Alex Spencer

It takes stuff that worked in later seasons, like Anya as magic shop owner, or Buffy as fast-food employee with superpowers, or even the underlying presence of Wolfram Hart, and puts it right at the beginning.pic.twitter.com/gLls7Eu77L

But the big question for any Buffy adaptation, even a remix, has got to be... well, does it feel like Buffy? And, friends, I can answer that with a single image:pic.twitter.com/6FoMEBCEHJ

It certainly helps that Mora’s likenesses are spot on. The big close up panels have photoreference feel to them, but he goes much looser for zoomed-out shots, without losing any of the essence of those characters/actors.pic.twitter.com/f3wiGHPO8f

(This Willow is notably less dorky, both in what she wears and how she’s characterised, and while I’ll miss seeing her gradual glow-up, I suspect it’s linked with that self-identification stuff, and that’s cool.)pic.twitter.com/NiWWsxuc1r

Similarly, Bellaire has the voices locked down *tight*. Her dialogue has plenty of that off-kilter phrasing, but more importantly she knows who to give it to. They both use big ol’ Whedonisms, but Xander doesn’t sound like Buffy, and vice versa.pic.twitter.com/PPA1W83jQD

She’s also got that telltale rhythm, of setting up a stock horror/action/fantasy moment and then undermining it with a joke.pic.twitter.com/82ecXC5gCI

Everyone talks about Buffy's 'blonde girl walks into a scary alley, kicks ass' and 'high school is hell' stuff, but this panel is a perfect encapsulation of the other running theme of the show: what living with Great Responsibility actually means and feels like.pic.twitter.com/IE85HqJD9H

It’s also a misdirect. The narration was the one bit I was unsure about – it felt a bit unBuffy – but I think that's actually intentional, because it's setting you up to have the rug pulled.pic.twitter.com/fIh12tyEbA