I Wish, Part One

I Wish, Part One is the sixth issue of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Ten comic book series. Written by Christos Gage and illustrated by Karl Moline and Cliff Richards, it was originally published on August 20, 2014, by Dark Horse Comics.

Synopsis[]

What should have been a simple exorcism turns into a disaster for Buffy and the Scoobies when, instead of horrors, a demon fights back with blissful childhood fantasies!

• Fray artist Karl Moline returns!^[1]

Summary[]

Buffy arrives back in her apartment, exhausted and in need of sleep. Tumble is there and introduces her to their new roommates, Brody and Brandon. They are doing keg stands in the kitchen. Tumble tells her that they can't afford to live there without new roommates now that Anaheed has moved out. Buffy is exhausted and gives notice.

Back at Xander and Dawn's apartment, Buffy is lecturing them about giving notice on their own apartment without finding a place first due to high cost of living in San Francisco. Dawn says that it would be weird living with Xander now that they're broken up. Buffy tells them that someone has already rented her room at Tumble's. Giles mentions that the bank has still frozen his money due to being a legally dead middle-aged librarian and that Dowling is working on it. Andrew offers to let them stay at his place, but they decline. Giles excuses himself to meet with Willow and Dowling, Buffy asks him to check on vacant places in the area.

Giles tells Willow about them all giving notice with no other places lined up, and she says that, if she doesn't find a job, she'll be homeless as well. Willow has been looking into re-aging him, but he says he doesn't want to be "magically" messed with any further. They meet Dowling at a bar, and he tells them that courts are still figuring out the supernatural stuff, so Giles' money can't be released yet. Dowling goes on to tell them that he might have found a place for them to rent; there is a lady who keeps calling Supernatural Crimes saying the building she owns is haunted. With the Supernatural Crimes being understaffed, Dowling thought the Scoobies could look into it. He mentions there have been twenty-five kids disappear over the last three decades in the building. SFPD thought it was a serial killer, but now it's a lot of spooky noises and sights. Willow and Giles agree that it would be good to look into it. Giles tries to order a beer, Dowling stops him due to his age.

Later, outside the vacant building, Buffy, Giles, Dawn and Spike are talking with the unpleasant landlady. She tells them, if they can fix it, they can live there cheap. Giles asks about a the serial killer, and she gets upset saying there were never any bodies found. In the building, Buffy notes that things kicked up again after magic was restored. Giles lights several candles and starts performing the exorcism. The ground starts to rumble and a demon with dozens of eyes and tentacle arms breaks through the floor. Buffy and Spike start slicing at the tentacles and Giles cautions them not to get any ichor on them, but it is too late and green goo splashes on them. Dawn and Buffy reach for each other and then everything goes black.

When Buffy wakes up, she is back at her home in Sunnydale. She is much younger and Dawn is standing on the steps telling her that dinner is ready, also much younger. Their mom comes out the front door onto the porch asking them not to fight. Buffy is shocked to see her and runs to hug her. Their dad comes out with a tray full of hamburgers and declares they are all together and at home. Buffy looks across the street to see a man reading poetry to his mother and a boy playing with an airplane on the sidewalk.

Across the street, Giles is playing with one of his model planes. A young Spike asks him about the plane he is playing with when his mother asks him to come and read her some of his poetry. Buffy looks on as Spike and Anne go in their home and Giles goes in his own home. Hank asks if Buffy is okay and she tells him that she feels like there was something she needs to do. He puts his arm around her and leads her into the house, telling her that her only responsibilities are homework and cheerleading.

In San Francisco, Willow and Xander are making their way to the apartment building. Xander says he is worried none of the others are responding to him. They go inside and Willow starts to tell Xander about a specific kind of demon, but Xander hears the voice of Dawn and goes toward it. Unable to stop him, they are transported into the same dreamlike world the others are residing in. Xander is back in his home, his mother and father are having dinner at the table talking about Xander's upcoming idealized prom. Xander is astonished that his mom has cooked and his father is sober. They say they changed and just want to be a happy, loving, and supportive family. Xander realizes everything is fake.

At the Summers residence, Hank, Joyce, and Buffy are sitting on the porch. Buffy notes how peaceful she feels being there, but when she worries about Xander when she sees him storm out of his house. Hank tells her that he is bad news and he doesn't belong there. Joyce says that she is concerned Xander will take Buffy away. Hank hands her the Scythe and tells Buffy she must kill Xander. Xander sees a younger Willow in the street, her hair long and wearing overalls. Xander asks if it's really her and she confirms. They realize what is happening and change back to normal selves. Buffy tries to attack both of them with her Scythe, but she refuses at the last minute. Once seeing them in their normal form, she realizes who they are. She goes back up to the porch and tells her parents she wants this to be real, but she knows that it isn't. Once the illusion wears off, Joyce and Hank start to physically change.

Spike is staring out the window at Buffy while his mother sits in a chair. His mother asks him to close the curtain as she can't hear his poetry. She gets angry with him when he says he thinks that Buffy is important. He remembers her face as a vampire which helps him remember, shedding the illusion. His mother start to physically change, and Spike attacks her while lashing out about how she coddled him too much. The formless creature lay at his feet.

At the Summers residence, Hank pleads for help from Dawn, who sides with Buffy and transform into her adult self. The Scoobies regroup outside, and Buffy notices that Giles isn't there. She turns to see him coming at her with twelve more kids, and they are all angry. Giles wants to stay in this world, where he can continue being a kid and having a childhood. Buffy convinces the other children this is no life for them. Giles is still angry and does not want to go back, but, being outnumbered, the illusion shatters, and they are returned to the apartment building.

Later, back in San Francisco, Buffy is leaving the police department. She tells the others that Dowling says most of the kids have surviving family. Giles is still beating himself up for not being able to shake off the demon's influence and declares he needs to learn how to deal with the feelings he suppressed in his previous childhood. D'Hoffryn teleports in their path and tells them the barriers between worlds are weakened and they need to find out how to prevent incursions. Buffy tells him to back off and give them some time, but Giles stops her, acknowledging that delaying the issue won't help them.

Continuity[]

• Buffy decides to leave her apartment, first seen in Freefall, Part One.
• Buffy mentions Anaheed is still in Santa Rosita, as last seen in New Rules, Part Two.
• There are two interns for Theo Daniels' startup; he was last seen in Guarded, Part Three.
• Xander and Dawn decide to leave their apartment, first seen in Last Gleaming, Part One.
• Xander mentions Buffy's money from working as a bodyguard, received in Guarded, Part Three.
• Buffy mentions her large student loan, as seen in Freefall, Part Three.
• Giles mentions his former job as a librarian, employed until the destruction of Sunnydale High School (Graduation Day, Part Two).
• Giles mentions Riley is unreachable; it's revealed he is missing in Where the River Meets the Sea, Part Four.
• Buffy mentions the last time she was unconscious around Andrew she woke up "a pregnant robot," in reference to the events revealed in Apart (of Me), Part Two.
• Dowling was last seen in New Rules, Part Two.
• Buffy described Willow's job, as she visited her in Slayer, Interrupted.
• Giles and Willow talk about his resurrection (What You Want, Not What You Need, Part Three).
• Giles mentions he's made dozens of exorcisms, some known cases were shown in Death and Consequences, Part Two, "I Only Have Eyes for You," "Where the Wild Things Are," and Live Through This, Part One.
• Spike threatens Andrew with his vintage Boba Fett figurine, as he had done with the Trio in "Smashed."
• Buffy mentions the return of magic (The Core, Part Five), and reference things being her fault, as she was blamed for the Twilight crisis and the end of magic (Last Gleaming, Part Five).
• Giles, as a child, likes to play with planes and has knowledge about the models, the same time his father sent him to the Watchers Academy, as seen in Women of a Certain Age,
• Spike, as a human, liked to read his poems to his mother, as seen in "Lies My Parents Told Me."
• Xander is suspicious of his parents' lack of fight, their usual behavior as seen "Hell's Bells."
• Spike remembers the trauma of his mother as a vampire ("Lies My Parents Told Me").

Appearances[]

Individuals[]

• Anaheed (Only mentioned)
• Brandon
• Brody
• Buffybot (II) (Only mentioned)
• Cordelia Chase (Only mentioned)
• D'Hoffryn
• Theo Daniels (Only mentioned)
• Robert Dowling
• Riley Finn (Only mentioned)
• Mr. Giles (Only in visions)
• Rupert Giles
• Alexander Harris
• Anthony Harris (Only in visions)
• Jessica Harris (Only in visions)
• Anne Pratt (Only in visions)
• Sheila Rosenberg (Only mentioned)
• Willow Rosenberg
• Spike
• Buffy Summers
• Dawn Summers
• Hank Summers (Only in visions)
• Joyce Summers (Only in visions)
• Tumble
• Andrew Wells
• Unidentified landlady

Organization and titles[]

• Deepscan (Only mentioned)
• Key
• Magic Council (Only mentioned)
• San Francisco Police Department
• Scooby Gang
• Slayer
• Watcher
• Watchers Academy (Only mentioned)
• Witch

Species[]

• Demon
  • Hamelin demon
  • Lower being
• Ghost (Only mentioned)
• Human
• Robot (Only mentioned)
• Vampire

Locations[]

• Earth
  • England (Only mentioned)
  • San Francisco
    • Andrew Wells' apartment
    • Buffy, Anaheed, and Tumble's apartment
    • Tenderloin apartment building
    • Xander and Dawn's apartment
  • Santa Rosita (Only mentioned)
• Hamelin's dimension
  • 1630 Revello Drive (Only in visions)
  • Giles residence (Only in visions)
  • Harris residence (Only in visions)
  • Pratt residence (Only in visions)
  • Rosenberg residence (Only mentioned)

Objects[]

• mʔ
• Mister Gordo
• Soul (Only mentioned)

Rituals and spells[]

• Exorcism (Only mentioned)

Death count[]

• The Hamelin demon, defeated by the Scooby Gang.

Behind the scenes[]

Distribution[]

• I Wish, Part One was the 125th best selling comic issue in its publishing month, with 18,121 sales in August 2014 at comic specialty stores.^[2]

Collections[]

• I Wish
• Season Ten Library Edition, Volume 1

Pop culture references[]

• Xander exclaims "Mighty Sarlacc!" in reference to the fictional creature from Star Wars.
• Spike mentions Andrew's 12 inch Boba Fett figure complete with Wookiee scalps, both characters from Star Wars.
• Buffy mentions the Shark Week TV programming from Discovery Channel.
• Buffy mentions "Clem's list" in a likely reference to Craiglist classified advertisements website.
• Andrew wears a shirt with Captain America's uniform.
• Dawn wears a shirt with the image of the character Totoro from the 1988 film My Neighbor Totoro.
• Xander's mother says he's having a Dungeons and Demons themed prom.
• Xander calls his parents replicants, androids from the film Blade Runner.
• Xander asks if Willow is a pod person from the Invasion of the Body Snatchers films.
• Xander compares the demon's reality to the science fiction franchise The Matrix.
• A child uses a shirt with the 1984 catchphrase "Where's the beef?".

Gallery[]

Covers[]

Main cover

Variant cover

Cover artwork[]

Steve Morris

Rebekah Isaacs

Preview[]

Quotes[]

References[]