Fray by Joss Whedon Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Fray
Book Review: More, please
Summary: 4 Stars
What does Joss Whedon do when he wants to write about a vampire slayer who's not Buffy? He taps into the past, of course -- or looks into the future.
Fray, written by Whedon and illustrated by Karl Moline, leaps a couple of centuries down the road to a time where flying cars are commonplace and demons roam the Earth. It's a time when people no longer believe in vampires -- a 21st-century slayer, possibly Buffy, vanquished all demons and half-demons from our dimension, we're told -- but now the vampires, or "lurks," are back. And, with a few hundred years of peace in their wake, they find a world without a slayer, a world where the council of Watchers has fallen into disarray and madness, a world where no one is prepared to face or resist them.
At least, not until young thief Melaka Fray is suddenly flooded with power. And a demon, for reasons of his own, takes the place of a Watcher and begins her training.
Fray collects an eight-issue miniseries that is too short by far to tell the full story of Melaka's adventures. After all, Buffy had a feature film, seven seasons of television and a host of comic-book yarns to work with, and she still has storytelling potential to spare. But this book does a great job of introducing an exciting new character, defining her futuristic world (did I mention the flying cars?) and populating it with an interesting array of allies, sidekicks and adversaries. I hope there's more to come.
by Tom Knapp, Rambles.(n e t) editor
Book Review: From a non-comics reader
Summary: 5 Stars
Although I am not generally a comics reader, I bought Fray because I was interested in more of Joss Whedon's work. Luckily I was able to come to this story after it had been compiled into this graphic novel. Although I can't assess it in reference to other comics series or characters, I did find it a good work on its own, although its relation to the Slayerverse certainly made parts of the story more fun to follow.
What I found most interesting about this story was what it revealed about Whedon's preoccupations. Certainly viewers of his various television series will recognize certain character dynamics, storylines, and style of storytelling. In a television series it is often difficult to determine what any given person's contribution was or what sorts of stories receive approval for airing. Here, Whedon is able to write as he likes and the results are interesting to consider in light of his other work.
Overall the story pleases and leaves one wanting more. Which is what any writer should want.
Book Review: Joss Whedon is My Master now
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm going to keep it short sweet and neat for the sake of time and money.
Joss Whedon is a story telling genius and probably one of the few "celebrities" that should I meet I would probably get tongue tied and act all goofy-like in front of.
Fray was something I heard about and tried to find in local comic shops (I live in LA) and none of them had it or "could get it" - which seems stupid since if they REALLY wanted to get it I'm sure they could have. Anyway, I got it from Amazon as soon as I could and I was not dissappointed. He takes the Slayer lore and weaves a fascinating new tale set in the future, one remarkably similar in dialogue to Firefly incidentally - almost an amalgam of style between current modern day speech and the forthcoming Firefly dialect.
The story is top notch and it has new twists that even most hard core Joss fans wouldn't see coming.
All in all, if your a Buffy fan - get this. If your a Joss fan - get this. Or if you just like REALLY good storytelling in graphic novel form - get this.
Just get it.
Book Review: First-timer to the graphic novel format
Summary: 4 Stars
If you're like me, you want to take the Buffy and Angel DVD boxed sets to your grave, and you MUST read the "Buffy: Season 8" comic that Joss Whedon and company are releasing in March, '07 from Darkhorse. I ordered "Fray" to prepare myself for this extraveganza, and found myself pleasantly surprised and absorbed by the graphic novel style (in spite of a few disconcerting moments of, "wait, who the heck is thinking in the yellow box?" or "Which speech bubble do I read first?", etc.) This was a wonderful short story told in Joss's characteristically fantabulous voice. And the artwork was really fun to interact with - especially the characterization of the characters (and the non-male-gazedness of the female body (less TNA and more facial expressions!)).
The reason for 4 stars (and not 5) is, surprisingly, a weakness in characterization (usually Joss's strong suit). The portrayal of Fray's brother in the past is not nearly sympathetic enough to cause the hurt later on, and he's incredibly difficult to connect with (I think maybe the eyeglasses were a poor choice.) Otherwise, though, the characters are as strong as you might hope!
Book Review: Great gritty science fiction
Summary: 5 Stars
For a long time I have have loved Joss Whedon's work, though I am no fan of the Buffy or Angel television shows. Joss has a tendency to mix a fantastic story with incredibly witty dialogue. In this particular work, I think he sets the bar high with a great plot--not the most original, but told very well--and fantastic character development and dialogue. The artwork is also nothing short of amazing. I thoroughly recommend this to anyone, sci-fi lover or not.