Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 Volume 3: Guarded by Joss Whedon / Andrew Chambliss / Georges Jeanty etc

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 9 Volume 3: Guarded (2013) (Dark Horse)

Andrew Chambliss (script), Jane Espenson (script), Drew Z. Greenberg (script), Georges Jeanty (art), Joss Whedon (creator) etc

Grade: C+

Genre: Buffy / graphic novel

Source: NetGalley
Buffy Season 9: (1) Freefall, (2) On Your Own, (3) Guarded 

The destruction of the Seed destroyed all magic. Suddenly, hundreds of Slayers were left defunct as the world no longer needed their help. To add insult to injury, vampires are now everyone’s best friend, largely thanks to Harmony’s glamorous reality television show. As might be expected, slayers are finding it difficult to adapt to this new life, and none more so than Buffy, the woman responsible.

Kennedy and her team have taken their shared plight and found an innovative solution. She’s found a way for Slayers to continue to serve and protect: as private bodyguards. For those that can afford it, they’ve got themselves the ultimate protection – and paying through their nose for the privilege. Buffy’s first charge is a high-profile tech entrepreneur, who is hiding from an enemy that Buffy is all too familiar with …

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 Volume 2: On Your Own by Joss Whedon / Andrew Chambliss / Georges Jeanty etc

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 Volume 2: On Your Own 
(On Your Own Parts 1 & 2, Apart (Of Me) Parts 1, 2 & 3) (2012) (Dark Horse)

Andrew Chambliss (script), Scott Allie (script), Georges Jeanty (pencils), Cliff Richards (pencils), Karl Story (inks), Andy Owens (inks), Dexter Vines (inks), Jo Chen (cover art), Joss Whedon (creator) etc
Grade: B
Genre: Buffy / graphic novel
Source: NetGalley / own
Buffy Season 9: (1) Freefall, (2) On Your Own, (3) Guarded

So, do I reveal the spoiler or not? My initial reaction was ‘yes, of course,’ but that’s my gut reaction to everything: just blurt out whatever’s running through my head. Reviews can get across the message of a book without any spoiler-ing at all, and since that was my frame of mind when I started typing this review, that’s what I’m going with – just to make y’all buy and read the book for yourself. I mean sure, you can probably find the spoiler with the help of our good friend Google without much effort, but I’m just going to be mean and refuse to state it. This is quite possibly my most deliberate spoiler-free review ever.

So at the end of Buffy Season 9 Volume One, Buffy had something of a problem on her hands. It wasn’t something she had ever had a problem with before, or even something she had ever considered. The life of a Slayer is usually too unnaturally short for this to ever become a non-issue, let alone an issue, and so Buffy is completely lost for what to do. Willow is still pissed at her for the whole destroying-magic thing and Dawn is happily settled into life with Xander, and so she turns to her go-to guy when things start getting tough: Spike.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 Volume 1: Freefall by Joss Whedon / Andrew Chambliss / Georges Jeanty etc

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 Volume 1: Freefall (2012) (Dark Horse)
Joss Whedon (script), Andrew Chambliss (script), Georges Jeanty (art), Karl Moline (art), Jo Chen (cover)
Grade: B-/C+
Genre: graphic novel
Source: own
Buffy Season 9: (1) Freefall, (2) On Your Own, (3) Guarded

I have to admit to being a little dubious about Season 9 what with the way that Season 8 ended. It’s rather a pain to write this review without having already reviewed any of Season 8, but that’s life. I have exposed myself rather stupidly to some accidental spoilers for Season 9 and I’ve hated myself for it. Besides this, I’m not entirely sure what direction Joss is taking Buffy this season and in my attempts to protect my heart from further break, I’m a little reluctant to actually even venture to start Season 9. But, I saw Volume 2 on NetGalley and had to have it; but before that, I needed to read Volume 1 first. So here I am.

Season 8 ended with Buffy destroying the Seed: the core of all magic. I’m still a little hazy about it all works, but basically magic has been eradicated from the world and it’s all Buffy’s fault. I’m unclear as to why Willow can no longer do magic yet Buffy still has her Chosen One powers, but Willow explained it like this:

“All the Slayers, the vampires, even the demons with magical mojo. You all got to keep your power because it was inside of you. But everyone else got cut off from what made them tick. For me, it was magic.”