Review: STAR WARS: Tag & Blink Were Here #1

STAR WARS: TAG & BINK WERE HERE #1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[The review was originally posted on Patreon.]

EDITORS: Dave Land; Mark D. Beazley (collection)
COVER: Lucas Marangon with Michelle Madsen
MISC: Lucas Marangon with Michelle Madsen; Lucas Marangon; Lucas Marangon with Dan Jackson; John McCrea and Jimmy Palmiotti with Dan Jackson
ISBN: 978-1-302-91490-5; magazine (Wednesday, May 2, 2018)
104pp, Color, $7.99 U.S., $10.99 CAN (Diamond order code – MAR180947)

Rated “T”

Tag and Bink are Star Wars characters that debuted in Star Wars humor comic books first published by Dark Horse Comics (which had the license to publish Star Wars comic books from 1991 to 2014).  Tag and Bink were created by writer Kevin Rubio and artist Lucas Marangon and starred in two two-issue Star Wars spoof comic book miniseries.

The first was Star Wars: Tag & Bink Are Dead #1-2 (cover dated: October to November 2001), and the second was Star Wars: Tag & Bink II #1-2 (cover dated: March to April 2006).  An earlier version of the story that appeared in Star Wars: Tag & Bink II #1 was published in Star Wars Tales #12 (cover dated: June 2002).  Dark Horse initially collected Star Wars: Tag & Bink Are Dead #1-2 and Star Wars: Tag & Bink II #1-2 in a trade paperback entitled Star Wars: Tag & Bink Were Here (cover dated: November 2006).

Marvel Comics has regained the license to produce Star Wars comic books that it originally held from the mid-1970s to about 1990.  In May 2018, Marvel published its own version of Star Wars: Tag & Bink Were Here, apparently released to coincide with the May 2018 release of the Star Wars film, Solo: A Star Wars Story.  Tag & Bink were supposed to appear in Solo, but their scene was reportedly cut from the film.

Entitled Star Wars: Tag & Bink Were Here #1 and published in the comic book format, this standalone comic book reprints the story pages and cover art of Star Wars: Tag & Bink Are Dead #1-2, Star Wars: Tag & Bink II #1-2.  It also reprints the Tag & Bink story in Star Wars Tales #12 (cover dated: June 2002) and also the cover art for Dark Horse's Star Wars: Tag & Bink Were Here.

Tag & Bink are Tag Greenly, a male human from the planet Corellia, and Bink Otauna, a male human from Alderaan.  In the comics, writer Kevin Rubio presents the duo as playing a role or at least being present in pivotal moments depicted in the following Star Wars films:  Star Wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Return of the Jedi (1983), Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999), Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002), and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.

The title of Tag & Bink's first appearance, Tag and Bink Are Dead, is a direct reference to Tom Stoppard 1966 play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.  Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are minor characters in William Shakespeare's Hamlet, and in Stoppard's play, the duo's actions take place in the background or “in the wings” of the main events of Hamlet.  In that manner, Kevin Rubio makes Tag & Bink the stars who view and comment upon the main events of the Star Wars story and sometimes play a pivotal role in main events.

For instance, as background players, Tag & Bink are rebel soldiers aboard Princess Leia's starship (the "Tantive IV") that is captured by Darth Vader's Imperial Star Destroyer at the beginning of the original Star Wars film.  As players in a main event, Tag, in disguise as a storm trooper, is the trooper that shoots C-3PO during the “Cloud City” sequence of The Empire Strikes Back.

Writer Kevin Rubio plays Tag & Bink as being the most important Star Wars characters fans never knew existed.  He is revealing their true roles in the epic Star Wars saga, but the hapless duo's fateful adventures and misadventures will make you wonder whose side they are on.  Honestly, with these characters, Rubio offers some of the best Star Wars humor ever published in comic book form.  Rubio cleverly weaves Tag & Bink into Star Wars moments – both major and minor, and he creates some inventive side stories and back stories.  The scenes with Lando Calrissian are, quite frankly, quite nice.

Artist Lucas Marangon seems like the perfect collaborator for Rubio.  Marangon is an excellent Star Wars cartoonist and comic book artist.  He draws the characters, creatures, beings, costumes, sets, backgrounds, backdrops, ships, tech, environments, etc. with stunning accuracy, and does so while creating a humorous and comedic tone.  Marangon's illustrations and storytelling are perfect for the Star Wars spoof that is Tag & Bink.

I recommend Marvel Comics' Star Wars: Tag & Bink Were Here #1 to fans of Star Wars humor and, of course, to collectors of Star Wars comic books.  I am confident both groups will enjoy reading these truly funny Star Wars comic books.

8 out of 10

Below are the creator credits for the story material reprinted in Marvel's Star Wars: Tag & Bink Were Here #1:

Star Wars: Tag & Bink Are Dead #1 - “Episode IV.1: Tag and Bink Are Dead” (originally published by Dark Horse Comics; cover dated: October 2001)
STORY: Kevin Rubio
PENCILS: Lucas Marangon
INKS: Howard M. Shum
COLORS: Michelle Madsen
LETTERS: Steve Dutro

Star Wars: Tag & Bink Are Dead #2 - “Episode IV.1: Tag and Bink Live” (originally published by Dark Horse Comics; cover dated: November 2001)
STORY: Kevin Rubio
PENCILS: Lucas Marangon
INKS: Howard M. Shum
COLORS: Michelle Madsen
LETTERS: Steve Dutro

Star Wars: Tag & Bink II #1 - “Episode VI.1: The Return of Tag and Bink – Special Edition” (originally published by Dark Horse Comics; cover dated: March 2006)
STORY: Kevin Rubio
ART: Lucas Marangon
COLORS: Dan Jackson
LETTERS: Michael David Thomas

Star Wars: Tag & Bink II #2 - “Tag & Bink: Episode I – Revenge of the Clone Menace” (originally published by Dark Horse Comics; cover dated: April 2006)
STORY: Kevin Rubio
ART: Lucas Marangon
COLORS: Dan Jackson
LETTERS: Michael David Thomas

Star Wars Tales #12 – “The Revenge of Tag & Bink” (originally published by Dark Horse Comics; cover dated: June 2002)
STORY: Kevin Rubio
PENCILS: Rick Zombo
INKS: Randy Emberlin
COLORS: Dan Brown
LETTERS: Steve Dutro

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: YOUNG MONSTERS IN LOVE

YOUNG MONSTERS IN LOVE
DC COMICS – @DCComics

[This review was originally published on Patreon.]

STORY: Kyle Higgins; Tim Seeley; Mairghread Scott; Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing; Paul Dini; Mark Russell; Steve Orlando; Alisa Kwitney; Phil Hester; James Robinson
PENCILS: Kelley Jones; Giuseppe Camuncoli; Bryan Hitch; Javier Fernandez; Guillem March; Frazer Irving; Nick Klein; Stephanie Hans; Mirko Colak; John McCrea
INKS: Kelley Jones; Cam Smith; Andrew Currie; Javier Fernandez; Guillem March; Frazer Irving; Nick Klein; Stephanie Hans; Mirko Colak; John McCrea
COLORS: Michelle Madsen; Tomeu Morey; Nathan Fairbairn; Trish Mulvihill; Dave McCaig; Frazer Irving; Nic Klein; Stephanie Hans; Michael Spider; John Kalisz
LETTERS: Rob Leigh; Clayton Cowles; Carlos M. Mangual; Sal Cipriano; Travis Lanham; Tom Napolitano; Dave Sharpe; Clem Robins
COVER: Kelley Jones with Michelle Madsen
80pp, Color, $9.99 U.S. (April 2018)

Rated T+ for “Teen Plus”

Young Monsters in Love in a one-shot, comic book anthology and holiday special from DC Comics.  A comic book celebration of Valentine's Day 2018, Young Monsters in Love presents 10 tales of twisted love and strange romance starring some of DC Comics' most most infamous monster and dark fantasy characters (although Swamp Thing, who is one of them, is in a different story).

Young Monsters in Love opens with Dr. Kirk Connors a.k.a. “Man-Bat” trying to find love again, but in the story “Nocturnal Animal,” he will learn that sometimes you have to stopping loving the one who will not stop loving you.  Frankenstein Agent of S.H.A.D.E. proves that Frankenstein has the soul of a poet, but will his “Bride” see that in “Pieces of Me.”

Superman gives a helping hand to Solomon Grundy in “Buried on Sunday,” but Superboy does not feel the love.  The Teen Titans' Raven has to take it to the dance floor in “The Dead Can Dance.”  Deadman takes a bullied child into his care and helps victim and victimizer in “Be My Valentine.”

Swamp Thing discovers that he can't have anything nice, even love, in “Heart-Shaped Box.”  Long-time friends and Doom Patrol haters, Monsieur Mallah & The Brain have to face the truth in “Visibility.”  I, Vampire is featured in “The Turning of Deborah Dancer.”  The Demon goes to Hell for one more kill in “To Hell and Gone.”  Finally, the Creature Commandos get bad news from the home front in “Dear Velcoro.”

In a recent article for The Washington Post, the author (Geraldine DeRuiter of everywhereist.com) offers a heart-breaking story, entitled “I thought my bully deserved an awful life. But then he had one.” that is also a great read.  She discovered that the boy who bullied her in school, a boy she always wished bad for, was actually murdered when he was 25-years-old.  She wondered, in this time when the culture has the long knives out for bullies, if we forget that bullies may need help as much, if not more, than their victims.

Without spoiling it, this is more or less the theme of writer Paul Dini and artist Guillem March's Deadman story, “Be My Valentine.”  First, to my imagination, it feels like a classic Deadman story from the 1960s, written by either Arnold Drake (Deadman's creator) or Jack Miller and drawn by either Carmine Infantino or Neal Adams. Secondly, Dini and March's story is one of the best comic book stories about bullying that I have ever read.  It alone is worth Young Monsters in Love's cover price of $9.99.  Colorist Dave McCaig and letterer Sal Cipriano also do some of their best work in creating a graphical package that is classic cool.

Young Monsters in Love is full of wonderful stories besides “Be My Valentine.”  Five of them are truly greats comic book short stories, including the powerful “Heart-Shaped Box” and “Visibility.”  Two are quite good, including the Creature Commandos story, which is my first reading experience of these characters.  Three of these stories are not as well executed as they could have been, including the opening Man-Bat story.

I usually ignore DC Comics' holiday specials, but Young Monsters in Love makes me think that I should not be so quick to dismiss them.  So if you missed it, dear readers, run back to your local comic book shop and find Young Monsters in Love.

9 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: SWAMP THING Winter Special

SWAMP THING: WINTER SPECIAL #1
DC COMICS – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Tom King; Len Wein
ART: Jason Fabok; Kelley Jones
COLORS: Brad Anderson; Michelle Madsen
LETTERS: Deron Bennett
COVER: Jason Fabok
MISC. ART: José Luis García-López; José Luis García-López and Joe Prado; José Luis García-López and Joe Prado with Mark Chiarello
80pp, Color, $7.99 U.S. (March 2018)

Rated “T” for Teen

Swamp Thing created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson

Editor's Note by Rebecca Taylor

Swamp Thing is a horror comic book character from DC Comics.  While there have been different versions of the character, Swamp Thing is a plant elemental and a sentient, walking mass of plant matter.  Created by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson, Swamp Thing first appeared in House of Secrets #92 (cover dated July 1971).

In 2017, both Wein and Wrightson died.  In 2016, DC Comics published a six-issue Swamp Thing comic book miniseries written by Wein and collected in a trade paperback, Swamp Thing: The Dead Don't Sleep.  Before he died, Wein was working on a new Swamp Thing series with artist Kelley Jones, who drew The Dead Don't Sleep.  This new series would have also been a continuation of the miniseries, and the first issue would have been published as Swamp Thing #7.

Wein produced a detailed plot for the first issue/chapter (“Spring Awakening!”), but died before he could produce a “lettering script” for the first issue of this new Swamp Thing series.  The art for the new comic, drawn by Kelley Jones and colored by Michelle Madsen, is printed in a recently published square-bound, one-shot, comic book, Swamp Thing: Winter Special.  In a two-page editor's note, Rebecca Taylor explains the situation around this still-born project.  Swamp Thing: Winter Special also includes Wein's plot for Swamp Thing #7, which runs six pages (for a 20 page story).

“Spring Awakening” depicts long-time villain, Solomon Grundy, kidnapping an infant girl, and, later, Batman visiting Swamp Thing.  I don't know what to make of the story other than I would have loved to have read a finished version.  I am a longtime fan of Kelley Jones, and I love the way Michelle Madsen colors Jones' comic book art.  I am not a big fan of Swamp Thing unless the stories are produced by particular creators, and, of course, Wein was one of them, so...

The Wein tribute is the opening story of Swamp Thing: Winter Special.  Entitled “The Talk of the Saints,” it is written by Tom King; drawn by Jason Fabok; colored by Brad Anderson; and lettered by Deron Bennett.

“The Talk of the Saints” finds Swamp Thing shepherding a lost boy through a blinding snow storm.  As the two navigate a strange, frozen tundra, they face countless threats, especially an unseen bloodthirsty snow monster that is constantly stalking them.  Stripped of his powers and disconnected from “the Green,” Swamp Thing must uncover the true identity of the snow monster that hunts them.

Tom King's story does offers some genuinely scary and creepy moments, but, at the same time, it comes across as awkward poetry and metaphor.  The art by illustrator Jason Fabok and colorist Brad Anderson is gorgeous and, outside of Kelley Jones and Michelle Madsen's work, is some of the most beautiful Swamp Thing comic book art that I have see in years, especially the last five pages of this story.

Letterer Deron Bennett presents lettering that really heightens the chills and thrills.  For me, Bennett unites what is good about Tom King's story and the prettiness of the art into a striking graphical package.

Swamp Thing: Winter Special is not great, but it is an essential publication for Swamp Thing fans, if only for the Len Wein tributes and story material. But a Swamp Thing comic book full of pretty art is a good reason to have this one-shot comic book.

7.5 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: BANE: Conquest #1

BANE: CONQUEST No. 1
DC COMICS – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITER: Chuck Dixon
ARTIST: Graham Nolan
COLORS: Gregory Wright
LETTERS: Carlos M. Mangual
COVER: Graham Nolan with Gregory Wright
VARIANT COVER: Kelley Jones with Michelle Madsen
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (July 2017)

Rated “T+” for Teen Plus

Bane created by Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench, and Graham Nolan

“The Sword” Part 1

Bane is a DC Comics character and super-villain.  Created by writers Chuck Dixon and Doug Moench and artist Graham Nolan, Bane is primarily a Batman adversary known for his brute strength and exceptional intelligence, with his strength enhanced by “Venom,” a strength-enhancing super-steroid, which can be highly addictive.

Two of Bane's creators are the creative force behind a new 12-issue miniseries starring the character, entitled Bane: Conquest.  It is written by Chuck Dixon; drawn by Graham Nolan; colored by Gregory Wright; and lettered by Carlos M. Mangual.

Bane: Conquest #1 opens on the sea, in international waters off the coast of Gotham City.  A shipping vessel laden with the weapons of war is headed for the city, or at least the crew thinks they are.  They are actually headed towards a rendezvous with Bane, the boss of Gotham's criminal underworld.  However, Bane has no idea where his assault of this shipping vessel will take him.

Bane: Conquest is a 1990s comic book, at least it seems that way to me.  I think Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan (an artist that I have always liked) had their best years in the 1990s – Batman and Punisher comics for Dixon and Batman and Hawkworld for Nolan.  Dixon is a serviceable-to-dependable, but not particularly imaginative and inventive writer.  At his best (on DC's Hawkworld comic book series), Nolan was a rock solid storyteller who used stylish compositions to evoke not only mood, but also to reveal the inner workings of characters.

Bane: Conquest seems like the blending of Dixon's leftover 1990s scripts for Batman and The Punisher, with Bane as The Punisher on a mission to destroy gunrunners.  Honestly, this first issue is not bad, but its goodness is not worth the $3.99 cover price.  Just in case I am wrong, however, I will try another issue or two.

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: SWAMP THING #1

SWAMP THING No. 1 (2016)
DC COMICS – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Len Wein
ART: Kelley Jones
COLORS: Michelle Madsen
LETTERS: Rob Leigh
COVER: Kelley Jones with Chris Sotomayor
32pp, Color, $2.99 U.S. (March 2016)

Rated “T” for Teen

Swamp Thing created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson

“The Dead Don't Sleep!”

Swamp Thing is a horror comic book character from DC Comics, of which there have been different versions.  Swamp Thing is a plant elemental and a sentient, walking mass of plant matter.  Created by writer Len Wein and artist Berni Wrightson, Swamp Thing first appeared in House of Secrets #92 (cover dated July 1971).

The best known version of Swamp Thing is Alec Holland (Swamp Thing #1, October/November 1972), a scientist who becomes Swamp Thing due to a complex process involving his death, a “bio-restorative formula,” and a bomb.  British comic book writer Alan Moore came to fame in the United States when he began writing the early 1980s Swamp Thing comic book, Saga of the Swamp Thing, with issue #20 (January 1984).  Moore re-invented the character with issue #21, and since then everyone who has written the Swamp Thing has worked in Moore's shadow...

That is except Len Wein, who is probably one of the most underrated writers and creators of comic books during the last five decades.  He is Swamp Thing's proud papa (or co-parent), defining the character with moody storytelling that blended EC Comics and weird fiction with a Gothic sensibility.  Everything done with Swamp Thing after him sprouted from the seeds Wein sowed.

Wein returned to Swamp Thing last year for a two-issue miniseries that was part of DC Comics' “Convergence” event.  Earlier this year, DC Comics published a six-issue miniseries, entitled Swamp Thing.  It was written by Wein; drawn by Kelley Jones; colored by Michelle Madsen; and lettered by Rob Leigh.

Swamp Thing #1 (“The Dead Don't Sleep!”) opens in the “Bayou Country” of Louisiana.  The Swamp Thing is doing his... swamp thing when The Phantom Stranger arrives to offer a few vague misgivings and omens and portents.  That conversation is interrupted by the clumsy arrival of Frank and Grace Wormwood, who are stumbling through the bayou because they are actually looking for the Swamp Thing.  They have come about their college student son, Lazlo, who is worse off than they could possible ever imagine.

I could call this Swamp Thing miniseries one of the best comics of 2016 after reading just one issue.  It's moody and suspenseful and downright scary, particularly because of the way the art brings Len Wein's story to life.  In artist, Kelley Jones, Len Wein has the perfect post-Berni Wrightson Swamp Thing collaborator.  For three decades, Jones has been doing the best Wrightson homage by creating his own unique style, which blends Wrightson's pen and ink influenced compositions with some graphical flourishes and graphic design sensibilities from Mike Mignola (Hellboy).

Jones' Swamp Thing is part muscular, hulking plant monster and part bodybuilder's physique.  In this static image, Jones infuses humor, sharp wit, and intelligence.  It's alive! for real.  The swamp setting is more expressionistic than representational, but that helps set the German expressionistic, Nosferatu-like atmosphere which turns the second half of this comic book into a fantastic horror comics pop confection.

Yeah, I'm recommending this.  Find the back issues or buy the trade paperback collection.  I can't wait to read more of Len Wein and Kelley Jones' fab return to Swamp Thing.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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I Reads You Review: BATMAN #35

BATMAN #35
DC COMICS – @DCComics

WRITER: Scott Snyder – @Ssnyder1835
PENCILS: Greg Capullo
INKS: Danny Miki
COLORS: FCO Plascencia
LETTERS: Steve Wands
COVER: Greg Capullo and Danny Miki with FCO Plascencia
VARIANT COVERS: Andy Kubert with Brad Anderson; Brian Stelfreeze (Monster Variant)
40pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (December 2014)

Rated “T” for “Teen”

Batman created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger

Endgame #1

How do writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo follow their 12-issue Batman epic, “Zero Year?”  Well, pitting Batman against his super-powered teammates from the Justice League sounds like a idea.

Batman #35 (“Endgame” Part 1) opens Bruce Wayne reworks his infrastructure and recovers from the beatings he took during the events still being depicted in Batman: Eternal (because the events depicted in Batman #35 take place after whatever will be depicted in Batman: Eternal).  Suddenly, Wonder Woman drops by Bruce Wayne's new Batman base of operations at Old Wayne Tower, and, much to Bruce's surprise, she wants to kill him.

No, she really wants to kill him... as in homicide.  And so do Flash, Aquaman, and Superman.

The art team of Greg Capullo, inker Danny Miki, and colorist FCO Plascencia are visually and graphically a truly unique Batman art team, but it is not just about pretty pictures.  Their graphical storytelling heightens the sense of drama and conveys subtlety in character, emotion, and conflict.  Superheroes with colorful costumes usually seem odd and out of place in the moody shades of Gotham City.  They might seem so even in the more sparkly version of Gotham of this current ongoing Batman comic book series.  However, these artists make the Justice League seem a natural part of the ebb and flow of the weird crime and conflict of the Dark Knight's stomping grounds.

I think the reveal on the last page of who is behind the Justice League attack means that Endgame just might be something special.  In fact, that is what Scott Snyder's run as Batman writer has been, special.  I actually was not sure that I was ready for another long Batman story arc, but I am now.

A-

[This comic book includes the short story, “The Paleman” by writer James Tynion IV, artist Kelley Jones, colorist by Michelle Madsen, and letterer by Dezi Sienty.]

Batman #35 features the first chapter of “The Paleman,” which looks to be a backup feature that is tied to Endgame.  I don't know how long this feature will run, but I hope it is for several issues because the artist of “The Paleman” is one of my favorites, Kelley Jones.

I have always thought that Jones was influenced by Berni Wrightson and also by an artist Jones once replaced on a 1980s comic book series, Mike Mignola.  Jones spun those influences into his own potent and idiosyncratic style.  It is just right for James Tynion IV's grim thriller of a script, and Michelle Madsen's brooding coloring is just right for Jones' shadowed compositions.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Review: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER SEASON 9 #6

"Nikki the Vampire Slayer"
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER SEASON 9 #6
DARK HORSE COMICS

WRITER: Andrew Chambliss
PENCILS: Georges Jeanty
INKS: Karl Story
COLORS: Michelle Madsen
LETTERS: Richard Starkings and Comicraft’s Jimmy Betancourt
ALTERNATE COVER: Georges Jeanty with Dexter Vines and Michelle Madsen (Cover A by Phil Noto)
28pp, Color, $2.99 U.S.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 is a comic book series that debuted in 2007 and ended in 2011. Produced by the creator of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series, Joss Whedon, the comic book expanded on the events of the TV show’s last televised season, which was Season 7. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 is a sequel to Season 8, and both series are canonical, meaning that the events in these comic book series are part of the television series’ universe and continuity.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 #6 (“On Your Own” Part One) opens in New York City in 1973, where it finds the Pam Grier-like slayer, Nikki, and her Watcher, Crowley, dealing with vampires. Nikki, however, has an even bigger problem that may actually be more complicated than dealing with slaying vampires.

Back in the present, Spike stands in for Buffy. The bleached-blond vampire assists San Francisco Police Department Detective Dowling in dealing with zompires, and also gives the cop some information on vampires, in general. Meanwhile, Buffy’s own personal problems lead her to Nikki’s son, Robin Wood, and a momentous decision.

I think that it’s been about five years since I’ve read a Buffy comic book, although I did read an issue of Angel & Faith last year (which I liked). I doubt that this ninth issue of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 will create many new Buffy fans (if any), but I think Buffy fans will likely enjoy it.

This story isn’t necessarily about slaying, although there is some slaying. On Your Own is a story of mother and child, and it is a bit surprising, even poignant. It shows the dramatic side of Buffy, and the character drama is what makes Buffy the Vampire Slayer like no other vampire thing.

B+