With the season finale only a few issues away, the action heats up as Buffy and her allies head toward the center of the earth.

Here’s the official description from Dark Horse:

Buffy, Xander, and Willow must fight against all odds to get past the mystical council and gain entry to a magical hotspot—the Deeper Well! New allies are born while old enemies bring the heat. Grave dangers await our heroes at the center of the earth

As a new reader of both Angel and Faith and Buffy, I have to say I prefer the latter. Buffy season 9 is a good adaptation which expands the source material and successfully utilizes the comic medium to tell something different and yet familiar enough for fandom to enjoy. This issue is thrilling as Buffy and her friends battle zen monsters and search for her sister, Dawn. Although the action takes center stage, Andrew Chambliss provides a few quieter moments which allow the reader to catch his breath. The pacing is good. Fans will be particularly interested to see Buffy’s reaction to Xander’s betrayal from a few issues back.

The art by penciler Georges Jeanty and inker Dexter Vine is solid but not spectacular. Vine’s inking adds dimension to Jeanty’s rather jarring, inconsistent panels. Practically everyone looks the same and some of the facial expressions are ugly, which is surely not the artist’s original intention. Jeanty draws great monsters, though. The colors by Michelle Madsen seem too dim and dark, especially in the battle scene. As a whole the art feels slightly off, which detracted from my reading experience.

This issue of Buffy has enough action to keep fans interested. There’s a sense that the story is going somewhere, but a lot still needs to be resolved in the final three issues. I have my doubts that the ending will live up to fans’ expectations, but I’m rooting for this creative team to pull it off.

3/5