The Long Way Home

"The Long Way Home" is the first arc from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight series of comic books, a direct continuation of the television series of the same name. It is written by creator Joss Whedon. It ran for four issues. The first issue was released on March 14, 2007, and the final issue of the arc was released on June 6, 2007. A collected edition of the arc was released on November 14, 2007. Plot Part I (Issue #1) Buffy is leading a squad of Slayers—including three named Leah, Rowena, and Satsu—in a raid on a large, dilapidated church protected by a forcefield. She reveals that there are at least 1800 Slayers now active, 500 of whom are working with the Scooby Gang spread over ten squads. There are two Slayers posing as decoys of her, lest she become an easy target; one literally underground and another in Rome publicly partying and dating the Immortal. Working with Xander, who is running things at Slayer headquarters in Scotland (Buffy refers to him as a Watcher despite his objections) with a team of computer workers, psychics and mystics, including a Slayer named Renee, Buffy and her squad find three monstrous demons. There are also three dead humans. The demons are killed in battle. The humans have odd symbols carved in their chest and there are nearby automatic weapons. Buffy tells Xander to send a copy of the symbol to Giles, when another Slayer finds the machine that generated the force field, also presumably belonging to the victims. There is a shadowed spy nearby.