Joss Whedon

I took a quick glance at some of the other reviews as I went to add this volume and was kinda shocked to see so many "meh" comments about it! I actually really had a blast reading this: the writing felt true to the characters and was quippy without being annoying, the artwork was vibrant and expressive, and the plot was a delightful time-travel-y ride! I LOVED getting to see Melaka again; I read "Fray" for the first time last year and thought it was fantastic. Maybe I'm a bit biased because I'm a sucker for time-travel play (and centaurs tbh), but truly "Time of Your Life" is my favorite volume in Season 8 so far.… (meer)

2.5 rounded up.
Well…that wasn’t what I was expecting. Or necessarily wanting? This whole plot felt much sloppier than previous Season 8 plots, and like it wasn’t fully thought out. On the plus side, I liked seeing Oz again, and felt like his return felt natural. I’m glad to see his growth and how he’s chosen to deal with his own personal situation. Also, the Giles/Buffy moments and conversations in the first part were very nicely done!

But there was so much other stuff that felt off. It seems to me super unlikely that Buffy would turn so easily and quickly to having everyone give up their Slayer powers/magics, especially when that power is something she knows makes them who they are and also KEEPS THEM SAFE…as we see pages later when she’s like “Omg we need our powers!” It was kind of an interesting idea to explore, but this didn’t seem like the right time for it.
Also the artwork takes a noticeable downturn in this volume! It’s been good, even enjoyable at times, up until now. The close-up drawings are decent, but figures in the background look like literal aliens half the time. The rest of the time it’s a bit of a guessing game to figure out who is who; I kept thinking Kennedy was Faith, and Dawn looks like she went through another Thricewise transformation.
And what’s with the random side story about Monroe?! Talk about a page waster! NOTHING about that was important to the bigger picture and it was boring either way.

It was fine. “Retreat” wasn’t ~terrible~, but it was DEFINITELY not the strongest. Actually it’s the weakest in all of Season 8 so far. It’s just frustrating to read and all I can do is hope it gets better again!… (meer)

This volume had a pretty distinct shift in tone and story from the previous Season 8 volumes, and it was fun in its own (slightly gimmicky) way! The Satsu and Dawn issues were the strongest; they did a good job of continuing or wrapping up plot points from earlier all while developing the bigger picture (although Kennedy is mega-annoying here). Also three cheers for seeing more of the FaithxGiles team-up!! That issue felt like random filler but it was enjoyable to see them in action nevertheless. :)… (meer)