Timeline

200 years after Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and immediately after Fray #3.

The Sitch

Much like the title, Fray #4 opens with a moment out of Mel's past. Once again we visit the rooftop moment with Mel and Harth. Icarus stands over them, ready to feed. Cut forward to the current as Mel lies frozen before Icarus for the second time. Icarus, disappointed that Melaka doesn't remember him, slams Mel's face into the pavement, even as she realizes that the reunion isn't going like the 10,000 times she has imagined it before.

Harth stands just as frozen in the past as Mel tries to defend him. Icarus is surprised by a direct assault from the Slayer, but her inexperience lands her in an infuriated Icarus' hands. No one has ever hurt him until Mel. Mel takes another run at Icarus as he grabs Harth. Icarus thanks her for dinner even as he picks her up by her face and suspends her from the roof of the building.

Icarus slams Mel in the present and drops her from the roof in the past. As she falls, Icarus feeds on Harth. Melaka falls to the ground then and is slammed into a wall now. Mel picks herself up to face Icarus as he expresses his disappointment that Melaka isn't fighting back like she did in their first meeting.

Inside the bar, a full brawl has broken out as Loo's parents agree on killing Mel for the destruction. Loo, however, is more interested in finding Mel. Realizing that Mel is being beaten senseless, she runs to get help from Urkonn. Just as Icarus is about to feed on Mel, Urkonn comes in to beat on Icarus. Mel stands senseless with Loo cheering behind her and the thought "Kill him" going through her mind. Icarus isn't going easy though and escapes into the water. Even as she passes out in Urkonn's arms, Mel wants to go after Icarus.

Again to the past. Mel is lying in a hospital bed with the doctor explaining her miraculous recovery to Erin. Present. Mel is barely able to speak to Urkonn, telling him that he should have killed the lurk that took her brother's life. Past. Mel tries to explain the situation to her cop sister. Erin bluntly tells Mel that she was grabbing and got their brother killed. She turns and walks out as Mel lays crying.

After his escape, Icarus reports back to his master that Mel isn't anything. The mysterious master notes that she is more than Icarus knows and is crucial to making the artifacts work. With the battle lulled, Urkonn reports to HIS masters. After a lengthy debate about whether Fray will be able, even without knowledge of previous slayers, to fight the One Who is to Lead, Urkonn commits that she will be ready to fight. With the alternative being Melaka's death and the calling of a new slayer, Urkonn returns to Mel.

Mel is recuperating as best she can - by taking a shower. In a stunning panel, Melaka is showering, completely naked, in an alleyway, three stories up, held by her feet against the walls. Her "shower" is an open waterpipe. Descended to dress, Urkonn finds her and is amazed to see how quickly she is healing and talks to her about the fight. Melaka fills him in on the previous fight with Icarus and how it cost her her brother.

Urkonn asks about Harth and is amazed to discover that he and Mel were twins. No slayer has ever had a twin in his recollection. Mel promises that the shock against Icarus has worn off and goes to see Gunther for information. Gunther is reluctant to give Mel information at first because of "not doing" business with lurks (though we know he has) and then because she stole from a museum. Gunther apologizes to Mel as she is shot with an electrical bolt twice.

"Melaka Fray...you're under arrest." Erin has finally caught up to Mel and tells the officers to bolt her good. No one has time though as a group of lurks descends on the police. Mel recovers just in time to see a vampire prepare to put the bite down on Erin. Mel takes advantage of the vamp's ponytail and a backflip to stop him. The distraction prevents her from seeing a vamp swing a metal pole at her head.

As Mel's vision and consciousness return, she sees a blurry Icarus standing over her. Icarus tells his master that he has delivered Melaka to him, not dead. The master notes that she is disoriented and that it will pass. Mel looks up to finally see the master. Her mouth falls silent and open.

"Hello, Mel. Miss me?"

The master is what was once Harth, Fray's twin-brother.

End of Issue #4.

Thoughts

First, the jaw-dropping ending to this book made it all worth it and get the previous 21 pages as a bonus! I totally didn't see the surprise with Harth coming. It explained statements made, hints dropped, Urkonn's surprise, all make sense. And, when I read this the very first time, I couldn't help but think of the million directions the story could go. What would Erin think? How would Fray's twin vamp-bro use the split knowledge of her heritage? I said in an earlier review that this thing is like a rollercoaster with a bunch of hills. The final panel was hill #2.

In terms of storytelling, catching the reader up on a backstory can be a page-consuming and boring task for the reader many times. The backstory in this issue, however, is used brilliantly. Through intercuts, we see not only show what happened in the past, but it drives the current story. Telling the whole story at the front end wouldn't have had nearly the same impact as showing why Icarus could beat Mel senseless when she's the slayer. It also explains the torment in Erin's decision to arrest Mel.

And the action, along with the use of black and white to show the past, is incredible. It read as much like a storyboard as it did a comic book and would have been totally comfortable in either application. Wouldn't it be nice to see it as a storyboard? Fray: The Movie or Fray: The Series.

Again, excellent issue and the ride can only get better...plus Joss uses the word rutting and rutters a lot in this book. The word would turn up on Firefly again (Neat Fact from Studious Seven).

What's My Line?

Monster Man! Ugly Monster Man! Hey, Hey!
And being beaten senseless by a single vampire. This is your work?
Hello, Mel. Miss me?

Rating:

4 of 5

Main Credits

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

Published October, 2001