nerd4hire
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Discussion of 8.21 "Harmonic Divergence" - Released 07/01/09 (Dark Horse)
- Thread starter nerd4hire
- Start date
Tranquillity
That'll put marzipan in your pie plate bingo
I enjoyed this issue - It was fun but, earlier posters are right, it does throw up a lot of questions.
As for the world knowing about Slayers and vampires - I'm thinking that it a big conspiracy with our mysterious Twilight pulling all the strings....
As for the world knowing about Slayers and vampires - I'm thinking that it a big conspiracy with our mysterious Twilight pulling all the strings....
VisionGuy
Oh Plerr
Primal Slayer
Did I Fall Asleep?
The slayer landed on her own stake that Harmony was holding then Harmony bit her. But the media is looking at it as Harmony basically defending herself since she was attacked and was not the attacker.
AndrewCrossett
Satsu Otaku
I guess we can assume she's dead, even though the stake went in her shoulder and Harmony hadn't been killing people with her bites lately.
That's the problem with having hundreds of Slayers out there with no guidance or supervision. People are going to assume they're all part of Buffy's group.
I still wonder what happened to that cross Soledad was wearing. Between the time she kicked Harmony off the balcony and the time she jumped down after her, it disappeared. Harm probably couldn't have bitten her if it was there. Was it just a continuity error?
Clem Rocks
Scooby
AndrewCrossett
Satsu Otaku
Maybe, although it could be Andy Dick.
Check out the online comic at Dark Horse Presents that goes along with this issue. It's a Harmony & Clem story.
Clem Rocks
Scooby
AndrewCrossett
Satsu Otaku
That was him she bit in the opening pages of the comic.
Notice the caption at the bottom of the page with Harmony at the computer: "Hot Vamp Gets Taste of A. Dick"
wehappyfew
Animus
the slayer landed on her own stake? how symbolic for this whole season of buffy....
cranetimothyj
Townie
I find it a neccasary and believable arc, people in general are stupid. Like seriously who remembers the season 2 episoid "lie to me" where there was a cult for understanding vampires. As for information, easy, someone mention the advert (by the by that was awsome observation) plus twilight could've leaked the information, plus who knows who else is part of his faction, he already has the us military why not the media.
C
Chase Summers
I like "Lie To Me" because there are actually people like that out there
I feel his way because I think the writing in ATF is more well done and makes clearly more sense than Buffy season 8 which has been turned into more than what it is. Personally I find it tacky I mean Dawn a giant ;/ get real and the whole making every girl a slayer was meant to free Buffy but no Joss has to ruin it just to make a profit where as ATF needed to be so we could clear up what happened after the fall.
Actually, I much enjoy the direction they took. How's Buffy supposed to be free when lots of the girls in the world use the powers she'd given them for evil? Buffy isn't the type of girl who turns her back on responsibility. The mess she'd caused the world is the consequence of the spell she had Willow do, and Buffy must face the consequences of her actions. (I much rather read about Buffy's struggle against humanity than her partying with the Immortal.)
I especially love the idea of the government viewing her as a terrorist because she'd blown up a whole town, and that fact, along with the media twisting the truth about Harmony being victimized put the slayers in such a bad light.
AndrewCrossett
[No message]
C
Chase Summers
It's ironic how Buffy seems more burdened than ever
nerd4hire
There are purposed themes, and layers of thought to B-8. Him fans, Charmed fans, and people who think dark and chaotic automatically implies thoughtful never will get that.
Clem Rocks
Scooby
I assume we talk about Harmony Bites in this thread too? Did anyone else wanna text in and vote for Clem when they read that panel, or was it just me? lol
And did anyone else notice the banner underneath the comic for next month's online Buffy comic? All about the Vampy Cat. Think we'll get a side comic every month now?
And did anyone else notice the banner underneath the comic for next month's online Buffy comic? All about the Vampy Cat. Think we'll get a side comic every month now?
AndrewCrossett
Satsu Otaku
I hope so... it would certainly be worth it for Dark Horse, considering how well this comic is doing for them.
My favorite panel was Harmony with a mouthful of yarn...:lmao:
AndrewCrossett
Satsu Otaku
Good. As long as you realize and respect that others have very different opinions on the matter than you do, there's certainly no problem.
Buffyverse Fan
* The 28th *
Wow, the latest Buffy issue "Harmonic Divergence" essentially busted 12 TV seasons' & the recent canon comics' continuity in one fell swoop. Just unbelievably bad, I'm shocked that this could come out of an official Joss production. I enjoyed the Harmony character and I still think this issue was just unbelievably bad.
If someone had told me that issue #21 would retcon over a decade of continuity and feature Andy Dick as a guest star, I wouldn't have believed them, but.... Even plot-points aside, it was just horrible.
Unless this issue was needed to set up the greatest Buffyverse Arc, I can't understand why it was published. I'm sure dozens of people are actively involved in the publication process, how could this go through? Even if it is setting up a great arc, I still don't understand, we've had silly eps before like "Tabula Rasa" and they were silly, but also incredibly good.
I might be wrong though, I think I remember one of the writers saying that "Tabula Rasa" (for example) used a convenient plot device. Maybe what made it so good was the acting, something "Harmonic Divergence" didn't have the benefit of....
If someone had told me that issue #21 would retcon over a decade of continuity and feature Andy Dick as a guest star, I wouldn't have believed them, but.... Even plot-points aside, it was just horrible.
Unless this issue was needed to set up the greatest Buffyverse Arc, I can't understand why it was published. I'm sure dozens of people are actively involved in the publication process, how could this go through? Even if it is setting up a great arc, I still don't understand, we've had silly eps before like "Tabula Rasa" and they were silly, but also incredibly good.
I might be wrong though, I think I remember one of the writers saying that "Tabula Rasa" (for example) used a convenient plot device. Maybe what made it so good was the acting, something "Harmonic Divergence" didn't have the benefit of....
AndrewCrossett
Satsu Otaku
I don't see that this issue "retconned" anything. "Chosen" was a reality-changing episode, and everything that comes after it is going to be different from what came before. Things are going to change quickly and constantly now.
I do worry that the writers, in their effort to provide a clever new challenge for Buffy and to make their "social commentary" about our desensitization to violence, addiction to lurid entertainment, etc., will neglect all the ramifications of the huge can of worms they've just opened up.
Now, if in real life it were to be suddenly revealed that vampires really do exist, it would certainly spark a response that goes far beyond reality TV.
Almost all vampires are killers. They can't help it. They can't stop just because Harmony gives them some good publicity. If the Buffyverse is now going to be aware of vampires and not see them as a huge threat, we need to have an explanation of why that is. One cute blonde vamp on TV is not going to cut it when the police, the FBI, Homeland Security, and thousands of independent investigators around the world get a look at the big picture... present and past.
This storyline has the potential to become totally implausible very quickly. A simple "abracadabra! everyone in the world now loves vampires and hates Slayers" just doesn't work. It's going to take some really deft storytelling to pull this off. I hope I am not disappointed.
I do think there was some sloppy editing in this issue, right at a time when sloppy editing can least be afforded. They forgot to tell us the Slayer's name (Soledad...Scott Allie admits this was left out by mistake); Soledad's story switches unaccountably from first person to third person when she decides to attack Harmony; the cross around her neck, which should have prevented Harmony from biting her, disappears without any visible reason between one panel and the next; and they never make it clear whether Harmony killed Soledad or just stabbed her in the shoulder and bit her like she'd been biting everyone else.
I do worry that the writers, in their effort to provide a clever new challenge for Buffy and to make their "social commentary" about our desensitization to violence, addiction to lurid entertainment, etc., will neglect all the ramifications of the huge can of worms they've just opened up.
Now, if in real life it were to be suddenly revealed that vampires really do exist, it would certainly spark a response that goes far beyond reality TV.
Almost all vampires are killers. They can't help it. They can't stop just because Harmony gives them some good publicity. If the Buffyverse is now going to be aware of vampires and not see them as a huge threat, we need to have an explanation of why that is. One cute blonde vamp on TV is not going to cut it when the police, the FBI, Homeland Security, and thousands of independent investigators around the world get a look at the big picture... present and past.
This storyline has the potential to become totally implausible very quickly. A simple "abracadabra! everyone in the world now loves vampires and hates Slayers" just doesn't work. It's going to take some really deft storytelling to pull this off. I hope I am not disappointed.
I do think there was some sloppy editing in this issue, right at a time when sloppy editing can least be afforded. They forgot to tell us the Slayer's name (Soledad...Scott Allie admits this was left out by mistake); Soledad's story switches unaccountably from first person to third person when she decides to attack Harmony; the cross around her neck, which should have prevented Harmony from biting her, disappears without any visible reason between one panel and the next; and they never make it clear whether Harmony killed Soledad or just stabbed her in the shoulder and bit her like she'd been biting everyone else.