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Quick Review of Fray
Jan. 28th, 2012 07:06 pmWhen I first heard of Fray, the futuristic Buffyverse graphic novel, I didn't seek it out because I didn't see the point of reading what sounded like a retread of Buffy themes without the characters I'd come to care about. In terms of my own experience as a reader, that judgment had some foundation.
Fray reads very much like season 1 of Buffy set in a generic, mildly dystopian future (with a good handling of future slang!). It's got all the trademarks of basic Buffy executed well: a kickass Slayer, female bonding, an emphasis on friends/family/community as essential to heroic success, cute witticisms, and impending apocalypse. I give it extra points for not needing to include romance. It doesn't feel very original, but it does produce a Slayer whose life experience and main relationships are different from Buffy's, and its engagement with her family life is genuinely interesting and the novel's most original aspect.
I think it overdoes the Buffy trope of having a scene end and the next scene begin with a heavily ironic line that answers or contradicts the end of the previous scene. Ex. from S6 of Buffy:
Buffy: Warren's not going to get away with this.
CUT TO:
Warren: We're going to get away with this.
I like that trope; in fact, I'm guilty of emulating it, but it was a bit too much here. But that's a niggle.
I am very impressed by the art of Fray (full color). Almost every panel is a work of art. By contrast, it highlights how hastily executed much graphic novel artwork is.
All in all, it's a fast read with some fun bits and some good feminist messages and a bit of pathos and originality in character relationships and settings. Lovely art. I recommend it if you like Buffy, but it also serves to illustrate that Buffy has already been done.
Fray reads very much like season 1 of Buffy set in a generic, mildly dystopian future (with a good handling of future slang!). It's got all the trademarks of basic Buffy executed well: a kickass Slayer, female bonding, an emphasis on friends/family/community as essential to heroic success, cute witticisms, and impending apocalypse. I give it extra points for not needing to include romance. It doesn't feel very original, but it does produce a Slayer whose life experience and main relationships are different from Buffy's, and its engagement with her family life is genuinely interesting and the novel's most original aspect.
I think it overdoes the Buffy trope of having a scene end and the next scene begin with a heavily ironic line that answers or contradicts the end of the previous scene. Ex. from S6 of Buffy:
Buffy: Warren's not going to get away with this.
CUT TO:
Warren: We're going to get away with this.
I like that trope; in fact, I'm guilty of emulating it, but it was a bit too much here. But that's a niggle.
I am very impressed by the art of Fray (full color). Almost every panel is a work of art. By contrast, it highlights how hastily executed much graphic novel artwork is.
All in all, it's a fast read with some fun bits and some good feminist messages and a bit of pathos and originality in character relationships and settings. Lovely art. I recommend it if you like Buffy, but it also serves to illustrate that Buffy has already been done.
