Billy Lane - Boy Vampire Slayer

Billy's debut issue was the last time I read the comics religiously, so I'm only basing this on what I've heard online and picked up from a couple of random issues...but I think Billy is a wannabe slayer, inspired by them, I don't think he's an official "chosen" slayer.

EDIT: That made it sound like I stopped reading the comics because of Billy. That's not the case. Although I did feel like I was overdosing on new characters a little. But no, I had other reasons for putting the comics down.
 
Hm, well he's pseudo-slayer it says, who's just trained with them so technically is he really a 'Slayer' (as in has Slayer powers)? Isn't he just like Gunn, Wesley or Xander who are in the fight against evil but don't have supernatural/Slayer powers?

Either way, no, I wouldn't have wanted to see a boy-slayer on the show. One girl in all the world had kind of been pounded by our throats since day one, and then one became two, then two became thousands of potentials... the whole concept is getting a bit watered down and becoming kind of meaningless already.

Besides I always liked that it was girls, for whatever reasons, that were Slayers. Simple as that for me.
 
Yeah, I'm not really keen on Billy as a character or an idea. Guys can corner the 'vampire-with-a-soul' market, but leave the slayers as a girl's only thing.

Taake said:
Besides I always liked that it was girls, for whatever reasons, that were Slayers. Simple as that for me.
Click to expand...

CONNOR: (to Faith) So, vampire slayers. I was told about them. How come you're always girls?

FAITH: I dunno. Better at it, I guess.

What she said. 😀
 
thetopher said:
Yeah, I'm not really keen on Billy as a character or an idea. Guys can corner the 'vampire-with-a-soul' market, but leave the slayers as a girl's only thing.
Click to expand...

Haha, that they can and yes, what she said! 😀 😀
 
Honestly, I guess it's trying to make another empowerment statement but it just comes across as pandering.

Maybe if Billy didn't feel like such a token character I wouldn't mind so much, but his romance with his 'Watcher' was probably one of the least dramatic/interesting things ever put in a comic book. It was too 'he loves me back and happily ever after!' for me to find remotely beleivable either.
 
"I'm not a fan. In a world where female heroes are a rare thing, I don't think it's too much to ask to have something that is ours 😛"

Exactly. I'm glad somebody else sees it that way. 😀
 
If it was a good story and believable then I wouldn't have complained. However it would be in my rather not category. I don't think you need a male slayer just because. It doesn't really fit the story as far as I can see. The comic arc itself was very weak and I could happily do without it.
 
Yeah, I'm all for the message of "sometimes men need to feel empowered too", but it felt incredibly forced and cheesy to me. I think Billy would have been a lot more inspiring had his story perhaps been more along the lines of: "You're not a slayer, but that doesn't mean you don't have strength of your own" rather than trying to mimic slayers. Also, the love story was too cutesy and not in a good way... I mean to a degree where they felt like a token gay couple. With Willow and Tara, sure they were cutesy at times, but generally I think they were treated much like any other couple on the show. I only read the one Billy issue, but I got the impression it would be cotton candy gum drop goo goo eyes all the way.
 
I honestly think that if Billy had been a real, honest to God Slayer, Chosen by Willow's spell, I would have been able to swallow this better. As it stands, they really did write this character the wrong way. A gay man finding confidence and companionship by relating to a bunch of super-powered teenage girls and thus taking on their mantel and destiny for himself? It was the wrong way to go for this type of character. It was way, way too stereotypical and pissed most of the fandom off a lot.

If it had been something more along the lines of a guy - gay or not - suddenly finding out that he was actually a Slayer thanks to some sort of recessive gene and having him fight against it or maybe even use it for the darkside would have meant a lot more to me.
 
Lyri said:
As it stands, they really did write this character the wrong way. A gay man finding confidence and companionship by relating to a bunch of super-powered teenage girls and thus taking on their mantel and destiny for himself?
Click to expand...
Is it 'wrong' because he is gay? I want thinking it wouldnt be wrong if a guy did that, seems like a natural thing. So is the 'wrongness' because he is gay and implies he can only relate to women?
 
That is what A LOT of people took from that character - that because he's gay he can only relate and is only relatable to women or other gay men. And that is due to how he was written. He wasn't written as a male character who happened to be gay. He was written as a gay character who happened to be male. They wanted to check of a box and they did it in a completely ham-handed way.
 
Skanky Vamp
Skanky Vamp
ok. thanks. had never heard of it before. yeah, it sounded like a check mark box thing.
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom