Fray #2
The Calling

Timeline

200 years after Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and immediately following Fray #1.

The Sitch

"In your dreams, you're someone else. A slave. A princess. A girl in school in a sunlit city." Do Slayers still dream of previous slayers before they are called? If you're the first in centuries, apparently not. And, given the world you live in, little else can convince you that anything to do with a slayer is real. Not monsters; you work for a fish. Not super-strength, even though you're not a pump. Not anything. Well, almost not anything.

We open Fray #2 minutes after the first issue with Urkonn lurking behind Melaka's door, sent by mysterious masters from a hell dimension for the purpose of calling the slayer. Fray, being a paranoid thief, assumes the worst and dukes it out with Urkonn. Urkonn finally manages to calm Mel down (after calming himself down) and explains to her that she is the Chosen One and that her "destiny is to lead humankind in the war against the vampires." Her response? "What's a vampire?"

We are then introduced to the vampires in Fray's time. Icarus, a previous vampire warlord, now subjugated to an unknown being above him, and several cronies. We meet them after they acquire the amulet that Fray stole in the first issue. Icarus, through a "finger incident", is immediately established to be as bad as any vamp ever. As a side note, Icarus is a great name for a vampire (see Greek mythology for the joke).

While Icarus and crew are obtaining the amulet for their boss, Urkonn does his best Giles impersonation for Fray to get her to recognize her position as slayer. Urkonn expends considerable time trying to convince Melaka that she is the slayer, all of which she tidily can dismiss due to the world she lives in. Finally, he comes to the subject that gets her - lurks - the one thing that Fray fears. Just as Fray starts to confront the idea of lurks (vampires), a new job comes in from Gunther, her fish-boss.

The job is the pivotal point for Mel. Before the job though, we get a great two page vignette that delves just a little more into the lives of the people surrounding Fray. First, Erin explains to her partner Broder that she feels her sister Melaka is headed for disaster. Way down below and worlds away, Loo explains to two of her friends why Mel is a slam hero. My favorite line, concerning biscuits, is used in this interchange.

After the brief interlude, in a museum filled with ancient artifacts and in the middle of her latest snatch and grab, Mel comes face to face with one of Icarus' lurks attacking a guard. A single word comes to mind - RUN. We get our second black and white panel of the series with a younger Fray, bloodied, telling someone named Harth to run. This is the same young man that Erin confronted her over.

After managing to barely escape the vamp, Fray realizes that she doesn't know how to kill them...yet. As Urkonn looks over the city, Fray joins him to watch the seedy underbelly of the city.

"So...tell me...what's a slayer?" End of Issue 2.

Thoughts

This issue was the first example of why Fray will probably never see the light of day as a live-action anything. Moline, Owens and crew do a bloody brilliant job in capturing action, one of the hardest things to capture in comics, and even harder to capture when you add Whedon's humor to battle scenes. He does it, though. The scale of Mel's fight and the cityscapes against which she does it as drawn would require an astronomical budget to do it justice. One can still hope, though.

As a stand-alone issue, this is the one that very little and a lot happens all at the same time. In terms of action, there are a couple of small fights that are designed to drive the story in small ways, and most of the movement here is internal. We see the formation of the first bonds of a relationship between Urkonn and Melaka. Think early Giles and Buffy. We're introduced to the lurks in earnest, and we see the first step that Mel makes in accepting her position as Slayer.

My favorite section of this book comes during the vignette square in the middle (the staples bisect these pages in the monthly). The cityscape serves as the backdrop for the entire spread, with panels running across the top and bottom of the page. Floating above the cityscape is Erin, discussing her deep frustration with her sister. Think Detective Kate from Angel to get an idea about Erin Fray.

Below in the bowels of the city, three children, including Loo, are telling stories of legend about Fray, including a simple, but telling line about Fray getting (read: stealing) Loo the meds she needed. Two worlds - the one Fray left behind and the one she inhabits. Two worlds that she is destined to save. And, at the end of the book, Fray stands on a roof somewhere between the two, taking her first step.

What's My Line?

What's a bullet?
Okay. Less.
What's a vampire?
Please. I work for a fish.
Take a look at the world, hornboy. You're not gonna convince me you're special by playing the ugly card.
I feel I am losing my temper again.
Mel don't like biscuits? (Note: Again, my favorite line from this issue.)
What's a slayer?

Rating:

3.0 of 5.0 - This story pushed things along, but as a stand-alone issue, it didn't pull me in as much as other issues did. Enjoyable but without issues 1 and 3, it wouldn't do much for me.

Main Credits

Created and Written by Joss Whedon
Penciller - Karl Moline
Inker - Andy Owens
Colorist - Dave Stewart
Letterer - Michelle Madsden

Published January, 2002