Buffy Season Eight has been an adventure. Almost twice as long as its original intended length, the story has meandered a bit on its way to giving us some great (and less than great) moments over the course of 40 issues.The conclusion of "Last Gleaming" finds the Buffy and the Scoobies alive (with one big exception), but trapped in a world without magic. The world was saved both from a demon horde and the creation of a new reality but the line of Slayers has been severed as has any connection witches like Willow had with magic.
As final issues go this one's not half-bad. I grew a little weary of Season Eight, especially when Twilight was revealed to be Angel and he and Buffy started going hot and heavy again. Thankfully, this final issue gives us an end free of the insanity that plagued the final ten issues of this season.
This feels like Buffy again, and sets down the events that lead to Fray as well as foreshadow the fallout which is sure to come in Season Nine (set to begin this summer).
Also included here is a full page letter thanking all those involved including Drew Goddard (who penned Season Eight's highpoint "Wolves at the Gate"). In retrospect this first full comic season of Buffy stumbled a bit, but you could say the same for some of it's televised seasons, too (remember Season Four?).
It may not have been perfect, but it was memorable, and even with the craziness of the last year this last issue reestablishes the characters as well as give them somewhere new to go. A couple of months ago if you had asked me if I was looking forward to Season Nine I'm not sure my response would have been positive. Now, I'm curious to see where Buffy the Vampire Slayer will go next.
[Dark Horse $2.99]
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