Buffy the Vampire Slayer: False Memories

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (trade paperbacks) #11

by Tom Fassbender, Cliff Richards

Remember that time when Buffy's little sister Dawn first found out that Buffy is the Slayer? And then when Angel almost killed Dawn, because no one had told her that he'd turned evil again? Buffy and the gang all have memories connected to Dawn, and only Buffy and Giles know they're not real. But there are still a lot of unanswered questions as to how Dawn came into Buffy's life, and where these memories come from. Now, Dawn has vanished without a trace, and the Scooby gang has no clue where to find her. But Buffy will stop at nothing to find her little sister, even if she has to face off against a cadre of crazed, bloodsucking monks and a former Vampire Slayer turned Slayer Vampire! Collecting issues #35-#38 of the ongoing series.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Comics, Vampires, Horror, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy

96 pages, Paperback

Published June 24, 2002

Reviews

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story takes place after Buffy learns the truth about Dawn and that she's the key Glory's after, but the Scoobies are still in the dark, so Giles is her only confidante.

There are frequent flashbacks, and key memories ie: Prophecy Girl where Dawn was there and Xander gave CPR to Buffy after she was killed by the Master, Angelus attacking Dawn after he lost his soul and was saved by Ms. Calendar, Willow and Xander, but of course, Buffy knows the truth, everyone else isn't caught up yet so they're not understanding Buffy's frustration towards Dawn.

It must be Tuesday cuz Dawn has vanished without a trace (they really should put a LoJack on that girl lol!) and the Scooby gang has no clue where to find her Buffy finds her hiding out at Spike's crypt and that's where Dawn reveals a missing 2-year gap in the Slayer timeline.

Buffy finds herself against a cadre of crazed, bloodsucking monks and a former Vampire Slayer turned Slayer Vampire, Yuki Makimura, who was turned by the Master as she was afraid of death and didn't want to die and ever since then was loyal to the Master.

In this comic, Yuki comes back to resurrect her sire with a ritual, and comes a close second in succeeding but is defeated by the combined efforts of Dawn, she sneaked in, saving Xander and Buffy, and the Scoobies battling the vampires.

What was interesting was all the callbacks to previous episodes I liked the little backstories and wish there was more about Yuki, as she planned to take revenge on Spike for killing the Anointed One, and the action scenes were beautifully illustrated!

The only criticism I have is I wish the author played with the concept of a Vampire Slayer turned vampire more deeply as you would think that this couldn't be a more recurring issue within the slayer line of other past slayers not wanting to die and would rather be a vampire like Yuri, it feels like a missed opportunity to me, but other than still a captivating read!

[kory. · Rating 3 out of 5]

#3 buffy the vampire slayer: spike & dru ★★★☆☆
#19 the blood of carthage ★★★☆☆
#22 buffy the vampire slayer: out of the woodwork ★★★☆☆
#24 buffy the vampire slayer: false memories ★★★☆☆
#27 buffy the vampire slayer: ugly little monsters ★★★☆☆
#29 buffy the vampire slayer: the death of buffy ★★★☆☆

buffy is kind of awful in this and the r slur is used. but there’s some good dawn/spike moments.

[Malcolm Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really interesting take on Buffy getting to grips with only just getting a sister she has had all along. Lots of flashbacks of events from the show where Dawn was present, but Buffy has issues parsing both realities and her resentment of these moments stolen by Dawn are heightened due to the Scooby Gang only ever remembering that Dawn was there all along. Very clever, very moving. Great stuff.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the only non-Whedon written Buffy comic which actually reads like an episode of Buffy. Well-paced, with enough character drama but without it getting bogged down in it, this is soundly and solidly written. The dialogue is punching without being obnoxious, funny without being smug, and subtle enough that it doesn't make me wanna cringe like some of the Buffy comics I've read. More than simply being well written, this is a good subject to do a Buffy comic on. If you're gonna plunge into adding non-canon stories set during on-air seasons, you've got to do more than a monster of the week. Reason being, it feels redundant, weightless and frankly boring. However, you can't bring in too much from the seasonal arcs, otherwise you fuck up what was a satisfyingly complete story. This comic strikes a perfect balance. It goes back to when Buffy had just discovered Dawn was the Key and fleshes out a bit more what it meant for Buffy to discover, not just that her sister was not her sister, but that every memory she had of her was not real, thus kind of robbing her of the certainty of her own life history. In the show, this was very quickly resolved because the message had to shown: It doesn't matter, Buffy loves her anyway. But this is good because it lets a little air into that time and says, this is how that felt, this is what she thought about, what went through her head. My only criticism of this is it introduces the concept of a vampire vampire slayer and then doesn't really do anything with it. An idea like that needs explored on its own. So really what I'm saying is, the only criticism I have of this is that it had too many good ideas, which if that's all you can say against it, goes to show it's pretty darn good.

[Kirsten · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was not so good. The art was kind of ugly, and the subject matter seemed less like an expansion on themes from the fifth season, and more like just a reiteration of plot points. In fact, I spent half the book trying to figure out if it was actually a comic book version of one of the season five episodes, or if it just SEEMED like it was a generic episode from that season.

[Catherine]

I liked how it gave more insight into the beginning of the Dawn situation...really good!

[Zoë · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little strange. I picked this up from the library, though, so I was sure I was reading out of order. But fun! Well written comic companion to the series!