Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Review: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER - SEASON EIGHT - ISSUE #4
The conclusion of Joss Whedon’s first new story in the BUFFY universe
Grade: A-
Stars: Buffy and the gang
Writer(s): Joss Whedon
Artist(s): Penciler: Georges Jeanty, Inker: Andy Owens Cover A- Ju Chen, Cover B- Georges Jeanty
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Suggested Retail Price: $2.99

The finale is here, but there are more questions raised by the end of Joss Whedon’s return to the universe of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER with issue #4. At the end of the last issue Willow was sucked into a mystical portal and laid out on a table for a skinless Warren (the guy Dark Witch Willow flayed alive in the end of BUFFY season six) to torture. And true believers that is where we join our story already in progress.

Willow is strapped down and Warren is torturing and lobotomizing her. Now, we find out that Warren has been kept alive by Amy the witch since the moment in time that Willow skinned him. Plot flaw number one Joss! If Warren never died, how was the First Evil able to take his form so many times in the seventh season of the series? If anyone can answer that for me I’d like to know.

Buffy and the slayers burst in to save Willow, and we find out that one of the team leaders, a young Asian slayer is the one who kissed Buffy and is in love with her. So much for my theory about Willow teleporting in Angel or Spike.

We find out that the government soldiers aren’t Initiative, but a new branch led by a general who is part of the big bad for season eight, the Twilight. Twilight views the slayers as a super powered demonically imbued race that will eventually declare war on the rest of humanity, so their goal is to take all of the slayers out before that happens.

So let’s see our grand tally at the end of this first story. Dawn is still a giant. Willow is back, Giles is training hundreds of slayers, Buffy is still pretty much the same, Amy and Warren are going to be a reoccurring problem, and Ethan Rayne has been shot in the head and killed (no more wacky magic stories from him).

So has the first round for BUFFY season eight been satisfying? In a word, yes. The story has been good and the action and pacing and surprises were worth coming back for each issue. This is the ONLY cannon out there that is on going for this series, so it’s the only official place to get your BUFFY fix.

Next issue will also be by Mr. Whedon in August focusing on the life of one of the new slayers. Then after that a new creative team will be taking over (supervised by Joss) to tell the latest tale of my favorite slayer Faith. So, how ever long season eight takes to tell, I’m sure it will be worth the wait and the ride to all of the faithful BUFFY fans out there.