0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Rating: 1 out of 5
the worst issue ever..., Friday, June 04, 2010

The issue is a mix of short stories that should have been deleted from the beginning, they're not even funny. the only bit that is interesting is the reappearance of Harm's character.... but that's it. The rest gets underwhelming and dull...

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Rating: 3 out of 5
Not the best one of the series, Friday, April 16, 2010

BtVS Season 8 Volume 5
I purchased this book.

This volume of BtVS season eight is for fans, not newcomers. It's not really a book that pushes forward the drama of Twilight, the secret anti-Slayer group that's trying to destroy every Slayer on the streets. This collection of comics serves as housekeeping, as well as character and world building asides.

Perhaps channeling the modern day popularity of shows like True Blood and the urban fantasy genre (and irony since Buffy was an establishing factor in UF's popularity) this graphic novel starts off with a frivolous-feeling tale of the vapid vampire Harmony getting a reality TV show. (Not that the story arc is vapid or frivolous, it merely reflects the qualities of Harmony herself.) While the reality show is almost on its death bed Harmony is attacked by a Slayer and all of a sudden it becomes a hit, Harmony a star and Slayers the bad guys. It fits in the greater scale of the story arc, but this wasn't how I pictured vamps coming out in the Buffy-verse. Through Harmony everything seems shallow and empty, but that is the point.

Continuing, readers will find; a story about the Asian sect of Slayers that hints at, but doesn't come close to the hilarious third book of season eight; a story of Andrew, Buffy and the growing sect of bad Slayers that reads like it's seeding all kind of future things for the series, but just barely brushes against them; a story from Faith and Giles, which is absolutely fabulous, dark disturbing and wonderful; a resolution of sorts of the magical mess up Dawn got herself into; as well as bonus snippets of Harmony's reality show and an ad for a fictional product featured in this volume.

Each of the stories are stand alone, provided you already know the characters, which is the major factor leading to this book feeling more like a themed anthology than the next book in a series. It is almost impossible to pick up Predators and Prey without knowing the previous story lines. So readers should be forewarned that this book will probably not be a satisfying read if read out of order.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

Rating: 3 out of 5
Filler, Monday, December 07, 2009

This arc felt like a filler to me. The main plotline slowly moves on but everything seems to fall apart far too quickly for the slayers. There are some funny moments in it but there is far too much Andrew in this storyline. At least we know where Giles & Faith are. Otherwise it's an ok book but that's about all it is.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

Rating: 3 out of 5
Series slowing down but Vampy Cat rules!!, Wednesday, December 02, 2009

This collection has really proven that this can't possibly be how Joss Whedon saw the next season of the TV show because this is so all-over the place that viewers would have been disappearing super fast. I loved the Harmony Bites idea. Good stuff but threre was no follow through. Faith & Giles together is interesting but once again, not much happened. I hope the next trade amps up the story or I probably will stop reading this. :(

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

Rating: 3 out of 5
A step down, Saturday, November 07, 2009

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 continues, and sadly in this fifth collected volume of the smash ongoing series finds things taking a bit of a step down for Buffy and her Scoobies. Things start out as the vampiric Harmony manages to become a beloved reality TV host, which leads to a nation-wide love of all things vampire, and hate for all things Slayer-related. After that, Buffy and her crew go into hiding and take on baddies all at once, Giles and Faith take down some themselves, and Buffy saves her sister Dawn. Yeah, Predators and Prey really doesn't offer what we haven't seen before. This may not be so bad, but considering that a majority of writers from the show are featured in Predators and Prey, including Jane Espenson, Steven S. DeKnight, Drew Z. Greenberg, and Doug Petrie, most of what you find here is just, well, for lack of a better word, meh. There's some somewhat humerous Harmony-featured shorts to end this TPB, but sadly compared to what came before with Buffy Season 8, Predators and Prey is sadly a step down.