Issue Three opens smack dab in the middle of Melaka's recurring flashback. She and the boy in glasses have just ripped off a butcher shop (which for some reason is proud to advertise that "Yes! We have crawpork!") and are scrambling over the rooftops to make their getaway. He's scared - Erin's gonna be mad. While Mel's telling him they need the meat, his foot slips, and he falls over the side of the building. Mel pulls an amazing gymnastic stunt to swing down and catch him, and he's safe. Until Icarus appears. And Melaka wakes up screaming.
After that bracing bit of nightmare, it's time to get the stone statue from the previous issue's heist to Gunther. So Mel and Urkonn make their way across town, hitching rides atop the fair city's flying bus network. Urkonn takes this opportunity to fill Mel in on the history of demons, vampires, and the Slayer. As Urkonn tells her, "There was once on this earth a thing called magic. There were demons, monsters beyond imagination, most of them pure evil." Then as humans evolved, most of these demons left this earth for other dimensions. Others stayed - some lived in seclusion, some assimilated into human culture, and others infected the humans who had come to populate the earth...
The history lesson is put on hold as they reach Gunther's place. He's irritated that she's late with the statue, even more irritated by the giant goat-monster growling at him. But as he and Mel talk price for the job, neither of them seems aware that outside the building, Erin and Broder are eavesdropping. The conversation they catch isn't admissible in court, but it is enough to prove Erin's suspicions about Melaka correct. And she doesn't look at all happy to be right. Gunther contacts a collector who wants the totem, and Mel takes Urkonn somewhere they can train. They'll start by working on dexterity - a simple exercise in which he will throw things at her, and she will dodge them. It isn't pretty...
Aaand while they wait for the funny bleeding to stop, Urkonn continues the history lesson, some of which might be of particular interest to Buffy fans...
Melaka: Good. Good. Tell me aboud the Slayers while I beed to deff. Dey made dat first one...
Urkonn: She fought, and died, and was succeeded by another, throughout time. Always a woman. Always a warrior... They were trained. Sought out and guided by Watchers, descendants of the shamans who created the First Slayer.
Melaka: ... Why don't you tell me what happened to the last one?
Urkonn: Because I don't know. It was some hundreds of years ago, in the twenty-first century. What we do know is this -- there was a battle. A Slayer, possibly with mystical allies, faced an apocalyptic army of demons...
Melaka: And the Slayer? Did she...
Urkonn: I do not know if she lived. But, the demons being gone, she was the last to be called. The line continued - there were girls with the power, but they were never called, never trained. Which may be why you have no memory of your heritage. The Council of Watchers fell to ruin, held together only by fanatics and fools. You met your Watcher yesterday.
Melaka: I did? I didn't!
Urkonn: Did not one come to you, call you the chosen one?
Melaka: Nobody ever called me any oh my god you mean that guy that one that set himself on fire!
Urkonn: As I said, fanatics.
Melaka: But he set himself on fire!
Urkonn: Centuries of useless, obsessive waiting. Makes a human--
Melaka: He set himself on fire!
Urkonn: Maybe he was cold.
Melaka: Okay, I'm supposed to fight the coming onslaught of lurks and I'm being taught by a sarcastic goat-thing whose idea of training is throwing scrap metal at me because the actual good guys all went crazy waiting for the monsters to come back.
Urkonn: Yes.
Melaka: Just checking.
Urkonn: Do not discount the Watchers completely.
Melaka: Right, 'cause if we need someone to light themselves on fire...
Urkonn: They're insane, I grant. But they were also right.
While all this sinks in, we are treated to the sight of Icarus returning to his lair with something for the boss. It's the stone totem. Something's definitely going on here. Mel, on the other hand, returns home to find Loo crying in the corner. Somebody named Kettie was seriously mean to her - threatened to rip the rest of her arm off! - so she came to hide out at Mel's while she was scared. Not wanting to frighten the little girl any more, Mel warns her that there's somebody with her who might look a little scary, then she introduces Loo to Urkonn.
It's official. I love this kid. Urkonn asks if Loo is Melaka's child, but Mel's only family is her sister Erin. And she used to have a brother. Which I suspected, but it's finally laid out. Loo's parents, on the other hand, run the local tavern. So it's off to bring Loo back to the tav, where they run into Kettie Rawls, a huge bruiser with a foul mouth and a hydraulic arm. Mel decides it's time to teach this guy a thing or two about how not to talk to Loo. At which point, the melee begins...
It's an old-fashioned saloon fight - fists flying, drinks spilling everywhere, and everybody's decking everybody. Except for Urkonn, who seems to find the entire exercise distasteful. Oh, and Loo's parents, who are less than thrilled that Melaka is once again brawling up their tavern. But Mel's having a blast, even when another bruiser named Lacey knocks her clear through a wall. Mel's not done, though, she just needs a second to dust herself off... and then she looks up.
Thoughts:
Usually when I finish a really good comic, I'm excited and eager for the next month's issue. With "Fray", the end of every issue leaves me with my heart racing, swearing inelegantly about having to wait a month for my next fix! And to make matters worse, this issue's letter colum mentions that Joss is going to have to take a month off from "Fray" to concentrate on the S5 finale of "Buffy". So now I've got to wait 2 months with Icarus staring down at Melaka. Grr! Arrgh!
This is one tight book. The story of Mel and her brother is coming into focus, just as the rest of the mysteries deepen. If Urkonn is not Melaka's Watcher, then why is he guiding her? And what the hell is Icarus' boss doing with the items Mel's been stealing for Gunther?
The history in this issue is fascinating! It doesn't just recap what we know from BtVS - it expands on the tale to answer a question that's actually been on my mind. Namely, how did the First Slayer actually come to be, and how did the Slayers come to be under the authority of the Council? Watching BtVS with my eyes open pretty much convinced me that the Council should serve the Slayer, instead of the other way around. But if the Watcher Melaka was assigned was any indication, then the Council seems to have outlived its usefulness. They may have been right - and utterly devoted to the cause - but I'm wondering just how effective he expected to be as a Watcher after the whole "burning himself alive" thing. Not large with the planning, I guess.
So was Buffy the last "true" Slayer before Melaka? The book seems to stop just short of saying she was, but the reference to her mystical allies, as well as the silhouette of the Slayer in the apocalyptic battle, suggests she was. It's true we've seen two Slayers called since Buffy was (Kendra and Faith), not to mention the events of the series finale. But Buffy outlived Kendra, and Faith seemed to defer to Buffy as the "head" Slayer, even after she returned to Sunndyale. So it's entirely possible that Buffy was indeed the one who banished the demons, meaning no others needed to be Called, even with the activation of all the world's Potentials. But there's also another mystery there - how did the vampires return?
When I started to write up the first issue, I thought about giving it a rating - five out of five something or others. Now I'm glad I didn't. After all, seeing 5/5 for every issue would get pretty old. Not to mention, it wouldn't look very believable if I just kept heaping praise on the book without wavering.
Problem is, "Fray" is really that good.