Catching up with Buffy and the gang

Into every generation, a slayer is drawn.

It's been a year since Joss Whedon and Dark Horse Comics launched the "eighth season" of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" in funny-book form. And in that time, the Scooby Gang has undergone some pretty startling changes: Dawn has become a giant. Willow has become withdrawn from the group. Giles has teamed up with Faith.

Oh, and Buffy may or may not be gay now.

Yes, "Buffy Season 8" has been an eventful -- and very entertaining -- series of comics so far, and with issue #13 hitting the shelves tomorrow, I thought it might be a good idea to help fans of the iconic TV show catch up with their favorite vampire fighters.

If you'll remember from the series finale, the gang used the scythe -- that shiny red axe-stake thing -- to magically transform every potential slayer in the world into full-fledged supergirls. Now, about a year-and-a-half later, a whole army of those Slayerettes have been rounded up at a remote Scottish castle, where Buffy and Xander have been training them. With Xander commanding a high-tech headquarters, Buffy takes small groups of girls out on rounds, making routine sweeps of demon haunts. Professionally, things have never been better for the Buffster. But being away from home -- you know, that place she turned into a giant sinkhole -- has Buffy feeling a little lonely.

Her sister Dawn, on the other hand, is feeling a little huge. Following a college tryst with her boyfriend's roommate, little Dawnie suddenly finds herself filling a size 400 shoe. Turns out her boyfriend was a "thricewise," and while I have no idea what a thricewise is, Dawn's escapades as the 50 Foot Brat is a perfect example of something Whedon never could have pulled off on a modestly budgeted TV show.

The freedom of the comic medium has added a hugeness to the storyline that is pretty thrilling. From hoards of zombies to massive, multi-toothed monsters, this is "Buffy" cranked up a notch. For example, would the TV show ever have been able to bring back to life Warren, the season-six baddie that Willow, you know, flayed to death? But there he is, at the end of issue #3, in all his skinless glory, being kept alive by an amorous Amy and seeking his revenge on the fair Ms. Rosenberg. Those kind of surprise cameos may give "Buffy Season 8" a slight gimmicky feel, but it's been fun to see old faces like Ethan Rayne, Robin Wood, and even Dracula make unexpected appearances.

And speaking of unexpected, let's talk about Buffy's recent hanky-panky with a fellow slayer, shall we? It was revealed in issue #11 that one of the Slayerettes, Satsu, was in love with Buffy, which Buffy found out about. And according to this article at ABCNews.com of all places, Whedon said they decided to throw the pair right into bed together, because "it would be fun if they just went ahead and did it, rather than have it be a 'will they won't they' situation." The lesbian romp felt less like a stunt aimed at generating sales, than it did a natural progression of the story. Buffy was lonely, she found someone who was in love with her, and she took advantage. Plus the ensuing, inevitable appearance of everyone she knows at her bedroom door was comic gold.

But it isn't all sexy-fun-time for the slayer. There's a new Big Bad for Season 8, a masked toughie named Twilight who is seeking to end the slayer line, not to mention all magic. He has as an accomplice the U.S. government, who has been hunting Buffy and her army ever since they robbed a Swiss bank. (Hey, running a high-tech army of superwomen ain't cheap.) Twilight has already given Buffy one heck of a butt-whooping, and his true identity has been subject to much speculation. (I'm guessing it's Riley, because he's basically the only character that hasn't been brought back yet.)

Elsewhere, Faith has ended up in Cleveland, the location of the other Hellmouth, doing routine slayer stuff like stopping evildoers, saving lives, yadda yadda. But she is recruited by Giles -- who has had an as-yet-unexplored falling-out with Buffy, presumably related to the bank job -- to dispatch a rogue slayer who is going around killing others like her. That slayer, an English upper-crust brat named Gigi, has it in her head to take out Buffy and become the new head honcho of the slayer brigade. Faith, who lies her way into Gigi's good graces, doesn't exactly hate what she's hearing in this regard, given her history with Buffy. In the end, however, she comes to her senses, wastes Gigi, and accepts an offer from Giles to team up.

Having never been a comic book guy, it was only my love for the show and its characters that brought me to "Buffy Season 8." Its rather startling success has led to other spinoffs of Whedon properties, like "Angel Season 6" and a new three-issue "Firefly" arc. Much more than the ever-rumored spin-off feature film, these comics have provided the perfect place for the further adventures of Buffy. If they can maintain the level of quality they've exhibited so far, they've got this fan hooked.

Is anyone else out there reading these, and planning on picking up issue #13 tomorrow? I'd love to hear what you think.

-- Adam Reinhard, lifeisfunnybutnothahafunny@gmail.com