At first I wasn't sure about the art, because it seemed juvenile. The more I read through Season 8, the more it grew on me. It's simple, yet detailed. Apart from Willow the characters don't have much likeness to the actors of the series, but thanks to Whedon's witty writing I can hear their voices. I was also a bit unsure about the international aspect, because I don't like the idea of groups of slayers working in different countries that much. Hopefully that spell (or whatever it was, can't remember anymore) will be reversed at some point, so that the story becomes focused on the core characters and their lives.

I did appreciate D's appearance, but I'm not sure if I liked the way he was incorporated into the story. He seemed even more of a comic relief character than in the adventures with Spike and Drusilla in another comic. The story overall was way too cheesy and over the top, even for Buffy.

Not much advancement to the plot, and because I wasn't familiar with Fray beforehand I didn't get anything out of her as a character. Won't be reading her comic, since I don't care that much about futuristic stuff like this. Apparently Fray/Buffy was a highly anticipated event, but like I said it didn't do anything for me. Besides, that bland idiot was brought back. That if anything makes me queasy when thinking about the next issues.

Well. It's been a strange, confusing, and somewhat unsatisfying ride. But it's also been worth it, in the sense that now I finally know what happened after season 7 finale. Spike is thankfully back in the picture (yeah, how long?), and the final issue shows a bit the direction that Whedon is going with season 9. Especially now that I've gotten used to the cartoonish style, I've become addicted. I don't know if I can handle the painfully slow publication of each issue, but I'll certainly try.

Oh, thank god. Were back in the small circle of Buffy and her friends, but there's still enough stuff going on to keep things interesting. It's like Buffy has gotten its spark back, but hasn't gone too far to the beginning. Looking forward to seeing how the rest of the season plays out.

Still good, but the one thing I thought had already been explored came (probably for everyone) as a shock. I mean, seriously? When did that happen? Not sure at first what I thought about that, but then I thought it kind of gave Buffy a chance to contemplate her life and decisions, so not an entirely bad thing. It gave her the boost to stop drifting and make something out of herself.