Brian K. Vaughan – BtVS S8, Vol. 2: No Future for You
83. No Future for You by Brian K. Vaughan, Georges Jeanty, Joss Whedon, Andy Owens, Dave Stewart, Richard Starkings, Jo Chen, Cliff Richards (2008)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season Eight, Vol. 2 (Issues #6-10 of the comic)
Read my review of:
– Vol 1: The Long Way Home
Length: 120 pages
Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy
Started: 05 July 2009
Finished: 05 July 2009
Where did it come from? The library.
Why do I have it? Who stops a season of Buffy in the middle, huh? Nobody, that’s who. Not me, anyways.
Faith’s back! The bad-girl
Slayer takes on a mission
too dark for Buffy.
Summary: In the four-issue story arc “No Future for You”, we catch up with everyone’s other favorite slayer, Faith. She’s been holding down the fort in Cleveland when Giles summons her for a secret mission. There’s a Slayer – who also happens to be a British noble – who has gone rogue, and who better to take her out than someone who’s a rehabilitated rogue Slayer herself? But, as much as Faith is used to doing the dirty work, there are aspects of this assignment for which she can never be ready. In the one-off issue “Anywhere but Here”, we find out more about the motivations of Twilight, this season’s Big Bad; Dawn’s ex-boyfriend Kenny the Thricewise; and what’s been going on with Willow and Kennedy since the end of season 7.
Review: I thought this was better than volume 1, although your reaction will probably vary proportionally with how much you like Faith. After re-watching Buffy and watching Angel, Faith has emerged as one of my favorite characters, which made an entire story arc featuring her right up my alley. The bad girl exterior has been done before, but her interior conflicts and darkness and hunt for redemption just make her so interesting – maybe even more so than Buffy. (She’s also much less prone to both whining and speechifying, which are two big pluses in my book.) This story puts all of her history and all of her inner (metaphorical and literal) demons in the spotlight, and it’s fascinating watching that play out. Add to that the reappearance of Dark-Past-“Ripper”-Giles, which is my favorite flavor of Giles, and I’m a happy girl.
Everything I praised about volume 1 – how it still looks, and sounds, and is structured – exactly like the TV show is still true in the second volume, and as the story spreads out and starts to pick up speed, I can’t wait to see where it’s going to go from here. 4 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: Buffy fans should definitely be reading this series, which really is getting better as it goes.
This Review on LibraryThing | This Book on LibraryThing | This Book on Amazon
Other Reviews: Stella Matutina, Everyday Reads, Mervi’s Book Reviews, Dreaming Out Loud, Bobbi’s Book Nook
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First Line: “Oh, the places you’ll go!” Mom used to read me that book before she tucked me in… nights she was sober enough, anyway.
Fyrefly's Book Blog 
I haven’t seen any Buffy or Angel episodes in so long.
I had this one from the library a while back, but returned it unread. Looks like I may have to recheck it out ;-)
I’ve been resisting reading the Buffy comics regularly, but I don’t really know why. This sounds good – I miss Faith, I was always pleased when she showed up on Angel, all redemptiony. When my sister gets home I shall borrow all her comics…
I love this too, and for all the reasons you’ve mentioned. It was awesome to see Faith take centre stage. I believe there’s an additional issue or two featuring her and Giles in the upcoming collection, PREDATORS AND PREY.
My son reads these, but I have to buy them. I’ll bet it’ll be a good 10 years before our library starts getting graphic novels. So, so envious of people with decent libraries!
Oh Faith is one of my favorite characters from Buffy too!
Ooh I love BtVS. And Angel actually. Or more like Joss Whedon is one of my gods. Hahaha. And this series is great. I’ve read all issues so far (the single-issue comics I mean). So I’m sure you’ll have a great time discovering the succeeding pages :)
Mari – I just finished watching Angel for the first time about a week ago, actually. I’m late to the Whedon-party.
thekoolaidmom – You should! It’s a super-fast read.
Jenny – I think the redemptiony part of Faith is why I like her so much.
Memory – Oooh, I hope you’re right. My library needs to hurry up and get the next volume in already!
Nancy – I’ve been really, really spoiled… my local library is one of the best in the country.
Sharry – Then I bet you’d like this comic! :)
Lightheaded – I’ve got a friend who buys all of the single-issues (of Fables too, actually), but for some reason it doesn’t feel like reading unless I’m holding the bound volume. Also, I have a terrible memory and would probably forget everything that was happening in a story arc if I had to wait between issues.