Giles #1

Giles #1 comic reviewWe may never have gotten the Giles television show Joss Whedon wanted, but the Watcher now earns his own four-issue mini-series written by Whedon and Erika Alexander. To catch up those who don’t know, after being killed by Angel, Giles was resurrected but as a teenager. After helping the Scooby Gang, Giles has now been sent in undercover at an inner-city Los Angeles high school (partly to hide him from the anti-magic government and partly to allow the teenage Watcher to investigate odd occurrences in the high school).

Chronologically taking place somewhere near the end of Season 11, there’s more than a little deja vu here as Giles uncovers odd things happening in the high school basement and also falls for a female student named Roux who turns out to be a good vampire, a fact which doesn’t stop him from flirting with her.

While the comic is entertaining, it feels a bit too much like reshuffled greatest hits of the Buffyverse with the focus on Giles rather than a high school Giles rather than Buffy this time around. For fans.

[Dark Horse, $3.99]