5 Things That Must Happen In Buffy Season 11 Comics
How to keep Buffy the Vampire Slayer compelling after 10 seasons.
Coming up on 10 years, Buffy the Vampire Slayer has lasted longer as a canonical comic book than it did as a TV show. With Joss Whedon still providing some oversight to the series, it never strays too far away from what made it so iconic on TV between 1997 and 2003.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a pioneering series in comics. It opened the door for other creators to bring back their stories that ended and continue them beyond what fans ever expected. But altering the medium forces how the story is told to change. Over the last 4 seasons, the Buffy comic continues to find ways to improve the storytelling. The most noticeable example is streamlining the story arc so this new season will only go for 12 issues compared to the 40 issue run of Season 8.
Even with the comic continuing to find its footing, some areas still need improvement.
These are the 5 things that need to happen in Buffy Season 11...
5. Let The Series End
Buffy the Vampire Slayer started in 1997, and it's still going. When it initially came back in comic book form, it was a big deal. The show writers were being rounded up again to keep the feel of the comic consistent with the show and it was a welcome return. We were going to get more stories with these beloved characters and it was thrilling.
Excitement aside, two things have really loomed over the series as a whole since it came back; how will it end and how long can we suspend our disbelief that these characters are still 20-somethings struggling with life. One of the areas that this becomes problematic is in the dialogue. Throughout the series, the characters spew an endless stream of pop culture references that reflect when the show was on air. But unless the characters start to age in close to real time, the fairly consistent continuity will fall apart. As much as we love these characters, I'm not interested in the story going on so long we end up reading about their adventures in lowering cholesterol.
One of the most important parts of the show was watching these characters grow up. If they become ageless comic book characters and never change, the story will becoming meaningless. It's time to start working towards an end game.
The show ended on exactly the note it needed to, it went out with the idea of hope. But the shows original swan song can't be duplicated and it deserves to be sent off properly. It might not be this season, but Dark Horse needs to start laying the groundwork to have everything wrapped up.