Well, apparently even a lunch amongst friends can get pretty messy if you live in Sunnydale. A lesson that Buffy, Willow, and Faith quickly learned when they encountered some kinda pasta demon… yes, pasta demon. Let that sink in. It’s got a bit of that silly vibe that the occasional monster-of-the-week episodes had.
Presently, with said pasta demon causing all sorts of chaos with a side mission of impregnating paying customers with its eggs, it’s up the Slayers and Buffy to sort it out. Things get even messier when an emotionally and physically exhausted Willow takes care of business her own way, leading Buffy to doubt her friendship and worth even more.
While this issue definitely picked up the pace and we got some nice character drama, I feel like five issues in is maybe a little too long for the reader to not really know where things may be headed. While I enjoy character-building as much as the next fan, these characters seem a bit scattered, and it feels like I’m reading some great vignettes, but the larger story feels a lot less cohesive. I’d really like to see things gel a bit more. I especially want to know what’s up with Xander and Spike!
Sonia Liao returns on art duties, and if you liked her work on Issue #2, then you’ll like it here, too. Liao amps up the gross factor on the pasta demon, and her panels have a great deal of motion. I do like the range of emotions that she gives the characters. Valentina Pinto’s colors seem to look great on a range of different styles. The magick effects in Willow’s spellwork look particularly good here.
Overall, with Willow’s nerves really beginning to fray and Buffy feeling pretty helpless in her realization that things just don’t feel right, we’re ripe for some real truth bombs which may shake the Scoobies to the core. Meanwhile, Xander and Spike getting chummy… let’s hope that Xander doesn’t get his heart (and throat) ripped out.
Creative Team: Sarah Gailey (writer), Sonia Liao (artist), Valentina Pinto (colorist), Ed Dukeshire (letterer)
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
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