Discussion of 8.02 "The Long Way Home Part 2" - Released 4/4/07 (Comic)

[nerd4hire]

Issue # 2 is out, and speaking for myself personally, "Whoopee". I didn't get shut out this time. My comic pusher told me there's as much, if not more interest in this one. He had a long list of people on the waiting list, and at least a box of Buffys with the names of waiting buyers in every plastic cover.

Oh...here's the plot squib.

=The destruction of Buffy’s hometown, plus covert and powerful slayer “cells” around the world, add up to a new label for the Scoobies: Terrorist threat. Speaking of Sunnydale, the crater formerly known as, has opened to reveal the witch Amy, and boy is she pissed. Now: Giles, smoochies, a knife to the heart, and a big sleep. Season Eight continues.

http://www.popcultureshock.com/index.php?p=41349

[nerd4hire]

It's even better than last issue. If he keeps this up, how good can it get, I wonder. Great dialogue. The characters are beginning to breathe. Wild ideas, and hints at future wowness.

And that last line, with that image. Was anyone else rubbing their hands together, cackling maniacally, or should I say apprehensively, because next issue...oh that's gonna be something.

Are those of us who were betting Adam as Amy's boyfriend starting to get ready to collect their cash yet. I'm not so sure any more. Now I'm starting to expect a surprise. It seems too obvious now to be Adam. Then again we could guess The First as big bad for Season 7 from the final scene in Lessons.

Buffy's headless romancer...Spike, or Angel?

[DantePD]

I'm guessing the just off frame lover was Spike. Did we ever see Angel wear a t-shirt with his coat?
I'm still holding my bets on the boyfriend to be Warren.
Someone is FINALLY talking about Dawn's abandonment issues.

And wow, I'm looking forward to Willow kicking Amy's ass, after that whole "turning into Warren" thing...

[2zen2]

Love the Willow appearance and can't wait for Amy to get what's coming to her. I agree with DantePD - the dream boy appears to me to be Spike (yippe!).

I got nothing on who Amy's boyfriend is other than whoever it is, they are not human (based on the General's comments). Clem got the hell out of dodge, Adam and Warren were without a power source and skin respectively, so not really seeing them as filling the bill. Could it be the First in a Caleb skin?

[David]

AICN's Hercules gives a page-by-page review of Issue 2 of Buffy Season 8. Couldn't get a hold of it at your comic book shop? Comic Book Resources has an eleven page preview of issue 2.

More... (http://www.whedonesque.com/comments/12904)

[nerd4hire]

I was just reading the posts at the link above and they offered a few "aha" moments. I don't mean they're necessarily true. I just mean it's stuff I hadn't thought of.

* Suggestion * The guy without a head in Buffy's dream is not Spike, or Angel. It's Riley Finn.

* Suggestion * The slayer girl who makes the Nick Fury comment to Xander in # 1, and the one who seems to have a crush on Xander in # 2 are the same girl.

* Suggestion * Floaty feet guy is Dracula.

I won't add the Amy's boyfriend is Adam one, because someone here at BB had that one last month.

* Something I missed * "In the letter page of issue 2,Scott Allie said there would be a month hiatus between issue 4,the conclusion of the first arc and the standalone issue 5.It's to give the various artists some extra time to give their best work.So it looks like we won't get a issue in July.It's the first of the various skip months we'll be getting between arcs."

Here's the link to the eleven page preview.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=10211

[Lyri]

NO! not Riley! i was happy when someone mentipned Spike. seriously, i was doing cartwheels!
k, that's a lie, but still, it made me giddy!
Dawn looks so cute bathing in the pond, lol. Xander just looks uncomfortable!

[goldenboy]

Still waiting on my copy...I'm glad Andrew got a haircut. His hobbity Frodo hair from Angel Season 5 truly bugged me. Just as nerdly as ever, so that's good. It's nice to hear everyone's voice again. You can definitely hear Joss in all the dialogue. It's different in some ways from all the other Buffy writers.

I'm thinkin Georges' art is only gonna get better too, as he gets into it. This looks a little better than #1.

[nerd4hire]

There is one thing about the art I don't like. It's just a niggle, but there are times when he just does black dots for eyes. It looks old time comic strippy.

This kind of sucks, waiting for all you guys to get your subscriptions. I'm pretty much sitting on this thread talking to myself. It's OK though, I guess. At least this way I know nobody's going to say anything that's going to piss me off. : king :

[goldenboy]

I'm tempted to walk down to the comic shop, loiter, skim the issue...a time honored tradition, heh. It's already sold out for all I know...

Georges does scrimp on the detail quite a bit when the figures are small. That bugs. I'm assuming he's drawing the panels at close to the published size, as opposed to drawing really large, then scanning, shrinking.

On the plus side, it's lively, slightly scruffy, craggy which is good.

[Mr. Pointy]

My comic book guy told Mrs P that he's expecting to get his supply of no. 2 in next week...it took a lot of willpower not to look at the preview above :)

[Black Eye Guy]

This kind of sucks, waiting for all you guys to get your subscriptions. I'm pretty much sitting on this thread talking to myself. It's OK though, I guess. At least this way I know nobody's going to say anything that's going to piss me off. : king :

Thats what I was like last time! I wen't into town this afternoon and went to a comic shop but it wasn't there, it had sold out in under an hour!! But got it at another shop, almost freaked. Bought both covers two as there so cool!

Such an amazing issue. It actually did improve since last issue, the art I thought did look better too.

Andrew I didn't recognise at first then I read what he said and realised it was him.

The whole Buffy/Xander bit before it was revealed was a dream freaked me out completly! The demon that "pulled" her out the window, Buffy says "I know you" - Do we know who that was?

It was also allot funnier then last issue Xanders "Oh my god!!... This is the crappiest sacrificial dagger I've ever seen" was classic"

* Suggestion * The slayer girl who makes the Nick Fury comment to Xander in # 1, and the one who seems to have a crush on Xander in # 2 are the same girl.

Was that not totally obivious? She looks exactly the same?

And Wow, just wow the last page was just... Wow. That was such a good moment, I really got that whole excited feeling when I saw that - Like I was grinning ear to ear and all twitchy in the back seat of the car, and when I looked up my friend was looking at me in the rear view mirror - clearly I looked insane!

Next issue is going to be AMAZING!

[nerd4hire]

The whole Buffy/Xander bit before it was revealed was a dream freaked me out completly! The demon that "pulled" her out the window, Buffy says "I know you" - Do we know who that was?

Well yeah. That's Amy, isn't it. I mean it's the monster in the dream, but it's also Amy, because isn't she in the next frame. That's the impression I got anyway.

[Black Eye Guy]

Oh right that would make sense I thought she was saying it to the demon - Thought it might have been a physical form for the first or something (Just ciz it looked a little like it!

[2zen2]

The dream portion freaked me out a little - had to read that twice to get it and yes, the large demon dragging Buffy out of the window is Amy - the demons little "yes, scream" speech is continued by Amy in the next panel.

I will admit up front I'm hoping for Spike to be dreamlover, but I don't think it would be Riley - Riley never called Buffy love, neither did Angel. That was a Spikism...

Ok - and can I say love the crappy ceremonial dagger moment... Sgt. Fury saves the day. (hehehehehehe) - Xander is redeaming himself by the issue.

[Tranquillity]

Yey - i got my copy today so i can stop feeling left out!

I think dream guy is Spike because in the dream Buffy says "balls' and 'dance', two words that have been particualrly associated with Spike, (anyway i hope it is him).

I though the monster in the dream was the same one that she fought in #1 - you know the one she put the crusifix through the head of because they talk with the same hissiness.

Any world travellers who could hazard a guess what city or country Giles is in? i thought Russia or Istanbull but they are just amature guesses...

Amy's boyfriend? i was very much thinking it was a re-animated Warren but was watching Villains and realised that Willow burns up the body after ripping off the skin so, not much left to reanimate so i'm still pondering that one.

Loved that last page! Me and my kids watched Two to Go today after reading the comic and when Giles made his big entry we all said in unison -"I'd like to test theat theory...' It was a very special moment, makes a mother proud!

[2zen2]

Oh, the "two to go" connection. I had forgotten what episode "test that theory" was from... What about Jonathan as the boyfriend? Didn't Andrew leave him on the hellmouth?

[Karl]

Just read it, DL-d issues 1 & 2 off the internet (please don't start critizing, I have ordered the comics, they'll arrive in about 3 weeks time). Anyways I love season 8 so far and the caharcter art is also good (except Andrew, art needs improving, just couldn't recognise him). As this is a topic for #2 I'm gonna give my thoughts on it

>I'm 90% sure that the true love is Spike, leather jacket, red t-shirt, it just has to be him. I'm actually concerned how the writers are going to handle his character, wasn't it said that we won't see much of him in the comic, does that mean he's gonna kiss Buffy and then take off? That'd be unreal and also we really need to know where the Fang Gang is right now and who survived the battle. Then again, the true love may not be Spike. :P

>Whatever happened to the guy whose feet we saw in the air in #1 (lol, this sentence is just wrong, hopefully you'll get what I'm saying)? Because of the jacket I'd bet Spike again but as far as we know he can't fly :P

>As for Amy being the Big Bad this season, I simply don't buy it. She isn't interesting enough, hopefully the army guys will send Amy's boyfriend after the Scoobies real soon and hopefully the boyfriend really is Adam, it would be a good choice. Also, want to see Willow kick Amy's butt. Willow's last line was awesome however I would have preferred "I'd like to test that theory," instead of "As a friend of mine once said I'd like to test that theory." We would have gotten the quote anyway.

>Liked that Xander is still watching out for Dawn and that she confines in him. Have 1 question about the dream though. When did it start, Xander telling Buffy about Dawn, did that really happen or did Buffy subconsciously know that Dawn might have made herself big on purpose?

The Long Way Home (part 1) *** of *****
The Long Way Home (part 2) ***1/2 of *****

Although I may be harsh I love the comic book and knowing what's ahead the next issues might get 5 stars.

Sorry for bad grammer, English isn't my primary language.

[Lehanefan]

My boyfriend (TD) says that it's probably not Angel, because another company owns the right to the character/Season 6 comic. So, my guess is that it's Spike. Though, the words "true love" really do throw you off... so who knows. All I know is that it's NOT Riley. Joss knows better than to start a riot.

[nerd4hire]

My boyfriend (TD) says that it's probably not Angel, because another company owns the right to the character/Season 6 comic.

Well, as long as you have a reference source...;)

Just kidding. I use Wikipedia sometimes which isn't much better.

However...Scott Allie the editor of Dark Horse claims IDW don't own the rights to Angel or the Angel characters. Check it out.

http://buffy-boards.com/showthread.php?t=31841

[CharmedSlayer85]

So now Willow's floating and stuff. I wonder how powerful are they going to make this woman, because her power just keeps growing and growing and growing, kind of like the Energizer Bunny

[Black Eye Guy]

Willows been able to float since season 5!

[Lyri]

Willows been able to float since season 5!

yep. i think the first timewe saw her float was in the ep that Glory hory Tara, with the mind sucking thing.

[Black Eye Guy]

Yeah, and even earlier then that with tara in Family :)

[Hero]

I still have to order my issue, but I read on wikipedia that the Slayers are losing the battle against Amy's army of zombies when the comic ends. I know that wikipedia isn't a very reliable source, so is that true? I don't like the sound of that. I dunno. I just don't like the sound of Slayers losing to zombies...

[Karl]

I still have to order my issue, but I read on wikipedia that the Slayers are losing the battle against Amy's army of zombies when the comic ends. I know that wikipedia isn't a very reliable source, so is that true? I don't like the sound of that. I dunno. I just don't like the sound of Slayers losing to zombies...

One of the slayers tells Xander over the com: "'Kill the head' isn't working! They're not even slowing down! Orders, sir?"
So my guess is that they're super-zombies. I'm betting the zombies will become killable again when Willow defeats Amy.

[CharmedSlayer85]

What makes a zombie an effective enemy is you can't really stop a zombie unless you chop it to bits, because unlike vampires zombies aren't undead, they're just dead so chopping off their head won't really do anything cause for the most part it's magick that's keeping zombies alive, so I'm guessing unless the Slayers have to bomb to blow them to bits or of course Willow stops the spell then I say they have their hands full

[Karl]

Just checked out the #3 preview (6 pages), read it if you want to know how the zombies are stopped.:)

[Hero]

You have a link to it?

[Karl]

You have a link to it?

To the #3 preview? http://www.darkhorse.com/downloads.php?did=613
It has been posted here before.

[alexa]

Jeez guys watch the Issue#3 spoilers ;)
Just got my comic :D It was awesome, although I have to admit it took me a bit to get into. Xander and Buffy kissing was so cute! Then when his head fell off I was :lmao: It's still cracking me up "This lint is so Scottish".
I'm just more confused then I was before about Amy's boyfriend.. and if that was the guy who was putting his army 'suit' on.
I want to know if Xander has a go with some smoochies with Buffy! The mystery dream guy did seem like Spike to me also.. but it was her dream, why can't we/she see who it is? Honestly, it seems to me that even Buffy doesn't know who it is. I'll have to think more about what all these dreams mean now :p

Jeez it will be good when Angel and Spike are in the next issue, finally shut up everyone saying that they're not allowed to appear ;)

[alexa]

I also just realized that in Buffy's dream the dragon is Amy, because she says 'I know you' and then the dragon/Amy says 'yes scream ... (next page) ...I wouldn't want this to be painless' etc. And side bar, what a bitch. If it wasn't for Buffy Amy would be still in the body of a 50 year old woman, and it wasn't like Buffy knew Sunnydale was going to turn into a giant crater.
Anyway, also I've just seen that Buffy is actually crucified (just in time for Easter :p) ... guess that part's just more interesting subtext then anything else. She is of course also in her bed with her hands and feet bound.
Still thinking about her dreams, I wonder if Buffy and Xander *did* have a thing previously somewhere between the end of season 7 and now. Prolly not, but questions are being asked after Buffy and Xander's first kiss! :p Even if it was a dream followed by decapitation.

And jeez where is everyone. Come on people.

[Tranquillity]

Just an observation:

dream guy wears a blackish-brown jacket with a red t-shirt underneath. have a look at the front cover - Xander is wearing a blackish-brown jacket with a red t-shirt underneath (you can just see the neck line of it).

now that's food for thought.....

[alexa]

Ok feeling a bit frequent in this thread today, but I re-read the comic just now and had another 'omg-I-can't-believe-I-didn't-notice-that-before' moment. A lot of people seem to think the guy we see getting undressed in the army uniform might be Amy's boyfriend because you don't see his face, but I kinda noticed that he says 'Suit' as implying the suit he was just talking to before he walked into the room. So the guy we see undressing with the weird mark is actually the captain army chief guy we've been seeing, talking about blowing up Buffy. He also has a model aeroplane which seems to be pointed out to us... I suppose a lot of you already figured this out, but oh well :p He does seem to have a different colour on when inside his darker room and without his hat on, it threw me. Do you guys think it's the same guy? If so what does this mean for the bodies with the same mark on them that Buffy's girls found.

[eponinethen]

And that last line, with that image. Was anyone else rubbing their hands together, cackling maniacally, or should I say apprehensively, because next issue...oh that's gonna be something.
I liked the whole issue (of course), but that last page really made me super happy. Wow Willow is so amazingly awesome, I still love her as much as I ever did.

[asukafan]

i got mine last weekend. it was awesome!

- Buffy's dream was cool, you could definitely tell it was written by Joss ("This lint is so scottish", lol). I'm also curious about who this "true love" is suppossed to be. I'm hoping its Angel, as Joss said he and Spike would appear next issue (hopefully with Illyria and Gunn). Maybe the visions Cordeilia gave Angel also give him so form of telepathy to enter Buffy's dream (if it is him).

- The dialogue was as good as ever. Andrew's little monologue was funny.

- I loved the last page! Willow's back, and she's gonna kick some ass!

[Whistler]

Just got my copy yesterday because they all sold out on the first day. I got a couple of thoughts on another awesome issue.

-Yay for Giles being back. Him being in charge of a whole section makes sense.

- Buffy is still the most powerful slayer out there, I wonder if that will ever change?

- I still love Andrew, although I do miss the crazy hair. And it's cool how he flat stated slayers don't use guns, ever.

- The Army general dude is definately the guy with the mark on his chest, obviously he knows alot more about this world then we thought.

- "...Are you coming to bed?" I don't think any five words in the Buffyverse have blown me away more then that, before I realized it was a dream. But if this is a dream then doesn't that mean that there is something between them? Or this type of thing was going on? I dunno but god I hope so.

- Anyone else see the girl that was flirting with Xander in the first issue get stabbed in the back? Possibly to death, looks like it could be a killing blow. That would kinda end that romance possibility.

- Willow is back and Amy looked like she was about to sh*t her pants, and for good reason. All fear Willow.

Can't wait for the next issue.

[nerd4hire]

I just thought of something. There's this big battle going on in the castle, and our guys haven't even unleashed Giant Dawn yet.

Do Zombies have ears? She could just scream at them, "Get out! Get out! Get out!!!" with hyper-sonic giant loudness. No wait. That wouldn't work, because then you'd have a lot of deaf slayers...maybe a good chunk Scotland too.

[slayerxy]

Okay, I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer with all my heart and soul. But I'm still waiting for this Season Eight to get good.
-Why did Buffy have a gun in the first issue? She hates guns! And why did Andrew say they don't use guns when they clearly did?!
-I pray that Buffy and Xander don't get together all lovey dovey. They're like brother and sister! Besides, you gotta have SOME scoobies that don't sleep with each other.
-Also, I think Amy's "boyfriend" is Adam. But I hope not. Only because they've done that before in the crappy Buffy comic series and failed miserably. For heavens sake, they gave him wings and made him a ghost!
-I like Andrew a lot and I like who he is and how funny he is. But since this comic takes place a year and a half after the seventh season you'd think he would have grown up a bit. He's watcher now isn't he? So if he's still a dork that can't give the slayers any good advice or information why are Buffy and Giles letting him talk to the slayers?
-I want all of the slayers except Buffy and Faith to die because this population of slayers is making Buffy and Faith obsolete. I just don't like where its going. I have Faith in Joss, though. So I'll hang in there.
-Once last thing, did anyone else notice the feather earring on the chick that flirted with Xander in issue #1 changed ears? She only had one earring and in one panel its in one ear and in another panel it switches to the other ear.

[alexa]

-Why did Buffy have a gun in the first issue? She hates guns! And why did Andrew say they don't use guns when they clearly did?!

Um, yeah that wasn't a gun to shot or hurt people/demons/anyone with, it was only used to get rid of the forcefield protecting the demons.
And by Andrew's comment in issue 2, Joss is clearly saying this. In my opinion anyway :)

Oh yeah I also noticed that the girl flirting with Xander got a sword in the back.

[CharmedSlayer85]

I just thought of something. There's this big battle going on in the castle, and our guys haven't even unleashed Giant Dawn yet.

Do Zombies have ears? She could just scream at them, "Get out! Get out! Get out!!!" with hyper-sonic giant loudness. No wait. That wouldn't work, because then you'd have a lot of deaf slayers...maybe a good chunk Scotland too.

Yeah I was wondering the same thing. I'm like Giant Dawn can easily swat those zombies and make them go splat on the wall. It's not like she hasn't participated in battles before, plus being that she's a giant she's a lot stronger then the slayers right now. And yeah I can't wait til next issue, because I mean hey Willow. I mean she is my favorite character so I've been waiting for her since the beginning. I think I said this before but I hope this season deals with the core four a little more and not so much on the slayers. I know after these issues the focus is gonna go to Faith I believe issues 6-9. But I am wondering about Rona, Vi, Kennedy, and Cho Ann where are they? Are they with Faith? Are they in other units. I know Kennedy is with Willow so she'll possibly be in the next issue, but geesh. And I said it before and I'm gonna say it again, WHERE ARE THEY GETTING THE MONEY FOR ALL THIS STUFF? I mean how did they get in the castle anyway? In this day an age everybody owns property, did they buy it from someone? I mean a castle has to cost millions to own. Where'd they get the money for all this equipment and furniture and food and clothing and weapons, etc. And of course the light bill and stuff lol

[Ashxking]

On the true love thing. Angel did were a red shirt in the episode with the vVampire club in season 2

[Tranquillity]

Are you coming to bed?" I don't think any five words in the Buffyverse have blown me away more then that, before I realized it was a dream. But if this is a dream then doesn't that mean that there is something between them?

Agreed. I think i re-read the words five time before i could comprehend them. But as to her dream meaning she has 'feelings' of a romantic nature for the Xand man i don't agree cos if i know that if i ever have a, ahem, *sexy* dream it usually features the last person i'd like to have sweaty relations with ::huh1::

[alexa]

Agreed. I think i re-read the words five time before i could comprehend them. But as to her dream meaning she has 'feelings' of a romantic nature for the Xand man i don't agree cos if i know that if i ever have a, ahem, *sexy* dream it usually features the last person i'd like to have sweaty relations with ::huh1::

Heh, not me ;)
I sort of took it as meaning she was afraid of getting Xander hurt, and it being her fault.. because of who she is ("I'm afraid of the dark" > "You are the dark"). Not sure if it's about hurting him physically or emotionally. The bit where his head *pop*s off still makes me LOL.

[slayerxy]

But I am wondering about Rona, Vi, Kennedy, and Cho Ann where are they? Are they with Faith?

I hope Rona's dead. I can't stand her.

[goldenboy]

Huh. As far as guessing the ID of the mystery love, I hate to even hazard a guess. Amy looked like a giant stone dragon in Buffy's delirium...so is what we see there even an accurate image? Dunno. (my gut said Spike...seems like that's what Joss wants us to suspect)

And yeah, I was thinking Russia or Turkey...maybe Greece for Giles' locale, not sure.

Now, the General having the mystery symbol - I wonder if it's something like the Knights of Byzantium. Some secret order that's sort of sworn to protect...something. Not "evil" per se, just that they may have a conflict of interest with the new slayer status quo.

[VisionGuy]

I just got mine in the mail and I read it twice. It was way better than issue number one in my opinion. I loved the part where Xander's head pops off and he keeps talking anyway. LOL For the figure in the dream, my guess is Spike. I mean the shirt and the jacket. Not to mention the way he is standing. That spells out Spike right there. As for the true love's kiss thing, it could be anyone. Who knows, maybe Xander still loves her and he's the key to waking her up. I don't think Angel or Spike will make an appearance outside the dream sequences.

[Joamna]

Even better issue than the first one. The ending, what can I say, it was amazing, gah.

I loved the part where Xander's head pops off and he keeps talking anyway. LOL I agree, that was hilarious!

[Lyri]

*screams like an idiot!*

my comics came this morning!! squee!! i was totally not expecting them for another two weeks at least, but OMG!!
i've read them three times, already. i loved everything. i could totally hear their voices in my head as i read it.
loving Giant Dawn, she makes me laugh.
the feet, and the guy in Buffy's dream...i don't know. i'd like to say it's Spike, 'cause of the coat, but he never wore a red T-shirt. it was black, with a red button dwon over it. but i'd LOVE it to be Spike! i think i'd keel over and die on the spot if it turns out to be him.
Amy's boyfriend is getting me even more confused. the army people are talking about him like he's horrible looking, so my theory of Caleb just went out the window...unless the Hellmouth desfigured him in someway.
i'm offically jumping on the Adam bandwagon.

[mogwaid]

Bah Im sticking to my theory that Amy's boyfriend is a disfigured Cheese man from 'Restless' :D

[eponinethen]

Am I the only one who is not going crazy trying to figure out who Amy's boyfriend is? Maybe I'm just not extremely interested in Amy... or um, boyfriends... :D

[Angel's vision]

i had to wait two week sfor my issues the local comic shop had sold out
very fast!

Anyway i loved Giant Dawn!

The guy in Buffy's Dream, i thought it was Angelus as she is being tormented.
But reading the posts it would make sense for it to be Spike, she still thinks he is dead, and Amy might know a bit about the way he died, to torment her.
The speach is very Spike too.

Her dealing with Dawn was very bitchy! ow!
Just my take on it.

Xander/Buffy sequence really had me believing they were an item till the dragon bit, and the part where his head rolls off!

I guess it was so sudden i was not seeing any indication of the time that lasped.
Still it is rather well done, the symbols are what integues me, and they are on the General's chest too, which is very interesting, as the victim in issue one had it too.

I just couldn't believe the victims death was seen as self-inflicted, no proof and they quicky jumped the gun too fast, that annoyed me,and that the symbols seemed to be dissmissed!

[crabby patty]

just read part 2 and wow , what can i say. better then part 1 I think, and the ending was great.

It brought back those exciting feelings I had when I had just watched a new episode of Buffy.

and I got the variant cover !!

[Wiccaness]

Just an observation:

dream guy wears a blackish-brown jacket with a red t-shirt underneath. have a look at the front cover - Xander is wearing a blackish-brown jacket with a red t-shirt underneath (you can just see the neck line of it).

now that's food for thought.....


Thats a good point. I hadnt noticed that, but it does add up its them 2 in the cover and she kisses him and then mystery guy....hmmmm?

[Karl]

yey, I received the firts 2 issues from TFAW today. Although I DL-d the issues weeks ago it's still awesome to own the real thing.

[Samarkand]

Finally picked up my #2 yesterday. Good thing I found a place where you can prepay and reserve titles! It's damn near impossible to get a copy of a Season 8 comic otherwise.

My internal X/B shippiness alarm went off during the "coming to bed" moment. Right now we don't know what was part of the dream and what was reality. My suspicion is that the conversation in the hallway was real, if only as something Buffy was remembering in her dream until the nightmare section hit. As for whether Xander and Buffy had had previous relations... I won't speculate. The subtext in the dream--being careful "this time"--indicates that Buffy has perhaps fantasized about it. But the emotional commitment of such involvement probably isn't happy-shippy romantic. Xander *didn't* give it a whirl to awake Buffy with the kiss of true love. And Buffy's approach was more an, er, "friends with extras" approach.

What the dream sequence really played up was Buffy's sense of isolation. She's estranged emotionally from her sister, forced to become an authority figure to women who are in awe (and perhaps just a bit afraid) of her, and her personal life is practically dead. Her one attempt for human contact in the dream goes awry and she is cast out into the dark alone to deal with the demons. On the other hand, the theme of "Long Way Home" points to her making contact again. We see Giles and Andrew, Xander is clearly family now given his running interference between Dawn and Buffy, and of course...The Red Witch!

Oh, and love the RenFaire look. Suits our Will!

I also really, really liked the sparring match between Buffy and the three junior slayers. Currently it's a toss-up between Rowena (so sue me, I dig redheads) and spunky Leah. Although, truly, Satsu has the best hair. :D

[alexa]

Ok, I know this is really old news now, but I just worked something out.
My old signature with Xander with his head popped off and he says 'This lint is so Scottish' I just thought it was really weird and funny. But then I see now that it is totally Joss foreshadowing the fact that Warren is in league with Amy. Lint was something mentioned by Buffy in 'Life Serial' as the ''evil lint'' which Warren placed on her to make time flip out. Oh I just have too much time on my hands.. but you know Whedon is all about the subtext. ;) There's always something to read into.
And also this is my favourite comic so far after re-reading it. It's so funny.

[GATEGOD]

I got it today!! And loved it of course! I got the yellow cover, with girls fighting on it, which isn't the greatest ^.^ but I like what is inside!
The reveal at the end of Willow was great. Using the line Giles used to stop her was a great idea!
And Xander/Amy bickering was hilarious. And I was confused by some of the transitions between things, but it worked.
And Buffy knocking off Xander's head is hilarious. I was totally thrown when she kissed him lol

[Buffy Summers]

Thank GOD the Xander thing wasn't real lol

[palabravampiress]

Thank GOD the Xander thing wasn't real lol

I know! I was like... "Xander's head fell off! Oh no!" At first, I thought maybe he was undead like Lilah in AtS. Didn't she say her head fell off sometimes? But then I was like, "Dream. Oh. Thank God!"

[Cordelia Chase*]

I know! I was like... "Xander's head fell off! Oh no!" At first, I thought maybe he was undead like Lilah in AtS. Didn't she say her head fell off sometimes? But then I was like, "Dream. Oh. Thank God!"

LMAO! Idk bout heads falling off, but Iwas like BUffy and Xander?! Really? lol

[palabravampiress]

LMAO! Idk bout heads falling off, but Iwas like BUffy and Xander?! Really? lol

I was sorta sad that wasn't the truth. I've been a Buffy/Xander fan ever since the beginning of season 7. They just clicked so well.

[Buffy Summers]

I disagree - I don't think they click at all lol

[palabravampiress]

I disagree - I don't think they click at all lol

Really? When he was driving them to school and work and generally being pretty much the only stable male presence in the Summers' girls' lives, I was really digging it. He was just acting like such a... husband. I thought it was cute.

I've always been a Buffy/Xander fan, though. I loved Xander and Anya to pieces. I moved on from Buffy/Xander when Anya came into the picture. Now that she's dead, though, and Buffy and Xander have both grown up, I think I could really go for my Buffy/Xander shippiness again.

[XDruX]

I have just got this issue today thanks to StuckInTraffic (yay!) and I'm loving it so far.
Loved when Willow showed up at the very end. I must admit I was a little bit confused about Dawn being that big and the fact that everything seems so futuristic but well.
The dialogues are great, I feel like I'm watching the series.
Like when Xander says: " You know I only have two of these outfits."

Reading the next ones...