Fray
December 8, 2003 | Trades
Fray
Joss Whedon, Karl Moline, Andy Owens
Dark Horse Comics
$19.95 US (Paperback)
**** (out of five)
Joss Whedon is a genius. Ask any fan of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer or Toy Story.
The Emmy- and Oscar-nominated writer has a great way with snappy dialogue and can pepper pop references with the best of them. Almost everything he touches turns to gold — including comics.
Which brings us to Fray, Whedon’s first foray into the genre, which, to the surprise of few, is a rollicking good time.
The ingredients are familiar to any Buffy fan. Take a smart-mouthed teenaged girl, mix in monsters and a little sci-fi gadgetry, and serve with wit and intelligence.
Melaka Fray is strong, fast and tough. She’s also a thief and a hoodlum. Most importantly, she is The Slayer — the first one in a long time.
Spun out of the Buffyverse, Fray is set in a futuristic Manhattan teeming with problems. And just like in Buffy, a mysterious stranger arrives one day to tell Fray of her special destiny.
But why now? What evil is rising that only The Slayer can stop?
The answer takes the feisty Fray on a wild adventure through the darkest parts of this new New York, and leads her down a path of betrayal and blood. All with a quip and a smile.
Whedon, along with talented penciller Karl Moline and inker Andy Owens, give us a realistic and reluctant hero, who grabs her destiny by the throat and squeezes.
The only sadness is that we are rushed through Fray’s life so fast. There’s little time to enjoy the ride of her coming to grips with her powers and destiny before she’s foist into her final battle.
Of course, being no fool, Whedon has left plenty of room for a sequel, but it still feels like this collection, which reprints an eight-part limited series, should have been a few chapters longer.
You must be logged in to post a comment.