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WHAT
HAS HAPPENED BEFORE?
Not
a great deal to be honest. Selke has successfully been
turned into a sexy, strong and agile vampire, who might just
be as strong as the Master.
So
Bad Blood enters another round. Whoopee.
This is really starting to get on my nerves. Nothing major
happens. It's like the old single comic stories only with
a bit of a background story thrown in for annoyance. But
can things change? Indeed they can...
WRITING
This
time Watson has given us something different. With the
other issues of the Bad Blood storyline, he has slowed
down the book rather than giving it a faster pace. This
issue he changes that. He makes a radical change from
previous issues and just goes berserk with this issue.
Well when I say 'berserk' I mean that he actually does something
with the characters <g>.
Firstly,
he introduces Spike and Dru into the ongoing series. But
at the moment they are merely background ornaments. It's
clear that Watson wants to do something with Spike/Dru/Selke.
But what? This issue there wasn't enough Spike and Dru
for my liking. But then I'd rather see a whole 100% Spike
and Dru ongoing series. I think that he's, at the moment,
building something big up. He's only got 4 more parts
of Bad Blood left. Something's got to happen.
Who's betting Spike and Dru have something to do with it?
Secondly,
Watson brings back an old-ish character from the book, Todd,
lead singer of the band featured in issue 10. He was the
one who Amy turned into a girl and who came onto Buffy.
He turns him into a love sick puppy dog, giving Buffy presents
- cakes, flowers, cars, etc. It's a radical change in
character, once he was a stud known for his conquests but now
he just wants Buffy to be in his life. But his obsession
for Buffy ends him in a bigger mess than you can possibly imagine.
For he gets killed, something that I never thought would happen.
Thirdly,
Watson gives us something to think about. The Doc has
found a way to forge the Slayer. Make a clone and set
it against Buffy. Unlucky for him, it didn't work.
A big lump of pink goo instead of a full blown solid Slayer.
Which again slows thing down. What's going to happen here?
Does the replica slayer have something to do with the conclusion
of Bad Blood. Of course it does, as do Spike and
Dru. What we need are fewer obvious occurrences and more
surprises.
Other
points on writing - Excellent from Watson as usual. I
think that recently he's been getting the characters down a
treat. Characters are what the show shrives on and I think
this is finally being reflected in the comic.
ART
Richards
does his usual great job on drawing in this issue. But
something seems lacking. A disappointment was the start
of the fight scene. The vamps looked pathetically drawn,
better than what some artists could do, but still not as strong
as Richards can normally do it.
But
I think that's my only complaint in this issue. Maybe
if he had added a background instead of some pink colouring.
We also get to see Richards' attempt at drawing Angel in this
issue. Not bad. Although in places Angel looks
a tad weedy. We all know that Angel is a big butch, muscle
'I work out 6 times a day sort of guy.' He seemed a bit
thin. I'm really liking Richards' style. He and
Pimentel work very well together. They even make Spike
and Dru look like Spike and Dru. Although Spike isn't
that hard to pick out, seeing as he has bright yellow hair,
a brown leather jacket and a red shirt, Dru is definitely harder
to pick out. I think they did okay here. She doesn't
look like Willow or Cordy in this issue, as she would have if
she'd been pencilled by Mr. Bennett or Mr. Gomez.
Speaking
of Willow, regular readers of my reviews (if there is someone
out there THANK YOU!), would know that with issue 13 I complained
about Willow being too....bulky and acting like Barney the giant
pink dinosaur. Here she looks like Willow, both in features
and in anatomy. Not over weight but at the same time,
not over thin.
Overall
it was a well drawn issue. I'm loving Richards' art work.
I was going to drop the Buffy comic line to make way
for other books, but seeing as I now get paid to press buttons
on a till, I'll stick with it :)
OTHER NITPICKS
Colouring's
still off - bright greens, purples and blues. Scott's
"laryngitis" in the letter column was a great way
to get out of work IMO.
COVER
Nice
Spike and Dru image. Matsuda does a great job with the
two likenesses here -shame Buffy looks like an elf.
RATINGS
Writing:
Watson's attempting to speed up the book. I like.
He's done with the Love Sick Blues storyline, which I
didn't really notice was happening, but with four issues left
of Bad Blood, it's getting tiresome. But something's
going to happen. Chances are it involves Spike, Dru, Selke,
the doc and the clone Slayer. But then we could all see
this happening after reading this issue.
Art: A few disappointments here and there, but then again,
nothing majorly bad. The boy's done good again.
Next up: Angel issue #1. Will it be great?
Will it be good? How come I get the feeling that the former
seems more obvious? BACK
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