This second collection of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 starts with writing from Brian Vaughan, instead of Joss Whedon. I was worried the humor found in Book 1 would be lost. I like Vaughan's Y: The Last Man, but the humor, when it exists, was nothing like Buffy.

To Vaughan's credit, however, there is no noticeable drop-off in writing quality. The story continues to develop nicely and the art is working nicely. Another good volume of Buffy Season 8. ( )

_No Future For You_ is even better than _The Long Way Home_!

The second volume in Buffy Season Eight, written by fan favorite Brian K. Vaughan, author of such comic book series as "Y the Last Man," "Runaways," and more, gives us a story line centered around Faith, bad girl slayer with a troubled past. Vaughan clearly knows the show and the characters - everyone sounds perfect and the story leaps off the page packed with action, drama and character development.

THE REST OF THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Faith and Giles team up, forming an unlikely pair that grew on me quickly as I realized the parallels between them - Giles, despite his kindly, reserved appearance as a librarian and Watcher, had a dark past as well. And both of them are willing to straddle that fine line between good and evil. He recruits Faith for a mission he doesn't want Buffy to even know about - killing another slayer. Her name is Genevieve, and she's an evil English blue blood who's been killing new slayers for sport, her ultimate target is Buffy herself.

I've already mentioned how perfect Vaughan's writing is - he really excels at giving fans a look inside Faith's head - her past, her personal demons, her relationship with Buffy, everything. ("Never forget how deep she cut you. Never forget how deep.")

Georges Jeanty's artwork also started really growing on me in this volume. The actions sequences look GREAT - they're really dynamic! And all the characters are immediately recognizable, which is fantastic.

On a side note: I loved the little Doctor Who cameo when Giles and Faith go to England! How cute! Also, Giles' reference to the classic "Avengers" television show: "Maybe I could be the Steed to your Peel?" (Of course, Faith doesn't catch the reference: "God, I hope that's not as gross as it sounds." *snort*) Fun stuff.

Giles and Faith may have just become my favorite team-up ever. I really hope we see more of them in future volumes!

We are also treated to a quick look back into the lives of Buffy and friends, in the standalone story "Anywhere But Here" penned by Joss Whedon.

Buffy and Willow seek the help of a demon and some important things are revealed - such as how Buffy's been able to bankroll her slayer army and why the rest of the population is becoming mistrustful and hateful of them. ("Slayers acting above the law, and endangering their most precious possessions: their possessions.") We also learn why Willow's been keeping herself and her girlfriend, Kennedy, away from Buffy's core team. There's foreshadowing and fantasies and reality bending hijinks and, of course, the whole thing just sparkles with Whedon's fantastic dialogue!

So far Buffy the comic book is shaping up to be every bit as fun, exciting and engrossing as Buffy the television series. Bring on Volume Three! 5/5 stars. ( )

Giving us an idea of where Faith goes and what she does after "Sunny D went from being an outie to an innie," No Future for You is the second volume of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8.
The concept/plot was quite excellent, and quite a bit more dark than anything Whedon would have been able to get away with on prime time network television. The dialogue is spot-on and one can actually hear the characters speaking their lines.
The artwork is much better than the previous volume; I had no trouble identifying who the individuals were supposed to be. Kudos to the idea of putting a yellow submarine on Giles' sweater. ( )

Giles recruits Faith to kill a Slayer gone bad, and Buffy (who is currently estranged from the sponsorship of Giles) gets in the middle of it. Good art, writing to match the TV show, and just generally a nice sop to those of us who mourned the end of the series. ( )

If Buffy, the petite pop-modern vampire slayer wasn't enough for you this second volume from Joss Whedon's “Season Eight” of Buffy brings tortured, anti-heroine slayer Faith back into play in a role even more suited to her than vampire and demon slaying.
Part of the draw of the Buffy-verse is the balance of darkness and good. Every character has had their dips into evil, from Xander's flirtations with all manner of monsters to Willow's grief-induced stint as the Big Bad. But some characters start out from deeper in the evil well. Giles and Faith are two of the darkest, Faith representing the out of control youth, caught in a cycle of violence from a young age and carrying on the chaos in her own life in a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. Giles' history, merely glanced upon in the TV series feels more like a betrayal, when you come to love this patient, always-trying man only to discover he has a hard core of frightening ruthlessness.
Buffy, Xander and even Willow are the Superman and the Spidermans of the Buffy-verse, but Faith and Giles are the Punishers.
This analogy is proven hard and fast from the first few pages when Giles calls on Faith to do what the other Slayers can't, walk into the house of a single mother who was turned into a vampire and slay the kids she turned. After this trying scene Giles meets back up with Faith at her apartment and asks her to handle a special case for him, one he doesn't even want Buffy, Xander, Willow and the other Slayers to know about. It stands to reason that not all the Potentials who are now endowed with Slayer powers would turn out good, especially as other creatures of power find and foster them since Buffy's operation is busy with the new threats from the mysterious “Twilight” and the good old U.S. Government.
Assassinating a Slayer, even if she is evil is not an easy task, as this volume proves.
Furthermore, “No Future for You” also proves that the switch to comics was an excellent move for Whedon and the Buffy-verse as the format allows a lot more playing, and a hyperfocus on characters otherwise glanced over in the series. Many plots dealt with Faith and her waffling between the forces of good and evil, but the glimpses we see of her past in these pages are heart breaking and enlightening at the same time.
One could easily argue, after this addition to Season Eight, that Faith might make a better lead, if the audience can handle a grittier, darker, less reliable narrator.

*Also, this volume features the cameo of my publisher's wife, Robin, which I was very glad to finally get to read. ( )