I am – Hercules!!


Okay, periodical-phobic Buffy fans, now is the time to locate a funnybook shop in your area and start snapping up copies of “Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season Eight,” overseen by series mastermind Joss Whedon.

Hitting store shelves today is issue 12, the first of four written by Drew Goddard, who wrote his first produced screenplay for Buffy’s final UPN season (the completely five-star Anya-centric “Selfless”), then went on to write a bunch of J.J. Abrams projects: episodes of “Alias” and “Lost” plus a giant-dinosaur movie called “Cloverfield.” (Goddard and Whedon also wrote a movie that hasn’t quite been made yet called “Cabin in the Woods.”)

Some of the things I loved about today’s issue, titled “Wolves At The Gate: Part I”:

* Buffy Summers spends the entire first half of the issue cavorting nakedly.

* Georges Jeanty demonstrates an admirable talent for drawing an unclothed slayer.

* As Buffy continues her nakedness, something kinda huge is revealed.

* This something is so kinda huge, I found myself fearing that the something might be proven to be a hoax, dream or imaginary story.

* This something turns out NOT to be a hoax, dream or imaginary story.

* One of the Buffiverse’s major character thinks it is anyway, at least momentarily.

* Remember that episode of “Enterprise” that explained why the ‘70s Klingons looked different from the ‘60s Klingons? “Wolves” hints that we’re finally going to get an answer to a question I’ve been secretly asking myself since season four.

* A character we’ve not seen since the early days of the TV series looks to play a central role in this four-issue arc, if not beyond.

* Xander gets to say “Merciful Zeus!” again, to hilarious effect. Willow, Andrew and some of Dawn’s parts appear in this issue as well.

* The season’s big bad, like the Cylons, clearly has a plan.

The Second Five Episodes of Season Eight!!