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Time of Your Life, Part One is the sixteenth issue of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight comic book series. Written by Joss Whedon and illustrated by Karl Moline, it was originally published on July 2, 2008 by Dark Horse Comics.

Synopsis[]

On a hot tip, Buffy and Willow head to Manhattan hoping to unlock the secrets of Buffy's mysterious scythe, but something goes terribly awry when Buffy suddenly finds herself transported to an unknown world, and into the path of future Slayer Fray.[1]

Summary[]

Buffy is fighting Melaka Fray in midair in the future New York City. Flashing back to the past, Xander, Willow, and Buffy eat Chinese food and discuss what Willow saw during her encounter with Kumiko Ishihara. Willow believes that she received the message for a reason, and hopes to act before losing another Slayer like Renee. Xander is still dealing with his loss, but can't afford to be shielded from reality. While Xander is speaking, Leah bursts into the room to inform them that something is going on with Dawn. When the three of them arrive in the orchard, they find that Dawn is no longer giant sized, but is now a centaur.

Meanwhile, the masked Twilight, Amy and Warren discuss the effectiveness of a giant rune-covered missile they've constructed. Back in Scotland, Xander has prepared a helicopter to fly Buffy and Willow to an airport, where they catch a private plane. During the flight, Buffy informs Willow that she will need a couple of hours to take a private meeting. They soon arrive in New York City where Willow's advance team, including Kennedy and Violet, are waiting to begin the operation.

Vi explains that the problem with Willow's vision is that it's hard to pin down anything mystical since so many mystical things are happening in New York. Willow clarifies things as much as possible by explaining that something is causing a disruption of the time frame similar to that of a ripple effect, a single event existing spatially that is affecting past, present and future time.

Back in Scotland, Xander and Dawn are talking about her transformation into a centaur. While walking back to the castle, Xander notices something headed right for it: the missile that Warren built. He can only watch helplessly as it hits the castle.

Back in New York, Kennedy, Willow and a few slayers are at the scene of the temporal shift: a high-rise building at the corner of 53rd and Lexington. Moments later, Buffy joins the girls from her private meeting wearing a short dress and boots. When questioned, Buffy offers to change, but not before a sudden flash of light zaps Buffy away and replaces her with a demon.

Finding herself in the demon's place in the future, Buffy is twice punched in the face. Her assailant is revealed to be Fray, who was fighting the demon that took Buffy's place, and thinks it has shape-shifted itself to look like the long-dead Slayer. Fray uses a lot of futuristic slang as she rains the blows on Buffy and finally succeeds in knocking her down.

Continuity[]

  • It's the first time that Twilight meets Amy Madison and Warren Mears.
  • Willow questions Buffy about the founding source of their travel, in reference to the discovering that Buffy had robbed a bank to support the Slayer Organization (Anywhere but Here).
  • Buffy mentions having a meeting with someone she won't reveal the identity to Willow. It's revealed to be Riley (Time of Your Life, Part Four), working for her as her triple agent (Retreat, Part Five).
  • According to Xander, Willow is sure Dawn was cursed to have only three transformations; indeed, she'll have her third and final transformation as a doll (Living Doll), when she finally apologizes to Ken. Although, he reveals he would have stopped only after horned fire snails.
  • According to Willow, this is the first time Buffy goes to New York City.
  • Violet, previously a Potential Slayer who trained with the Scooby Gang in Sunnydale (season seven), has become a squad leader in New York, as her colleague Rona has in Chicago (The Chain).
  • Buffy recalls Willow taking over the computer science class in high school ("Passion").
  • Kennedy mentions knowing about Buffy sleeping with another woman, as she did in Wolves at the Gate, Part One and Part Four.
  • Xander recalls Dawn trampling Tokyo (Wolves at the Gate, Part Three).

Appearances[]

Individuals[]

Organizations and titles[]

Species[]

Locations[]

Objects[]

Death count[]

  • None.

Behind the scenes[]

Production[]

  • Artist Karl Moline debuts in Season Eight, as well as his co-creations from the Fray series.
  • Georges Jeanty's variant cover features the Chrysler Building in New York City.
  • This issue's opening is a reference to Big City Girl, as Buffy also falls from a building while narrating “Bad day. Started out bad, stayed that way.”
Time of Your Life print

Exclusive print promoting "Time of Your Life" arc.

Distribution[]

  • An exclusive print by Karl Moline, Andy Owens, and Michelle Madsen promoting "Time of Your Life" arc was available to direct market retailers, in which a fourth of the scene was available as incentive for each issue.
  • Time of Your Life, Part One was the tenth best selling comic issue in its publishing month, with 82,031 sales in July 2008 at comic specialty stores.[2]

Collections[]

Pop culture references[]

  • Xander compares Buffy to fictional character Chewbacca.
  • Xander refers to Dawn as “Flicka”, in reference to the fictional horse from the novel My Friend Flicka (1941).
  • Kennedy wears a shirt with an illustration of Marzipan, the fictional character from Homestar Runner.
  • Kennedy mentions going to the restaurant chain Denny's.
  • Buffy quotes “I'm the king of the world,” from the movie Titanic (1997).
  • Violet mentions the cast of the musical Xanadu (2007).
  • Willow mentions the game Pictionary.

International titles[]

  • French: Autre Temps, Autre Tueuse, Partie 1 (Other Time, Other Slayer, Part 1)
  • German: Jagdzeiten, Teil Eins (Hunting Times, Part One)
  • Italian: Un Mondo Migliore, Parte 1 (A Better World, Part 1)
  • Russian: Время вашей жизни, Часть 1 (Time of Your life, Part 1)
  • Spanish: Lo Mejor de Tu Vida, Parte I (The Best of Your Life, Part I)
  • Turkish: Zamanın Oyunu, Kısım Bir (Game of Time, Part One)

Adaptations[]

Gallery[]

Covers[]

Cover artwork[]

Preview[]

Quotes[]

Buffy: “Bad day. Started out bad, stayed that way. Starting with, not chronologically, but in order of immediate importance… who the hell is this person? Also: where am I? Where's everyone else? And seriously, what is up with Dawn?”
Buffy: “You got a time frame on this mystical event thingie?”
Willow: “I'm guessing midnight.”
Buffy: “How come?”
Willow: “I'm a witch. We like midnight.”
Xander: “Are you kidding? Dawn… You really don't know how awesome you look? You're a frikkin' centaur! Majestic creature of legend! I'm actually jealous.”

References[]

  1. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8: #16 Time of Your Life." Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved on February 14, 2018.
  2. "Top 300 Comics Actual--July 2008." ICv2, August 18, 2008. Retrieved on February 14, 2018.
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