"Joss Whedon as King"

Just finished getting caught up with issues of the Joss Whedon approved BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: SEASON EIGHT and ANGEL: AFTER THE FALL (or better known as Season six) comic books which continue what would have happened in the television series' should they have continued. Although Whedon is the driving force behind both series providing the "direction" behind which both series follow, he has taken the chief reigns behind the current story in BUFFY Season Eight with the story "Time of Your Life" which sees Buffy thrust into the future where she meets future vampire slayer Fray (who had her own series also written by Whedon). This was the cross-over than fans have been asking for for years (since I've yet to read the FRAY mini-series I am sad to say I am not one of this group).

In the story "Time of Your Life" the biggest moments come from the fact that Buffy realizes that the future has no slayers to battle the forces of darkness and that everything she sacreficed to bring upon the slayers and the Potentials (possible future slayers who were called early - SEE SEASON SEVEN of the TV show) was all for nothing. This cross-over will have a profound effect of Buffy and the series as a whole as she must now find a direction that will help her prevent the future events that she has seen.

One of the great things about the this story and the series as a whole is how many other sub-plots are wrangled into each issue and the series in general. Willow has a new girlfrend and there are hints in "Time of Your Life" that she may be responsible for world changing events as she has survived into Fray's future. Also, Dawn is experiencing life changing events as well seeing as that her former demon-boyfriend's curse first changed her into a giant-Dawn through most of the first half of the series; the curse takes a new turn as Dawn finds herself a Centaur, part woman and part horse, which makes for very funny moments between her and Xander. Xander has had it bad, as usually, seeing as her just got through both being Dracula's minion, again, and his new girlfriend getting killed in the last story - "The Wolves At the Gates." Both Faith and Giles have gone missing for a while in the series as they are both staying clear of Buffy & gang for their own reasons (I'm sure will have profound effects on the series in the long run). This "season" of Buffy just keeps getting better and better.

Over in ANGEL: AFTER THE FALL, Los Angelas and most of California is stuck in hell, but it is finally revealed that the hell that Angel & Company find themselves in is a mirror-realm in which the "real" world cannot see. It is revealed, finally, that after the events of the Series Finale, Angel has been turned human and battling the deminions of Hell regardless of his limitations. Gunn is becoming a formidable villain with a link to the Powers That Be (or so he thinks) and like most of the Angel televion series good characters become bad and bad become alliesor dead (again). If there is one thing bad with AFTER THE FALL and Angel (both comic & TV series) it's that there are way too many characters for its own good and new readers will find it hard jumping into the story. Jumping into the series without already knowing the TV show is problem enough, but regardless, Angel comes off as this epic hero that's suppose to be both bad and good which is one of the reasons why it is so obsessive.

Although Whedon does less with this series then the BUFFY series both feel very much like the televion shows and are great extensions of the mythos.