For those not keeping track, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise has continued to a season eight in the comic books. In her latest escapades, Buffy (with her Slayer army) has been fighting a masked villain named Twilight who apparently is familiar with Buffy.

In an interview, Dark Horse editor Scott Alie revealed the secret identity of Twilight. Spoiler is after the jump ...

In honor of our Buffy/Angel week of Retro Squad, it's only fitting that I finally give some updates on what's going on with each series with respect to their continuation in comic-book form. I'll throw in a little 'Serenity: Better Days' for good measure.

Let me warn you right now that I'll be revealing quite a bit about each series below. So, if you haven't read them yet or want to wait to read the books for any plot points, stop reading now. I'll be writing about the entire series of each, not just the most recent.

First up, Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Season Eight.

It's been a while since my last review of a Buffy season eight comic, and since then there's been other developments in the TV-on-comics front (we should have a category for that). Rather than dedicate separate posts to this news, I'll round everything up here, at least this time around.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - season eight - Issues #10 & #11
These were stand-alone "episodes," unlike 'The Long Way Home' and 'No Future for You'. A few things are revealed here that help keep the Big Bad of this season in play. Willow has even more power than we could have realized in past seasons, and an unexpected person has a crush on Buffy. I really liked 'A Beautiful Sunset' (#11) more than any other issue, with a great moment where one of the main, masked antagonists is almost revealed. Classic Joss writing.

A new multi-part series kicks off March 5, written by veteran Drew Goddard.

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.

As a big gadget and techno geek, I've got enough things on my wish list to cover many pages and many years on this site, but as you've no doubt already noticed with these lists here, "what we want for Festivus" covers an entirely different kind of list. Here are a few of my picks for this holiday season.

A satisfying Buffy Season 8 -- The first issue is due out in March, and as any fan of the Buffy series knows, Joss is very involved in the writing for this series. I'm just really hoping it lives up to what fans would expect from a true season eight TV season, leading to possibly more within the true canon of the series.