Jo Chen's cover for this issue

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #4  concludes the new series’ opening story arc, “The Long Way Home.”  Willow has fallen into the hands of the witch Amy Madison, and Warren Mears (revealed to be the “skinless man” in #3) begins to lobotomize Willow, who’d previously used her magic to flay Warren alive.  Buffy leads her forces through a teleportation portal to the lair of Amy’s coconspirator, General Voll, who reveals the secret of the mark on his chest.  Buffy also learns the fate of Ethan Rayne, who aided her in the “dreamscape” (#3).

THE LOWDOWN:  The Long Way Home storyline amounted to what would likely be a very special episode of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” simply because Buffy’s creator Joss Whedon is the writer.  The story arc, taken in its entirety, was quite entertaining, although the first two issues were stronger than the second two.  The second half of the story seems just a tad bit thin, but the ending suggests that perhaps the entire run of Season 8 may be quite riveting.

FOR READERS OF:  These opening four issues were an event in what is itself an event series.  If comic book fans needed what amounted to an opening weekend of a big event movie, this is it.

B+

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