I wax on, and on, and on. I hope that after this, my entries will become more interesting again

Oh, I am done with finals and it feels so nice. I feel so happy right now! I even finished my last final an hour early, so I was able to eat dinner with Antoine, and drop him off at the bus station before he left.

After that, I drove out to Gretchen's house, which is out a ways, in the country-ish. There was some really heavy fog tonight, so dense that I could only see about 30 feet in front of my car. Of course, this meant that I missed my turn (in fact, I missed an entire cemetery that was supposed to be my landmark!) by about 8 miles, but eventually I found Gretchen's house. It's so pretty! I wish that it hadn't been foggy about, because it's surrounded by woods and hills. The inside of the house is beautiful, too! And of course, her room is full of good books. There was a bonfire outside, and hot cider on the stove, and Gretchen's cute dog. I haven't been by a bonfire in a long time, and of course, the company was good as well. As a bonus, I have more Angel to watch when I finish season 1, and the first volume of Brian K. Vaughan's "Y: The Last Man."

And now I am home, and smell pleasantly of bonfire, a smell I haven't smelled in quite some time.

For the interested, Rightstuf.com is having a relatively nice sale on various anime titles. If I don't receive the Fullmetal Alchemist package before Christmas (we open most of our presents on Christmas Eve), I might just buy it for myself. Maybe. At the moment, I'd rather have Princess Tutu and Black Lagoon. Must bide my time and open Christmas presents first!

Anyway, it's off to bed now, so that I can wake up and pack, clean, and leave. I'll be driving with my friend Angela, and hoping that the roads will not be icy. Everyone keeps saying that they will be, but it's 1am and it's still 35 degrees outside....it is supposed to rain tomorrow, but no snow until night, I don't think.

Also! Provided that the person in question lives on the same side of the highway as my parents, I intend to walk when visiting friends, when possible. I easily walk the mile between campus and the Capitol four times a week, not to mention all of the other walking on campus, between bus stops, and to stores. Why is it that once I reach the suburbs, I feel the need to drive everywhere, even if it's only blocks away? Exercise is good for me anyway. So, that's my resolution for break. Walk when possible, and no, I won't accept a ride from you, my high school friends.

Fray

So, I often write reviews for anime and manga, but haven't done so yet for graphic novels (I usually refer to American comics in bound-form as "graphic novels," even though manga are probably graphic novels, too. Is there some kind of etiquette to this? Someone let me know.) or regular novels. We'll see how it goes!

Anyway, "Fray" is a graphic novel written by Joss Whedon. While it is related to the Buffy: The Vampire Slayer fictional universe (referred to by fans as the "Buffyverse"), it is self-contained, meaning that there is no need to have watched any of Buffy in order to understand it (although, you'll probably adjust a tad bit quicker to the mythology of the "Slayer.")

Melaka Fray is a young woman who makes her living by stealing in the 23rd century. In this bleak future, demons and vampires live openly among humans, and are referred to as "Lurks." There has not been a Slayer called for nearly 200 years (As described in Buffy, "In every generation, there is born a slayer: One girl who will stand against the vampires, the demons, and the darkness, etc." The Slayer gets special bad-ass fighting abilities, as well as an ability to heal their own wounds quickly.). Melaka Fray seems to be the most unlikely champion of humanity - she is jaded, lives alone, and seems not to care for anyone but herself. What will happen when a demon comes along, encouraging her to follow the path of the Slayer?

I loved this graphic novel. The art is well-done. While sometimes, comics will flub a shot of the protagonist's face, or pay lazy attention to background scenery, Fray is spot-on in every panel. Additionally, the story is tightly-plotted, as is typical of a story told by Joss Whedon. Initially, I had been skeptical of a heroine who would be filling the shoes of Buffy Summers, even if she was in the future. Still, Melaka Fray is worthy of the role. She kicks ass and takes names. Also, in what is relatively rare in American comics, this action heroine is not a 42DDD cup.

I highly recommend this graphic novel!

As an added bonus, I thought it was totally sweet that in the back of the book, the artist had a collection of first sketches, and said that he wanted to base Melaka's appearance on Natalie Portman's role of Matilda, from the movie "Leon the Professional." That was a good movie! Awesome.

( Spoilers lie behind the cut, and possibly in the comments left by others. )

The Internet tells me that Joss Whedon has promised to return to the world of Fray, and for this I am excited.