Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8

[please be aware that this review will hold spoilers for the end of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series]

BVS, Season 8; Vol. 1: The Long Way Home
Joss Whedon and George Jeanty 136 pages; published 2007

BVS, Season 8; Vol. 2: No Future For You
Brian K. Vaughn, Joss Whedon and George Jeanty 120 pages; published 2008

I visited a friend of mine a couple of weeks ago and came home with a huge back of goodies to watch/read/enjoy. In amongst them all were the first two volumes of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight graphic novels.

This are a sure hit for any Buffy fan. Volume one picks up some months after the end of season seven of the television series: all potential slayers ARE slayers, and are living and training with Buffy in a part-mansion, part-dormitory, part-army/laboratory facility.

This is the same story, just in another medium; even moreso than most novelisations or series-related books, these graphic novels bridge the gap seamlessly. The characters are spot on, the humour perfect. Even in volume two, with Brian K. Vaughn writing, you can see Joss Whedon in every page.

The art work, likewise, is superb. The characters are stylised but recognisable and unique. The colouring finds a balance between the darker palette usually attributed to Buffy and being too dark for the page.

Definitely worth checking out. 4/5

Poor sickly vamps…

The Reformed Vampire Support Group Catherine Jinks
328 pages; published 2009

Vampires are meant to be so glamorous and powerful, but I’m here to inform you that being a vampire is nothing like that. Not one bit. On the contrary, it’s like being stuck indoors with the flu watching daytime television, forever and ever.

If being a vampire were easy, there wouldn’t have to be a Reformed Vampire Support Group. (4)

Nina writes vampire novels; epic adventures in which her heroine, Zadia Bloodtone, is sexy and able to turn into a bat as she, yet again, save the day. Basically do and be everything that Nina is not. For Nina, being a vampire, especially a ‘reformed’ one, is far from glamorous: there’s the daily bouts of nausea, the constant haemorrhaging and the fact that surviving on a feast of guinea pigs is just, well, messy.

Somehow she could never imagine Zadia Bloodstone living her life.

She’s far from alone in this horrendous lifestyle, however, for the few vampires who live in Australia are part of the Reformed Vampire Support Group. While certainly an odd mix, they’ve come to depend on each other throughout the indignities of their existence.

But then one of their number is killed and their routine, if not comfortable, lives are upturned. There’s a vampire killer out there (and let’s face it, how to kill them isn’t exactly the world’s best kept secret) and who knows which one of them could be next.

The Reformed Vampire Support Group was in equal parts gross and hilarious. At the Sydney Writer’s Festival last month, Catherine Jinks said that she was tired of the perfect vampires and floating around and wanted to tell “the truth” of their existence. She certainly succeeded; these are vampires the likes of which I’ve never seen.

I’d recommend it as a nice alternative to some of the more glamorous or impressive vampire books out there – especially if you’d like something without the overwhelming romance, or are looking for something with a touch of humour. Though I should note that it is a touch dark in places and is very much geared at the 15-17 age bracket over the younger YA readers. 3.5/5

To be or not to be…

Sucks to be Me: The All-True Confessions of Mina Hamilton, Teen Vampire (Maybe) Kimberly Pauley
293 pages; published 2008

My parents are trying to ruin my life. Oh yeah, I know that every teenager says that, but I  really mean it. they want me dead. Or actually, undead.

My parents are vampires. Some people might think that sounds cool, but I’m not talking about those romanticised bloodsuckers, like in novels where everybody walks around in ruffled white shirts and can quote poetry. I don’t know where people get that stuff. Nothing could be further than the truth. My dad couldn’t quote a nursery rhyme if somebody paid him. He likes to watch football and CNN. He wouldn’t know (or care) who Stephenie Meyer was if she came up and bit him. (1)

Mina Hamilton is a normal 15 year old girl. She goes to high school with quirky teachers, she has a best friend she adores, and a speechless-rendering crush on the cutest boy in school. Oh yes, and her parents are vampires.

That’s right, vampires, members of the Northwest Regional Vampire Counsel. It’s not so cool as you might think however. For starters, she can’t actually tell anyone (and who’d believe her if she did?), then there’s the fact that they have amazing hearing, so there’s absolutely no sneaking anything past them, and now (how wonderful) Mina has to decide if she wants to be a vampire too – ah, no!

Turns out he wasn’t really supposed to know about her parents at all, and now she has to go to vampire lessons to help her make an informed decision about her life (or should that be her death?). Her choices: 1) become a vampire and *gulp* drink blood for the rest of her life, or 2) face the possibility of never seeing her family again. What on earth can she do?

I’m curious to see exactly how long the vampire book fixation is going to last. I’m good for a while yet, but the end must be coming soon, right? Still, the parents being the vampires was a nice twist. It was new to me at least – anyone know of others?

I found Mina to be a realistic narrator. I felt sorry for the poor girl. I particularly enjoyed her interruptions of the narration to insert varying pro/con lists or lists about why it “sucks to be her”. What can I say? I can appreciate a character with a list obsession.

Pauley’s take on vampirism was an interesting one – blood bars and vampire pamphlets and ‘sponsoring’ – though I’m not sure how I feel about her transformation process (read it and see). Not the most reinvented I’ve see so far though, that would probably have to be the House of Night series).

All in all a pretty good read. Recommended to any YA vampire lovers. 3.5/5

Button, button, who's got the button?

Coraline (Graphic Novel)
Neil Gaiman and P. Craig Russell
186 pgs; pub 2008


When Coraline and her family move into a new house, she is pretty much left to entertain herself while her workaholic parents are distracted by their own pursuits. Getting to know the neighbours only takes up so much time, and their apartment isn’t really that big. In fact, to Coraline the budding explorer, the most exciting thing about their new home is the door in the corner of their apartment that goes… nowhere at all.

Left alone, yet again, Coraline is drawn back to the door – only to find that, this time, it actually leads somewhere. Crossing the dark passageway through the door, Coraline finds herself entering her own apartment once more. Except, in this apartment, everything is slightly off. For one thing, her parents are exceptionally happy to see and spend time with her, and, for another, they have black buttons sewn on in place of their eyes.

Fearing for her safety, Coraline runs home, only to find that her parents – her real parents – are missing, being held hostage by her Other Mother in the apartment behind the door. Coraline is afraid of this woman with her black button eyes and long sharp fingernails, but she knows she must return to rescue her parents.

This was one of my Christmas books this year (yay!) and I was so happy to get it because not only is it written by one of my favourite authors, and it was a book I had wanted to read for awhile, but also because I had no idea that I was going to get it – always fun! So as you can imagine, I was very much looking forward to reading it, and I enjoyed it very much.

However, it scared the heck out of me!

I think that if I had been reading the prose version (which I’m still planning to read eventually) I wouldn’t have been as scared. The images of the Other Mother with her scary eyes and fingernails freaked me out a great deal – which, I imagine, was the plan.

Fright aside, I thought the book was a fascinating look at the dynamics of a family and the role of a single child of working parents. The emotions felt by the young Coraline – boredom, loneliness, curiosity, fear, relief – are all beautifully rendered in Russell’s drawings. I’ve not read a lot of graphic novels (something I’m trying to remedy this year), but I thought Coraline to be an intriguing one. 3.5/5

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