Definitely an improvement on the last volume. Throwing Faith in the jungle searching for Riley & Sam actually gave some purpose to Kennedy’s dumb company, and Mai & Reese Zane are solid new characters. (Would love to see Faith date either of them?) The return of Amy is better treatment than she got in season 8 (or 6 for that matter), even if I still don’t get the romance between her and Warren. And even though Angel & Faith are still doing their own things this volume, it works this time.

The art is still gorgeous, and does a great job with characters that have ended up looking pretty generic when done by other artists, like Amy or Sam. (I’d love to see Conrad draw Harmony at some point.)

Oof, why are we bringing back Kennedy & her bodyguard business again?? Just a rehash of the Buffy plot with them in season 9, basically. Only less interesting and more predictable. Nadira’s return is… fine. She’s not one of the stronger original characters of the series. And Inspector Brandt just seems like across the pond!Kate/Dowling-lite.

The new art by Will Conrad is GORGEOUS, and his Faith and Buffy in particular are stellar, although he’s weaker with the men. Jury’s out on season 10 here. I’ll be interested to see the titular characters back together in action.

This is THE STUFF. A brilliant start to season 10 and I hope it stays this way. All the Scoobies back together— even some we didn’t expect! The return of magic turns things up to 11, and makes it all interesting again. Dracula’s appearance in season 8 was fun, but this delves into his relationship with Xander more, and makes Xander (aka The Worst Character on This Show) somewhat palatable again. Still the worst, but surrounded by excellence. (Still bored by Billy subplots, but oh well.) Adore where they’re going with Buffy & Spike.

Love the move of Christos Gage & Rebekah Isaacs from Angel & Faith to here. Her artwork handles so many of the characters so well, love her Spike, Dawn, Faith, and ESPECIALLY her baby!Giles. Did she just study a million photos of ASH as a kid? He’s perfect.

I liked this one. I’ll be sad(?) to see Spike’s little bug friends go, but I think some of the revelations he had in his conversations with Morgan Peel the succubus are going to be really necessary for his character development going forward.

An interesting reboot for Angel’s character. I love the idea that he worked with a previous slayer and that his redemptive arc isn’t hinging on his interest in Buffy. I also love him pulling the AI crew together earlier on with Fred and Gunn. Lilith is an intriguing figure and I wonder what her true role here is, as well as whatever happened to Mara.

I don’t love this style of art, most of the characters aren’t distinctive enough. Mara looks like Buffy, and when Lilith first showed up, I thought it was just Fee-Fee the witch again. But the writing is solid.

Okay! Things are different and it’s interesting and I’m here for it. It’s like an alternate dimension Buffy & the Scoobies, and the character differences off-the-bat are fascinating to see— a nicer Cordy, a more self-assured Willow, a more insecure Xander, Anya proprietor and “Sweden” of the Magic Box, and Master Vampire Drusilla. It’s many of these characters starting at points they grew to in the original series, but it’s nice to get it straight off, feels more like a reboot and less like a rehash.

Mora’s artwork is great, especially on characters like Cordelia, Willow & Xander. His one weak spot is Anya, who I definitely mistook for Buffy at first.