Melaka Fray

Melaka Fray
Melaka Fray as seen on the cover of Fray #8 (August 2003). Art by Karl Moline and Andy Owens.
Publication information
Publisher	Dark Horse Comics
First appearance	Fray #1 (June 2001)
Created by	Joss Whedon (writer) Karl Moline (artist)
Voiced by	Michelle Wong[note 1]
In-story information
Place of origin	Manhattan, New York
Team affiliations	Slayers
Partnerships	Buffy Summers
Abilities	Supernatural strength, speed, stamina, and agility Accelerated healing

Melaka Fray is a character in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics published by Dark Horse Comics. She first appears in Fray #1 (2001), a limited series in a shared universe with the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Living in the 23rd century, Melaka is a professional thief who learns that she is a Slayer destined to fight supernatural foes. She has a Slayer's physical powers, while her twin brother Harth inherited the prophetic dreams. Melaka discovers that Harth, who she believed was dead, had become a vampire intent on bringing demons back to Earth's dimension. After stopping his plan, she remains a thief while also protecting others. In Tales of the Slayers, she connects with her heritage by reading journals about past Slayers. Melaka reappears in the canonical continuation of the television series, meeting the 21st century Slayer Buffy Summers in Season Eight and helping her defeat Harth in Season Twelve.

Melaka was developed by Buffy's creator Joss Whedon and artist Karl Moline. Whedon originally planned to write a comic about a different Slayer, Faith, but instead opted for a new character in a futuristic setting to avoid interfering with her potential storylines. Fray was Whedon's first time writing a comic, although Dark Horse Comics had previously published Buffy comics without his involvement. His only request when working with them was to avoid sexualizing Melaka in the art. Although Melaka is initially characterized as tough, she is also shown as caring and protective of others. Her relationships with Harth and her older sister Erin are key parts of Fray.

Critics compared and contrasted Melaka's appearance and personality with Whedon's other characters and shows. Reviewers had mixed reactions to Melaka in Fray; some praised her as a good protagonist, while others were more critical of various aspects of her, such as her relationships with other characters and capabilities as a strong female character. Moline's art was the subject of critical discussion, with many believing that it sexually objectified Melaka. Academics have analyzed Melaka's character arc in Fray as an example of mythologist Joseph Campbell's concept of the hero's journey, with her last name also being examined based on its potential meanings. A fan film with the character was released in 2017, and she was Moline's most-requested sketch.

Melaka Fray lives in the 23rd century in the ruins of Manhattan, which has become a slum known as Haddyn.^{[2][note 2]} The world is heavily polluted, and the Sun's radiation has mutated a portion of the population and their descendants, who are called "radies".^[4] People believe that vampires are a different type of these mutants, referring to them as "lurks".^[5] Melaka grew up in a poor area of Haddyn with her twin brother Harth and her older sister Erin. She recognized as a teenager that she had supernatural strength, but did not question it. Due to her family's poverty, she often stole food; when she was fourteen, she took Harth along for one of these robberies, in which he was seemingly killed by the vampire Icarus. Erin blamed Melaka for Harth's death, and the two sisters became distant. While Erin became a police officer, Melaka continued to be involved with crime.^[6]

By the age of nineteen, Melaka has become a professional thief who works for the radie Gunther; she frequently uses a raygun. She also looks after a young radie girl named Loo. A man calls Melaka "the chosen" before immolating himself;^[6] the same day, the demon Urkonn of the D’Avvrus informs Melaka that she is part of a line of Slayers—young women destined to fight the forces of darkness.^[6] A Slayer possesses supernatural strength, speed, stamina, and agility, as well as accelerated healing and prophetic dreams.^[7][8] He tells her about vampires and how in the 21st century, a Slayer and her allies had banished all demons and magic from the Earth's dimension.^{[6][note 3]} He says the man who had approached was a Watcher; although Watchers were meant to guide Slayers, they had become insane zealots by the 23rd century.^[6] Since Melaka never had prophetic dreams, she initially does not believe that she is a Slayer, but after encountering vampires while on a job for Gunther, she agrees to be trained by Urkonn.^[6] She is shown to only have the physical powers associated with being a Slayer.^[9]

When confronted by Icarus, Melaka is too afraid to fight, but is saved by Urkonn. She attempts to learn Icarus' whereabouts from Gunther, but he reluctantly sets her up to be arrested. Vampires ambush the police, kidnapping Melaka and taking her to their leader, who is revealed to be Harth. As Melaka's twin, Harth had inherited the Slayer's prophetic dreams instead of her. To survive being bitten by Icarus, he ingested the vampire's blood to turn into one. He used his instinctive knowledge to become the vampires' master. He plans to open a gateway to bring demons back to Earth's dimension, revealing that he had Gunther hire Melaka to steal the items necessary to complete the ritual. After escaping, Melaka talks about everything with Erin, who refuses to believe her. Melaka finds out that Loo was killed, which motivates her to wage war against the vampires.^[6]

Urkonn gives Melaka the scythe—an ancient Slayer weapon—to aid her in her upcoming battles. Despite an unsuccessful attempt to rally her community to take action, Melaka grows more confident in herself as a Slayer and hunts down vampires. This attracts Icarus' attention, but before the two can face off, Erin kills him by crashing her flying car on top of him. Melaka and her community, along with Erin and several police officers, battle an army of vampires. While this is occurring, Harth resurrects a demon whose womb is an dimensional portal, but Melaka defeats her and he escapes. Following this, Gunther informs her that he was initially unaware of Harth's plan and explains that he turned her into the police to protect her. Melaka tells Urkonn that she knows he pushed her to fight by murdering Loo; she then kills him, doing so quickly as she had considered him a friend. Melaka returns to her work as a thief, while also protecting others from vampires as the Slayer.^[6]

During a job for Gunther, Melaka encounters a demonic spider monkey, who leads her to an abandoned apartment with a library that has Watchers' diaries. By reading them, she feels less alone and more connected to past Slayers.^[10] She moves into the apartment with the monkey, naming him Gates. Melaka and Erin work together to locate Harth, learning that he has teamed up with a madwoman. While checking out this lead, Melaka meets Buffy Summers, a Slayer from the 21st century. The two fight until Buffy convinces her that they are allies. Buffy had traveled forward in time to investigate a temporal anomaly.^[11]

Melaka and Buffy gather information from Gunther and look into reports of vampires in the exclusive, wealthier areas of Haddyn. They disagree on whether to intervene during a vampire attack on humans. Melaka wants to fight, while Buffy recalls Gunther's intel about Harth organizing groups of vampires and suggests tracking their movements. After separating from Buffy to slay the vampires, Melaka meets the madwoman, who is the future version of Buffy's best friend, the witch Willow Rosenberg. Willow convinces Melaka to prevent Buffy from returning to her time, saying this would change the timeline and erase Melaka's reality. Buffy escapes through a temporal rift after being forced to kill Willow. Melaka and Erin realize that despite this, their world remains intact.^[11]

Harth travels to the 21st century and organizes an army of demons. Buffy and her allies attempt to stop him, but when they are overwhelmed, they go to the future to recruit Melaka and Erin for the battle. Willow casts a spell to provide Buffy with the collective power of all active Slayers, which Harth intercepts and takes for himself. His body breaks down from the strain of this energy, and Buffy kills him. With Harth's death, Melaka receives the memories of past Slayers. She returns to the 23rd century with Erin and finds it has improved dramatically. Gunther no longer recognizes Melaka, and a group of Slayers say that they have read about her in the Watchers' diaries. One of them tells her that she can find a home and a family in this future.^[12]

Melaka Fray was created by Joss Whedon (pictured in 2015) and Karl Moline (pictured in 2012)

Melaka Fray first appears in Fray #1 (June 2001), a limited series published by Dark Horse Comics and a part of a shared universe with the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer.^[13][14] She was developed by Buffy's creator Joss Whedon and artist Karl Moline.^[15] Prior to Fray, Dark Horse Comics had published Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics without involvement from Whedon or the show's other writers.^{[16][note 4]} As Whedon was developing Buffy's spinoff series Angel, he offered to write a tie-in comic for Dark Horse Comics; editor Scott Allie worked with him on ideas.^[16] Whedon considered writing about a different Slayer–Faith–but he did not want to interfere with her storylines on Angel, opting instead for a new character.^[5][19] He established Melaka as from the future to keep her distinct from Buffy and related projects.^[20]

Whedon had a single demand for Dark Horse Comic–that there would be "no cheesecake, no giant silicone hooters, [and] no standing with her butt out in that bizarrely uncomfortable soft-core pose" with Melaka's character design.^[21] While promoting Fray in 2001, he discussed giving up 1990s comics, feeling that superhero comics oversexualized their female characters and were made to indulge "adolescent power fantasies".^[5] Whedon instead wanted Melaka to be a "real girl, with real posture, a slight figure", and a "distinctive face".^[21] Whedon worked closely with Moline, who described the process as a "back and forth, collaborative effort". According to Moline, Whedon pictured Melaka as "both beautiful and modestly built" and as "more of an athlete than a supermodel, as most comic heroines tend to be".^[22] In early concept art, Moline modeled Melaka after Natalie Portman's appearance in the film Léon: The Professional (1994).^[6] While working on Fray, Whedon and Moline were still relatively new in the comic book industry.^{[23][note 5]}

Moline drew Melaka for the entirety of her limited series and for her subsequent appearances in the anthology comic Tales of the Slayers and Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight.^[25][26] Writer Ryan P. Donovan felt that for Season Eight, Moline adopted a similar style as Georges Jeanty—the principal artist of the series—for the "character designs and action sequences".^[25] Whedon and Allie had planned for Melaka's return in Season Eight during early stages of development, working on her story arc prior to the sale of the comic's first issue.^[15] Melaka was drawn by Jeanty for Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Twelve,^[27] and Moline included her on his variant cover for the first issue.^[28] Christos Gage, one of the main writers for Season Twelve,^[27] said that Whedon wanted a happy ending for Melaka;^[29] Gage believed that Whedon "wanted to present a future that was hopeful", especially "as our world gets more dystopian".^{[29][note 6]} According to Allie, Dark Horse Comics would use Melaka only if Whedon wrote her.^[31] In separate interviews, Whedon and Allie said that there were no plans for a movie, ongoing comic book, or a television show about Melaka.^[32]

Melaka is initially characterized as a criminal, who is street smart and rebellious,^[20][33] but throughout Fray, this is shown to be her way of protecting herself in the bleakness of her world.^[33] She uses crime as a way to survive and accepts her life as hard but ordinary.^[23][34] Over the course of her series, Melaka is portrayed as kind, compassionate, and willing to help others;^[33][35] these characteristics are presented as unusual in her world and something that makes her stand apart.^[35] Whedon described Melaka as “hard, defensive, vulnerable, goofy, and yes, wicked sexy” and identified her as a "cool girl hero".^[6] He said that he enjoyed writing female characters like Melaka, who he called "hard-edged but heroic", because he was drawn to "the people nobody takes seriously, having been one the greater part of my life".^[20]

Melaka has a similar sense of humor and type of slang as other characters created by Whedon,^[14][36] although she has a unique speaking style.^[15] Her work as a thief for a crime boss is reminiscent of Whedon's television series Firefly,^[23] about a renegade crew of the starship Serenity who do odd jobs to survive.^[37] While Melaka and Buffy both have loved ones who are vampires,^{[9][note 7]} they have noticeable differences.^[39][33] Unlike Buffy, Melaka wears pants rather than dresses and heels,^[33] preferring function over style.^[14] Melaka is drawn in boots and baggy pants and with a nose piercing, hoop earrings, dark lipstick and nail polish, and black hair with magenta highlights.^[35] Melaka's focus is on saving individuals; while Buffy used to be like this, she becomes more concerned about bigger picture issues by Season Eight.^[39] Melaka has more similarities with Faith,^[40][41] sharing a confidence in themselves and their skills as well as a self-hatred.^[40] However, as opposed to Faith, Melaka is shown as feeling more guilt for her actions and a responsibility toward protecting others in her community.^[40]

Melaka starts her series alone and disconnected from her family and past Slayers.^[42] Her issues with her siblings are prominent storylines throughout Fray.^[15] Melaka and her sister Erin have different ways of handling their world,^[19] and are portrayed as opposites: as the good girl and the bad girl as well as the criminal and the cop, respectively.^[15][43] Estranged from her biological family, Melaka creates a community of her own, being especially protective of Loo.^[44] She trusts Urkonn, who trains her in a similar fashion to a traditional Watcher, and views him as a friend.^[45] At the end of Fray, Melaka begins working on her relationship with Erin, and they are shown to be closer by Season Eight.^[15][46] She also finds a way to connect with past Slayers in Tales of the Slayers through reading Watchers' diaries.^[47]

Scholars analyzed Melaka's character arc over the course of Fray.^[48][49] Author K. Dale Koontz argued that Melaka goes through the hero's journey, a concept popularized by mythologist Joseph Campbell, and broke her story into three stages: "the departure, the initiation and the return".^[34] Koontz wrote wrote that the "departure" occurs when Melaka learns and initially does not believe that she is a Slayer, with the "initiation" culminating when she is able stop Hart's plan, despite facing challenges.^[50] According to Koontz, the "return" happens when Melaka kills Urkonn and uses her new skills and knowledge to protect others.^[51]

Koontz and writer Valerie Estelle Frankel discussed how Whedon adapted the hero's journey for Melaka.^[52][53] Frankel argued that when Melaka moves into the apartment with the Watchers' library, she aligns more with a heroine, who typically "finds herself bonding with a place as her", rather than with a traditional male hero.^[52] Koontz and Frankel wrote that Fray and Tales of the Slayers do not provide Melaka with a definite resolution, as she could reappear in future comics and would still have to contend with Harth and not having her full Slayer powers.^[46][52] Koontz interpreted that like most of Whedon's works, Melaka's arc in Fray ends with a reflection on how "gaining knowledge is often a painful process, but it's a journey well worth taking".^[53]

Academics had varying interpretations of Melaka's last name.^[34][54] Koontz noted that Fray could have a dual meaning, either referring to a battle or to the act of falling apart.^[34] Scholar Amy E. Clayton argued that while it could be read as to fight or to attack, other definitions could be applied to the word as well, such as an undoing, a feeling of fear, to bruise, or to deflower.^[54]

Karl Moline became well-known for his art for Fray, and in 2011, he said that she was the character that people requested the most for a sketch.^[22] Members of the Loyola Marymount University's film school ran a Kickstarter in 2013 to crowdfund a fan film called Lurk, which would feature Melaka. On Kickstarter, the organizers described adapting the character for live action as a "natural progression and the perfect opportunity to make something cool for the fandom".^[55] It was released in 2017, which was the 20th anniversary of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's series premiere ("Welcome to the Hellmouth"). Melaka was played by Stephanie Woodburn, a host of the YouTube channel Geek and Sundry.^[56]

Some critics enjoyed Melaka's characterization in Fray.^[57] School Library Journal's Susan Salpini considered her the "heart and power" of the comic and described her as a likable protagonist.^[58] Kelly Thompson of Comic Book Resources called Melaka a "great introductory character" as readers could learn about the Buffy mythology alongside her.^[14] In PopMatters, Patrick Shand praised that Melaka had a personality and story separate and distinct from Buffy's.^[59] Other reviewers were more critical of Melaka in Fray.^[60][61] Sequart Organization's Matt Martin believed that she was too similar to Buffy.^[60] In the same publication, Ian Dawe dismissed Melaka's relationship with Erin as cliché and her decision to kill Urkonn as short-sighted.^[61]

Amy E. Clayton did not consider a strong female character.^[62] She reasoned that since Melaka had only half of her Slayer powers, with the rest taken by a man, she was unable to "be as strong a feminist character" as Buffy.^[63] Clayton criticized Fray for antifeminist messaging, and argued that it strips away Melaka's agency by having her work for the male Gunther, be given the scythe rather than finding it, and not be the one to kill Icarus.^[64] She wrote that although Melaka seems like a tomboy, her decision to protect others aligns her with more traditionally feminine identities as the "nurturer and provider". Clayton thought that Melaka did not combat gender norms, believing the character more so adheres to 1990s gender inequality and is regressive when compared to Buffy.^[62]

Some reviewers felt Moline's art for Fray sexually objectifies Melaka, who is shown with her knees spread on the first issues's cover and her legs open in its opening two-page spread.^[65][66] Film scholar Wendy Sterba wrote that both instances draw attention to Melaka's crotch,^[65] and Clayton believed this emphasis is further with the character's raygun being held between her legs.^[67] Aside from these initial instances, Sterba thought the rest of the comic did not sexualize Melaka.^[65] Clayton criticized Fray #4 (October 2001), describing Melaka's nudity in a shower sequence as gratuitous.^[68] She found Whedon's approach to Melaka as fundamentally flawed, saying that it was a "misogynistic act in that she is crafted to match an appropriately modest yet sexy idea".^[67] In a more positive review, Paste's Hilary Brown felt that Moline largely avoided sexualizing Melaka.^[69]