Buffy the Vampire Slayer: "Giles" [COMICS]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Giles #1
(Dark Horse) (one-shot 2000)

Creators:  Christopher Golden and Tom Sniegoski (writers), Eric Powell (artist), Pat Brosseau (letterer), Guy Major (colorist)

Setting:  After Season Four

T.V./Movie Character Appearances:  Buffy, Giles, Quentin Travers

Major Original Characters:  Archie Lassiter (Watcher), Micaela Tomasi (Watcher), Graham Locke (Watcher)

Summary:  While cataloguing an ancient amulet in the vaults, a junior member of the Watchers Council accidentally sets free a monstrous curse, killing himself and a senior member, Archie Lassiter, in the process.  Giles, an old friend of Lassiter, hears of the man's death and travels to England for the funeral.  Quentin Travers and the rest of the Council stonewall Giles about the cause of Lassiter's death, but an ally from previous exploits in the arcane (a young Watcher named Michaela Tomasi) confides in him:  the curse that killed Lassiter is spreading, consuming and transmogrifying its victims into hideous, tentacled beasts!  In order to set things right, Giles and Tomasi have to find the amulet and perform a sacred ritual: but it's not easy, as a Watcher named Graham Locke enjoys his new Lovecraftian form and won't give up without a fight!  Fortunately, Giles and Tomasi prevail, and Giles is able to return to Sunnydale, further convinced that the Council is not to be trusted.

Review:  Not long after Season Seven wrapped things up for the show, there was a lot of chatter about HBO doing a dark-themed solo show with Giles called Ripper.  It never came to pass, but this issue might have been an example of the type of stories such a show could have produced.  It's a solid, well-written story--and doing that in a one-shot isn't always easy.  It's clear that Giles has enough dimensions to carry his own book (or t.v. series), and the artwork in this issue is fantastic in setting the creepy tone and horrible monstrosities caused by the curse.

Notes

* There are some nice continuity references to a previous run (Blood of Carthage) in the main Buffy series as well as the Gatekeeper Trilogy of novels (where Micaela Tomasi first appears).

* I wonder if Dark Horse didn't have the rights to depict the actor who played Quentin Travers?  The illustration doesn't look anything like the actor.