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Freefall, Part One is the first issue of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine comic book series. Written by Joss Whedon and illustrated by Georges Jeanty, it was originally published on September 14, 2011 by Dark Horse Comics.

Synopsis[]

Season 8 ended with a bang when Buffy cut the world off from the hell dimensions and all supernatural influence. Great, right? Except Buffy has left her best friend, Willow, powerless, and ended the long line of vampire slayers. This leaves her hated by the hundreds of girls who recently stood behind her. Newly relocated to San Francisco, Buffy can count on a fresh start, and focus on what she's good at — slaying.[1]

Summary[]

Buffy wakes up the morning after a housewarming party, naked and hungover, but unable to recall all the events of the previous night. At the party, she greets Xander and Dawn at the front door. She's glad to finally have her own place, though she's sharing the apartment with two roommates: Anaheed and Tumble. Willow also arrives at the party with her new girlfriend, Aura.

In the present, Buffy expresses concern when she sees Willow exit the shower. Willow, however, reassures her that they had not slept together, but adds that Buffy had been quite a riot during the party.

Elsewhere in the city, Detectives Dowling and Cheung find the woundless body of a dead girl in an alley, the third discovered in one month's time.

At the party, the night before: Buffy greets Riley, Spike, and Andrew when they arrive. Buffy attempts to connect with Andrew about how it felt to not be in charge of the Slayers anymore. When Andrew mentions he took several of his former Slayer squads and started a disaster-relief organization, Buffy seems surprised at this. Shortly afterward, Spike tries to tell Buffy that something is coming after her.

In the present, a man and woman hand a picture of Buffy to a demon. The man says "it has to be dealt with." Buffy reports to work at the coffee shop the next morning, but her boss had her shift covered because he didn't think she would be in shape to work after what happened the previous night.

Elsewhere, a group of demons holding energy spears stand in front of a green ball of energy. One demon says "the spells that bind it have weakened." The creature inside breaks out and kills all of them.

After leaving the coffee shop, Buffy tries to remember what happened at the party. She and Andrew play in the pool. She and Riley walk down the street to his surveillance van, which he had only been using for human terrorists. While Buffy checks out the inside of the van, Riley tells her she had done the right thing by shattering the Seed of Wonder because it was the only way to stop what was happening. Buffy tells Riley his “pep talk” sounds like something Spike would say. She then tells him that his van "needs a woman's touch."

In the present, Buffy lowers her head in shame, realizing she had made a pass at a married man. Later, her roommates tell her how much they liked her friends, but warn her that they can't have any more wild parties like that or they will get in trouble with the neighbors.

Elsewhere, Simone Doffler drives a van toward San Francisco, with machine guns and grenades in the back of it. She's s planning "something big" that "changes things" and "shows them that we're still here."

At the party, Buffy shows Xander her bedroom. Something is bothering Xander. Buffy asks if he wants to talk about it and he says he doesn't. She then places her hand on his arm. Xander says that Dawn "never has to know." Later the police shows up at the front door, but the two officers join the party and dance with everyone else.

In the evening, Buffy patrols with Willow and they are joined by Spike. Willow says she wants to talk to Buffy alone, but Spike insists that he stays. Willow tries to warn Buffy of the consequences of ending magic and tells her that, by destroying the seed, Buffy "took the spark of creation out of the world." She says that Buffy can't see it the way she does and hopes it wouldn't be too late when Buffy finally does.

The demon given emerges from the shadows with Buffy's picture and declares: "It is too late. Buffy Summers, it is time for you to pay... your student loan!"

Continuity[]

  • Buffy begins the season saying "God... what have I done?", which will reflect on her last line in The Core, Part Five: "What did we do down there, Will?"
  • Buffy moves out of Xander and Dawn's apartment, as Xander mentions that she had been sleeping on their couch (Last Gleaming, Part Five).
  • Buffy mentions multiple times her guilty in destroying the Seed of Wonder and causing the end of magic, which happened in Last Gleaming, Part Four.
  • Detectives Dowling and Chiang discover one of the victims of Severin, the siphon who has been draining the magic from vampires into dead bodies, as it'll be first seen in Freefall, Part Two. Spike will eventually discover that Severin is the threat he keeps warning Buffy about (Freefall, Part Three).
  • Buffy hesitates before telling Andrew the he's "out of [Anaheed's] league," a reference to his sexuality, which he'll only give thought in Love Dares You, Part One, despite it being clear to Buffy (Love Dares You, Part Three).
  • While at the party, Spike tells a story about when he failed to attack Willow in "The Initiative," as well as the conversation that followed.
  • As Buffy tries to piece together her drunken blackout, she thinks: "But put a few drinks in me and I turn into Mrs. O'Leary's cow. Or a cave person. Boy was she popular." This is a reference to when Buffy drank the mystical Black Frost beer that turned her into a cavewoman in "Beer Bad."
  • The creature that freed from his binds is Eldre Koh, his name and intentions first identified in Freefall, Part Three.
  • Buffy's blackout is later revealed to have been caused by Andrew (Apart (of Me), Part One), who roofied her drink and transported her mind into a second Buffybot in order to protect her.
  • Buffy states that she was "according to popular report, tightly wound." Faith has described her as "wound too tight" in "Faith, Hope & Trick" and called her "little miss tightly wound" in "Dirty Girls."
  • Riley is the second person after Spike to approve and reassure Buffy that destroying the seed was the right choice. Noted by Buffy, as she mentions Spike's pep talk in Last Gleaming, Part Five.
  • Xander is uncomfortable at the party, causing Buffy to ask if he wants to talk about it. This is later revealed in The Watcher to be about him nearly killing Angel after Giles had died.
  • In a drunken state, Buffy tells the police officers that she scored highest on a test to be a police cop, referring to the career test she did in "What's My Line? Part One."
  • Buffy is shown juggling for people at the party, which she also did during Xander and Anya's wedding ceremony in "Hell's Bells."
  • Willow's reversion to being without magic will later motivate her to embark on a quest to return magic to the world in Slayer, Interrupted.
  • A demon charges Buffy's student loans, as she attended UC Sunnydale since the episode "The Freshman" until "Family."

Appearances[]

Individuals[]

Organizations and titles[]

Species[]

Events[]

Locations[]

Objects[]

Death count[]

  • Cynthia Daniels, siphoned by Severin (only mentioned).
  • Several unspecified demons, killed by Eldre Koh.

Behind the scenes[]

Production[]

Distribution[]

  • Freefall, Part One was the 52nd best selling comic issue in its publishing month, with 42,945 sales in September 2011 at comic specialty stores.[2]

Collections[]

Pop culture references[]

International titles[]

  • French: Chute libre, chapitre 1 (Freefall, Chapter 1)
  • German: Im Freien Fall, Teil eins (Freefall, Part One)
  • Italian: Caduta Libera, Parte 1 (Freefall, Part 1)
  • Spanish: Caída Libre, Parte 1 (Freefall, Part 1)

Gallery[]

Covers[]

Cover artwork[]

Preview[]

Quotes[]

Spike: "Are you gonna make me ask?"
Buffy: "Hmm... any chance I can make you beg?"
Spike: "Not this year."
Buffy: "Wait, didn't the invitation--"
Spike: "Your text just said 'Party'. Actually, it said 'Pratty' but I took a chance."
Buffy: "Because this is my time! This is the blossoming of Buffy! The... Bluffoming."
Riley: "I wouldn't bother patenting that phrase."
Buffy: "I could do many interesting things in my life! I could enter the challenging world of Haerbradasgrening."
Riley: "This is my ride."
Buffy: "Habbledaspery. Have-a-dash-of-tea?"
Riley: "Haberdashery."
Buffy: "Yeah, what's that about?"
Riley: "Hats."
Riley: "Buffy, can you stop convincing yourself things are better now."
Buffy: [headphones on] "I can't hear you so well."
Riley: [takes headphones off her] "People were dying. I was nearly one of them." Shattering the seed... I've heard some complaints but I haven't heard one better way to stop what was happening."
Buffy: "You sound like Spike."
Riley: "Words to cringe by."
Willow: "And if a vampire shows up, you'll barf on them?"
Spike: "Bloody well hope not."
Buffy: "Hey, it's Stalky the Clown."
Spike: "That's a bit harsh, after last night."
Willow: "It was kinda mean-- Wait, what 'last night'?"
Buffy: "Let's all not find out!"
Willow: "Buffy, it's not about blame."
Buffy: "Well it feels pretty blame-y!"
Willow: "Or you're being projecting-y!"
Spike: "I'm also gonna add 'y' to the end of my sentence-y."
Willow: "You took the spark of creation out of the world. You can't see it the way I can."
Buffy: "There's still monsters! There's still stuff!"
Spike: "You both make valid points-y."
Willow: "It isn't the same. Sooner or later, you're going to see what I mean. I just don't want it to be too late."

References[]

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