Apart (of me) ~ Part One

I really can't believe that it is already mid April but I do really wish for this nightmarish week to end.
  
Buffy Season 9 issue #8

Jeanty takes a break from the comic and the work of Cliff Richards comes into play. His style seems familiar and it should as he also penciled the Buffy Year One arcs including Viva Las Buffy, A Stake to the Heart and Slayer Interrupted. These stories take place before Sunnydale and are an interesting read. A Stake to the Heart was particularly memorable; quite dark but a great exploration into who the Slayer is; and contained great art from Brian Horton.

Off on a tangent but back to the issue at hand now.

Cover One. Ok we're going into really tech-y geek. Set in a seemingly advanced computer control room with at least 13 monitors depicting some computer coding at work but mainly a study in vampire. One  vampire to be exact, with different parts of his face enlarged on various monitors. Is this particular vampire significant? Well, I don't think so, it's just the background. I suppose the artist just decided to do the same one for simplicities sake. Oh grey. Why is it that tech-y rooms are always grey? ...So two figures stand looking up at us. On the right, Andrew. The extended member to the Scooby gang who's been MIA for way too long is now in on the action. Good to see. Though, Noto has drawn him with a strange expression and with his old hairstyle from back in the tele series. A bit of inconsistency there, as he now has wavy locks. On the left, the menacing Simone, with her punk mohawk a vibrant pink, army boots and a devil print singlet, she holds one long stake in each hand. Behind them is a Star Wars-like hologram of Buffy projected from the base of the room floor. Glowing in translucent turquoise the enormous bust of the slayer stares straight at us. This, I must say is one of the better covers by Phil Noto and the only one of his I actually like so far.

Cover by Phil Noto

Cover Two depicts the scene from the end of issue #7 where we see a shocked Buffy getting her right arm sliced off... with an axe. Well that's handy. Since when do vampires carry around any weapon but there very own fangs pocketed conveniently in their mouths. Of course that's not what happened in the events concluding last issue. Her arm was torn off without the luxury of a clean cut. If I've done a good enough job at skim reading there seems to be a little controv about the change in the cover to conceal the plot twists. I'll leave it to you on that one.

I've always felt that Richards' style was mellow. But I do like it. This issue worked quite well. I particularly liked the opening scene, where Buffy and Spike emerge from the bright light. Spike crounched in the open window and Buffy arm sparks a fly looking all so threatening. The panels were terrific along with the beautiful cool tones. There are revistis of issue one's house party, which drawn in a different style adds to the effect of conveying a new stream of events that night. The sereness of Richards' style matches well with the domestic scenes, an apparent slayer arriving home in a car, folding laudry, gardening, cooking... Although, in themselves the scene are quite boring as domestic scenes often are but the contrast it makes with the complexities of the rest of the world, the actual slayers' life, is quite striking.

And that's a wrap. I look forward to the next issue.