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.

Something’s not quite right with the Scooby Gang. Of course, making such a statement about the Buffyverse seems obvious. But there’s something more abnormal than the usual supernatural goings-on in this new issue.

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.

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.

The only critique I’d have of Angel & Spike #14 besides beautiful, but ill-fitting art comes down to BOOM! Studios core premise rather than Thompson’s script. Angel & Buffy aren’t stories that benefit from a reboot because they’re evergreen… and also not very old. This kind of story could have been told beautifully within the confines of the established characters, almost beat-for-beat as is.

Blue Sun Rising, in some respects, is a little depressing for those of us Firefly purists. The ‘Verse got worse. BS bots not only have our favorite crew in their crosshairs, but they’re primed to erase the fine line between the corporation and the law. Look no further than a bot’s attempt to gun down a fleeing child because she stole some fruit. Mal, of course, intervenes, planting the seeds for Mal’s inevitable misbehavior.

A violent creature is tearing the homeless of LA apart and its up to Angel Investigations to stop the threat. With the help of Kate Lockley it isn’t long before Angel has picked up the creature’s trail. Thompson uses a ‘creature of the week’ formula to ease the reader back into the story after last month’s one shot. The premise of the narrative is not the violent attacks but how each member of the cast reacts to them. This approach allows Thompson to illustrate his understanding of the central characters and the driving forces behind their personalities.