Guarded, Part One is the eleventh issue of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine comic book series. Written by Andrew Chambliss and illustrated by Georges Jeanty, it was originally published on July 11, 2012 by Dark Horse Comics.
Synopsis[]
Buffy is trying something new — not Slaying. WHAT?! Enter Kennedy. Slayer. Ex-girlfriend of magicless Willow. Bossy. She's joined a company that hires Slayers to act as bodyguards for high-profile clients, and Buffy is her most recent recruit. But Buffy is having a little trouble letting go of Slaying. Things that go bump in the night are kinda her forte. Luckily... her first client is having some woeful demon trouble that Buffy can't wait to sink her stake into.
- Executive produced by Joss Whedon!
- Buffy the bodyguard!
- Kennedy returns![1]
Summary[]
Buffy reflects on how many of the Slayers in the disbanded Slayer Organization were left without a purpose since the destruction of the Seed of Wonder. Many have been able to find work elsewhere under Kennedy's company Deepscan, which is meant to protect people. Buffy is one of these Slayers.
Buffy is given her own client to protect and exits the room to stay watch. Kennedy informs her that they picked up suspicious activity near her. Buffy responds quickly and spots a demon dressed as a bellhop. Kennedy corrects her assumption, saying that a demon didn't match the threat. Buffy ignores her and attacks the demon. Buffy realizes that the demon is not a threat (he’s an out of work demon moonlighting as a bellhop) so she rushes to her client's room when he presses the button to inform her. A woman holds a gun towards the client and fires it, and Buffy jumps in front of him. The gun is revealed to be a blank, as Kennedy set the whole thing up to test her.
Kennedy lectures Buffy for her mistake, telling her to stop thinking like a Slayer because the job is not about that; it is about protecting their clients from human assassins, not demons. Nonetheless, she allows Buffy a second chance since Kennedy made this company to give others a chance at a purpose in life, including Buffy. Informing her that her real mission will be tomorrow, Kennedy leaves in her car.
In the Deepscan dormitory, Buffy is getting coffee when Eldre Koh shows up to speak with her. Buffy recognizes him, as Spike told her about their alliance during their fight against Severin. Koh reluctantly asks Buffy for help in finding the demon who imprisoned him before the destruction of the Seed, as vengeance is part of the code he lives by. Buffy refuses, as she is busy with Deepscan and doesn't have time to slay demons. Koh mentions it's wrong to use her gifts as a way of profit. Buffy says she's trying to get her life back together again.
Later Buffy leaves Deepscan to slay zompires, but Kennedy stops her. She warns Buffy that if she goes to patrol, she will fire her. However, she doesn't want to fire Buffy despite what most of the other Slayers are saying. Buffy questions why, since the last time they saw each other Kennedy was blaming Buffy for the break-up with Willow. Kennedy states that her break-up with Willow was the best thing that ever happened to her since it forced her to realize that slaying wouldn't give her any sort of future. Buffy remains persistent about slaying zompires, only for Kennedy to argue that the world has to deal with them now without the help of a Slayer. Kennedy argues that Buffy is afraid of not slaying because it's the only thing she's ever known. Buffy denies it and leaves.
Buffy decides to go find a zompire anyway, believing that she would still be able to make a difference for someone. She spots one, but she stops when Detective Dowling and a police officer stakes it in her place. Buffy expresses her sympathy for the death of Dowling's partner and realizes that she's not actually needed for staking zompires for now, as Dowling was training police to learn how to stake them.
The next day, Kennedy and Buffy meet with their client, Theo Daniels, who is responsible for a social networking site called TinCan. While Kennedy clarifies to him that they are ready for anything besides vampires and demons, Theo tells them he requested their help because of their experience with demons. He reveals that he's being hunted down from an organization in a hell dimension, none other than Wolfram & Hart.
Continuity[]
- Buffy's fake client questions if the company could've found someone "bigger." Buffy's size as a Slayer has been mentioned by Angel in "Welcome to the Hellmouth" and Jenny in "Prophecy Girl."
- Buffy's tendency to hit demons despite it not being appropriate for her job paralleled Angel's difficulty to not injury demons and enemies when he first took over the Wolfram & Hart Los Angeles branch in "Just Rewards."
- Kennedy mentions Buffy being against guns, a dislike Buffy declared in "Flooded," "As You Were," Predators and Prey, Retreat, Part Two, and Twilight, Part One.
- A rainbow with only two colors appears; in Wonderland, Part One, Willow says this was the first sign that the world needed her to bring magic back.
- Buffy and Koh reference when she was weakened by Severin in Freefall, Part Four and his alliance with Spike in Freefall, Part Three.
- Buffy mentions Kennedy's break-up with Willow in Last Gleaming, Part Five.
- Wolfram & Hart still has some operations left on Earth despite their mass evacuation of the Earth dimension in fear of Twilight in the Spike series.
Appearances[]
Individuals[]
- Carl
- Miranda Cheung (Only mentioned)
- Theo Daniels
- Simone Doffler (Only mentioned)
- Robert Dowling
- Alexander Harris (Only mentioned)
- Kennedy
- Eldre Koh
- Severin (Only mentioned)
- Spike (Only mentioned)
- Willow Rosenberg (Only mentioned)
- Buffy Summers
- Tagorak
Organizations and titles[]
- Deepscan
- San Francisco Police Department
- Scooby Gang (Only mentioned)
- Slayer
- Wolfram & Hart (Only mentioned)
Species[]
Events[]
Locations[]
Objects[]
- Blood (Only mentioned)
- Seed of Wonder (Only mentioned)
- Slayer Handbook
- Stake
- TinCan (Only mentioned)
Death count[]
- A zompire, staked by an unidentified cop.
Behind the scenes[]
Distribution[]
- Guarded, Part One was the 83rd best selling comic issue in its publishing month, with 27,490 sales in July 2012 at comic specialty stores.[2]
Collections[]
Pop culture references[]
- Buffy asks if TinCan is the socal-networking site "where you poke people"; "poke" is a function on Facebook.
Gallery[]
Covers[]
Cover artwork[]
Quotes[]
| Kennedy: "Buffy, it's Kennedy. We've got suspicious activity on your floor." |
| Buffy: "Already? I haven't even raided the mini-bar yet." |
| Kennedy: "The world embraced vampires with open arms, Buffy. Now it's got to learn how to deal with them without crying for the nearest Slayer." |
| Kennedy: "I think you're scared." |
| Buffy: "Excuse me?" |
| Kennedy: "That's why you failed the test. That's why you've convinced yourself the world can't function without you. You're scared at being good at something that doesn't involve some kind of grand destiny. 'Cause face it, Buffy. Slaying's the only thing you've ever known." |
| Dowling: "I don't know about that, Buffy... but even you've got to have a night off every once and a while." |
| Buffy: "What is 'night off'?" |
| Kennedy: "His name's Theo Daniels. Founder of a socal-networking site called TinCan." |
| Buffy: "Is that the site where you poke people?" |
References[]
- ↑ "Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 #11 (Phil Noto cover)." Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved on May 12, 2022.
- ↑ "Top 300 Comics Actual--July 2012." ICv2, August 6, 2012.