What are we willing to do for our friends? That’s a question that’s asked repeatedly in this week’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer #6. Jenny Calendar holds vigil to maintain the containment spell she’s cast on the maybe-but-not-quite-vampire Xander, all because of her bond with Giles. Willow sacrifices a piece of her soul to save Xander.

This issue makes the smart decision of teasing out the situation with Xander and whether he will become a vampire after the events of issue #4. Buffy and Willow manage to retrieve the mystical MacGuffin they need to save Xander’s soul, but not without revealing themselves to Robin Wood or getting into a bit of a magically manipulated spat. 

Writer Jordie Bellaire has a superb handle on the personalities and dialogue of the main quartet of Buffy, Giles, Willow, and Xander, but she also has an opportunity to dig into supporting characters like Robin and Jenny Calendar. It’s clear that Bellaire has steeped herself in Buffy lore and characters, and is having fun reconfiguring and reimagining them in this new continuity. 

David Lopez gets an opportunity to have some fun with the art this issue as well, with Buffy and Willow battling giant beetles and bargaining with a giant snake-woman statue thing. Colorist Raúl Angulo does excellent work creating a fantastical palette for these scenes, and contrasting them with the more realistic colors of the scenes in Giles’ apartment. Letterer Ed Dukeshire also gets to play a little bit with the word balloons of the snake statue.

As this issue plays with the themes of friendship and sacrifice, it also hints at upcoming drama as Robin Wood shows potentially nefarious ulterior motives. This is another solid issue of raising stakes and adding complications in a compelling new direction for the Buffy franchise; it’ll be interesting to see how it all pays off, if at all.

Grade: A