Billy The Vampire Slayer - Conclusion

[lucky_gamble]

Some were afraid Billy would die, huh?


Last time, we saw Billy accept the crappy fate of the town if no one dealt with the growing zompire infestation. Well cue a flash-forward to him training, best friend and possible-boyfriend in tow...


Billy and Devon then begin to scout an abandoned video rental store due to rumors of zompire sightings. The rumors prove to be true when they spot several of the mindless creatures going in and out of the building. During their trip Devon manages to stake a zompire seconds before it attacked Billy, saving him from a bitey death. They later regroup in Billy's room to talk about how it felt to stake a vamp...



Billy immediately sets his sights on saving his grandmother and the rest of the people trapped in the library while Devon argues that, if Billy goes, he will die due to not being prepared. Billy takes offense and says that he is going, regardless of prep time. Arguing ensues but the two make-up once they sneak inside the library. They are of course found by zompires...





Billy manages to save Devon and the trapped folk, his grandmother Sky included. Remember that conversation Devon and Billy had about Buffy living in San Francisco? Well the story ends with them moving over there and meeting the sturdy-like-a-coffee-table slayer.

"The right way to fight back is to remember that you're not alone. Even when it seems you are..."




And so ends the Billy arc.

I stopped consistently buying the Buffy books a long time ago (maybe around the Wolves at the Gate arc) due to the...space sex thing. But when I heard of this I admit i flipped and bought them the day they came out. The two-issue story line wasn't great (the message could've been handled better) but the 12-year-old me would've eaten this thing up and then tucked it under his pillow.

Comments

[theflames]

...Space sex?

[majingojira]

The ending arcs of Buffy Season 8 were really odd, confusing and overall not good.

Then again, it was the story of the Universe attempting suicide through ritual means, so there's that.

[icon_uk]

This is very sweet and all, but is there a real reason that Devon keeps pushing Billy to train, but isn't actually doing the same training himself? It just seems... odd because it's not like Billy is actually a Slayer, so he's a normal guy, but so is Devon and as we can see Devon can handles himself in a fight, so why is Billy any more the focus than Devon is?

Perhaps not articulating that terribly well, and I do like the idea of normal people stepping up and "taking back the night" as it were, but the focus on Billy seems a little weird.

[lucky_gamble]

Found that strange as well and one of the major flaws in the story. Besides Devon enjoying being the power behind the slayer,I can't really see why he didn't step up to the plate instead of Billy. It's a cute story but once you start to question it, the whole thing brings up a slew of loaded questions.

[turtlefu]

You know, I can't help but feel like this takes away a little bit from the whole feminist aspects of Buffy in the first place. You know, that all slayers are female. Part of what made Buffy so revolutionary was the idea that the heroes who got in the physical fights were all women, and the male characters were the mentors or sidekicks.
It was all very 90's feminist "girl power", and having a guy be a slayer (even if an "unofficial" one) leaves a slightly bad taste in my mouth.

[icon_uk]

I sort of get what you mean, and if he had had any Slayer abilities then I'd agree completely, but Billy seems more like a pro-active Xander, and I've always found Xander to be the most admirable guy in the series. (Xander didn't have Slayer powers, or magic, or the resources of the Watchers, but he went out and helped fight the bad guys DESPITE all that, because it was the right thing to do (and because he'd lost friends to the vampires) and that's my favourite motivation for a hero.

[lencannon]

Yeah, I see what you're saying. the only thing weird about it is they're calling him "A Slayer." He doesn't have any powers. If kicking vampire ass was the only quality required to be a vampire slayer, than Xander, Woods, Gunn, Wesley, etc. are all Slayers too.

Especially Wesley. Jesus Christ, that man could kill.

[donnblake]

That wasn't ever particularly the case, though. Right from the beginning of the series you had Angel, and later on the Demon Hunter Dummy, Riley, Spike, and Robin Wood.

[sevarem]

That pretty much sums it up for me.

[auggie18]

I've been enjoying the bits of season nine I've seen so far. It seems like it's on a more solid track, while season 8 went sorta nuts. Even when season nine is bad, it isn't that bad.

[skemono]

Man, zompires go down easy. It's a good thing they don't want to do anything other than hold your lapel, or you might actually be in danger!

[icon_uk]

Clearly Zompires are a little confused by nature, half of them wants to bite the neck, half of them wants to chow down on the brainpan, they hold victims by the lapels so the head is in roughly the right position for either outcome, whilst they make up their mind which to go for.

Either that or they're just REALLY impressed by good tailoring!