Let's all take a moment and thank the Powers That Be that Buffy has returned! Woo! After the 4-year, up-and-down journey that was Season 8 ended at the beginning of the year, we luckily haven't had to wait that long for the start of the new season. As an aside, we can also thank the Powers at Geek Speak that there are reviews of the newly-returned Buffy, but I should temper that a bit by saying there won't be regular reviews of the issues, but an exception can be made for the premiere issue of Season 9. It's Buffy!

Reportedly, Season 9 will be more focused than Season 8 was, with the writing for the entire 25-issue season being handled by both Joss and Andrew Chambliss (a writer from Dollhouse). Simultaneously, there will be a parallel season of Angel and Faith, focused on the ongoing adventures of, well, Angel and Faith.

This first issue of Buffy, Season 9 starts with the hangover-y aftermath of a big party thrown by Buffy, as a way to welcome friends to her new apartment and introduce everyone to her new, non-knowing-of-the-whole-Slayer-thing (…or do they?!) roommates Anaheed and Tumble ("Rough and…?" "No." "…weed?" "No." "…Dry?" "No."). Mixed in are flashbacks to the party itself, both views nicely giving us a picture into where all of our favorite characters are. We see that Buffy is still feeling guilt over her decision at the end of Season 8 to rid the world of magic (having the side effect of, you know, saving the world in the process). And we get various glimpses as to some potential plot lines that may continue throughout the season, such as the police discovering mysteriously dead girls, a few different demons around, and Willow being with a woman who isn't Kennedy (woo!).

It's interesting, really, to compare and contrast the first issue of each parallel series, this and Angel and Faith. Both update the reader on the goings-on of their characters and give hints at future story lines and antagonists. But they are almost polar opposites in many ways as well, which is a bit odd. Where Angel and Faith #1 did an excellent job of setting up character motivations and introducing potential drama, this issue of Buffy was much more confusing. Not in the sense of the reader not knowing what is going on, but more like the hints shown for any sort of story arc aren't hint-y enough. It's less "Ah, intriguing…" and more "Um…okay, whatever." And we don't get much view into what the overall season motivations for the characters will be, either. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but more requiring a wait-and-see attitude.

But on the flip side, where Angel and Faith didn't have any sort of Buffy-esque wit and charm, this issue of Buffy, written by Joss, is all Buffy-esque wit and charm. It's highly enjoyable and entertaining to read. It's just fun (with a few poignant moments).

The art is by Georges Jeanty, who was behind most of the issues of Season 8, so should look familiar to anyone who has read that (which, really, should be all of you). So it's fine, but does have the same problem that plagued some of those issues, in that it's not entirely clear at first who some of the characters are (Riley and Andrew, in particular). But there is a definite tone and color difference between the during-party scenes and post-party scenes, which is quite well handled.

Bottom line: it's Buffy. I don't think I really need to say anything more than that (but, of course, I will). While not introducing potential story arcs as well as it could have for a "season premiere", it's still a good issue that definitely has the right Buffy feel to it, and is definitely recommended, at least to start out. We'll have to wait and see if this title is going to worth reading every month, or if waiting for the inevitable graphic novels that link the mini-arcs together is the way to go.

   -- K. Burtt