I don’t know how many of you know this but ABCFamily (my personal holy ground) now airs reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Monday through Thursday at 5pm. They are currently on season 2; last night’s episode was “Reptile Boy.” Angel and Buffy were at prime angsty relationship. That got me thinking about Old Demons part 2 which, conveniently, I had read earlier in the day. Old Demons most obviously refers to Archaeus because, duh, he is an old demon. But, it also is a nod to the inner demons that float to the surface when Buffy, Spike, and Angel are together because of their shared histories.
I enjoyed the newest installment of season 10, however I would not rank it in my top 10. Or even my top 20 or 30. It was a filler issue. Buffy and Angel have tension. Spike and Angel have tension. SO MUCH ANGST. The main point was to bring all the characters to the main battle with big bad Archaeus. The reasoning behind the continued bickering and ill will and chattery gossip was eventually explained by Archaeus, “I gave you time. Time for your fears, hates, and doubts to rise to the forefront of your minds. Making you susceptible to my influence.” Valid and clear explanation for the amount of time spent going over the same feelings and problems.
However, it doesn’t make it any less boring. It feels like sacrilege saying that. I truly do. I wasn’t disinterested in reading Old Demons part 2, it still had the unique Buffy universe flair. But it felt repetitive at times. It felt like the authors were treading water. They had too much story to jam into two comics but not enough to spread out among three.
At the end of the day, though, a Buffy comic on its worst day is still better than most on their best day. (I might be super biased.) Old Demons part 2 ended with a knife to the heart, or maybe a little to the left of it. It wasn’t the best Buffy comics has to offer but it made a decent path to next issue.
Rating: 6 out of 10
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Marley Ghizzone is the Breaking News Editor for Pop-Break. Aside from writing news, Marley reviews television shows and the odd film. She is currently a senior at Rowan University studying Radio/Television/Film as well as Creative Writing. Marley also writes an opinion column dedicated to feminism for her student run university newspaper, The Whit. Pop culture is her drug of choice and her talents include binge watching entire seasons of TV shows obsessively fast and crying over fictional characters. Follow her on Twitter: @marleyveee
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