Anywhere but Here (Buffy comic)

Infobox comics story arc
title=Anywhere But Here


imagesize= 200
caption=Cover art by Jo Chen.
publisher=Dark Horse Comics
date=2008
titles= "Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight" #10
notable=y
main_char_team = Buffy Summers Willow Rosenberg Xander Harris Dawn Summers Kennedy
writers = Joss Whedon
artists = Cliff Richards
pencillers=
inkers=
letterers=
colorists=
TPB=
ISBN=
cat=
sortkey=PAGENAME
nonUS="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.

Plot

Threatened by Twilight's uprise, Willow and Buffy fly to Sephrilian's lair to question a demon named Sephrilian about the matter. During their flight, they detail their personal fantasies. Buffy reveals actor Daniel Craig approaching her at the beach, whilst Willow sets herself in a cabin with Tina Fey during a snowstorm. Buffy questions Willow about Kennedy's whereabouts, but Willow avoids the question just as they finally arrive at the lair that resembles an old cottage. There, they are greeted by Robin, a Minder. She stabilizes reality around the hut, which is made unstable by the presence of Sephrillian. 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. They decide to play a word game while they descend the stairs.

At the castle, Xander surprises Dawn with a gift: her trunk full of clothes and articles enlarged. 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.

Back inside the reality field in the lair, Buffy and Willow finally meet Sephrillian. They have come to see Sephrilian because of his ability to walk between worlds, saying this marks him as one of the demon elite, a Tichajt. She demands to know what the mysterious Twilight signifies. It 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. Tichajt grows impatient with the human natural propensity to lie and hide from reality, and decides to send them 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 naga-like snake woman that granted her mystical knowledge. A surprised Buffy says 'Wow, your bad was way better than mine.'

Then 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 Sephrillian to show them this, and explains that the scene shows a betrayal by the closest and most unexpected. She then senses that Buffy and Willow are about to cause a disruption and leaves. Buffy asks Willow if she is the betrayer. She claims no, not any more than she already has: the two suddenly find themselves watching Willow and Kennedy in a living room following the events of "The Long Way Home". Willow and Kennedy argue about why Willow has kept her from Buffy for the past year. Willow breaks down in tears blaming herself for Tara's death and Sunnydale's deterioration. She believes that when she resurrected Buffy she put Tara in harm's way, since with Buffy dead, the two could have left Sunnydale and lived happily, but Willow 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, and says she can't let the same thing happen to another woman she loves. Buffy witnesses the revelation in disbelief.

Suddenly, Sephrillian 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 then attacks, and Willow conjures her a magical sword to quickly defeat Tichajt, 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 Tichajt, and asks what happened in there. Buffy explains "It was demons. Playing games", and she and Willow walk away in their solitudes.

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 8, 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.

Dark Horse contest

Dark Horse Comics held a contest for one reader to be given a cameo shot in Buffy. The winner was Jerrod Balzer, an author who wrote an entry on behalf of his wife, Robin. He wrote about watching Buffy and sharing it with her at the beginning of the onset of Robin's schizophrenia: [http://www.darkhorse.com/news/pressrelease.php?id=1429 Announcement of contest winner] ]

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. She appears in this issue as well as on the variant cover with Buffy and Willow.

Canonical issues

:main|Buffyverse canon

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 a an unofficial "parallel continuity.Mata, Shiai, " [http://www.slayerlit.us/interviews/interview6.htm CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN INTERVIEW 2] ", "SlayerLit.us" (2007).]

Timing

*Intended to be set after BtVS's seventh season. The precise timing of this arc is currently uncertain.

*Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:

References

ee also