Anywhere but Here (Buffy comic)

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"Anywhere but Here"

Anywhere but here.jpg

Cover of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight: Anywhere but Here
Art by Jo Chen
Publisher Dark Horse Comics
Publication date January  2008
Genre
Title(s) Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #10
Main character(s)
Creative team
Writer(s) Joss Whedon
Artist(s) Cliff Richards
With respect to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise
The material covered in this article is a continuity issue in the canon of Buffy the Vampire Slayer .

"Anywhere but Here" is the tenth issue of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight series of comic books, a continuation from the television series of the same name. It is written by Joss Whedon.

<i>Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight</i> comic book series

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight is a comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics from 2007 to 2011. The series serves as a canonical continuation of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and follows the events of that show's final televised season. It is produced by Joss Whedon, who wrote or co-wrote three of the series arcs and several one-shot stories. The series was followed by Season Nine in 2011.

Joss Whedon American director, writer, and producer for television and film

Joseph Hill Whedon is an American screenwriter, director, producer, comic book writer, and composer. He is the founder of Mutant Enemy Productions and co-founder of Bellwether Pictures, and is best known as the creator of several television series, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003), Angel (1999–2004), Firefly (2002), Dollhouse (2009–10), and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013–present).

Contents

Plot

Threatened by Twilight's rising, Willow and Buffy fly under Willow's magical power to question a demon named Sephrilian (one of the Old Ones) about the matter. During their flight, they play a game called "Anywhere But Here" in which they detail their personal fantasies. When Buffy questions Willow about Kennedy's whereabouts, Willow avoids the question just as they finally arrive at the lair that resembles an old cottage. They are greeted by Robin, a Minder, who stabilizes reality around the hut, which is made unstable by the presence of Sephrilian. She warns Willow not to use magic inside and informs Buffy to "rescue the prince," much to their confusion. The two enter the lair and find themselves set on a never ending staircase.

Willow Rosenberg character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Willow Danielle Rosenberg is a fictional character created for the fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003). She was developed by Joss Whedon and portrayed throughout the TV series by Alyson Hannigan.

Buffy Summers lead character of Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Buffy Anne Summers is the titular character from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise. She first appeared in the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer before going on to appear in the television series and subsequent comic book of the same name. The character has also appeared in the spin-off series Angel, as well as numerous non-canon expanded universe material, such as novels, comics, and video games. Buffy was portrayed by Kristy Swanson in the film, and later by Sarah Michelle Gellar in the television series. Giselle Loren has lent her voice to the character in both the Buffy video games and an unproduced animated series, while Kelly Albanese lent her voice to the character in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight motion comics.

In the Buffyverse, the Old Ones are the extremely powerful, pure-breed demons that once dominated Earth before humankind appeared. Illyria is one of these demons while it's more than likely that Jasmine and her kind ascended to their higher plane because of the growing malevolence of these warring demons. It's also possible that the Powers that Be were part of the same race but shared a different philosophy than the other Old Ones.

At the castle, Xander surprises the giant-sized Dawn with a gift: her trunk full of clothes and articles enlarged to fit her. Amongst her possessions, Xander comes across a picture of regular-sized Dawn with her ex-boyfriend Kenny. Dawn finally reveals to Xander that she never slept with Kenny like she had informed everyone. She had in fact slept with his college roommate. Xander comforts her saying that she's only guilty of being human. He asks if she feels better getting it off her chest. She doesn't respond.

Xander Harris character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Alexander Lavelle Harris is a fictional character created for the action-horror/fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003). He was developed by Joss Whedon and portrayed throughout the television series by Nicholas Brendon and in two episodes by his twin brother, Kelly Donovan. He was conceived as an everyman and a male character for series heroine Buffy Summers to interact with, and to provide comic relief in the series. Xander is one of several friends of Buffy who assist her in saving the world against numerous supernatural events that plague Sunnydale, California, a town built over a doorway to hell.

Dawn Summers fictional character from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Dawn Summers is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon and introduced by Marti Noxon and David Fury on the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, portrayed by Michelle Trachtenberg. She made her debut in the premiere episode of the show's fifth season and subsequently appeared in every episode of its remaining three seasons. Within the series, Dawn is the little sister of main character Buffy Summers, a girl chosen by fate to be a vampire Slayer. Whedon introduced Dawn to the series because he wanted to introduce a character with whom Buffy could have an intensely emotional non-romantic relationship.

Buffy and Willow meet Sephrilian, a demon that has the ability to walk between worlds, in order to determine what Twilight signifies. Sephrilian replies: "The death of magic;" he claims that their fear is "sickeningly sweet," as Twilight represents the triumph of humans over demons, the end of the Hellmouths, and that this will be Buffy's life's work achieved. Sephrilian grows impatient with the human natural propensity to lie and hide from reality, and decides to send Buffy and Willow through a series of visions revealing past and future events.

In the first vision, Buffy and Willow find themselves looking on as Buffy and other Slayers rob a Swiss Bank Account for their personal funds, several months ago. Willow explains to Buffy that this is what the government feared: Slayers acting above the law. As a result of Buffy's desire to see the bad things Willow has done, a brief scene from the past reveals Willow intimately involved with a Nāga-like snake woman that granted her mystical knowledge.

A Slayer, in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, is a young female bestowed with mystical powers that originate from the essence of a pure-demon, which gives her superhuman senses, strength, agility, resilience and speed in the fight against forces of darkness. She occasionally receives prophetic dreams in the few hours that she sleeps.

Banking in Switzerland Foreign-friendly bank regulations

Banking in Switzerland began in the early 18th century through Switzerland's merchant trade and has, over the centuries, grown into a complex, regulated, and international industry. Along with the Swiss Alps, Swiss chocolate, watchmaking and mountaineering, banking is seen as emblematic of Switzerland. Switzerland has a long, kindred history of banking secrecy and client confidentiality reaching back to the early 1700s. Started as a way to protect wealthy European banking interests, Swiss banking secrecy was codified in 1934 with the passage of the landmark federal law, the Federal Act on Banks and Savings Banks.

Nāga deity or class of entity or being, taking the form of a very great snake

Naga or Nagi is a Sanskrit word which basically refers to a "serpent" or "snake", especially the King cobra. The term Naga in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism denotes divine, semi-divine deities, or a semi-divine race of half-human half-serpent beings that resides in the heavenly Patala (netherworld) and can occasionally take human form. They are principally depicted in three forms: wholly humans with snakes on the heads and necks; common serpents or as half-human half-snake beings. A female naga is a "nagi", "nagin", or "nagini". Nagaraja is seen as the king of nāgas and nāginis. They are common and hold cultural significance in the mythological traditions of many South Asian and Southeast Asian cultures.

Afterward, they are joined by an image of Robin in a new setting: Buffy on the floor of a foggy stone room, beaten, cut, and crying. Robin says she didn't expect Sephrilian to show them this, and explains that the scene shows a betrayal by "the closest and most unexpected." She senses that Buffy and Willow are about to cause a disruption and leaves. When Buffy asks Willow if Willow is the betrayer, she gives an evasive answer that is supplemented by a vision where Willow and Kennedy were arguing and Willow eventually confessed that she blames herself for Tara's death and Sunnydale's deterioration. Willow explained that while she and Tara could have left Sunnydale and lived happily, she could not bring herself to either let Buffy stay dead or desert her after her resurrection. She is determined to avoid the same thing happening to Kennedy. Buffy witnesses the revelation in disbelief.

Tara Maclay fictional character from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Tara Maclay is a fictional character created for the action-horror/fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003). She was developed by Joss Whedon and portrayed by Amber Benson. Tara is a shy young woman with magical talents who falls in love with Willow Rosenberg, one of the core characters. Together, they help Buffy Summers, who has been given superhuman powers to defeat evil forces in the fictional town of Sunnydale.

Sunnydale fictional city in California from the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Sunnydale is the fictional setting for the U.S. television drama Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Series creator Joss Whedon conceived the town as a representation of a generic California city, as well as a narrative parody of the all-too-serene towns typical in traditional horror films.

Suddenly, Sephrilian returns and informs them that he welcomes the upcoming war, saying he now knows their weaknesses and that he plans to tell the rest of the demon world. Buffy attacks, and Willow conjures her a magical sword to quickly defeat the demon, but because she performed magic the lair explodes as the unstable reality field around it collapses. However, Robin contains the blast and magically rebuilds the hut within seconds. She thanks them for killing Sephrilian and giving her a temporary reprieve from her duties, and asks what happened in there. Buffy explains "It was demons. Playing games," and she and Willow walk away in silence.

Production

Writing and artwork

Joss Whedon returns as writer for the first time since "The Chain". Cliff Richards joins the team as penciller, replacing the series' regular Georges Jeanty for this issue. Although this is Richard's first issue penciling for Buffy Season Eight, he has previously worked on past Buffy comics including "Slayer, Interrupted", "Play with Fire", and "Jonathan". "Anywhere but Here" is 25 pages as opposed to its usual 22, as stated in the letters column of issue 9.

The Chain (Buffy comic)

"The Chain" is the fifth issue of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight series of comic books, a continuation of the television series of the same name. It is written by creator Joss Whedon. It is dedicated to the late Janie Kleinman, a network executive whom Whedon worked with and admired.

Cliff Richards is a comic book artist.

Slayer, Interrupted manga

"Slayer, Interrupted" is a comic book storyline based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series that was published in Buffy the Vampire Slayer #57–59 by Dark Horse Comics. It was later reprinted as part of a trade paperback collected edition. It was influenced by events detailed in the episode "Normal Again". The title references the best-selling memoir Girl, Interrupted, also about institutionalization.

Dark Horse contest

Dark Horse Comics held a contest for one reader to be given a cameo shot in Buffy. [1] The winner was Robin Balzer, who had an entry written on her behalf by her husband, Jerrod. [2] The essay was the couple watching Buffy and sharing it together at the beginning of the onset of Robin's schizophrenia.

Upon reading the winner's entry, Whedon decided to expand that character's role and feature her as a critical part of the story, as opposed to a simple cameo. [2] She appears in this issue as well as on the variant cover with Buffy and Willow.

Canonical issues

This series has been described as 'canon' by both Whedon and various commentators. As the creator of Buffy, Joss Whedon's association with Buffyverse story is often linked to how canonical the various stories are. Since Whedon is writing this story, it will be seen as a continuation of the official continuity established by Buffy and Angel.

Season Eight contradicts and supersedes information given in the paperback novels set after Season Seven, such as Queen of the Slayers and Dark Congress , which are described as being set in an unofficial "parallel" continuity. [3]

Timing

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References

  1. "Announcement of contest winner". Darkhorse.com. 2011-01-20. Retrieved 2011-03-20.
  2. 1 2 "A Mind Interrupted: Robin Balzer's "Buffy" Story". Comic Book Resources. 2008-01-08. Retrieved 2011-03-20.
  3. Mata, Shiai, "CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN INTERVIEW 2 Archived 2011-07-23 at the Wayback Machine .", SlayerLit.us (2007).
Preceded by
"No Future for You"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight storylines
2008
Succeeded by
"A Beautiful Sunset"