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Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 10: #14 – Relationship Status: Complicated Part 1 Comic Book Review

Reviewed by Meghan Sullivan
While traveling into Spike’s mind and seeing his past and present, Buffy looks for clues about the newest threat in San Francisco: someone or something with a deep connection to Spike!








Writer: Christos Gage
Artist: Rebekah Isaacs
Colorist: Dan Jackson
Cover Artist: Steve Morris

Sometimes I still find it hard to believe we are in Season 10 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer! Joss Whedon (as usual) certainly blazed a trail of connecting and continuing stories across different mediums. Now, it’s commonplace to find additional stories from your favorite television series in graphic format. As usual, this issue provides a little helpful summary (think of it as a “Previously on…”).

“Buffy and the gang struggle with their newfound responsibility—rewriting the rules of magic. Between that and trying to understand the regular ol’ rules of love, things are a little heated for our heroes. But this rock-solid group of friends are still enjoying adulthood in a thriving city (oh, er . . . except Giles), until a seriously bad, bad guy comes to roost in a most unexpected place.”

The issue picks up trying to determine who’s been killing people “as Spike.” The gang decides they need to send someone’s astral form into Spike’s mind while he sleeps. And due to the danger (if killed in the astral form, the form in reality dies too), guess who gets to be the one to go? Talk about learning deep, dark, and dirty secrets about your lover, right? No spoilers about what Buffy discovers, but let’s just say it’s an interesting ride that fills in some holes and even reminds us events in Spike’s past (events fans will certainly remember from the television series). We also learn about the leading theory among watchers about vampires and their demon essence which creates some interesting thoughts.

Buffy Season 10 continues to give fans more of what they want – a focus on the core characters and their relationships amongst smaller adventures. Book 14 does exactly that. Each of the characters and their personalities comes through loud and clear. We even get a Star Wars reference and some of the great back and forth quips we’ve come to know and love about BtVS (in both televised and comic forms). 

Even if you’ve been away from the Buffy comics for a while, I recommend coming back and giving them a shot. I know I can’t wait to see what happens in Part 2. 

BtVS Season 10 #14 released on April 22, 2015

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