The books work separately, but they’re stronger together, producing a well-rounded picture of the parties involved. Both chapters’ covers and spines fit together to create a single image formed from the main characters’ faces, plus their spiritual guides in the background, urging them on with a sword. Yang’s response was to write and draw two comic books - Boxers & Saints -that address the story from opposing sides with overlapping narratives. Joss Whedon’s take on the era used the event more as a dramatic background than to inform the story meaningfully, and it’s doubtful that writer/artist Gene Luen Yang took the adventures of Darla and Spike as inspiration, but there’s clearly something about the binary nature of the Boxer Rebellion that attracted both creators. Whatever most of us know about China’s Boxer Rebellion (1897-1901), if anything, comes from the two-part crossover episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel set during the historical uprising.
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