(S08I06) Even though this isse wasn't written by Joss, the capable hands of Brian K. Vaughan pulled off what I think feels very true to the Buffyverse. Faith was always one of my favorite characters from Buffy and Angel, and it's great to see her back again. And scenes with Giles? Even better.

It's been so long since I'd watched the last couple of seasons of Buffy that I completely forgot that Principal Wood had a thing with Faith. Here we see that Wood is fully involved in the big baddiness of the world, and he and Faith are still quite a thing.

Like I said, it was great to see Giles back -- always is. The news from Comic-Con, that Ripper is a go, is incredibly exciting news. Anyway, if Whedon has anyone in mind for being offed in this series, I really hope Giles isn't one of them.

Oh, and the close-up of Giles's tattoo? Lots of detail. It won't be long before many more Buffy freaks are donning that sucker on their arms (or, er, not arms).

In this issue we also saw what it meant from the first portion of this series, when it was revealed that the next Big Bad would be the slayers themselves. As Giles indicated, this is much different than what Faith's done in the past. These errant slayers have a vein of evil within them that Faith never had.

I'm definitely liking this part of the series so far. As long as the fairies and slugs stay out of it, I'll be plenty happy.

Quote of the issue:

Xander: "Fear my awesome power! For lo, like Kurt Russell before me, I am a formidable eyepatch-clad opponent. And lest you think I refer to Captain Ron, let me assure you that the one-eyed character of which I speak is none other than the mighty Snake Plissken, who taught me the very ass-handing I'm about to deliver unto you."