A House Divided

A House Divided
Publication	January 25, 2017
Length	22 pages
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 11 #3
← Previous	In Time of Crisis
Next →	Desperate Times
Publisher	Dark Horse Comics
Writer(s)	Christos Gage
Penciller(s)	Rebekah Isaacs
Editor(s)	Freddye Miller
Cover artist(s)	Steve Morris Variant cover: Rebekah Isaacs
Inker(s)	Rebekah Isaacs
Colorist(s)	Dan Jackson
Letterer(s)	Richard Starkings & Jimmy Betancourt

A House Divided is the third issue of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eleven comic book series. Written by Christos Gage and illustrated by Rebekah Isaacs, it was originally published on January 25, 2017 by Dark Horse Comics. Joss Whedon is the executive producer.

Synopsis

With the magical folk in the US being cataloged and relocated to a “safe" place, Buffy and her friends will have to decide if they will be divided… Or if they will try to run. With Slayers being recruited to help police the magical folk, escaping might not be so easy.

Continuity

• Giles forges a human certification according to his physical appearance; as he had stated in I Wish, Part One, he was having difficulties with the law proving to be “a legally dead middle-aged librarian".
• Dawn doesn't need a human certification to hide her supernatural identity as the Key, made a normal girl in every way the Order of Dagon could, as stated in "No Place Like Home". According to Willow, “that spell died with the monks."
• Giles remembers his time as a Sunnydale High School faculty member, his profession until "Graduation Day, Part Two".
• Jordan tells Buffy to “go back to waitressing", in reference to her profession in Last Gleaming, Part Five until Apart (of Me), Part Three.
• With great effort, Spike was able to flip over a car with his bare hands; he had previously tried to convey his envy that new vampires were able to effortlessly do so in New Rules, Part Two.
• This issue prepares for the spin-off miniseries "Giles: Girl Blue", in which Giles goes to Los Angeles to hide his identity and live as a teenager attending a public high school.

Appearances

Individuals

• Robert Dowling (Only mentioned)
• Rupert Giles
• Xander Harris
• Jordan
• Karlok
• Harmony Kendall (Only mentioned)
• Linda Martin
• Willow Rosenberg
• Edward Satyros
• Spike
• Calliope Strachan
• Buffy Summers
• Dawn Summers
• Hank Summers (Only mentioned)
• Andrew Wells (Only mentioned)

Organization and titles

• The Key
• Order of Dagon (Only mentioned)
• San Francisco Police Department
• Scooby Gang
• Slayer
• Witch

Species

• Demon
• Elf (Only mentioned)
• Gnome (Only mentioned)
• Human
• Ogre (Only mentioned)
• Satyr
• Vampire
• Wood nymph (Only mentioned)

Locations

• United States
  • Safe Zone
  • San Francisco
    • Buffy, Willow, and Dawn's apartment
  • Guantanamo (Only mentioned)

Weapons and objects

• Mʔ

Rituals and spells

• Key embodiment ritual

Death count

• None

Behind the scenes

Production

• The variant cover features a “deleted scene" from the issue; written by Christos Gage, illustrated by Rebekah Isaacs, and colored by Dan Jackson.
• For the variant cover script, Gage had suggested Giles' “ridiculous" clothes to be picked from "22 Times Justin Bieber's Clothes Made No Sense" Cosmo article. Isaacs replicated the first outfit of the list.

Distribution

• A House Divided was the 179th best selling comic issue in its publication month, with 11,361 sales in January 2017 at comic specialty stores.

Collections

• "The Spread of Their Evil..."
• "Buffy Season Eleven Library Edition"

Pop culture references

• The issue's title is a reference to Lincoln's “House Divided" speech, an address about the danger of slavery-based disunion in the United States in 1858.
• Edward Satyros' partner mentions the anti-miscegenation laws and Japanese-American internment camps in the United States.
• Buffy calls Jordan a Stormtrooper, in reference to the fictional soldiers.
• Spike says “Buffy and Clyde" in reference to Bonnie and Clyde, the criminal traveling couple during the 1930s.
• Spike compares Harmony's citizenship status to Josephine Barker, the entertainer whose career was centered primarily in Europe and in particular in her adoptive country of France. She was an African-American expatriate who later renounced her U.S. citizenship and became a French national.

Other

• The opening scene is comparable to the role reversal from "Welcome to the Hellmouth", as both scenes reveal the demon is not the one expected (Darla and Edward Satyros).

Gallery

Cover artwork

Steve Morris main cover

Rebekah Isaacs variant

Preview