Before I begin this rant, I just want to say that, overall, I've really enjoyed the Buffy Season Eight comic series; issue #24, however, was a huge let down for me. As a result, I lagged a bit before taking the journey to my local comic book store to buy issue #25 (I'm glad, however, that I did.)

I had been eagerly looking forward to Safe, as it features two of my favorite Buffyverse characters - the much underused Faith and Giles. No Future For You was my favorite arc of the series thus far, followed closely by Wolves at the Gate. I thought that Brian K. Vaughn wrote an excellent Faith - getting into her head just enough to show the remnants of self-doubt and reproach that lingered from her days as a troubled rogue slayer, while still showing the tenacity and zest for life that kept this character alive and fighting for redemption.

I don't see that Faith anywhere in this issue. Her dialogue is ridiculously simplistic, not to mention a little bit too dry and sardonic. I know she's been hanging out with Giles a lot lately, but I really can't imagine her saying things like "Yay, let's bond," or "This really obvious trap feels like an obvious trap." It just doesn't feel like Faith. I could not hear her voice as I read.

And don't get me started on Giles! I could not find him anywhere here. Sorry Jim Krueger.

So yeah, I was a bit hesitant to buy Living Doll. I know that Safe was just a one-shot, but the fact that I could not relate to two of my favorite characters really upset me. I think I may have even thrown the issue across the room at one point, and it took me a couple of days before I could pick it up again and finish it.

But I love Joss, and I love Buffy, so I decided to buy issue #25. I know that I am late to the party, but here are my thoughts anyway.

Living Doll is a big improvement over Safe - especially when it comes to dialogue. Doug Petrie writes a great Xander, complete with hilariously blundering metaphors and quips: "Teenagers. Like to run free. Four legged ones probably twice as much." "Bugger. Hey, check me out. Now I can hate myself in British." Buffy's dialogue, however, was not as punchy - though I did think the Veronica Mars shout-out was fun.

It was a fun read, and I like the fairy tale aspect that's been weaving its way in and out of the entire comic series. But one thing the issue does is make clear that Dawn is, essentially, useless to this story as a character, and has been from the beginning (to be fair, I will admit that I am not a fan of Dawn - so I can see how a Dawn fan might enjoy this aspect of the series more than I.)

Why else would they need to keep turning her into living metaphors? When she was a giant, it was because Buffy was paying no attention to her. She literally had to be huge in order to be noticed in a room (well, field, maybe) full of newly activated slayers. Now Buffy is looking for her, but she is tiny - a doll. She is something that needs protection. But these aspects of her are never worked into the story via actual character development, merely as a result of a spell that Kenny the Thricewise cast on her.

Which, by the way... I don't really think that cheating on someone during your freshman year of college warrants being the victim of a spell like this one. The fact that she forgave him so easily at the end was a bit unbelievable, in my opinion. What she did may be wrong - but what he did was much worse.

Besides this, I enjoyed Living Doll, and look forward to reading the next issue!