At their disposal are a wide array of psychics, seers, witches, and Slayers,[8] along with a vast amount of technology, revealed to be the result of Buffy robbing a Swiss bank to acquire the funds.
Squads include Andrew's in Southern Italy,[10] Giles' in England,[11] Vi's in New York City,[12] Robin's in Cleveland, Ohio,[13] and another led by Rona in Chicago, Illinois.
[17] The appearances of these villains are connected to "Twilight", the enigmatic Big Bad of the season, a masked person who views the expanded ranks of Slayers as a threat to humanity and wants to destroy them, and bring about an end to all magic on Earth.
[19] Halfway through the season, ditzy vampire Harmony Kendall rises to fame as a reality TV star and ushers in a new pro-vampire, anti-Slayer world order.
A subplot involves the repercussions of Dawn's college relationship with a boy named Kenny (described as a "thricewise"), whom she cheated on, losing her virginity to his roommate.
[23] Although Buffy comes to feel that her only compatible mate is Xander, and is upset to learn that he truly loves Dawn,[24] she and Angel succumb to their desires for one another upon their reunion,[25] though the extent to which they were in control of their actions is uncertain.
[27] However, whatever magical effect Angel was under seemed to wane after Buffy realised she was needed back on Earth to assist her friends as demons poured in from other dimensions to destroy the old universe.
[26] In the final arc, "Last Gleaming", Spike's information leads them to the source both of magic and of Twilight's power, a mystical "seed" buried beneath Sunnydale.
Goddard went on to become a writer for the movie Cloverfield and acclaimed American dramas Lost and Alias (all working alongside producer J. J. Abrams) while also penning the story "Antique" for canonical Buffy comic book Tales of the Vampires, which he references in "Wolves at the Gate".
[29] Jane Espenson returned for a five-issue arc involving the character of Oz for issues #26–30, titled "Retreat"[30] and also wrote a one-shot about Riley.
Brad Meltzer, author of several New York Times best-selling books and later both Identity Crisis and Justice League for DC Comics wrote the penultimate story arc of Season Eight, "Twilight", which is issues #32–35.
"Vampy Cat Play Friend" is a fictional television commercial tying in with issue #22, written by Steven S. DeKnight and illustrated by Camilla d'Errico.
He praised Whedon's writing in the opening issue, claiming, "The humor, pop culture references and spot-on quirky characterizations are all on vibrant display," and looked forward to the direction the book was going in.
"[37] Mark Stoddard of Comix Nexus also approached the series "with some trepidation, unsure of whether there would be more great stories that really needed to be told, and wondering whether the magic of TV could be replicated in the medium of comics.
"[37] Mark Stoddard complimented Whedon's choice of Jeanty for the book, saying, "His layouts and storytelling are clear, he handles the action sequences pretty well, and the character likenesses are excellent, retaining a sense of artistic individuality, rather than simply generating portraits or rehashing television stills.
"[38] However, Keith McDuffee criticized Jeanty's work, feeling, "The cover images...are amazingly detailed and truly capture what we remember of the characters, but the inside pages have a bit to be desired.
"[41] Richard George of IGN described Jeanty's work as bringing "a mixture of real life practicality and zany cartoons," but warned readers not to compare it to the "immaculate" covers by Jo Chen, explaining, "Do not expect the art inside to be what it is on the outside, and don't hold one against the other.