Viva Las Buffy (Part 1 of 4), Act 1: Broken
Parts
Plot: Scott Lobdell
Script: Fabian Nicieza
Pencills: Cliff Richards
Inks: Will Conrad
Colors: Dave McCaig
Letters: Clem Robins
Cover: Brian Horton & Paul Lee
The story takes place before Buffy the Vampire
Slayer's first season
Jeremy's Brief Synopsis:
Having
recently become the Chosen One, expelled High
School freshman Buffy Summers found life in L.A. to
difficult to deal with and jumped at the chance to
pursue a ring of vampires to Las Vegas, with just
one clue in their pocket -- the vamps had a
casinochip from teh Golden Touch Casino.
Zinna's Review:
Ever wonder how Buffy
transformed from being a shallow fashion-obsessed,
cheerleading diva to a complex fashion-obsessed
slaying warrior? Well, this issue is your chance to
see Buffy before she comes to absolute grips with
her destiny. Before she understands what being a
slayer really means. Before she understands all the
sacrifices, the loneliness, the responsibilities
that accompany such power. Before she understands
the hearts she will have to break… Speaking of
broken hearts looking to wallow, do you remember
Pike? Well, maybe you remember 90210's Luke Perry.
Luke Perry plays the sympathetic and somewhat
charming Pike in the original BTVS motion picture.
Before the Scoobies there was Pike, Buffy's lone
sidekick and guess what? Pike is narrating the
beginning of this tale, the prelude to Las
Vegas.
Pike, as you may understand, has
of course fallen head over heels for the slayer.
Unfortunately, Buffy is not emotionally available
for such entanglements. She hasn't even figured out
how to stake a vamp without getting the ash all
over her hair (which can be a real problem since
the price of conditioner keeps going up). So, much
in the way of Xander (but I guess since this is a
prequel, Xander is more in the way of Pike), Pike
tries to connect with Buffy on her
level&emdash;fighting along side her. Since he is
not superhuman, he mostly provides the wheels (a
motorcycle) and moral support among other things
(he'll pick up the tab when they have pie, that
sort of thing). This issues is about Pike knowing
that he's fallen, knowing that it's not going to
work out all happily ever after, and still wanting
to be along for the ride. It's also about Buffy,
who we see mostly from a onlooker's perspective,
trying to deal with her new-found powers and
responsibilities on top of grieving for her
recently killed watcher, Merrick; hiding her
identity from her parents, who seem to be using
Buffy's troubles at school as an excuse to chew
each other out; and the possibility of expulsion
(remember all those references to Buffy burning
down Hemery High's gym in effort to kill a lot of
vampires, well that's just happened in this tale
and you can bet the school board is not very
understanding, especially when Buffy can offer no
explanation for it).
Here's what the issue is about
to me, Buffy isn't that different from who she is
now (see BTVS season 7). She may be more
naïve, little more immature and little less
witty, but she's pretty much a younger version of
current self. And well, you can say, wasn't
everyone just a young version of thir current self.
Maybe, but humor me… Compare Cordy at
Sunnydale High to Cordy now. The change is
phenomenal! I think we're supposed to believe that
Buffy was Cordy (or similar to Cordy) before she
became the slayer, maybe Buffy was, maybe Buffy was
worse… however the transformation from shallow
to complex in Buffy's case is instant. The minute
she begins training she becomes a fearless
protector. For example, in this issue Buffy has to
face a school board hearing where they'll decide if
she can attend school after her shenanigans in the
gym. Pike, the chivalrous sap he is, offers to take
the heat. Buffy won't allow it, she doesn't want
her friends taking the fall for fallout from her
secret slaying life. Buffy seems to already know
that if she's going to be any good at the whole
saving the world bit, she's going to have to take
the heat, now and every time after this. That's the
job. Pike is disappointed. He wanted to be needed.
He wanted know that Buffy trusted him enough to
lean on him.
What Pike doesn't seem to
understand is that she does need him. I think it
will only become more apparent as the series
progresses (part 1 of 4, people). As we know, one
of the reasons Buffy lasts so long as a slayer is
because she counts on her friends, loves them, and
lets them step up to plate for her as much as she
has to step up to the plate for the world. So, then
wouldn't she just collapse in Pike arms, let him
protect her in ways that he can? Because she's too
strong? Too proud? Doubt it. Maybe it's because she
doesn't think Pike's a very good liar? Umm that
doesn't seem right either. When Buffy replies to
his offer, she says , " 'Preciate it. But we can't
tell the truth, and if I have to lie, I'm not
dragging you into it." Pike's response is silence,
but in his head he wants to tell her that he's
already up to knees in it, but he doesn't. He knows
it won't matter what he says. Buffy is going to
protect him (be it his hide or his good (umm)
name)… That's who she is now. That's who she
always was. Or least that what I'm drawn to believe
since she's been kicking about vampire ass for a
week now and she's already a prime candidate for a
stoicism award.
Here's some more food for
thought, Dawn's in this tale even though it's
before Buffy came to Sunnydale. Dawn's sleeping in
Buffy's bed, arms securely around Buffy's prize
childhood possession Mr. Gordo, while their parents
fight downstairs and Buffy's out dusting the
streets. When Buffy returns home after patrol, Dawn
is there to get the low down and warn her about the
parentals current upset&emdash;Buffy. While the
scene itself is minorly informative, I'm spending
more time wondering if the scene really happened or
if we're to believe this is just a memory infused
in Buffy's mind by the monks (the one who implanted
Dawn, the key, into everyone's memory).
So, now you're wondering what
does all this have to do with Las Vegas? Well, as
you know Buffy's school career is axed at the
hearing, and Father Buffy is not very nice to her
about it (there's yelling and biting comments). So,
Buffy begins to figure her home life isn't going to
be all peachy, what with the parents hating each
other and now having an reason to take aggressions
out on her. So how does Buffy cope? Well, what's
Buffy's comfort food? If you guessed kicking ass,
you guessed right and apparently, there's some vamp
ass to kick in Las Vegas (and you know who's
tagging along or shall I say driving).
Don't say I'm ruining it for you
because there's a lot I didn't tell you and the
whole expulsion thing is like no big surprise. As
for what I didn't tell you, here's a taste. Giles
makes appearance and let me just say he's rather
feisty, not what you'd expect. Angel, also makes an
appearance, oddly enough, not in a Buffy's guardian
angel capacity, he's kind of doing his own thing.
But you can bet, they paths are more intertwined
than I'm letting on. Hahahaa go buy the issue!
James' Review:
After finally accepting her
calling as the Slayer, Buffy Summers begins to
adjust to her new role; however, now she must
decide how feels about love interest Pike, try and
cope with her parents are always fighting and now
she's been kicked out of school, where does her
life beyond slaying? In England, the Watcher's
Council must choose a new guardian for Buffy now
that Merrick is dead.
This issue marks a risky but
ultimately interesting change in the Buffy title.
After four years of keeping safely within the Fox
regulated continuity, Allie and his team have
finally broken free of the current season and skip
back seven years to just after The Origin. Don't be
put off by the lengthy title (Betwixed And Between:
Viva Las Buffy: Part One: Broken Parts!) or the
lack of Scoobies as this arc, and year, promises to
one of the comics best.
Continuing on from the set-up in
the movie and mentions in the show, the LA Buffy is
a new change from the current angsty, wavy-haired
heroine we know now, with a more Cordy-esque feel
to her and an fresh, less jaded attitude to
slaying, back when her worst night might be three,
maybe four, vamps up to no good. Nicieza nails the
dialogue, as always, with Pike's narration
continuing the way of change the title is
experiencing. Although the main gang doesn't make
an appearance in the issue, the scenes with Giles
and Angel do set-up for more involvement in later
issues, especially the slight cliffhanger to do
with the latter. Unfortunately, this issue does
have considerable filler and not enough actual
plot. With only four issues to cover Las Vegas and
the town doesn't even get hinted at to until the
last half.
Richards' art is good in this
issue, but not quite the high standards we've been
spoilt with lately, as his Buffy is great, complete
with leggings and skimpy tops, with a nice Summers
family to go with. However, his Pike seems to be
slightly Xander with a goatee and is there a reason
why there's no good, clear shot of him. The
detailed art that Richards' that can sometimes be
his down fall (cheap cameos in Buffy/Angel 1/2)
come back into play in Broken Parts as each poster
or advert has a famous character or image on (look
out for: Calvin, Hobbes, Scooby Doo and Freddy
Prinze Jr. notable).
This issue had a lot of pressure
on it to succeed after weeks of much hype and,
luckily, it delivers but still leaves me with the
feeling that the issue was a bit too much
continuity bridging and not enough substance to
keep me on the edge of my seat for the next issue.
Never the less, I'll be back here next month raving
my ass off.
