After a short jaunt away to focus mostly on Xander, this issue brings the focus back to our Slayers… all three-ish of them. Just in case a refresher is needed, we previously learned that Willow became the Slayer after a spell to ease Buffy’s burden went wrong, stripping Buffy’s mantle from her. A side-effect to all that is that another Slayer was also Called. Enter Faith.
This issue gave me some early Buffy the Vampire Slayer vibes. Maybe it’s the banter? It also feels a bit Monster-of-the-Week-y, and that has a charm all of its own. Much of the issue serves as setup for an encounter that the Slayers will have, so as far as stakes go, it doesn’t feel super urgent. After the introduction of an iconic Buffyverse character last month, this issue feels a bit too loose, and I’d personally have preferred a bit more plot progression here. I will say that I did enjoy the tension between the characters, though, and it’s that palpable energy that shows off Sarah Gailey’s understanding of these characters. Four issues in, I’m still not quite sure of the direction of this new series, and that may just be a “me” problem. I would like to get some more clarity on that matter, though.
The artwork by Puste took me a hot second to get used to, mostly because I can’t remember the last time I saw Faith with her hair up. (Okay, I lied, it was in Season 8 when she pretended to be a debutante.) I did appreciate the clean linework and how expressive the characters were, though, so the hair thing is a super minor quibble. The colors by Valentino Pinto and Riccardo Giardina set the tone, giving us a pretty breezy issue, with the exception of Buffy’s description of her dreams. Ed Dukeshire’s lettering looks good, and the speech bubbles coming from off-panel help connect the moments, even when the characters aren’t in the panel.
Overall, a bit light on plot, this issue gives us a good look at the Slayer dynamic.
Creative Team: Sarah Gailey (writer), Puste (artist), Valentina Pinto and Riccardo Giardina (colorists), Ed Dukeshire (letterer)
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
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