Buffy The Vampire Slayer #19

oh thank god, its been so long

It is about time.  I had to read the little recap on this page to remember what storyline we were even on.

It's been a while coming, but Buffy's always worth the wait.

makes the cut

Trades after this arc.  But yeah, its been so long that I might have to bust out with the previous issues and re-read them.  I usually do that after collecting the whole arc.

To be fair, I'm pretty sure this is the first time the book has ever been delayed. Not bad for almost two years of a Whedon book.

@flakbait: Yeah, but he's not writing it all.

@Eyun: You're so right! Even though you're my nemesis. Argh, the pain to admit...:D

@cylonpete - Finally you come over to the dark side (or is that light side? I'm not sure which of us is the goodie and which is the baddie)... ;)

@Eyun - I consider myself more of gray guy, so...But for the sake of argument, let's just say I'm on the light side and switched to the darkseid... :D

But how f**%ing bad-ass was that issue? Bringing one of my least favorite characters into an interesting position so that even I am intrigued? Oh, Mr. Whedon, you know how to push my buttons...

I really enjoyed this issue.  I thought I had lost interest in the story line, but as soon as I started reading I was hooked back in again.  Is that guy that Buffy met who I think it is?

P.S.  I just got the whole series box set for the wife for $70!!!  I know how I'm spending my vacation this December!

@drakedangerz The same thing happened for me. I this wrapped up really well for me. An excellent issue.

I have to re-read the whole arc because this just didn't do it for me.  I was a little bit upset at the delay and I had a tough time remembering what the heck was going on.  This is my favorite series right now, and let's hope we don't have any delays because this one hurt....

Who was the guy who was talking to Masked Evil flying Man?

It looks like Riley

i knew when the military was introduced that mr. finn wouldn't be too far behind. Now we just need to find out who the big bad is

I really hope that Riley's a double (triple?) agent and is helping Buffy out.  I always liked the character and would hate to have him turned into a villain for no reason.

Heh, that's strange, I've never heard ANYONE say they actually like Riley. Interested to see where this is going anyhoo.

@Cooper - That's just because he is TOO friendly. To everybody! And the smile on his face...creppy... :D

I thought the dude talking to Twilight was Andrew.... But I could be wrong...

Did anyone else think the art on this issue was the best it's been all arc?

Plenty of people like Riley.  He's awesome.  He's basically Steve Rogers.  What's not to love?

There's also a lot of fannish dislike out there, though, so I can see the writers taking advantage of that to make him look like a bad guy and then doing a twist on that.

@GungaDin  It was most definitely Riley.  And yes, I was pleased with the art.  At least Moline seems to have taken advantage of the delays. 

All during season 4 i hated riley but once we got to season 5 i liked him and then he left so i'm always up for riley either good or evil

To be honest, I think most people I know dislike Riley out of jealousy - he was "hittin' dat" after all.

I was never too keen on him, but it's not like I would throw rotten tomatoes every time he was on screen. Looking foward to where they're taking him certainly.

OH and before they revealed it was him and were deliberately not showing who it was I was really worried it was gonna turn out to be Oz. That would have killed me.

@Cooper yeah where the hell is Oz anyway? You'd think he would be an asset to the team

@RoiVampire Oz will be appearing in the late twenties. There'll be an arc about him written by Jane Espenson starting at issue 26.

@Cooper Riley was the first guy (except for Parker, but Parker was a douche and thusly doesn't really count) after the Buffy/Angel relationship. He'll always be "the next guy" and not nearly as memorable as Angel or Spike.

I Love Buffy...

Up next, the Loeb issue(s), so enjoy this one. I'm just sayin', is all.

I always liked Riley ESPECIALLY after one single line he said to Xander. He described every wonderful thing about Buffy but then ended with "...but she doesn't love me." Riley was always the all-american, cornfed, clean cut "normal" guy that Buffy thought she wanted but ultimately found unsastisfying because of his naivity and earnestness.

 Also I've been speculating that he is Twilight...but he's obviously not.