Predators and Prey by Joss Whedon & Jane Espenson

Book Details
Predators and Prey by Joss Whedon & Jane Espenson
Paperback, 144 Pages
2009, Dark Horse Comics
ISBN: 9781595823427
Series: Book 5 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8

Synopsis
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.

Review
While I'm a firm believer that nothing in the Buffyverse can be awful, I'll admit Predators and Prey was kind of a mess. The overall story arc slows down a lot in this volume to make way for many just plain ludicrous subplots. A reality TV show featuring Harmony? Evil stuffed animal vampire cats? Dawn becoming a living porcelain doll? All in all, volume 5 was kind of a disappointment.

The lone highlight of Predators and Prey was the Faith and Giles story. The stuffed vampire cats are tied to the Twilight storyline, but they were, well, ridiculous. Faith and Giles visit to the supposed slayer sanctuary was completely in line with the the overall story and actually fit in with the feel of the later seasons of the show.

Much of this volume was monster-of-the-week, individual threats to Buffy and friends that didn't really touch the big bad that's been building all along. Porcelain dolls and stuffed cats are reminiscent of the first season of Buffy when the Scooby gang dealt with things like living ventriloquist dummy's. Inanimate objects becoming animate has been done. Multiple times. Look at the last season of Angel. Even he was turned into a puppet in an episode. The kitschy stories weren't bad exactly, but they felt kind of played out and I've really come to expect more originality from the Buffyverse in general and this series of graphic novels especially.

When things take a turn for the less than entertaining in the middle of a series, I usually wish they have a specific reason, like being necessary as a basis for future storylines. I don't wish that here. All I can hope is we can kind of forget volume 5 happened and get back to chasing the big bad in the next.

Rating