Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 10 #5 wraps up the first arc with a bang. Well, not so much a bang as a “shhnnkkk”.
There is actually quite a bit packed into this issue, almost to the point of feeling a tad bit rushed. They wrap up the Xander/Dracula and the Xander/Dawn stories this issue, but they neither felt like they carried much weight. Honestly, the Xander/Dawn resolution left me feeling pretty much “meh” about the whole thing.
I did enjoy seeing big Dawn again and the creative use of a large Mr. Pointy made me roll my eyes a little, but also made perfect sense. The whole relationship with Xander and Dracula still makes me laugh and they leave the door open for future stories between them.
There was also a ton of Anya in this issue. Seriously, she was all over the place. I have a feeling that we might see even more of her due to the return of D’Hoffryn and a few little teases that Gage threw in concerning him and Anya.
Things have been so focused on Xander that I’m looking forward to a change. We get a different artist with next issue with the return of Karl Moline from Season 9 and Christos Gage is back to handling writing duties solo.
Overall, this first arc was really good. I’ve said it multiple times that I love seeing the gang together again after them being apart for so long. I really want to see more interaction between Buffy and young Giles and I hope that Gage gets to that before long. It seems that there is a lot for them to talk about and it has been swept under the rug to this point.
Writer:Christos Gage, Nicholas Brendon
Artist:Rebekah Isaacs
Colorist:Dan Jackson
Cover Artist:Steve Morris
