Issue #3

Hats off to artist Jo Chen for giving us one AWESOME cover! When we left off, Whedon had packed a ton of action into the last several pages of issue #2. Not only was Amy attacking the castle with an army of undead soldiers, but she had also managed to sneak inside Buffy's bedroom and put our favorite slayer into a deep sleep. As if that wasn't enough, the last page left us with Willow and Amy squaring off for a magical battle between good and evil. Looks like things are about to get messy!

While the battle wages on in the real world, Buffy is trapped inside her own dream space. An area in her mind that is made up of her own dreams and nightmares. And, to my surprise, it looks like her guide is none other than Ethan Rayne! Ethan was always a favorite character of mine so I was glad to see him make an appearance in season 8. Hopefully he can help Buffy sort out what's going on.

Meanwhile, Willow and Amy are in the middle of some heavy duty magical fisticuffs. Unfortunately, it's hard to tell what the hell is actually going on. Georges Jeanty has done a great job so far, but the fight sequence between these two witches looked more like a cheap light show than a magical battle. Lots of green and blue lights, and at one point it looked like Willow was actually turning into a human puzzle on the verge of falling apart. I guess Whedon couldn't really think of a good way to end this fight, so he just had Dawn(who is still a giant)step on Amy. Whatever works, I guess.

Meanwhile, Xander(I think) kisses Buffy and the spell is broken! With Amy and her zombie army defeated, things can get back to normal. Xander gives Andrew and his slayers a call to warn them about what's going on. I guess if there was ever any question about Andrew's sexuality, it's answered by the fact that he's actually bored while playing strip poker with a room full of slayers. If you look in the background of this panel, you'll notice one of the girls is reading "Fray," (Which is another one of Whedon's slayer comics, just in case you didn't know). Anyway, Willow figures out that Amy teleported into the castle and traces the portal back to its origin-a US military installation. But the whole thing was a trap and the portal sucks both Amy AND Willow out of the castle!

Well, it looks like Amy was smarter than we thought. Willow wakes up on some kind of operating table. Her hands, feet and neck bound with some form of magical energy. Amy is leaning over her, talking with someone hiding in the shadows. Our mystery man tells Willow how long he's been waiting for this moment, as he steps out of the shadows. It's disgusting! It's sick! It's bloody and skinless! IT'S......WARREN!!