Until now, the Scooby Gang never thought that the greatest force they’d have to face came from their own ranks. In Buffy the Vampire Slayer #24, the Gang takes on a darkness out of their control. This issue is written and illustrated by long-time contributes Jeremy Lambert and Ramon Bachs, respectively. Also returning are colorist Raul Angulo and letterer Ed Dukeshire.

How do you dress characters for a period drama when it takes place in a period like none we’ve ever seen before? That was the challenge when it came to The Nevers, the new fantasy series that premiered April 11 on HBO. While the series – about a group of Victorian women blessed (or, perhaps, cursed) with uncanny abilities – takes place in the mid-1890s, it also has to contend with the kind of action (among heroes, villains, and every type in between) that might not always have a true-to-life historical precedent. For costume designer Michele Clapton, a veteran of The Crown and Game of Thrones, that was part of the appeal.

Maximillia Osinski (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) has been cast in Season 2 of The Walking Dead spin off World Beyond. The series follows four friends from…

HBO’s The Nevers arrives as a tough show to review for a few reasons: (1) The show lands with many of the (frankly appealing) pluses that one would expect from the showrunner of Firefly, Dollhouse, and the Buffy series; and (2) The series finds itself saddled with the baggage of the guy who created those same beloved series. Sadly, there’s no way to separate those two statements because Joss Whedon’s particular quirks, his sensibilities, and his favorite tropes run throughout the first four episodes screened for critics.

An allegorical alt-superhero series about gifted women in Victorian London makes it to the screen, but without its currently embattled creator.

The historical fantasy series streams on HBO Max from April 11, It begins with a wordless opening scene in which people wander about in old-timey frocks for several minutes, but hang in there: The fun soon starts as out Victorian-era heroines seek out a child who may be cursed by the devil. That leads to an acrobatic fight scene packed with luminescent hand grenades and weaponized parasols, setting the tone for an adventure full of kick-ass women taking on sinister baddies.

Amalia, gifted with foresight, has a shadowy past, a legendary right hook and a habit of ditching her walking dresses mid-brawl, because a long skirt can really spoil a roundhouse kick. “You throw yourself at danger like you think it’s going to propose,” a colleague tells her/

Donnelly lives more quietly, though she did quit drinking early in the pandemic, which must qualify as an unusual ability. Production on “The Nevers” won’t resume for a few months, so she is currently locked down in London – in the home that she and Butterworth share with their two daughters, 3 and 4 – mothering, batch cooking, trying to get a decent night’s sleep with the help of some meditation apps.

Set in Victorian London, The Nevers explores a world where few individuals — mostly women — awaken supernatural abilities, ranging from visions to annihilating power. However, these gifts leave them vulnerable to a white male-run society determined to eliminate their kind. Under the guidance and protection of seer Amalia True (Laura Donnelly) and steampunk inventor Penance Adair (Ann Skelly), the Touched form a collective to protect each other. But not all Touched ones find a benevolent way to process society’s persecution of them.

The new drama, about Victorian women granted extraordinary powers out of thin air, is engaging even as it leans heavily on Whedon’s go-to tropes.

There’s one Angel character who stands out from the rest – both literally and figuratively – and he wasn’t even intended to exist in the first place. Though demons tend to get the pointy end of the stick in the Buffyverse, Andy Hallet’s fast-taking, aura-reading, green-skinned demon Lorne has stood the test of time and emerged as one of Angel’s most unlikely standouts with his infectious energy and quick wit.