Likely my favorite volume of Buffy so far, Book Three starts off with Buffy finding out about the major plot from the last volume, the lingering number of Slayers who have escaped her tutelage and have become something other than the first line of defense against evil.
But before Buffy and the gang have time to assess this new threat their castle is attacked by a group of vampires, unlike any other, who can shape shift to mist, and wolves and bats. They're after the Slayer's Ultimate Weapon and when they get it Buffy and the Slayers and Scoobies have to go on a quest to get it back before something really bad happens.
Joining them in their quest is the immortal, and bored, Dracula, whose powers the vampires used to get past the Slayers in the first place. What results is a hilarious, offensive, dark romp through the Buffy-verse that could rival the infamous Puppet Cancer episode of Angel.
This plot is a side aspect of the overall arc for this “season” but the events and character building in this volume is no less important to the texture and depth of the world itself. This is how one entertains and creates a complex, vivid world with a scope every bit as varied as our own. ( )

Dracula makes a guest appearance. Buffy has a fling with a slayer. Xander is important. Andrew and Willow are in it. Dawn is still a giant. The scythe is stolen and there's lots of gore and shape-shifting Japanese vampires. ( )

Summary: This time around we get the single-issue story "A Beautiful Sunset" first, scripted by Joss Whedon himself, in which Buffy deals with the isolation of power, even as she gets her first face-to-face meeting with Twilight, this season's Big Bad. In the main four-part story arc, "Wolves at the Gate", the Scotland slayer HQ is attacked by a group of Japanese vampires who can turn into wolves, or fog. When they steal Buffy's scythe, she'll stop at nothing to get it back, although before they head to Tokyo, they'll have to enlist the help of the vampire whose powers are being used by the Japanese gang: Dracula himself.

Review: In terms of plot development, this volume is pretty simple: Bad guys steal Buffy's scythe (which... ARGH! That. Is. Not. A. SCYTHE! It is an ax. AN AX!), Buffy & Co. track them down, kick their butts, and get the scythe back. In terms of character developments, however, this volume is incredible. Buffy and Xander do most of the heavy lifting, but Willow and others get plenty of nice character moments. There's some new emotional entanglements, Buffy's usual "it's lonely at the top" angsting, and this is the moment where the seriousness of this season's Big Bad really hits home for each of the characters.

But, amidst all of the pathos and heartbreak, this volume is also literally laugh-out-loud funny. Not just a muted chuckle, either - I was roaring with laughter at some scenes (Not to give too much away, but they're in Tokyo... and Buffy's little sister isn't exactly so little anymore. Now take whatever you're imagining and multiply the funny by five.) The dialogue, the banter between characters, the snarky sarcasm and quick-cuts... everybody sounds like themselves, and they all sound like a Joss Whedon show. So, all-in-all, an excellent mix of uproariously funny, terribly sad, a few kick-ass fight scenes, a few more teasing hints about Twilight's identity and agenda, and an interesting if not particularly complex plot staring one stupid mis-named scythe. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Anyone who liked Buffy the TV show really, really needs to be reading this series. I loved No Future for You, and this installment is equally good, albeit in different ways. ( )

Dracula, ambiguous sexuality, and death, oh my! This volume continues the interesting moral developments of season eight. ( )

In the third volume of Season Eight, Buffy comes up against a group of Japanese vampires who can shapeshift and turn into fog.

This series just keeps getting better and better! Joss Whedon and Brian K. Vaughan gave us some fantastic drama in the first two story arcs; now Goddard kicks it up a notch with that other staple of the Buffyverse: humor. This was bloody hilarious. I don't often laugh aloud while I read, but portions of this book had me in stitches. I had a blast with it. So many pithy little comments! So much sarcasm! Both Whedon, (who penned the first issue of this arc), and Goddard know just how to use the medium to amplify their desired effect. The beats are spot on, the paneling drives the story forward and the dialogue is broken up just perfectly. It's a thing of beauty.

But of course, Goddard also gives us some heartwrenching stuff. There's so much of it, in fact, that I feel a bit awkward emphasizing the humor in this volume. When all is said and done, though, I'm gonna remember WOLVES AT THE GATE as one of those rare and wonderful Buffyverse episodes that had me in stitches.

I also remain very impressed with Jeanty's art. He's done some great stuff here; one of my favourite panels involves Buffy doing a mid-air leap onto the bad guy's back. All the characters are recognizable, too; always a good thing.

If you're a Buffy fan, I can't recommend Season Eight highly enough. You've gotta read it. Start with THE LONG WAY HOME, (effectively the season premier), move along to NO FUTURE FOR YOU, (a fantastic Faith-centric arc), then plunge into WOLVES AT THE GATE. I doubt you'll be disappointed.

(An updated version of this review is available on my blog, Stella Matutina). ( )

This was my favorite of Season 8, so far. I feel like the Whedon humor is back in a way it wasn't, as much, in the other two. I mean, yes, maybe there was some unnecessary fan service(?), but, on the whole, it feels like the Buffyverse is back to its charming self. ( )

http://tyranist.blogspot.com/2009/03/... ( )

(Amy) And here we have the third installment of the Season Eight comics for BtVS, and I have to say, I hope this isn't indicative of a new trend. I am very tempted to list out the things that bugged me about this book - just about any of which would have been acceptable plot elements individually, I hasten to add, it's just piling them one on another that makes it so ludicrous - but doing so would be overwhelmingly spoileriffic, so I shall refrain. I will instead confine myself to this comment: The entire plot line collected in this volume felt more like one of Andrew's tall tales, with one gratuitous embellishment after another, than like a story line that belonged in Whedon's Buffyverse proper.

(And why the hell did they have to bring back Dracula? His was one of the top ten lamest Buffy episodes ever, and they thought he needed an encore?)

[Oh, I can't resist entirely. Here: Yrfovna rkcrevzragngvba, n snepvpny sbyybj-hc fprar orlbaq oryvrs, gur nsberzragvbarq Qenphyn naq nffbpvngrq qhzonffrel, naq bu, yrg'f abg sbetrg gur tvnag zrpun Qnja. Lrrfu.]

Anyway, the sequence is not entirely without redeeming features, but I wouldn't put it in the same class as the previous two, for sure. Even aside from its inherent silliness, the plot was not, shall we say, meta, aside from the very first story (the only one in the book written by Joss, unsurprisingly). It was an entirely self-contained chunk without appearing to develop any of the larger story arc. And I don't suppose it needed to, really - even later seasons of the show had occasional monster-of-the-week style episodes - but on top of everything else, it all added up to quite a disappointment.
(http://weblog.siliconcerebrate.com/ze...)

(Alistair) An out of sequence review of an out of sequence read, here, seeing as I finished reading this about five minutes ago. I needed something bath-length, and it was on my desk anyway, you see.

And with part three of season eight, we have - for the most part - a monster-of-the-week type storyline. Which I am almost tempted to declare a Jumping Of The Shark type moment for the show, which would be a first for Whedon shows in general, IMO.

On the other hand, it's actually a pretty decent MotW story. And they managed to do something decent with Dracula when they brought him back, unlike in his television episode, in which he was a schmuck.

Back on the first hand, gurl unq n tvnag Qnja svtug n tvnag zrpun Qnja juvyr enzcntvat guebhtu Gbxlb. ZL TBQ VA URNIRA.

On the other hand again, I actually really enjoyed it...

( http://weblog.siliconcerebrate.com/ce... ) ( )

As with the other volumes the artwork is breathtaking. I could visualize this story line on the small screen. The Whedonesque humor was plentiful and satisfying. There is one big problem though, and so as not to let a spoiler loose, I will just say that a personal decision that Buffy makes in this volume simply does not ring true at all; it feels like they dropped random ideas on the floor and picked this one up. ( )

The series, Whedon's "8th season" of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in comic book form, continues to be fun, rivetting and all around excellent. I'd love to have been able to watch this season in place of one of the later seasons of Buffy, because the Whedon touch is evident throughout.Volume 3 is alternately fun and emotionally intense, if a bit over the top at times. The characters we know are spot on (although I wish the ever-annoying Andrew could be given a bit more of a life beyond caricature) and all of them have interesting parts to play in the storyline, and the ones we're meeting for the first time are becoming interesting. ( )

Out of the three Season 8 volumes released to date, this one comes the closest to capturing the tone and dialog of the television series. Perfect mix of adventure, romance, humor, and pathos. ( )

Kearsten says: Um, *wow*. Love, love, love these - I so wish this was on TV!

They're back, more crazy stuff happens, sad, weird...unexpected...and, with Dracula's help, ridiculously funny at times. A fantastic addition.

Merideth says: I love Buffy. Really I do. But this whole thing felt like it was phoned in. The 'twist' early on doesn't make any sense, given the history of the characters. The final battle was cool, and Dracula is funny, but these creators are capable of much, much more than 'alright'. ( )

Um, *wow*. Love, love, love these - I so wish this was on TV!

They're back, more crazy stuff happens, sad, weird...unexpected...and, with Dracula's help, ridiculously funny at times. A fantastic addition. ( )

A group of Japanese vampires steal the scythe that was used by Willow to turn all the potentials into slayers. Buffy and the gang, with the help of Dracula, travel to Japan to bring back the enchanted weapon and keep the vampires from reversing the spell.

This installment felt more like the television series than the two previous books. There was more of the mixture of humor and pathos that made the show so great. Xander really stands out in this story arch with his relationship with Dracula and Renee. Andrew shows up for some very funny nerdy scenes. I don't know what to think of Buffy and Satsu's storyline. It's kind of confusing and I don't know where the writers are going with it. ( )

I don't believe I liked this volume as well as I have liked the previous two.

Among things I really did like were the Tokyo setting and the pulling in of Dracula. It was nifty to see him again, nifty to see him fighting with the Slayer, which seems like a contradiction and yet, it definitely worked. Buffy Vs Dracula was one of those episodes that felt somewhat extraneous although amusing, so it was nice to have Dracula here be less extraneous, although still equally amusing.

I suppose my main complaint was Buffy & Satsu's relationship, which mostly just felt gratuitous to me. I'm uncertain what plot point it served, or what character point it served for Buffy. The most interesting part to me was the end, where you see this almost mirror image of the end of season three, only with Buffy in Angel's shoes and Satsu's in Buffy's.

And I kind of feel like there are a few things I was missing here, but I'm going to blame that on the fact that I haven't read Volume 2 for quite some time, and thus forgot a few details. ( )