Buffy season ten picks up the pieces that Buffy season nine left behind and I'm glad it does. Buffy season nine left on quite a big cliffhanger and Angel & Faith's last issue left on just as big of one"albeit Angel & Faith's was also simply a great ending. I'm pumped to see the Scoobies fighting together once again, this time hopefully with slightly less drama. And it's great to see Giles back in action with everyone. This season looks to be just as great as the other comic seasons.

I'm consistently impressed with the characterization in Buffy, as we started off with all these people being high school students who thought they couldn't die. Things quickly changed once they started facing the forces of evil and Buffy actually died for like 17 seconds. But every moment has lead up to this. The girl who can save the world.

There was a lot of good things going on here character-wise with Buffy and Willow as they went on their vampire hunt during the day. Despite being humans, they're really creatures of the night since they've been hunting them for so long. There's also some weird tension going on between Xander and Dawn, which lead to him being fully mind controlled again. All said, what's about to go down is going to be very, very bad.

The most surprising part of this issue was, of course, Dawn. She was never an extremely strong character in the show because Trachtenberg's acting was, frankly, bad. The emotional beats were ruined by her lack of ability (then, not sure about now) to act properly in reaction to them. But now, there's not that crutch of acting. We see a face and we see words and it's so much easier to see the pain in Dawn's face as the emotions of losing her mother come back to her. It's a powerful feeling that most of us have to go through and none of us look forward to. Now Dawn has to go through it twice.

Xander is kind of grating sometimes because his jokes are often the most frequent and often the most inappropriate. He's also a little self-centered"too much for his own good. But he shines in this arc that showcases his strongest parts: His love for his friends. His relationship with Dawn may be deteriorating (by no fault of his own), but they're all still around for when he comes back. And they'll always welcome him back.

There was surprising depth from Giles, who we've seen relatively little of considering he just came back to life at the end of Angel & Faith. His big moment was the reunion with Buffy and since he's had a role of figuring out who he is now. That's come full force in this issue and it was worth the wait. Things are deteriorating around them with the new rules of magic, but there are more important issues at hand, as there always are. They're friends are in trouble.

Man, Angel and Faith AND Buffy both put in killer issues this week. I thought Buffy's last week was good, but this is equally as good. I didn't think it could match it, but a stringent insistence to characterization has kept it strong. I hope Buffy, Dawn, and Willow get the next issue!

Both Andrew and the off-brand Cthulhu are trying to right something that's been wronged. They're both going about it the wrong way. Willow did the same thing as off-brand Cthulhu in season six and nothing good came of it. Buffy's friends tried to do the same thing Andrew is in season six and nothing good came of it either. But humans, as we've learned, always make the same mistakes. Over and over again.

I know that the writing team on Buffy is capable of more than this and I'm hoping that this was a one-time occurrence of "Why are you writing this in this way" rather than a continuing thing for the rest of the issues. Only time will tell. But at least we're done with returning to Sunnydale for now.

The highlight of this issue was, of course, Clem. He lays down the law of anyone who wants to write in the book. It doesn't feel too fake-y because Harmony totally would need it explained to her like that, and Clem knows that. The little exchanges he has with Buffy and Spike are gold too. Buffy has always been great at character interaction, even if some of the other parts are weaker. This is no exception.

After the last story of Buffy, I'm glad we're back into Big Bad territory. I'm a little disappointed that there wasn't a HUGE one for this entire season, but what can you do. I think the short stories work better immediately following the entire rules of magic being rewritten. It gives them the opportunity to address separate parts of the rules of magic without having one central villain have to do it all. It just happened to not work in this issue.

I knew the previous issue of Buffy was only bad because it was a setup. And it wasn't even bad, it was just mediocre. This issue, however, was fantastic. I can't believe that these words still resonate from these characters so well and so true after 10 seasons. I remember little Buffy jumping to her doom to save the world at the end of season five. I remember the Spike that sacrificed himself at the end of season seven. And look at them now. They grow up so fast and I love to read it happen.

This has been some of the best Buffy in a long while. Buffy was always at its best when dealing with these kinds human issues and the constant threat of the world being destroyed by magic not existing and stuff has really distracted from that original purpose. Back in the "these people are broken and that's ok" gear reminds me why I loved Buffy to begin with. Some of its best episodes are not its epic finales (no matter how much I love them!) but things like Buffy's sacrifice in season five or Spike's in season seven. It is certainly not the fight they had to go through to get there.

I just want to hug every character in Buffy and tell them it's going to be alright. Especially Andrew and ESPECIALLY Buffy and Spike. The stuff they're fighting is never really the monsters in every storyline, it's themselves. It's their relationships and internal conflicts that always drives Buffy. Truly, the monsters are just what happens in between arguments.

I'm sorry for myself that I got to this late because I could have been excited for the crossover for way longer if I had read this earlier. This also brings a dynamic that, as Spike points out, has never worked in his favor. Buffy has always gone after Angel. But that's really just more of Spike's insecurities now. Buffy has eyes for another hundreds of years old vampire. I can't wait for this to play out.

This issue was a lot of reinforcing what used to be. This is how Buffy was back in season three"rife with sexual tension, though now it's of a different sort. And there's a contrast here to what used to be. But things are different now. It's been (presumably?) seven years since then and A LOT of things have changed since then"namely the restart of the universe and the rewriting of most of the rules of magic. The only important thing is that Archaeus gets defeated in the end, I guess"

This issue aired all the dirty laundry that everyone has been thinking since Angel came to town. One or two issues back"when he arrived"Buffy, Spike, and Angel tried to talk it out before fighting a super demon that is the progenitor of them all"but it didn't really work. They fought together and that saved things more than anything else. The doubts are still there; they're human after all"or mostly human"people with souls. But there's bigger things to worry about right now than petty love. Like the fate of the world.

Even one more issue would probably make this better. Focus on Buffy's fight, Angel's internal strife, have Spike legitimately try to kill Angel"there is also the struggle of Andrew, Willow, Giles, Xander, and Dawn to break open the artifact, which got glossed over. It was a mess, but, as usual, it ended rather emotionally satisfactorily. I suppose it wasn't the worst, but improvements could be made.

This issue had everything that was needed from one of these breather issues. It directly related to the events prior and was very touching with its character moments. I didn't even get around to talking about Giles, who had his own relapse into selfishness only to realize that it's about the group. And the final page is absolutely beautiful; a culmination of not only the events of the last story, but even going back to Giles' death and beyond. These are the only two that can truly comfort each other like this. Because they're family.

I half liked this issue and half didn't like, and it's obvious which is which I hope. The Buffy half was strong in its execution, even if I felt beat over the head with its message. The Xander half failed not only because it became a B story with not enough space to breath, but also because I feel just as beat over the head without the good execution.

The war that's coming is likely going to bring Angel back into the Buffy story, but not quite yet. There's a lot of moving parts that have to get going before that happens. But the parts they have moving are moving perfectly. It's digging deep into lore and character in a way I haven't seen recently.

There wasn't much in the way of THIS BIG THING HAPPENED AND WAS IMPORTANT, but there was a lot of this small thing happened and it was just as important. Quiet issues like this are as necessary as the louder ones with fights with Archaeus and Andrew coming out. I'll read and love more issues of Buffy and Spike arguing, Buffy and Willow arguing, and Willow going on dates more than I will read and love the big fights.

These characters are learning more than they ever had fighting monsters, and they're fighting monsters doing it. The issue paralleled itself with Buff and Willow bickering at the beginning and working together like always at the end. Because these bonds can be bent as far back as a limbo champion, but they will never break. They've lived together through, for some of them, literally two lives. They'll die together when the time comes.

Dawn was originally created as the physical embodiment of a key that can unlock gates between all dimensions and put into the care of the slayer, Buffy, because that was the safest place for her. Michelle Trachtenberg's sometimes alright, usually terrible performance aside, Dawn became a very important part of season five and beyond until now, and not just as the key. Dawn is her own person now, but they're decided to use her utilitarianly. The execution here is going to be, excuse the pun, key. If the rest of em force Dawn into this role as the last panel suggests, then it'll go a lot worse than it could.

Tall, dark, and brooding is back in full swing and he's ready to go through a whole new gamut of sadness. Angel was a show that I enjoyed watching much more than Buffy overall, even though I consider Buffy a favorite over Angel, so I'm excited to see what Angel goes through now. With Faith by his side, it's bound to be another path toward redemption that will only grow his list of sins, not shorten them.

This issue was largely interim, with the reintroduction of Willow into the Angel storyline. But I'm sure it'll play into much more important things with Lavinia and Sophronia. The big takeaway here for me is that I'm looking forward to what these girls with (formerly) powerful magic will bring to the dynamic that Angel and Faith so amazingly play.

We continue the parent metaphor/stories in full with these and get some nice pieces of backstory. Watcher has something up his sleeve that doesn't sound good for just about 2 billion people on the planet. Angel will do everything to stop him, but that's not always enough. But we also get to know Pearl and Nash a little better and understand why they're crazy. With the trend, I'm surprised I didn't just guess it was their parents (or parent as it were). Twilight was the beacon of hope to them and he shattered that. Now he's suffering the repercussions.

We get to the heart of the issues facing everyone's lives in this issue and it's hurtful. We've seen Angel walk away from the girl he loves, we've seen Spike drop to his knees after seeing that same girl sacrifice herself, and we've seen both of them sacrifice their lives so she could live. Despite that great characterization, the issue is, like a lot of these single issues, interim. It's caught in the in-between of the last storyline and the final one and it suffers for it. But it does spell some excitement for Angel's team.

Faith's storyline here is much more interesting than Angel's, I think, because it hits at the heart of a new issue. Angel is dealing with the plot, but is otherwise still brooding and trying to achieve any semblance of redemption he can. Faith has been up and down but she finally seemed to have hit a nice spot first with the Slayers she was mentoring and then with Giles coming back. Now she's lost again and hopefully Kennedy is there to help find her.

I can't in good faith give this issue a good rating, because I feel like it juggled its stories really poorly. The issue itself only suffered for it. If each of these stories were given some more pages to work with, they could have easily been B+ or even A material, and I do see a lot of potential in these stories. I'm simply caught up in the jarring transitions between Angel and Faith's separate storylines and a little disappointed by them.

I don't know what they were thinking with splitting Angel and Faith up AND trying to keep it in the same comic. Both of these stories would be a lot stronger if they stood on their own. Regardless of that, the stories themselves seem to be moving in a really nice direction. Faith's questioning her role within Kennedy's organization, and whether she would be better off with Buffy and her gang. Angel has his own problems in Magic Town and, while he may feel alone, he is anything but. I basically want this set up to be over now.

I feel like Angel and Faith Season Ten will get a lot better once we get out of the "When the River Meets the Sea" storyline. These issues may be nice to read all in one go, but they feel way too disconnected as single issues. I like what they're setting up with Angel and Faith's separate storylines, but there needs to be some focus as to where the plot's going. It's just not there yet.

Finally, we get an issue with only Angel OR Faith. It's a breath of fresh air because it's been struggling to be consistent with juggling those two storylines. There's still the awkward transitions, but they feel much less awkward since they're all connected to the same plot. I still think it's a technique that works in TV much better than comics, or at least this comic's execution thereof. But now that we're finally focused in on something, I have high hopes.

The ending of the issue wasn't that unexpected and I'm glad they're moving in this direction. More than saving Riley, this will help Faith recover from anything bad she's done. Remember, she felt the best when leading a group of Slayers get through the fact that they have powers. If she takes up that mantle again, it can be huge for her character.

Another stellar issue for Faith and a little more setup for Angel. I'm glad we at least get the focus on Faith though as she has been a fantastic character ever since the Giles revival arc. Her face when Giles and Buffy embraced was heartbreaking and seeing her lead this team now is so uplifting.

This was more of a transition issue to the next one, where the real things happen. Faith's finally found Riley, but where's Zane's father? Angel decided to decline Amy's offer, but now he's stuck between a witch and a wall. Yeah, their work is hard.

As a transitionary issue before the big ending, I really liked this. It left woefully little to talk about because they're trying to do so much in 20 pages when this could really use two separate comics or at least 30 pages. But it's still ramping up to something really exciting between Angel and Amy and Faith and Riley.

This was a nice ending to kind of a mess of issues. It continued to suffer from not quite having perfect thematic synchronization between the two stories and Angel and Faith being in two different places never helped things. The decision (hopefully) to move Faith back to Magic Town will alieve things a lot. Even if they're not working together, it'll put a little more resonance between the two stories. I mean, something big has to happen in Magic Town that'll affect the both of them.

This was a pretty great setup issue. I'm looking forward to what will happen now that Angel and Faith, long in the same comic, are in the same area. Their parallel stories of redemption never melded as being separate and Magic Town is too weird for those two not to be connected. There wasn't much meat on these bones, but it's but a fledgling.

This was a Faith-light issue and I'm glad for it. The way they're juggling the Angel and Faith storylines is pretty much perfect in this issue, which is a godsend since I've been complaining about pretty much only that in these Angel and Faith issues this season. What this issue did great wasn't big character moments or plot progression, but huge reveals and laying seeds. I loved the stuff with Illyria and Koh and it only makes you think and rethink their own motivations throughout this recent run. Think and rethink like Angel and Faith have done for a long time.

Angel and Faith seems to have lost sight of a few things: 1. Angel, 2. Faith, and 3. Magic Town. The three focal points have not much been so the last two issues. It's telling, then, that they're still pretty good. Whedon's stuff works best when steeped in character and, even as Koh takes over the narrative, the issues still seem strong despite its relative lack of focus on the focal characters / location. Nadira may have pointed Koh in the right direction, but Angel was the impetus. And it may be Angel, or Faith, that provides the final push to the good side for Koh.

I hope Fred's reintroduction brings new life to this comic. By all indications it will and I'm just sad they didn't do it earlier. The separation between Angel and Faith was necessary, but it felt like it took forever. I suppose I have been reading these issues once a month for the past 14 or so weeks, so it feels a lot more stretched out as well. But Fred was the paradigm shift that Angel and Faith needed and I'm liking what they're doing with it thus far.

This intermediary issue just didn't do it for me this time. To be fair, I can't recall of many that have. In recent memory, Billy the Vampire Slayer was good, but also had two issues to work through its story. These issues will probably always suffer in something like Buffy or Angel, which deal more in heavy serialization rather than procedural.

It's weird that the removal of Angel in his (half) titular comic is what makes it a lot better. But it could also be the focus on one story instead of two stories, as it has been. This also gives Faith some more leadership opportunities and a chance in the spotlight. Making her a gym teacher is a masterstroke"because that's basically what she did, and loved when she was training Slayers"and I can't help but applaud these little moments.

Angel & Faith is ramping up to hopefully(???) a big crossover event with the Buffy comics. At least it looks that way with all signs pointing to the American team and the British team converging to a common goal. It'd be an exciting event if it happened, but what they're doing now works too. It's cool to be able to watch Faith without Angel do her own thing and beat on people on her own right"and not have it be overshadowed by Angel's arc.

The seeming end of this arc came to a nice conclusion with Faith and Fred stabbing a flag through the heart of a jerk vampire boy. This is the symbol of this comic, that these two can be cool even without Angel around. And it's, in fact, better without Angel around since Faith and Angel's arcs so closely relate. The removal of Angel has only proven one thing: He might be better off in Buffy or simply playing an occasional role. Rename the comic to Faith and Fred.

I'm usually meh on setup issues because they stuff so much information, but this one was helped by being a continuation of Buffy. As such, I really liked this issue. It's ramping up the stakes and it's showing that Archaeus is smarter than the weird monster thing that he appears as. He's been plotting ever since his demise in Buffy a few days ago and he's ready for Magic Town.

This issue is action packed and filled with setup for what's to come. Team Angel comes together"even Koh, Brandt, Sophronia, and Lavinia are included in the fun"and sets up to fight against the big bad introduced in Buffy. But as last issue was essentially a continuation of Buffy, and this was a start of Angel's way of doing things, the issue suffered. The set up issues are always hard, especially with 24 pages to work with, but this did it well. It was a lot of moving pieces without feeling like I was being dragged along for the ride.

There's a lot of moving pieces to get moving before everything goes into full swing. It sounds like this is going to be the end of season 10 soon, or at least we're closer to the end than the beginning, so this Archaeus thing is going to move into something very, very big soon. Given that the big bad has already been in both Buffy and Angel, I'm ready for what's waiting.

That went a little too well, but if they had to do something similar again, Archaeus might not be so cocky. The real question is what do they do now that they have Nadria back"an extremely broken Nadira that can't trust the magic that gave her the status she has. No one's safe on team Angel.

This is certainly the beginning of the end of something, even if it isn't Archaeus. But plan after plan is failing for the progenitor of vampires, and he isn't about to sit around and do nothing about it. Out of impatience or hubris, he'll do something rash at some point and Angel's a little too smart not to take advantage. Team Angel has the upper hand here, but it's their game to lose.

There was one other major event that I didn't really expect and it solidified my theory that Buffy is growing, shown in the most obvious of ways. It'll be interesting to see where the comic goes from here, with Willow leaving yet again. But Buffy still has Xander, Dawn, and Spike around to ease her worries. I just wonder what the world will do to her.