the brat anymore. (And I want to know what exactly happened with the thricewise!)
Likewise, I expect Faith to be a little more mature and settled as a result of her character's development. But I can totally see her being violently opposed to all the new technology and wanting to go all 'old school'.

missb | September 15, 11:03 CET

zz, are you creating words again? Just typed "cromulent" into my Webster's word search and the program fell off the edge of the planet. Actually had to restart my computer:)

I think Faith is spot on characterwise. And gosh, we've missed her so! Kinda' agree that Willow's lines aren't quite right. If I had to point a finger, I say they need a little Jane to them. IMO, she always captured her character so well. If wishes were horses..

Then again, we are the harshest of critics so perhaps we should lighten up a bit. Did I mention the excellent artwork?

Madhatter | September 15, 11:19 CET

I am grateful for the Buffyverse if only for the fact that this line would not exist without it:

"I'm as sensitive to profiling as the next gay Wiccan Jewess, but not every stereotype is untrue."

Love love love this preview, though I do agree Willow doesn't come across 100%.

I dearly loved the flashback with Faith's narration, and as far as I'm concerned, Dawn is Georges' absolute best likeness. His Willow was lookin' good too.

Can't wait!

UnpluggedCrazy | September 15, 12:08 CET

The last panel of Dawn was perfect.Faith still only looks like Faith (which is good enough I guess) but the other main players so far have been spot on, apart from Buffy looking more season 1/2.

feigenbaum7 | September 15, 15:36 CET

I don't know. Faith looked fine to me. I guess I'm not so concerned about whether the characters look like the actors, just as long as they look like the characters, if you see what I mean. Sure, Faith is drawn in a more stylised way than if an artist had been going for an exact duplication of Eliza's facial features, but at no point do I ever have trouble identifying her as Faith, which is really what matters to me.

As for Willow's comment about Dawn's "assets", I've always thought that Michelle had very nice "itty bitty things", although her legs are definitely high on the list too. ;)

Koven | September 15, 16:15 CET

I agree- it feels like a mid-season episode annagranfors. I've been loving the comics, but this preview is the first time the experience is so very much like watching Buffy. I feel like that's been developing, and now it's all coming together beautifully, art and story. So much packed into a few pages. Wow.

toast | September 15, 16:33 CET

This is making me feel a little better about the way the first arc "ended". At least it seems like things are moving along on all fronts...of course I've kind of put the first arc almost entirely out of my mind at this point so that might be part of it too.

IMO BKV's characterization of Faith is right on target. In the case of Willow, I think the lines could have been pulled off if AH had been there to deliver them. By themselves they do sound a bit off, but not totally wrong.

I am no comic book art afficianado but I thought the art was fine except for Buffy looking too young. I like the rendition of Faith. I know she is not always beautiful, but looking past that, she does actually look like ED doing Faith, but without ED's ability to look beautiful even when ugly things are going through her mind or across her face. (If that makes no sense to you, don't be worried. It is me, not you. ;-) )

Then there is Buffy. I have to agree that it jars me every time this little kid's face shows up. She looks younger than Dawn and everybody else. That, I just don't get.

...unllllllllesssss there is going to be some storyline that had Buffy magically made younger to undermine her authority and every one including Willow, who has been away for a while, is already used to it, and so the plot was foiled (ha HA) but they were not able to switch her back and would they want to anyway(?) and what if it is permanent and she is going to keep looking like a 15 year old for ever(?) I mean is she immortal, now(?) does that mean a long term relationship with one of her vampire dude's would not be as big a problem(?) OMG, that is what the image in issue two was, she's going to live her dream...as soon as she figures out how to get Angel and Spike to share...which could be what the new Angel comic will be about(!) and then everybody will live happily ever after in a Angel/Buffy/Spike troika! Squeeee!

Wait. I forgot. I'm one of those people who want them all to move on. Sorry, just got caught up in things for a minute. So never mind, its all good. Did I mention that it has been a really tough week...

newcj | September 15, 17:07 CET

Madhatter, try Wikipedia. :)

And I don't get this Faith "Early Retirement" thing.

Would Faith retire? And would Giled be able to stop her retiring if he wanted to? It's not like she signed a contract or anything. It just seems like it's not something that he's in a position to "offer".

zz9 | September 15, 18:18 CET

Love the preview pages especially the flashback.

Buffyfantic | September 15, 18:35 CET

I don't think she's really going to retire, zz, but it's obvious she's been trying and failing to get out of the country, and this is her chance.

swanjun | September 16, 00:21 CET

Just wish I could find the issue before this.

And the chronology is still August 2004, right?

DaddyCatALSO | September 16, 00:44 CET

It seems like it. In issue #6 they're talking about Faith's mission needing to be accomplished before the end of the Fall.

swanjun | September 16, 01:44 CET

Point taken swanjun. But if a vampire can get in and out of the country I'm sure a slayer can, wanted for murder or not.

And this talk of "One last job before retiring" worries me. Don't people in movies usually die at that point? If Faith shows Giles the picture of the puppy farm she is going to retire to after this is all over then it's curtains.

zz9 | September 16, 03:49 CET

zz9, very late but if you're still looking the "getting out of the country" line was explained in #6. She's still an escaped convict, and living like one. The "nation of your choosing" would presumably be one without an extradition treaty with the U.S.

dreamlogic | September 16, 07:38 CET

I got that dreamlogic. Still seems odd. If Faith was stuck in the US and an escaped convice it would make sense for her NOT to creep around dark allyways beating the crap out of assorted demons. Way to attract attention!
Unless Giles is actually pressurising her, keep slaying or we won't protect you from the cops (and I've seen no evidence of this) then retiring is the best option for Faith.

But since the career path for ex-slayers is uncertain at best I would have thought Giles would want to keep Faith gainfully employed, either slaying (In the US or elsewhere) or teaching and training others.
Retiring just doesn't seem like a good option for Faith OR Giles, isn't something Giles can really offer and is something Giles could really prevent if Faith wanted it.

And I really wish I was watching this season, not reading it. Sorry Joss, and many others, but I've just never been into comics.

zz9 | September 16, 08:21 CET

If Faith was stuck in the US and an escaped convice it would make sense for her NOT to creep around dark allyways beating the crap out of assorted demons. Way to attract attention!

Of the proper authorities. Likewise, they'd expect her to be paying utility and cable bills, not living in an off-the-grid squat, in an abandoned building, which they could easily monitor all of. Why aren't you a detective?

dreamlogic | September 16, 08:55 CET

Just have to say that I'm liking the Faith arc even better than the first one! Can't wait to see how this plays out--and so glad to see her character so well-developed in the comics.

pinkie7 | September 19, 08:03 CET

I really am hooked.

The thing that most surprised me in looking at the new pages was to realise that I'd been thinking about Faith's murder of the volcano professor and her other violence in LA in AtS, also Giles' behaviour (Ripper stuff, Buffy's 18th and Ben) but I had completely overlooked Faith as potential murder victim and Buffy's attempt to kill her at the end of S3. The flashback brought back ideas that I had hidden at the back of my mind.

Other bits to comment on:

#6 - Giles saying "I have no idea what that means" and reminding me of Tempe in Bones.
#7 - Faith dumping her earpiece - I wanted to cheer out loud. I figured Faith must have seen enough movies to ponder the idea that it's rare for the protagonist to really get away from the CIA/military/mob/mafia or whatever group or gang once they'd actually completed the last job and would therefore have very little reason to trust Giles (rightly or wrongly).

#6 and #7
The vertical panels that introduce new scenes with an exterior shot. Maybe this is a common comic thing (I'm too new to know) but it seems so reminiscent of the visuals of the tv show.

purplehazel | September 23, 16:38 CET