USA Today’s Aurora Rose = Buffy as Babysitter

USA Today has begun serializing a weekly online comic called Aurora Rose.

The first issue is 17 pages, of which three are alternate covers, including a photo variant. I’m not sure why a digital comic needs those. But the models and their agency gets credit! Story is by Jason Stevens and William Wilson with art by Taylor Bills. Although Wilson says they don’t want to “make books about women who look like strippers”, this is one of the covers:

The tale, such as it is, reminds me of Buffy as a babysitter, with a hot young thing fighting demons to protect the innocent. The creators are obviously aware of the similarities, saying:

Many of today’s strong female leads owe a lot to the title heroine of Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Stevens admits that Aurora has some Buffy DNA in her. But there are also elements of Adventures in Babysitting, John Carpenter’s original Halloween, and even some old-school Lynda Carter Wonder Woman in the series, too, all with a 1980s Spielbergian bent.

The narrative voice is snarky, as though nothing mattered, very wannabe Whedon. Only the interview at the web page tells us all this, because none of it’s visible in the comic yet. Typical of first issues these days, it’s badly paced, with no scenes with the title heroine. It’s all background and setup, telling us of various mysterious conspiracy groups and their long history. The problem is, we have no reason to care because we have no connection to any of it. Plus, it’s too familiar in terms of having seen it all before. I don’t really need another monster-fighting story where a bunch of old men sitting around a table tell the few female characters what to do.

If you do want to read more, new pages will be posted every Tuesday.