By SEAN ELLIOTT, Senior Editor, iF Magazine
Published 4/9/2007

The second issue of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: Season Eight hit stands last week, and it seemed to arrive sooner than the usual four week wait, of course part of that was due to the delay in shipping on issue number one and the second printing of number one two weeks ago.
 
Continuing the story from the first issue, Joss Whedon returns to the world he created and takes his waiting audience beyond the end of season seven of the TV series BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. Buffy is now having to face a world where she and her friends activated the entire rank and file of every slayer in the world and they need people to lead them. There is also a sub-plot with a military installation outside of what used to be Sunnydale and the reappearance of Amy the witch (former rat) and her boyfriend (who speculation in my camp has put the face of Warren on). There are clues towards the identity of Amy’s boyfriend such as the horrific nature of his appearance and his desire to work with their labs and weapons (Warren’s specialty in the Trio). 

Whedon wastes no time sending Amy on her quest of vengeance against Buffy and crew, and the story with the training of the new Slayers continues. Giles returns in this issue even though he is only briefly shown, and of course my favorite red-haired witch also makes a come back. There’s more of an insight into what Buffy is thinking, and I’m extremely curious which red shirted, trench coat clad gentlemen is her savior in the dreamscape. Plus as with all dreams in BUFFY, like season 4 “Restless” that Joss has said pretty much tells you what’s coming up for the next season, this issue needs to be scrutinized and the dream sequence reviewed again as new issues are released. Another side note, did Xander and Buffy really sleep together or is that just part of the dream?
 
The artwork in the comics is exceptional, and the covers are dead-on for likenesses of the characters. Joss’ storytelling is as fun always, peppered with both inside jokes and pop culture references. The only problem with the comics is that originally they were supposed to be set up as one episode per issue, but you really can’t cover an episode worth of content in a single comic book. Once you get past the idea of needing a whole episode per issue, however, this series is great fun, and of course it's cannon BUFFY continuing past the end of the series. I really honestly can’t wait to see what is coming next, not only from the pen of Whedon, but from the other writers as well.