Salutations, traveler of The Internets! Welcome to William's Bloody Hell, so named after our founder, Sir Bloody William.
He is seen in the likeness above in a rare, 19th century woodcut. This
image was rumoured to have been
commissioned after a bout of unpleasantness
in the White Chapel district of London. Do enjoy your stay and peruse our many, varied offerings, much of which cannot be found elsewhere!
:: Fray by Joss Whedon and Karl Moline::
by William the Bloody
Hundreds of years have passed since the last Slayer was called. Sometime in the twenty first century the last Slayer had a showdown of apocalyptic proportions against an army of demons. At the end of it, all the demons and earthly magic were expunged from this world, hence the end of the Slayer lineage. Sure there are still vampires around, but people are used to them now and see them as little more than diseased rats to be avoided. In this age, there has been decades of pollution and people have gotten mutated themselves so vampires aren't really all that weird to see, especially if you live down in the warrens, as opposed to the ritzy uppers. Our star Melaka Fray lives in the warrens. She makes a living stealing for a fish-man named Gunther. Gunther gets a rich client who wants some stashed away antique, he gets Melaka to grab it for him, Melaka sells it to him, he sells it to the client; it's a good system. Until one day a man comes to the warren looking for Melaka, tells her she's been chosen and then lights himself on fire. That night, Melaka is surprised in her own home by a tall, red skinned, cloven hooved, horn headed demon who tells her exactly the same thing. Her reaction: what's a Slayer? The demon tells her should know some of it because of The Dreams... only Melaka hasn't been having any dreams. Now completely unprepared, she is expected to lead the humans in a prophesized great battle against the vampires.
The Good: Once again, Joss Whedon writing a story in the universe which he created is simply terrific. But then, why shouldn't it be? The characters are all pretty solid. Melaka, her demon "trainer", and even somewhat minor characters like Gunther and a little girl in the warren all feel like they are their own. The setting feels established and Whedon doesn't lay on heavy amounts of exposition setting it up either. It's all there and it feels natural. I like the art, too. The lines are clean, with crisp and bold inks. There is some really excellent line work and it fits really well with the colours. The story feels like a tradition Buffy stpry, only it isn't and that makes it kinda neat.
The Bad: Melaka, while I liked her and reading about her, felt kinda like a "stock" Whedon character. It was like she was a blend of Buffy and Faith not really completely original. Sure, her situation was different, but the way she reacted in her various stimuli seemed very Faith-like. Also, it was rather disappointing that there was a pretty gratuitous Melaka showering scene. Please. There were some plot points I could see coming from a mile off (but not others, granted).
Overall, it was definitely an enjoyable read. If you're a Whedon fan, and particularly if you're a Buffy fan, you cannot pass this up, especially now that Fray is being introduced as part of the "present" Buffy-verse in Buffy Season 8 #16! It's a good single story run available on the cheap in a one volume trade, so why not?
A-
