Week 2: 8.05 "The Chain"

[Buffy Summers]

A young woman reveals how she went from being a high school student to being Buffy’s decoy.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chain_(Buffy_comic)

Okay folks, since we're doing this as a catch-up sort of thing, let's try and leave spoilers out of the discussion. Having your entire post blacked out with spoiler tags really excludes others from the conversation. Plus, I know a lot of people have read part of the season, so they have no way of knowing whether you're marking something they've read or not.

So please, if it's from a later issue, save it on your computer to bring up later, or take it to the issue discussion threads. We can do a spoilerific re-read after we get through this one and everyone's had a chance to catch up to Season 9.

Thanks 🙂


So...was this issue just filler or...?

 

[EVIL UU]

No love for "The Chain"? Some thoughts and questions...

* Who is the middle-aged woman that tells The Nameless Slayer what's going on with her? A friend of Giles? Ex-council member? Family member of one of the Chicago Slayers who is involved with the organisation?

* The now handless demon looks totally like Gnarl from "Same Time, Same Place". Relative maybe?

* Fairies! And um...lesbian fairies? Fairies happened before in Buffyverse, in Willow and Tara: Wilderness ( in which Willow and Tara go medieval on an evil nature-forest-protector-thing-baddie's ass and fairies totally help them out... )

* The panel in which The Nameless Slayer is activated is super interesting. All the previous Slayers are either from the show ( TFS, Nikki Wood ) or from other comics and books. It's cool that they were recognised in the canon. And what's with the multiple Scythes? Did The Nameless Slayer see the Scythe in her dreams or visions? Was the Scythe used before 2003, by other Slayers? And the really important question, is there more than one Scythe?

* Simone really likes guns! Exposition YAY! Also, Willow's Slayers share a sister-like connection, "The Chain", does that mean that killing or fighting other 2003 Slayers will be emotionally harder for them, than fighting Buffy or Faith or anybody else?

 

[brinkster130]

It did seem like a bit of a filler issue but I really liked The Chain. It was interesting to see what all went into creating Buffy's decoys. Plus it sorta reminds us of just how many slayers are out there now, many of which we never see or hear about.

The cheesy commercial with the 1-800-chosen-1 phone number was funny.

 

[Goby]

After the first reading, I'm thinking this is deep. Joss Whedon style deep. A "metaphor for the human condition" deep. Yet it's a comic book. Hmmm......

I don't think this is filler. 🙂

 

[VisionGirl]

I'm with [MENTION=10790]Goby[/MENTION]. This is probably one of my favorite issues of the entire season. One of Joss' finest works. I know some people don't want to read more about the former potentials/new Slayers, but I am very interested in them. In Chosen, Buffy says it's a choice, but we can clearly see that it really isn't. They all have to deal with the reprecussions of their activation.

My disjointed thoughts:

-I love seeing all those past Slayers. Wikipedia says:

Paul Lee penciled the issue, proceeding Georges Jeanty, who returns the following issue. In one panel, Lee depicted past Slayers such as the First Slayer, the Righteous Slayer, Naayéé'neizghà¡ni the Navajo Slayer, Nikki Wood, Elizabeth "Edward" Weston, Anni Sonnenblume, and the Chinese Slayer.

& there are links for each one of those Slayers if you want to know more about them. I'm assuming the Chinese Slayer is the one Spike killed in the Boxer Rebellion?

-The fairy eggs in her cracked me up- and kinda grossed me out LOL!

-The commercial with Andrew and Vi was funny and cheesey, but I find it really interesting how public they're taking this whole gig. The identity of the Slayer was always secret, and I'm not sure I think going hugely public is such a great idea.
The entire commercial, and especially Andrew's comments, remind me of how young women/girls were diagnosed with hysteria in the 19th century ([ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_hysteria"]Female hysteria - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Hysteria.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Hysteria.jpg/450px-Hysteria.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/a/ae/Hysteria.jpg/450px-Hysteria.jpg[/ame]).

-I agree with [MENTION=11194]EVIL UU[/MENTION], that demon reminded me of Gnarl too!

-"Rather have a gun". Again, Simone is trouble from the very start, and nobody seems to notice.

[MENTION=11194]EVIL UU[/MENTION] says:
* Who is the middle-aged woman that tells The Nameless Slayer what's going on with her? A friend of Giles? Ex-council member? Family member of one of the Chicago Slayers who is involved with the organisation?

That's what I want to know too. I have no idea who she is, but for some reason seeing the unnamed Slayer talking to her reminds me of Buffy talking to the female doctor in "Slayer, Interrupted".

-I think the unnamed Slayer asks the quintessential Slayer question: "Did I get the hardest, darkest path to walk 'cause I'm strong, I'm good, I can handle the heavier burden? Or am I weak, expendable, the one that won't be missed". But the point is that despite her doubts & misgivings, she accepts the Call, she is willing to sacrifice herself.

-And I adore her final monologue, so I hope y'all won't mind if I type out the entire thing:

"But that's not the point. There's always a name. Lincoln. Hitler. Gandhi. The name can inspire terror, awe...sometimes great things. But there's millions of people go into making a name. People facing things they couldn't imagine they would. In the moments that matter, even our own names are just sounds people make to tell us apart. What we are isn't that. The real questions run deeper. Can I fight? Did I help? Did I do for my sisters? My comrades, children, slimy slug-clan... There is a chain. Between each and every one of us. And like the man said, you either feel it's tug or you ignore it. I tried to feel it. I tried to face the darkness like a woman and I don't need any more than that. You don't have to remember me. You don't even know who I am. But I do."

---------- Post added at 01:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:58 AM ----------

Oh- I wanted to ask if you guys are reading the individual issues or the TPBs? I prefer the TPB because of lack of advertising, plus you get to see the variant cover. I forgot until re-reading that this great Paul Lee/Andy Owens variant cover is NOT of Buffy, but of her decoy:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/stephs9/14836a.jpg

 

[Kean]

Personally, I think the Chain is the best issue of the season and arguably one of the best stories Whedon has ever written. I also think the core moral issues of this entire season are housed in this issue.

"The truth? There is no truth. There's just what you believe."

 

[Hero]

I agree wholeheartedly with Kean. The best issue of the season 8. Also very moving as a motion comic, especially the last minute. And to answer someone's question above, I was always under the impression that was Rona...?

 

[AndrewCrossett]

Rona was there, but there was also an older white woman. We saw her with Giles and Rona when he was addressing the Slayers, and then later talking to the new Slayer. I'm guessing she may have been a retired or inactive Watcher who escaped the explosion.

I liked this issue a lot, I think it did a great job of conveying the connection that the Slayers feel. (And that some of them apparently don't feel.) It was like the sequel to Buffy's "are you ready to be strong" speech.

I thought it was very strange that a truck came barreling down on the New Slayer and her friends, just moments after she got "Slayerized." Could that be a coincidence? I've wondered what determines when these Potentials become Slayers, and I'm thinking it might happen when they are confronted with a sudden danger where their Slayer strength is required for survival.

Spoiler for "Harmonic Divergence":

Spoiler

Later, in the "Harmonic Divergence" issue, we will see that Soledad suddenly gets her powers just as the members of her gang are closing in on her to beat or kill her for quitting the gang. This also seems like too much of a coincidence.

Spoiler for the final issue of season 8:

Spoiler

And I wonder what happened to Simone that turns her from what she is in this issue... a somewhat rebellious and self-centered Slayer who likes guns... to the psychotic killer she becomes by the final issue.

We will also see that fairy again, in the final pages of the season, coming up from below, probably in search of help. I wonder what's going on down below?

 

[VisionGirl]

I agree wholeheartedly with Kean. The best issue of the season 8. Also very moving as a motion comic, especially the last minute. And to answer someone's question above, I was always under the impression that was Rona...?

Oh wow, I didn't consider that it was part of the motion comic! I'm waiting for it to come out on Netflix, but you can view it via Amazon, right? I didn't have a lot of interest in the motion comic as a whole, but to see The Chain...wow.

 

[Goby]

Oh wow, I didn't consider that it was part of the motion comic! I'm waiting for it to come out on Netflix, but you can view it via Amazon, right? I didn't have a lot of interest in the motion comic as a whole, but to see The Chain...wow.

Does Netflix have Blueray? The comics are only on Blueray, right?

 

[VisionGirl]

Does Netflix have Blueray? The comics are only on Blueray, right?

Comments on this post
Darla agrees: Pretty sure they do, but it's extra.

I forgot that it was BlueRay, do they stream Blue Ray?

 

[Goby]

Oh wow, I didn't consider that it was part of the motion comic! I'm waiting for it to come out on Netflix, but you can view it via Amazon, right? I didn't have a lot of interest in the motion comic as a whole, but to see The Chain...wow.

Netflix doesn't have Season 8.

Amazon.com does, but it's not free for Prime members. It's 99 cents an episode, or $18 to buy the season (which I believe is really just 1/2 the season)

My sources tell me that your local Blockbuster might have it. 😉

 

[sosa lola]

God, I can't believe that after these years I'd cry at the end of The Chain. My eyes teared up before reaching the last page. Awesome work, Joss, wonderful issue.

I'd love to see Buffy's reaction to the girl's death. She knows about the decoys and is obviously too busy to pay close attention to them, but if she knew they're risking their lives because they're carrying her name, I can't see her being okay with it.

 

[VisionGirl]

I'd love to see Buffy's reaction to the girl's death. She knows about the decoys and is obviously too busy to pay close attention to them, but if she knew they're risking their lives because they're carrying her name, I can't see her being okay with it.

ITA, I wish they would find a way for Buffy to acknowledge it in season 9.

 

[sosa lola]

This is a very well written review of the Chain, written when the comic first came out, so there are no spoilers. Have fun, guys, I also suggest reading Stormwreath's reviews whenever you read a new issue. He's very insightful and positive.

http://stormwreath.livejournal.com/21244.html#cutid1

 

[VisionGirl]

Thanks for the link [MENTION=7613]sosa lola[/MENTION]. It's interesting to read reviews from when these issues were first released. But it's kind of funny to read the comments: they spend a lot of time wondering if that was Rona when we know for a fact now that it was.

So that leads me to some questions for our first-time readers. The author in that link remarks that some readers have complained that it's hard to follow the story with the constant switching back & forth between locales, & even times as seen in The Chain. Do you agree with this?

He also brings up the issue of the art- have you had a hard time so far recognizing characters?

 

[sosa lola]

I never did. I thought the characters were easily distinguishable, and while some don't look like the actors (Buffy), it doesn't matter, as long as they're recognizable.

 

[VisionGirl]

There are times in later arcs (not this first one) that I had trouble distinguishing some people- Andrew & Riley for instance, or Kennedy & Faith.

 

[Tranquillity]

I don't have much to add about this issue except that I love it. It was certainly one of my favourite stories of the entire season. It is beautifully written and the courage and heroisim of the unamed Slayer is amazing. I think its interesting to keep the unamed Slayer in mind as you read the rest of the comic - she provides a remarkable contrast to some other characters who are. . . less than heroic at times.

Also, the Georges Jeanty cover of #5 ("I want you to be strong") is my all time favourite. I have a large version of it framed ubove my desk. It got me through a very tough time earlier in the year when I was working at a job I didn't like and every day as I drove to that Job I would picture that cover in my head and it would give me courage and strength to face the day. I had a friend who was also havign a hard time at her job and so I e-mailed her a copy of the picture. She is not a Buffy fan but it bought her to tears. Powerful image that.

 

[brinkster130]

So that leads me to some questions for our first-time readers. The author in that link remarks that some readers have complained that it's hard to follow the story with the constant switching back & forth between locales, & even times as seen in The Chain. Do you agree with this?

Sorta, but I'm not sure if it's because it's my first time ever reading a comic and getting use to the format took some time or because of the story itself. I did read it a couple times to make sure I understood everything.

He also brings up the issue of the art- have you had a hard time so far recognizing characters?

So far I haven't had a hard time. For the most part, I am really liking the art.