Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Twilight (2010)

*possible spoilers*
Epic! The battles keep getting bigger and Buffy's abilities keep getting more powerful. It's too bad her character just isn't built to handle responsibility--she's reacts like a dictator or a twit depending on the situation (was the same in the TV show, so at least it's consistent).

I've been reading the comics for the peripheral characters--Xander, Dawn, Giles, Andrew. I really enjoy Xander's superhero tests and references in this volume, but I'm lukewarm about his new relationship with Dawn. Giles has become a background character by this time, and Andrew is underutilized. Too bad.

The art was a bit better in this volume; it was a little easier to tell the characters apart, although the dots for eyes in the background characters is still disconcerting. ( )

The reveal of Twilight's identity and part one of the big battle. More super-sad stuff and some super-sexy (although kinda cringeworthy in parts) stuff. I think the not-having-a-budget thing kind of works against the Whedon crew in this one. You can draw a gazillion impossible monsters, but you've still just got an army of super-strong girls to fight them. Which means, you've got to have super-stronger heroes. Which means big upon big upon bigger until you've almost jumped the shark. The best parts of this were the character interactions and the "exposition-y" parts. The worst parts were the super-huge monsters and the girls dying parts. Funny, there have been a few deaths over the series, but I don't think there have been as many in the whole TV series as there have been in the season 8 books. I still love it, but it made me a little sad. ( )

vol. 7

The season 8 storyline continues to move along and we finally find out who Twilight is. My only disappointment in that is I already knew who it was since so many people gave it away when it first came out. This is the downfall for not reading the comic as it comes out and instead waiting for the collected trade. I loved the humor in this volume, it reminded me a lot of the old tv show. One more collected volume to go to wrap up the season. ( )

Whedon's opening story in this compilation is a classic, and Brad Meltzer handles the Twilight arc with deft, ironic hands. This is certainly the best volume of Buffy's Season Eight so far. ( )