A/N Sphygmus, from what I understand most people regard the comics as a bad joke, only a few of the comics are considered good and the less said about the reboot comics, the better apparently. I haven't read either, beyond one each of Buffy and Angel and none of the reboot comics, but I have found quite a few vitriolic posts about them.
And yeah, Angel didn't have much of a self image. By the time the show ended, Joss was tired of the whole drama. I found some comments SMG apparently made that Joss was 'over' the Buffy show by the fifth season and almost entirely uninvolved. Joss, himself, seems to go silent on the subject in the last couple years of the show and very little seems to have been said by him. I find a lot of Joss said this and Joss said that in the first few years of Buffy and Angel but after that, not so much. Maybe the comics were just a, 'here, give them all what I think they want and then it can be over'.
Except that most reviews I've found regarding the comics think the cover art is the only decent thing about any of the comics, not even the drawings in the comics pass muster, let alone the actual stories. I read one of each Buffy and Angel and regretted spending the money on them and nothing I've heard since makes me think continuing to waste my money to read more would have been worth it. Aside from a couple that involve Angel and Faith working together, those seem to be the only ones that get any decent reviews.
And soft selling the vampires might have more to do with the network standards on just how graphic they could get, Buffy and Angel pushed the limits on a lot things, some compromise may have been necessary. But yeah, seeing a more graphic display of what the vampires did, instead of just finding a body and saying 'oh, vampire got 'em!' would have helped with that. Now if Buffy aired today, we might see more.
And I loath Dumbledore and Snape.
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"I don't know you." Xander stated flatly after the peppy Fred made her offer. "And until I'm sure you can be trusted, I'm not trusting those I'm responsible for with you." He set his books on the Library table as Cordelia set her own down. "But if you're going to be working here then I guess we'll have a chance to get to know you. So, maybe, eventually." He shrugged. "The first impressions are that you're nice."
"Well, it's a start." Fred smiled brightly. "Mr. Giles explained your circumstances to Buffy -."
"I figured he would." Xander leaned against the table. "Buffy would demand answers and he'd figure if he told her she wouldn't try demanding them from me, thinking there's a problem. Plus, he'd figure, as her Watcher, at least until tomorrow, he has to let her know about potential issues. And Buffy and I aren't on speaking terms right now, I'd have been pissed if she tried to demand answer's when I'm not ready to talk to her."
"He'll get there eventually." Cordelia took a seat and opened her book. "Especially if Willow decides not to blame Buffy for Angelus' actions, which I'm thinking will be the case. Willow encouraged them to get together and got Angel to invite Buffy on their first date. It's more likely Willow will blame herself and she's going to need a lot of support and she counts Buffy as one of her best friends and she's going to need all the friends she can to get through this."
"You're probably right." Xander agreed. "It's not Willow's fault, but she might see it that way. And by the time Willow's out of the hospital I may be able to tolerate being in the same room as Buffy, if only for Willow's sake and because as angry at I am at her, I can't help feeling sorry for her. She's hurting too and she's the only one mourning Angel. And I really didn't like him anyway." Xander thought about Angel's cryptic crap and hiding while Buffy went to face the Master, there was nothing likeable about the guy. "But Angelus was a straight up monster and I'm glad he's gone." He took a seat himself at the table and opened his book. "I'll think about your offer, Fred. In the meantime Kendra and her Watcher will be here tomorrow, she was only in Sunnydale a couple of days last time but she was starting to loosen up by the time she headed back home. And now she's being dragged across the country to Sunnydale because the Council can't trust Buffy after the Angel/Angelus thing."
"That's why they're assigning her?" Cordelia asked. "Are you sure?"
"Well, no one's said anything one or way another, but the easiest thing to do would be to assign Giles' replacement, a new Watcher. Sending Kendra and her Watcher into what is essentially Buffy's territory? That's a slap in the face to Buffy, it calls into question her ability to do the job."
"Maybe they think she needs time to recover from everything." Fred offered.
"I'm not sure they actually care that much." Xander shrugged. "Kendra lived with her Watcher since she was three and called him Mr. Zabuto, she spent all her time studying and had no life. If that's typical of most Watchers, than I don't think caring is really in the vocabulary of the higher ups. No, I think Kendra is being assigned because they don't trust Buffy. The next little while is going to be...interesting."