The Buffy Comic Project: "Hey, Good Lookin', Part 2"

Buffy the Vampire Slayer # 10

(Dark Horse) (Volume 1, 1998-2003)

Creators: Andi Watson (writer), Joe Bennett (penciller), Rick Ketcham (inker)

Setting: Season Three

T.V. Character Appearances: Buffy, Giles, Willow, Oz, Cordelia, Xander, Joyce, Angel,

Major Original Characters: Selke, Dr. Flitter, Rouleau (demon gangster)

Summary: Giles' research pins down the corpse-eating demons as a pack of ghouls. Completely coincidentally, Buffy is harassed by a tight-knit group of models when she decides to take a modelling scout up on her offer. Could it be that these models are actually the ghouls, and that eating human flesh is the way they stay young and attractive? Yes, yes it could be. They set a trap for Buffy, but she fights her way out of it with Angel's help and the ghouls are killed. Meanwhile, the still-disfigured Selke has a meeting with a man named Rouleau, who seems to be a demon mobster leader. Rouleau humiliates Selke, and she vows revenge.

Review

I could complain about Buffy's main supernatural threat (the ghouls) and her main social threat (the models) converging completely by coincidence, but the show could often be just as ham-fisted in tying its plotlines together. I actually wouldn't have minded seeing the Buffy-as-model subplot go on longer, as it was at least something we hadn't really seen before, and tied in well to Buffy's fear of growing older while Angel remained the same. As villains, the ghouls weren't particularly interesting, as their fighting style seemed exactly the same as vampires. And as for the Selke story-line, I'm still not really sure what her plans are or how this Rouleau character ties in.

Notes

* I thought the demon that Buffy killed last ish was the one responsible for the corpse-eating, but apparently not.

* The inside cover labels this both "Hey, Good Lookin' Part 2" and "Bad Blood Part 2". I'm not sure why the double subtitles.

* The artist has returned to drawing Xander with a stubble-goatee. I really have no recollection of this from the show, but then I have no idea why the artist would invent it.

* I love the art cover to this issue--the only time I can think of where they played around with the logo and trade dress to come up with something really original.

* This scene just killed me: we see Angel feasting on a dead ghoul, which is gross enough as it is, but then on the next page he's slipping Buffy the tongue! At least pause for a breath-mint in between!


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