Buffy the Vampire Slayer: No Future for You

I like Faith. I always felt she was a really interesting character that had more to her than just being the bad girl. The second volume of "Buffy Season 8", No Future for You is a Faith arc written by Brian K. Vaughan, with art by Georges Jeanty and Andy Owens. It lets out a little more of Faith's past and why she feels she needs to act as tough as she does and it catches up with what Giles is doing as, essentially, the last Watcher.

While it requires a little faith that the reader can hear a passable English accent coming from Faith I felt it was a really good story. I liked seeing more of Faith through her own eyes. I liked seeing Giles through her eyes and acting in ways that he wouldn't if Buffy could see him. I also liked the idea that Buffy is never really going to totally trust Faith. I'm curious to see how Faith is going to change from loner Slayer to outreach Slayer. I think she's uniquely suited to that role and I think she and Giles work well together but I doubt it will be something that Buffy will like.

The final story was a little one-off written by Joss Whedon with art by Cliff Richards called, "Anywhere but Here". It continues, in the fine tradition of Buffy, the pattern of something being resolved for the better (Faith and Giles teaming up) with something being broken down. In this case it breaks down the lies the gang all tell one another. Granted, they lie because they think they're protecting someone or something but they're still lying. While the story focuses on Buffy, Willow and Dawn it does come right after a story where Giles goes behind Buffy's back to work with Faith.

The volume didn't exactly advance the plot of Twilight introduced in the first volume but I really didn't expect it to. Buffy was never a show where each and every episode was about the Big Bad but most episodes did advance the plot in some way. No Future for You is the same. The plot moves even if it isn't the main focus of the story. I thought these stories were great, I just devoured the colume, so I'm giving it a 5.