Dark Willow was one of the biggest twists in the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Willow spent seasons of the original series learning about magic and perfecting spell-crafting in her own right. But by Season 6, her ambitions and appetite for magic had grown to a dangerous level.

This first issue takes place at multiple points of Faith’s life. Mostly based around a movie theatre, we see different parts of her story told in sequence. From her admittance into a children’s home, through to early training and modern-day, Faith Lehane is trying it piece together her life, practically chiseled into becoming a slayer. Multiple vampires are slain and unknown mysteries of her history begin to unravel.

I can’t mention the Buffy series without talking about the ability of the artists. Spanning several different books across the studio line, each entry manages to deliver the characters consistently. Faith is drawn with the same look and appeal as when she was introduced in Buffy a few issues back.

In the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, life as a Watcher was never easy, but Giles was content to take a more passive role as others rushed into danger. The death and rebirth of Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight changed all that, proving Giles was far stronger than anyone truly realized. In the final arc of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight, “Last Gleaming,” Giles’ transformation begins with his death at the hands of Twilight.

In the Buffyverse, the Watcher Council often seemed an enemy greater than demons and vampires. Because they were so feared, Buffy was the only one to stand up to them. Therefore, it’s refreshing to see Anya as a former Watcher, defying members of the Council to their faces.

The Slayer Cycle has been a constant in all versions of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. One young woman is granted the power of the Slayer until she dies — at which point it passes on to the next one. But the new Slayerverse just revealed there are ways around that, and that a quietly vital Slayer used one such loophole.

As soon as Willow set foot in Abhainn, she was unsettled and experienced strange things such as once standoffish witches turning warm and welcoming, watchful crows, and dreams. The fun of the series was trying to unpack the symbolism and mystery behind Aelara and Abhainn. I looked forward to how these symbols would be explained, thinking that perhaps it was all tied into how Aelara was manipulating Willow.

This issue finds Willow realizing the reality of her situation in Abhainn. Rather than use this as an opprtunity to showcase a battle of witches, Tamaki opts to let more of Willow’s base instincts take over. When magic and might would serve the comic from an artistic standpoint, having Willow act like the nerd she is at times works. This consistency to the character proves Tamaki understood who Willow is and makes sure to impress this upon the audience. Teenage Willow would much rather talk it out than battle, at least for now.

Written by Jordie Bellaire and Jeremy Lambert with art by Ramon Bachs and Raúl Angulo (and based on the iconic series created by Joss Whedon), this issue raises serious questions about the nature of Xander and Willow’s friendship, but it also raises an even bigger questions of who the story’s “big bad” really is.

To call this a step down from what Dark Horse was doing with their long-running, engaging, and yes, flawed but always daring Buffy comics in an understatement. Increasingly, it’s not only the timeline that has been changed but the core of the characters, the values of the series, the universality of the themes, and, most of all, the quality of the storytelling. It’s not that this doesn’t work as a Buffy comic. It’s just not a good comic.