What did you think of issue #25? (Spoiler free)

[Tyler Austin "tiewashere"]

Ya ya ya.

I'm bouncing between good and okay. I'm sorta upset there was no major Twilight revelation this issue.

[barryshaft]

I liked it. After last month's crapfest it was good to get back into the meat of the story. I wasn't really expecting any Twilight revelations so I wasn't let down. It's nice to see Dawn's terrible arc end on a nice note with some sister bonding. I don't care what anyone says, there's absolutely nothing in Dawn's story that warranted it being dragged out for over two years only to just suddenly end. So it was Kenny the whole time? And they didn't force him to turn her back why? Other than that it was funny, a nice solid issue for Xander and Buffy. As far as the Predators and Prey arc goes... I'd rank this one around the middle.

At this point I'd put it at:
Predators and Prey
Swell
Living Doll
Harmonic Divergence
and Prey

I'm a bit worried for the next arc. As much as I dig Espenson's writing usually (her last Dollhouse ep was great) her #21 was one of the worst written of the entire series. I'm not sure if comics are really her medium and I don't know if she can sustain it for an entire arc. But hey, at least Oz is back...and maybe Giles and Faith will actually do something.

[Mathieu]

Good. There's room for more awesomeness though. The dialogues were spot-on but they still need to wow us with the storylines. Give us some twists!!! We need some real shockers.

[theend]

It was a nice read but nothing much happened.

[skippcomet]

May 6, 2009 21:16:36 GMT -5 barryshaft said:

I'm a bit worried for the next arc. As much as I dig Espenson's writing usually (her last Dollhouse ep was great) her #21 was one of the worst written of the entire series. I'm not sure if comics are really her medium and I don't know if she can sustain it for an entire arc. But hey, at least Oz is back...and maybe Giles and Faith will actually do something.

I understand this fear, but more from the point of her general work on the show. Espenson seems to favor or identify with third-tier characters more than she seems to care about the main characters, and she's a main offender in my eyes in the cases of pushing Spike and Spuffy (sorry, not a fan and never will be) over other characters and of marginalizing or "buttmonkeying" Xander. We know Oz is going to be back in "Retreat," as well as Faith and Giles, and (if Jeanty's cover to #26 is anything to judge by) possibly Satsu and Kennedy. That's an awfully crowded cast of characters; throw in various villains and innumerable unnamed Slayers, and I have little confidence that everybody will get a chance to shine in the next arc. I'm fairly certain some characters will get short shrift or stay primarily in the background (let the games of "Where's Xander?" begin).

However, she did write the "Haunted" miniseries that was set in-between seasons three and four during Dark Horse's previous run of non-canon comics, and that was a decent story; however, it focused a great deal on the POV of the Mayor's body-possessing spirit, so I'm not convinced entirely that she can do a comics story about the Scoobies from their point of view without bringing in *some* sort of outsider character. And at this point, no matter how popular or beloved a character Oz may be, he's been gone long enough that he might as well be an outsider.

[Rebecca]

I rather like Jane's focus on third-tier characters. And I liked Spuffy. I also liked Bangel, and I look forward to Bander. Tho now that you mention it, I am worried about marginalized Xander. Hopefully after this last issue, Jane will get the message

[VampSlayer]

It was okay. It didn't make me like S8 more, but it was okay.