Set earlier than any events in the TV show, this graphic novel--the last story arc of the five-year run of the monthly Buffy the Vampire Slayer--focuses on Buffy and her sister Dawn's reaction to their parents' announcement that they are going to divorce. Watching Buffy from afar, Angel, the vampire with a soul, decides to help her but inadvertently sets loose a group of demons that eat at her insecurities and grief over her parents' separation. The first demon plants ideas in her head about why her father left, playing on her fears that there may have been another woman. Another tries to make her blame herself. The story winds through the stages of grief quite effectively, employing some of the clever dialogue and creepy creatures that have always distinguished Buffy. Vividly depicted by artists Cliff Richards and Brian Horton, Nicieza's metaphorical story is in line with the show's clever device of having monsters symbolically represent trials in the characters' personal lives.
