Back to Buffy for a bit. This issue was published as part of the Season 8 revival, but is set just after the end of the television series. Willow is moving past the loss of Tara, finding some respite in Kennedy's arms, and is still trying to figure out what kind of a witch she actually is. Lots of people seem to be very scared of her, so she goes on a vision quest of sorts to find guidance.
What's great is that this is a predominantly female comic - I think there's only one male character, and he's solely in the background. The ethereal council of witches that Willow encounters are all women, and it's the sexy serpent lady on the cover who eventually becomes her guide. We've seen this character before, in flashback, but this is the first time we get to see the genesis of Willow's relationship with her. It's definitely a queer relationship, too, as you might guess from the cover.
As with the many of the mainstream comics I've looked at this month, Willow's affectional orientation is given about as much attention as a heterosexual orientation would be. We see some affectionate words exchanged between her and Kennedy, and the odd comment directing us away from heteronormativity. There's an interesting shift that appears to happen in the decade or so between the Vertigo titles I've looked at and the later stuff like this issue or Detective Comics - the stories move away from dealing with the fact of being queer, and into the world with queer as simply another way of being human. Which, in a fantasy or superhero setting, is an interesting conversation to be having.
More to come...
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