After last month's excellent issue, I have to say that I was somewhat let down by this. Don't get me wrong, there was, as ever, much to like here but there was one part of the issue that bugged me quite a bit. I'm surprised to say this considering how much I liked the Dracula episode that kicked off season 5 but there was something off about Dracula's appearance here - most specifically about his interaction with Xander.
First off, at least if everything that Andrew said was true, I really don't believe that Xander went to spend some time with Dracula after Anya's death. I simply don't believe that he would seek Dracula out, knowing full well the hold he has on him. It really doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Worse, the idea that they somehow became friends and stayed in touch after the events of that episode is completely ridiculous. And don't even get me started on the implication that Dracula fell to pieces without Xander around.
I loved the original idea that Dracula was just a vampire with a bunch of parlour tricks at his disposal and, instead of turning him into the big bad of the season, they gave him nothing more than a single, largely humorous episode. Here however, they have turned him into much too much of a pathetic joke. Yes, he wasn't the great evil that we might have expected him to be in the show but he was still a solid threat. This is very much a case of a joke being taken much further than it was ever supposed to go.
I honestly hasd to read through these sections twice just to make sure that I was understanding it correctly because I really cannot get over how badly conceived this whole thing is.
It's especially irritating because the rest of the issue is very good. The fallout of Buffy and Santsu's (seeming) one night stand is again very nicely handled with a particularly funny conversation between Willow and Santsu. In fact, the general direction that they have been taking Buffy in has been pretty interesting lately. From robbing banks to sleeping with another Slayer, Buffy is clearly having trouble dealing with something and I'm guessing that a large part of that is her inability to live up to the hopeful future that the end of season 7 promised her. The heavy burden of carrying the Slayer legacy on her shoulders (well, and Faith's as well) should have been lifted with the awakening of an army of slayers and instead she finds herself burdened with an even greater responsibility than the one she had before. I hope to see this further dealt with over the rest of season 8.
On the art front, Georges Jeanty continues to do a solid job but I really wish that the writing hadn't left me feeling so ambivalent about this arc.
Story: 3 - Good
Art: 3 - Good
