Fray (comics)

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Fray  is an eight-issue comic book limited series , a futuristic spin-off of the television series  Buffy the Vampire Slayer  . Written by  Buffy  creator Joss Whedon , the series follows aSlayer named Melaka Fray , a chosen one in a time where vampires (called “lurks”) are returning to the slums of New York City, and the rich-poor divide is even greater.  [1]  Volume one is drawn by Karl Moline ( pencils ) and Andy Owens ( inks ).

The series was published by Dark Horse Comics beginning in 2001, with delays between the first six and the final two issues caused by Whedon’s TV commitments, which Moline illustrated  Route 666  for CrossGen Comics . After the series’ conclusion in August 2003, a trade paperback collecting the whole series was also published by Dark Horse. In a short video promoting the charity Equality Now Joss Whedon confirmed that “Fray is not done, Fray is coming back.” More than that, I will not say. ”  [2]  This was reiterated in 2007’s Comic Con where Joss stated that he “absolutely would be returning to that world.”  [3] Fray next appears as a character in the 2008  Buffy the Slayer Vampire Season Eight  arc crossover story, ” Time of Your Life “, by Whedon and Moline.

The series Was étroitement linked to the CONCURRENTLY airing seventh season of  Buffy  , with coinciding depictions of the Slayer’s mystical scythe and her origins, a major contributor to the expansion of the canonical ” Buffyverse ” in qui  Buffy the Vampire Slayer  and other related stories are set . Melaka Fray also appears in the story “Tales”, by the same creative team as the series, in the anthology comic book  Tales of the Slayers  .

Characters

  • Melaka “Mel” Fray  – A 19-year-old thief and Vampire Slayer. Unlike other Slayers, she has had no prophetic dreams of her destiny or the Slayers before her, and is now trying to figure out what her destiny is the Slayer entails.
  • Harth Fray  – Mel’s twin brother, who was attacked by a vampire during a theft with Mel. To save his life, Harth deliberately drank the vampire’s blood, thus becoming a vampire himself. It is unprecedented for a slower to have a twin and, as an odd side-effect of this, Harth possesses the prophetic dreams and visions of past Slayers that Mel lacks.
  • Erin Fray  – Mel’s older sister. Melaka’s thieving, Mel, also blamed Mel for the death of their brother for a long time. Eventually, in the big battle against their vampire brother, the two reconciled.
  • Urkonn  – A demon who trains Mel as a Slayer in place of her actual Watcher (who instead immolates himself). A budding friendship grows from the previously harsh mentor-student relationship, but it ends up betrays by Loo in order to harden her resolve. After defeating her brother, Mel discovers Urkonn’s betrayal and lures him into a trap, killing him.
  • Loo  – Mel’s friend, a mutated girl, murdered by Urkonn in order to motivate Melaka in confronting her brother.
  • Icarus  – The vampire that killed Harth years ago; killed by Erin right before the big battle.

Synopsis

The story is about Vampire Slayer of the future named Melaka Fray and his discovery of what being a Slayer means.

Centuries have passed since the last Slayer was called. Demons have been revealed to the earth by some unnamed Slayer and her friends, and the Watchers’ Council has been deceived into a group of crazed fanatics. The vampires (dubbed  lurks  ) haunt the city. To fight this threat, a new Slayer is called a professional thief named Melaka Fray. With the Watchers’ Council ineffective, a group of “neutral” demons send the demon Urkonn to prepare Melaka for the war that is sure to come.

Although training hard and feeling confident, Mel finds herself out of her face when she fights the vampire Icarus. Years before, Icarus Severely injured Mel and killed her twin brother, Harth. Mel discovers that Harth was not actually killed: after being bitten by Icarus, he bit back and fed off the vampire, becoming a vampire himself. Since he was the Slayer’s twin, he had the visions and instinctive knowledge that he had, he knew what he was, and also knew how to become a vampire.

Disheartened, Mel refuses to fight, until she discovers the body of a young friend, a girl named Loo, with her neck snapped. Determined to avenge her, Mel rallies the inhabitants of the slums to fight against the vampires. Police officer Erin Fray (Mel’s older sister) convinces some of the local law enforcement to also join in the crusade.

As the battle begins, a giant dragon-like demon flies over the scene. This, Urkonn tells Mel, is the gateway to the demon world, and thousands more of them will be born from its womb. Mel falls into the creature’s mouth, and manages to kill it from inside by stabbing its brain. She climbs out of the creature’s eye and again encounters Harth, who is riding on its back. His plans are foiled, he kisses his on the mouth, and flees.

The world is safe, but one more piece of business remains. Mel tells Urkonn that she knows a vampire could not have killed her. Therefore, Urkonn must have done, hoping to inspire her to fight. He admits the truth, and they battle. Having figured out that he can not swim, Melaka drops him into a pool of water and stabs him in the head.

Melaka returns to her train life of crime, while at the same time. In another world, Urkonn’s superiors state that he will be stricken from history for his failure to kill Harth, and start to discuss their plans for when Harth tries something again.

Bibliography

Original issues

  • Whedon, Joss (w), Moline, Karl (p), Owens, Andy (i), Stewart, Dave (col), Madsen, Michelle (let), Allie, Scott (ed). “Chapter One: Big City Girl”  Fray 1 (June 1, 2001), Dark Horse Comics  (Second printing: July 25, 2001)  [4]
  • Whedon, Joss (w), Moline, Karl (p), Owens, Andy (i), Stewart, Dave (col), Madsen, Michelle (let), Allie, Scott (ed). “Chapter Two: The Calling”  Fray 2 (July 4, 2001), Dark Horse Comics  [5]   (Second printing: December 26, 2001)  [6]
  • Whedon, Joss (w), Moline, Karl (p), Owens, Andy (i), Stewart, Dave (col), Madsen, Michelle (let), Allie, Scott (ed). “Chapter Three: Ready, Steady …”  Fray 3 (August 1, 2001), Dark Horse Comics  [7]   (Second printing: December 26, 2001)  [8]
  • Whedon, Joss (w), Moline, Karl (p), Owens, Andy (i), Stewart, Dave (col), Madsen, Michelle (let), Allie, Scott (ed). “Chapter Four: Out of the Past”  Fray 4 (October 17, 2001), Dark Horse Comics  [9]   (Second printing: October 17, 2001)  [10]
  • Whedon, Joss (w), Moline, Karl (p), Owens, Andy (i), Stewart, Dave (col), Madsen, Michelle (let), Allie, Scott (ed). “Chapter Five: The Worst of It”  Fray 5 (December 5, 2001), Dark Horse Comics  [11]   (Second printing: December 5, 2001)  [12]
  • Whedon, Joss (w), Moline, Karl (p), Owens, Andy (i), Stewart, Dave (col), Madsen, Michelle (let), Allie, Scott (ed). “Chapter Six: Alarums”  Fray 6 (March 27, 2002), Dark Horse Comics  [13]   (Second printing: March 27, 2002)  [14]
  • Whedon, Joss (w), Moline, Karl (p), Owens, Andy (i), Stewart, Dave and Madsen, Michelle (Col), Madsen, Michelle (let), Allie, Scott (ed). “Chapter Seven: The Gateway”  Fray 7 (April 23, 2003), Dark Horse Comics  [15]
  • Whedon, Joss (w), Moline, Karl (p), Owens, Andy (i), Stewart, Dave and Madsen, Michelle (Col), Madsen, Michelle (let), Allie, Scott (ed). “Chapter Eight: All Hell”  Fray 8 (August 6, 2003), Dark Horse Comics  [16]

Collected editions

  • Fray: Future Slayer  (softcover trade paperback collecting the miniseries, ISBN  1-56971-751-6 , published November 26, 2003)
  • Fray: The Future Slayer  ( ISBN  1-56971-992-6 , published November 26, 2003)
  • Fray  (British reprint of the softcover collection, ISBN  1-84023-448-2 , published December 19, 2003)

See also

  • Buffyverse Slayer Mythology
  • Tales of the Slayers – Fray makes an appearance in ” Tales “
  • Time of Your Life

References

  1. Jump up^  Foreword by Joss Whedon, Fray  trade paperback.
  2. Jump up^  “Myspace Comic Books: Joss Whedon Answers Your Questions”Archived2007-08-24 at theWayback Machine. , MYSPACE COMIC BOOK
  3. Jump up^  “CCI XTRA: Joss Whedon on Buffy & Beyond”, Comic Book Resources
  4. Jump up^  “Joss Whedon’s Fray # 1 (of 8) (Second Printing) :: Profile :: Dark Horse Comics” . Darkhorse.com. 2001-07-25 . Retrieved 2011-03-20 .
  5. Jump up^  “Joss Whedon’s Fray # 2 (of 8) :: Profile :: Dark Horse Comics” . Darkhorse.com. 2001-07-04 . Retrieved 2011-03-20 .
  6. Jump up^  “Joss Whedon’s Fray # 2 (of 8) Second Printing :: Profile :: Dark Horse Comics” . Darkhorse.com. 2001-12-26 . Retrieved 2011-03-20 .
  7. Jump up^  “Joss Whedon’s Fray # 3 (of 8) :: Profile :: Dark Horse Comics” . Darkhorse.com. 2001-08-01 . Retrieved 2011-03-20 .
  8. Jump up^  “Joss Whedon’s Fray # 3 (of 8) (Second Printing) :: Profile :: Dark Horse Comics” . Darkhorse.com. 2001-12-26 . Retrieved 2011-03-20 .
  9. Jump up^  “Joss Whedon’s Fray # 4 (of 8) :: Profile :: Dark Horse Comics” . Darkhorse.com. 2001-10-17 . Retrieved 2011-03-20 .
  10. Jump up^  “Joss Whedon’s Fray # 4 (of 8) (Second Printing) :: Profile :: Dark Horse Comics” . Darkhorse.com. 2001-10-17 . Retrieved 2011-03-20 .
  11. Jump up^  “Joss Whedon’s Fray # 5 (of 8) :: Profile :: Dark Horse Comics” . Darkhorse.com. 2001-12-05 . Retrieved 2011-03-20 .
  12. Jump up^  “Joss Whedon’s Fray # 5 (of 8) (Second Printing) :: Profile :: Dark Horse Comics” . Darkhorse.com. 2001-12-05 . Retrieved 2011-03-20 .
  13. Jump up^  “Joss Whedon’s Fray # 6 (of 8) :: Profile :: Dark Horse Comics” . Darkhorse.com. 2002-03-27 . Retrieved 2011-03-20 .
  14. Jump up^  “Joss Whedon’s Fray # 6 (of 8) (Second Printing) :: Profile :: Dark Horse Comics” . Darkhorse.com. 2002-03-27 . Retrieved 2011-03-20 .
  15. Jump up^  “Joss Whedon’s Fray # 7 (of 8) :: Profile :: Dark Horse Comics” . Darkhorse.com. 2003-04-23 . Retrieved 2011-03-20 .
  16. Jump up^  “Joss Whedon’s Fray # 8 (of 8) :: Profile :: Dark Horse Comics” . Darkhorse.com. 2003-08-06 . Retrieved 2011-03-20 .

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