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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 :) 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. 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. |
LOVE
SICK BLUES, PART 2 |
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