Drew Goddard returns to Buffy with Season Eight’s best arc yet, Wolves at the Gate

by Josh Roth @ 3:26 pm December 14th, 2008

As an enormous fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and in fact all things Whedon, I was ecstatic to discover that it had returned in comic book form. I’ve been following each arc as it hits store shelves, I buy both the individual issues and the paperback trades, anything to support Buffy. So far I’ve quite enjoyed the comic books, Season 8 does exactly what every Buffy fan should want, it brings the show to new heights, doing things the show couldn’t possibly do on a television budget. Drew Goddard takes full advantage of the comic book medium, with shape shifting vamps, sending the slayers to Japan in an effort to retrieve the Scythe, and a few other surprises. Goddard is a fantastically talented writer, and is well versed in writing for the Whedonverse. He got his start in TV writing with Buffy‘s last season, and went on to work on Angel, Alias, and Lost. More recently he wrote the J.J. Abrams feature film Cloverfield, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Full of both dramatic and hilarious moments Wolves at the Gate takes Season Eight to new and wonderful heights, setting a high standards for the other writers. Beware of spoilers ahead.

First let me discuss the art, because I haven’t talked about the Buffy comics before. Art and writing are the building blocks upon which comic books are made, considering that’s the whole point of the medium. It’s easy to understand how the writing of Buffy would translate so well to comics but the art would have to match as well. Georges Jeanty‘s penciling is sheer perfection in capturing the actor’s likenesses and conveying action.They really do look like their live action counterparts, and it’s clear who’s talking to whom, which is enormously important for a comic (in fact this is one of the things that I don’t like about the Angel comics, the art is simply not as good as Jeanty’s work).

There are quite a few moments in Wolves that stand out as monuments of Season Eighth. First there’s Buffy’s lesbian experience, which has been quite the topic of discussion in the Whedon community. Personally I love how they handled it. Buffy never had the chance to experiment in college, she was a bit busy with the multiple ends of the world, and it’s natural for the character. After her myriad of failed relationships with men it makes sense she would turn to a Slayer for some support. Satsu is a bit one dimensional as a character, I wish we could see more of her before she was dumped off to Tokyo. But Goddard perfectly captures the spirit of Buffy in her reactions and dialogue. She is Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Buffy in both spirit and appearance. Not to mention every one’s reactions to finding Buffy and Satsu in bed is absolutely hilarious.

Xander takes a seriously blow with the death of Renee. It’s was an absolute shock to turn to that page and see her impaled on the Scythe. That was really a moment of perfect convergence between the writing and the artwork, the pacing leading up to that moment was dramatic and intense, and that panel left me with my jaw open dying for the next issue. I feel really bad for Xander, first he loses Anya and now Renee? They’re taking him to a very dark and interesting place, that I’m sure will have some serious significance later in the season.

Dracula’s appearance is mainly there for amusement, but it is damn enjoyable. Frankly I prefer this Dracula to the one that appeared in Season 5′s “Buffy Vs. Dracula” episode, mainly because Xander and Dracula now have a fully developed relationship (apparently Xander went to live with Dracula for a while after Anya’s death at the end of Season 7). This Dracula has better dialogue, more character, and certainly more affection for Xander. He gets the last line in the arc, and it’s both revealing and heart breaking.

Wolves at the Gate sets an enormously high bar for the other Buffy Season Eight writers. Jeanty’s artwork and Goddard’s writing have captured the spirit of the original series while adding to the mythology and bringing us something new and extraordinary. It has a few goofy moments, like the Mecha-Dawn in Japan, but Goddard perfectly captures the series’ sense of humor and drama. Buffy at its best was always a perfect balance between serious character drama and hilarious situations, which Goddard shows he is more than capable of bringing to the table. The question is can the rest of the series writers keep up the pace with the coming arcs? I’m quite certain the answer is yes.