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I. Love. Fray. :)

It tells the story of a teenage vampire slayer (sound familiar?), but in my opinion this character is a step up from Buffy. Melaka Fray is a 15 year old thief. In her futuristic world, vampires are known as "lurks", and the police chase her in flying cars. All of a sudden, she is greeted by an enormous, demon-looking Watcher who tells her that she is her generation's Slayer. Oh, and by the way, her brother had been killed years earlier by lurks, so she is not too keen on toussling with them. Yet, after the sad, senseless death of an endearing character, Fray becomes determined to follow her calling. Mayhem ensues.

I love Fray, because she is everything Buffy is not. She is not polished, or popular. She isn't perky. She is a street-smart thief who leads a hardscrabble life, and she makes no apologies for herself. I was also grateful as a female comic book reader that she is not the large-breasted, Amazonian type of heroine that so many fanboys enjoy. She has an athletic build, and her midriff is usually bare, but there's nothing slutty about her.

And my favorite thing about Melaka Fray: she has an enormous scar across one side of her face. I love that.

As for the story Whedon creates, his usual fantastic touches are there. Characters both major (like Fray herself) and minor (like her sister) are drawn with extreme detail and care and you care about every one. The story, meanwhile, speeds along and I couldn't read it fast enough. And just when you think you've hit the big plot twist, guess what? You haven't. There's a bigger one.

I would recommend this to anyone, whether you're a fan of the Whedonverse or not. There should be more issues of Fray. There should be a movie. There should be a show. There should be much, much merchandise.