Now THIS is what the Buffy comic book should be.

I think most people agree that the last several arcs have been very middling. I think my last favorite story was the Dracula arc. And that was awhile ago.

Just to catch up quickly, the “Tibet” arc (mostly) ended last issue, so to bridge the story into Brad Meltzer’s upcoming “Twilight” arc, Joss Whedon steps back in for a sort of epilogue involving a very important conversation between Buffy and Xander.

This is a small issue. It focuses on a small thing, and as such it doesn’t have big cliffhangers or plot reveals. But that’s always, in my mind, what has separated the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series from a typical genre show — it was as much about growing up as it was about killing the Big Bad.

And thus this issue deals with feelings, and the dialogue is the good Joss dialogue that’s witty but still heartfelt. Even Georges Jeanty’s art seems to rise to the occasion with this story. It’s clearer here, and we get the focus we need on the various characters’ facial expressions.

The comic loses a few points for dealing with a leftover plot element in an overly simple and somewhat unfulfilling manner, but it’s not the point of the issue.

I don’t know what’s going to happen with Brad Meltzer’s arc. But I’m glad that this issue came when it did because the series needed to pull focus, and with this issue, for this moment, it has.