Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Jonathan # 1 [COMICS]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Jonathan # 1
(Dark Horse, one-shot 2001)

Creators: Jane Espenson (writer), Cliff Richards (penciler), Andy Owens (inker), Clem Robins (letterer), Guy Major (colorist)

Setting:  "This story does not take place during Buffy the Vampire Slayer's fourth season."

T.V./Movie Character Appearances: Jonathan, Buffy, Xander, Anya, Giles, Spike, Willow, Riley,

Major Original Characters: None.

Summary

Jonathan Levinson, international movie star, philanthropist, inventor, and vampire-slaying protector of Sunnydale rescues a kidnapped European princess.  In the process, he discovers the Zada, a secret Soviet counterpart to the Initiative (the American project to harness the power of demons).  The Zada subjects have escaped the Soviet Union and, now well-organised, have come to Sunnydale to seek the power of the Hellmouth.  Jonathan gathers his crew—the self-doubting Buffy, the enamoured Anya and Xander, Riley, Willow, Giles, and Spike—to accompany him to the tunnels beneath Sunnydale high in search of the Zada.  Jonathan single-handedly slays several of the vampires, with the rest of his crew watching his back.  When Giles gets shot, though, it’s lucky that Jonathan’s expert medical knowledge can save the older man’s life.  With the Zada destroyed and everything right with the world, Jonathan retires to his mansion accompanied by a pair of super-models.

Review

Written by Jane Espenson, the writer of the Season Four episode “Superstar,” this story is great fun.  It’s set in the same vein of that episode where Jonathan has made an occult bargain to gain fame and respect.  The story itself is interesting (a Soviet counterpart to the Zada is a cool idea), and there are a lot of great little humorous touches scattered throughout.  The action scenes are gloriously over-the-top.  There’s also, though the narration, enough self-awareness on Jonathan’s part for him to realize that he doesn’t really deserve everything that’s happening and that he’s going to have to pay a price for it someday.  All in all, a really enjoyable little one-shot.

Notes

·       *  I liked the opening scene, with Jonathan falling out of a burning plane without a parachute only to somehow dive back into the cockpit and land it before it crashes.  It’s exactly the opening stunt to a James Bond movie.

·       *  A line I didn’t even realize the significance of the first couple of times I read the issue: when Jonathan and the gang return to the ruins of old Sunnydale High, Buffy says “Even the clock tower is gone.”  Jonathan says “Good.”  It’s a reference, of course, to the famous episode where Jonathan is about to commit suicide.

·         * Jonathan’s pseudo-Batman narration is great: “Mayhem.  I was in my element.  I unleashed my fists of fury.”

* My favourite narrative passage: "I am a man with a lot to be grateful for: my home, the patent I hold on velcro, my looks."

* Movie marquee:  "Jonathan Levinson in . . . The Matrix"

* Apparently, there are also "gold-foil" and "silver-foil" versions of the photo cover.