Saturday, February 20, 2010

That Box of Buffy Comic Books

Note to future self, in case you discover some comic books in a box. See below:

Cheryl and I are big Buffy fans and have been since the show first aired in the late 1990s. So for Christmas I got Cheryl the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic book series.

I could spin a good defence of why two adults would engage in what appears to be a purely juvenile diversion--after all, Cheryl is a school librarian and she needs to be familiar with the emerging and diverse field of graphic novels. And I... Well, I don't have much of an excuse. I just enjoy the story, the characters and the quirky dialogue.

I never cared for comic books as a kid. But since Cheryl introduced me to graphic novels, many of which have significant social and political themes (like Persepolis), I've become a big fan. And I could go on and on about how Buffy courses are offered in many universities, with course descriptions like this:

It is a show whose many subtexts—feminism and gender roles; issues of morality, faith and belief; the ethics of violence; the nature of society and the family—made it one of the richest social narratives ever to appear on-screen.

But to be clear: it's mostly a very silly story, and we are very silly people for enjoying it.

Also, I think redheads are pretty cute (I married one) and Buffy's sidekick, Willow, was especially cute and nerdy in the show. Later she becomes a powerful witch (and on one occasion she skins someone alive, but that was bad Willow).

Coincidentally, future self, in case you have lost your memory completely, our red-headed chocolate lab is named Willow.

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