Following James Marsters and preceding Juliet Landau and Nicholas Brendon, Amber Benson became the second “Buffy” actor to write a Buffyverse comic, co-penning three “Willow & Tara” issues with veteran scribe Christopher Golden. Considering her editorial at the back of the first issue where she says she only got into the medium in preparation for this gig, it’s a darn impressive debut.
Assisted by cute drawings and delightful colors, Benson and Golden prove the Wicca couple are perfect spinoff candidates. Their adventures have a playfulness that doesn’t feel out of place despite the seriousness of the demonic killing sprees.
“WannaBlessedBe” (April 2001)
In Season 4, Willow and Tara break off from UC-Sunnydale’s Wicca group when they realize the members don’t actually believe in magic, and we never hear from the group again. This “W&T” one-shot rectifies that oversight with Caitlin, who wants to do real spells with Willow and Tara. Golden and Benson manage to make the overenthusiastic Caitlin sympathetic while also allowing us to understand why Willow and Tara are dodging her. The banter between Willow and Tara is excellent, with the latter’s characteristic stutter surfacing at appropriate moments.
Not since Ryan Sook doing the “Spike & Dru” books has there been a better pairing of story and art. Terry Moore, known for “Strangers in Paradise,” does wonderful likenesses of Willow and Tara without compromising his soft-touch style. “Buffy” veteran Eric Powell assists, and HiFi Design delivers strong colors while effectively toning the panels to show what time of day it is.
4 stars
“Wilderness” (July-August 2002)
“Wildnerness” isn’t as tightly plotted as “WannaBlessedBe,” feeling a bit stretched over two issues. On the plus side, Dawn completes the adorable trio, admiring Willow and Tara and simultaneously bugging them to let her be more involved in the adventure. They embark on a road trip to northern California in early Season 6. At first I thought the story seemed out of place, since everyone is in such a good mood, but when Willow secretly taps into dark magic at the conclusion, for me it snapped right into the narrative after the grim season premiere and before Willow’s magic addiction at midseason.
Golden and Benson explore the issue of deforestation, but it doesn’t come off like a lecture since we see multiple points of view. In fact, our heroes find themselves the enemy of a tree spirit, who believes in flat-out killing the lumber company employees. Dawn demonstrates her bravery in the end – and in a humorous touch, Willow suggests she not mention this little adventure to Buffy. So “Wilderness” functions as a nice precursor to “Grave” (6.22), when Buffy finally allows her little sister to help out in a battle.
Artists AJ (pencils) and Derek Fridoles (inks) give the characters sharper facial expressions than Moore does, but it’s a cute approach that works perfectly for this trio. And Michelle Madsen beautifully takes over on color duty, keeping with the style established on “WannaBlessedBe.”
4 stars
Click here for an index of all of John’s “Buffy” and “Angel” reviews.