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.

It is this dynamic, established with a familiar snarky wit, that has allowed the characters to grow increasingly complex. Here is a group who are stuck with each other, but would also die with each other, as they hide out in underground bunkers or their perpetually clocked spy plane. Even in a world where there is always a “solve”, actions have real and lasting consequences, and guilt is a recurrent motivation – exactly the dynamic that Buffy mined so well.

So much is lost in reimagining Buffy, and its not entirely clear what is gained, because while the series delivers occasional one-off, character-focused stories like last issue’s Wesley one-shot and the excellent Willow spinoff, it’s when the characters come together that the series feels further from the heart and soul of Buffy.

One might think issue four is the perfect time to jump into some climactic action immediately. But again, mirroring Willow’s experience, we’re lulled into a false sense of security. The creative team does this by providing more interiority through narration, using more dialogue, and emphasizing moments.

Acting as a Rosetta Stone for pretty much the entire horror genre The Cabin in the Woods pretty much stands as the perfect, unimpeachable capital-H Horror Movie, sure to satisfy any genre-savvy moviegoer fortunate enough to come across it. A pointed update to the New Nightmare (1994) or Scream (1996) styled meta-horror movies of the 1990s.

While “The Cabin in the Woods” isn’t necessarily scary and teeters more on the comical side of horror movies, similarly to the “Scram” series, that;s where its strength comes from. The plot of the film is interesting enough to keep your attention, and while the characters are supposed to be cookie cutter character archetypes from every horror movie ever made, they’re charming enough to make you care about them.

Fray: How Comics Went to the Future of Buffy the Vampire Slayer In the far-future of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the TV hero’s legacy lived…

Written by Greg Pak, Firefly #21 is not an issue afraid of taking risks. There are certainly plenty of those. Unfortunately, it also kind of feels like the series has finally started jumping the shark. The latest threat introduced feels… out of place in this world

Everything that made the first three issues of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Willow great continues here, with this slice-of-life script from Mariko Tamaki. Even as it begins to ramp up with a bit of supernatural action, in the end, there is a quiet, purposeful, intellectual approach to it all that is befitting to Willow as a character.