The final part of Wolves at the Gate cements it as perhaps the weakest story since the first arc, but even so, that’s only because the standard of the series is ridiculously high. Goddard wrote some great episodes of the TV series, and his enthusiasm for the characters has carried over into his comics story, which - for a change - features actual vampires as the villains.

More than the previous writers, Goddard’s arc feels a lot like a standard Buffy episode, even if it is set in Tokyo. The mystical threat is well-defined and the character subplots weave nicely throughout. If there’s anything wrong with the “episode” feels like it lacks any central theme or metaphor. This was often a problem with the later Buffy episodes where it occasionally strayed too far into soap-opera territory. The characters, plot and script are in order, but it doesn’t go that one level deeper that the best Buffyverse stuff does.

The plot comes to a satisfying end with victory (if a somewhat pyrrhic one) for the slayer crew and a belated attempt to justify Dracula’s presence with an enchanted sword showing up just at the right moment. The inclusion of a robo-Dawn was perhaps a little too much even if it leads to Andrew’s best moment this series, though I can’t help mentioning Cloverfield, in the context of the film’s scriptwriter now doing a Godzilla homage in the Buffy comic. It’s certainly not hard to see where his references are coming from.

Dracula, for all his hilarity and viciousness, has undergone a complete personality transplant since his original Buffyverse appearance in Season 5. It’s a little jarring, but completely forgiveable because it results in such a brilliant character. His friendship with Xander is harder to deal with, having been established in the now definitely-canon “Tales of the Vampires” graphic novel (in a short written by Drew Goddard, no less.)

The death of Renee and the exit of Satsu does, once again, leave Xander and Buffy the potential to get together, which is what everyone was expecting/hoping would happen at the start of the series. It does also give those people who are looking for extra support for their “Xander is Twilight” theories some credible material - after all, Xander has lost a LOT to magic in his life, it isn’t beyond the realm of possibility that he’d want to end it all. For the first time, there’s no between-issue break before the next arc, so if Twilight doesn’t feature, we might be waiting some time to see where it’s all going…

As we all know, being happy and in love in a Joss Whedon universe is about as healthy for you as eating deadly nightshade stuffed with razorblades. The more the audience finds themself liking a character, the greater chance there is that they’re about to be neatly shuffled off the mortal coil in the most senseless and random manner possible. I know this, because I’ve seen it happen in Whedon’s work again and again, and again.

Even so, when Xander and Renee finally kissed in this issue after several issues dancing around the subject of dating, I was so completely absorbed by the character moments that I didn’t see the Whedon cogs turning slowly in the background. I won’t spoil the issue, but let’s just say things don’t look good for the future of Xander and Rene’s relationship right now.

Looking back, it feels a little like we’re the victim of a bit of misdirection. After Buffy slept with Satsu, it seemed fairly likely that the young slayer would be the victim of misfortune - indeed, Buffy and Satsu even discuss it. Satsu even disobey’s Buffy to ensure she comes to the climactic battle with the Japanese vampire gang, who are using Buffy’s axe in conjunction with their own magicks to try and de-power the slayers. This whole story has been leading up to Satsu being placed in danger. Instead, the themes bear fruit with an entirely different set of characters.

Goddard is proving himself as adept a writer of these characters as Whedon is, mixing horror, comedy and action without too jarring a tonal shift - and after all, that’s the classic Buffy formula. The use of Dracula in this arc does, however, feel a little gratuitous. It’s understandable that Goddard wanted to write the character, because he is hilarious, but so far he had failed to prove any specific worth to the story. Presumably, he’ll steal back his powers from the vampire gang in the final issue, though now that team slayer have already figured out how to kill evapourating vampires (that old fallback: kill it with fire) it seems a little unecessary for him to be around now. Perhaps more will now be made of his connection with Xander, given the events of this issue.

Once again, Buffy Season 8 doesn’t disappoint. We’re well past the initial novelty of the concept and it’s still as essential as it ever was, so whatever way you look at it, it’s a total success.

Last night, I watched a Buffy episode where, a mere 6 years into the program, she reveals that the first time she told her parents about vampires, they freaked out and put her into a mental hospital. Then, conveniently, nobody mentioned it ever again up until the point where Buffy needed to bring it up. It’s an undeniably damaging retcon that puts otherwise good episodes where Buffy’s mother finds out about Buffy, in a new, poorer light.

As much as I love Buffy #13, I’m not exactly thrilled by a similar piece of retconning that goes on in its pages. Did you know, for instance, that during Seasons five, six and seven of Buffy, Xander and Dracula kept in touch by writing letters to one another? What the hell, Goddard?!

Now, that aside, it’s an amusing idea that Xander went to stay with Dracula for a while after Season 7, and it’s never anything but hilarious when Dracula throws around terms like “moor” and “manservant” - as ever, the dialogue in Buffy: Season 8 is as sharp as the TV series ever was, and the heavy focus on Xander in this issue makes for entertaining reading. It’s just a pity they had to retroactively invent a Xander/Dracula friendship to make these scenes work.

The plot of the issue is more straight-up fare - the Japanese vampires that stole Buffy’s scythe and Dracula’s powers have apparently come up with a way to remove slayer-powers, and they’re planning to take the slayer-army down with it. Unlike other villains in the series, this seems like genuinely credible threat to Buffy. While supporting slayers are occasionally reduced to the level of cannon-fodder, Buffy herself is largely untouchable, and even with the knowledge that she’s the star of the show, there’s still some chance that she might lose her powers - stranger things have happened in the Buffyverse, after all.

There are other subplots ging on - Dracula gets an interesting scene showing him dishevelled and dejected fifteen minutes before the climax of last issue, that could imply an interesting story there, but could likewise be left in for no extra reason than for the comedy and a little bit of character-building. It works alone to suggest why Dracula is so welcoming of Xander, or as a clue to a bigger story yet to be told.

Not Season 8’s finest hour, but it couldn’t really hope to be after the Buffy/Satsu bombshell last issue (and yes, that development is followed up.) If nothing else, it’s worth getting for those who are eager to see more of the Buffyverse Dracula.

So, in case you somehow missed the media kerfuffle - Buffy #12 is out. In more ways than one. (See what I did there?)

But let’s get to that in due course. Issue 12 is written by former Buffy/Angel scribe, Drew “Cloverfield” Goddard - the third writer to tackle Season 8, and the second to come from the TV series to do so. As with Vaughan’s run, the comic doesn’t miss a beat in the changeover, and Whedon’s initial arc remains the weakest. Jeanty’s artwork is looking better than ever - it might’ve taken me a while to get used to his style, but a year down the line he’s really reaching impressive heights, having nicely defined the look of the series.

There are two big moments in this issue that are worth mentioning - the second comes on the last page - the return of the Buffyverse Dracula. Some careful solicitation text, as well as the storyline title “Wolves at the Gate” lead many (including myself) to believe that Oz might returning. While I’m disappointed that he’s not back, Dracula is at least an interesting character to have return, having had only one previous appearance and escaping then without much resolution. Anyway - turns out that a gang of Japanese vampires with an oddly familiar bag of tricks - transforming into animals and smoke - may be connected with the aforementioned Unholy Prince. They broke into the Slayer Castle and took Buffy’s scythe, and she wants it back. Hence, Dracula receives a visit.

Now, as if that wasn’t good enough - the first reveal is actually the more popular one. Having learnt last issue that slayer-in-training Satsu is in love with her, we find out this issue that Buffy has done gone ahead and slept with her. Hoo boy. A bold move by the Whedon camp, that’s for certain, but as a lifelong Buffy fan, something I’m definitely intrigued by. It’s certainly in-character for Buffy to get horizontal with the nearest emotionally available person, and the idea that it might be someone who’s female doesn’t seem outside the realms of possibility, as well as being an appropriate topic for a series about female empowerment.

But that said, it is dangerous ground - dangerously close to fanfic, that is - but from what we’ve seen, it should be a development that works, not because Buffy’s going to be gay from now on, but because it’s being treated merely as something that happened between two adults, not as Willow Season 4-style character redefinement. In any case, it results in a hilarious farce scene immediately afterwards that justifies the act alone, being perhaps the funniest Buffy scene never to make it onto TV.

If there’s any real problem, it’s that this whole thing kind of overshadows the rest of the issue a bit, which is still all good. Xander’s relationship with his own slayer-in-training is certainly getting interesting, though this issue does pretty much kill off the Xander/Buffy hopes that I’d still been harbouring. Oh well. As ever, I cannot wait for next issue.

Another single-issue Joss Whedon story? I thought Christmas was over already! Whedon’s last two single-issues have been the best the series had to offer, and this is no different. It’s a classic, X-Men-style “down time” issue between arcs, with the natural interruption of the season’s big bad at an entirely unexpected moment just to keep you on your toes. It’s not quite the Mayor strolling right into the Library, circa Season 3, but it’s pretty good nonetheless.

There’s some dealing with the blink-and-you-missed-it subplot of Satsu’s feelings for Buffy, which is entertaining and gives some truly excellent material, but it doesn’t really feel like the intricately woven subplot that it could’ve been. Strangely evident in these scenes is that Whedon appears to be writing his Buffy’s voice somewhere around Season 4. There’s far more of the humour and stream-of-consciousness dialogue than the latter Buffy ever displayed, which is good because part of the problem Season 8 had to address was that by the time the show finished, Buffy was no longer the best character in her own series. Giving her some direction and easing the responsibilities slightly seems to have left her far less earnest, mopey and distracted, hence the lighter tone.

Jeanty continues to deliver, though the first decent appearance of actual vampires in the Buffy comic unfortunately shows us that he’s no better at depicting vampires on the page than any other Buffy artist has been. Oh well. Twilight’s fight with Buffy is a nice sequence, though it’s a little bit of a groaner to hear Buffy calling him the most powerful villain she’s ever seen, because that’s the standard, Buffy, “I don’t know if I can fight this!” trick to try and make the villain seem like a threat, and doesn’t really work because… well, she’s Buffy, she’s going to win - don’t make it about whether she will, but about how she will.

The idea of tricking Buffy into believing she’s on the wrong side is a definite move for genius, and once again, the perfect place to go with the story, especially after Buffy’s recent jewel-thieving antics. The “unmasking” scene had me laughing harder than almost anything in the TV series, and sets up my most favourite of all mysteries. WHO’S UNDER THE MASK? Someone Buffy knows - or at least, who knows Buffy. I’m going to say that it’s Ethan Rayne, because he’s one of the least likely candidates, being, y’know, dead and stuff.

I sometimes wonder if I use the word “genius” a little too liberally when describing Joss Whedon. But then I decide that no, I haven’t. So let me reiterate: This is genius. Genius, genius, genius. Genius.