Buffy’s world goes awry when former-classmate-turned-vampire Harmony Kendall lands her own reality TV show, Harmony Bites, bolstering bloodsucking fiends in the mainstream. Humans line up to have their blood consumed, and Slayers, through a series of missteps, misfortunes, and anti-Slayer propaganda driven by the mysterious Twilight, are forced into hiding.

In Germany, Faith and Giles discover a town where Slayers retreat from a world that has turned against them, only to find themselves in the arms of something far worse. A rogue-Slayer faction displaces an entire Italian village, living up to their tarnished reputation as power-hungry thieves. And finally, with the help of a would-be demon lover, Dawn addresses her unfaltering insecurities.

So I’m unsure how I feel about this particular volume. Unlike the previous one, this one at least made sense and was easy to follow. Heck, it was even enjoyable for the most part. But unlike some of the other ones there was a huge lack of cohesion within this volume. This one had six different story lines, one for each session. While this isn’t the case in many of the previous volumes, it actually worked out well enough.

For the first section, we get to catch up with Harmony who has decided to capitalize on her vampirism. Of course, she’s not exactly the brightest crayon in the box and has no real friends, so much like other reality shows, there’s little reality to hers. And little interest… until a new slayer attempts to stake her during an episode. Rating sky rocket as Harmony kills the girl and suddenly the Slayers are enemy number one across the world.

The second section I thought was a repeat of the future story line. But once I saw Kennedy, I realized it was about Satsu, not Fray. Of course, Satsu is still hung up on the Buffster, but fortunately for her and the rest of the Slayers, Kennedy is there to help them out when a new vampire kitty doll turns out to be a source for evil. It’s ironic and comical to see them fight what is essentially the Buffyverse’s version of Hello Kitty.

Section Three returns its focus to Buffy as she and Andrew bond over their geekdom while on a mission to capture some rogue slayers. However, she discovers Andrew has been doing more than just leading the girls in Italy. He’s also been doing research and experiments and has managed to create a monster that was extinct.

When it came to the fourth section, I was not impressed. As much as I wanted to like the Faith/Giles duo, this one just didn’t do it for me. It was stuffy and dull. Even the idea of being set up by former watchers seemed like an uninspired attempt to have them do something.

Finally after several volumes, I got my answer to what the heck a freaking thricewise was. Of course, I was a little weirded out to find it’s an octopus looking monster whose mouth looks like a vagina. I kid you not, I spent the entire section trying to figure out why they would make that kind of art decision. But besides my inability to stop thinking about a vagina mouth, the section was actually pretty interesting. I’d have to say it was even the best part of this volume. Then again, I may feel that way because I have been wondering what kind of creature Dawn had dated since I first read the word thricewise and couldn’t place the term.

Overall this is a strong volume and it’s nice to see after the disappoint that was Time of Your Life. Definitely has me enjoying this series and the awesomeness that was the Buffy the Vampire Slayer all over again.

Rating

Amazon

Pick up your copy on Amazon: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Predators and Prey by Joss Whedon