(S08I04) And thus ends the first arc of the new season of Buffy. This issue was a bit all over the place. Some sections seemed to jump a bit too much, particularly in the first half of the book, though you could almost get the feeling that it wouldn't be done much differently had this been actually on television.

I will say this much for the series, though -- the "big bad" of the season is something of brilliance. Well played, Mr. Whedon.

(S08I03) It's pretty clear, when you're reading through these comics, that the budget that would be involved to make this a season of television would be through the roof. A gianormous Dawn, an army of thousands of undead and Willow's intense spells, all set in a castle in Scotland which is outfitted with a bunch of technology. Thank God for a medium that lets creativity go completely wild without budget worries.

If I've got one criticism for these books I'd have to say it's how the characters are drawn on the pages. The cover images (as you can see here to the right) are amazingly detailed and truly capture what we remember of the characters, but the inside pages have a bit to be desired.

Since Angel left the air almost three years ago, fans of the Buffyverse shows have wondered how (not if) either series would continue. We've been teased with the possibility of moves since even before Buffy ended its run, and still no one seems to have given us a straight answer.

Finally we Whedon fans have had something to look forward to in the form of a comic book. Sure there have been plenty of books done in the Buffyverse before, but this time it's different. 'Long Way from Home' is meant to serve as the start of Joss' s vision of what a season eight of Buffy would have been, had the show continued. So for purists this is most probably considered canon.

I was lucky enough to get an early draft of the first issue from the series, so read on for a few not-so spoilery tidbits.