Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 9 #19 Review


Buffy’s most recent antics to save the world have dire consequences for Dawn, but what comes next?

The official description from Dark Horse:

The Siphon is loose and gathering power after a brutal brawl with Buffy, Illyria, and Koh. But there are bigger things. More important things. Real terror greets Buffy as soon as she returns to San Francisco, where friends and family await her with troubling news.

Coming out of another fight, Illyria awakens unable to teleport as the Siphon has taken her power. Now with his new found strength he could be anywhere in any time, as if this wasn’t bad enough, Dawn is fighting for her life. Xander is by her side doing whatever he can to keep her alive. The entire ordeal is just too much for him to bare as he lets Buffy have it the moment she rushes to Dawn’s side. Indeed, the world was saved again, but the root of it all remains: this was our heroine and Angel’s fault.

This was a deep issue written by Andrew Chambliss. It always gets me when one of our beloved characters is in dire trouble, and thankfully this author kept all the various sub plots flowing nicely as they were sprinkled with pop culture references befitting this decade. My favorite part of the issue was the confrontation between Xander and Buffy. Not that I enjoyed the fact that he was hostile towards her, it was just captivating as emotions ran high and some serious development occurred.

Artist Georges Jeanty was on point in this release. The stand out scene for me was the chained up zompire turning a human into one of them. Second to that was Buffy’s realization that she was the one who caused Dawn’s sickness. He captured her pain in those close ups quite effectively in a way that will make the audience feel for her. Phil Noto did some of the cover art as well and once again he did not disappoint.

Overall Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 9 #19, was a nicely handled read that earns a recommendation.

3/5

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