Did you ever wonder how, given all of the very public vampire attacks on TV, they kept the general public ignorant of the existence of undead blood-suckers? Well, all that's about to change.

Harmony, one of Buffy's high school classmates and one of the few evil vampires to survive both the Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel TV series, is caught by a Los Angeles paparazzi putting the fangs to Andy Dick. Far from spawning a public outcry and surge of violence against vampires, it creates a Edward-and-Bella-like craze for all things fanged and thirsty. (Harmony, at least, only sparkles because of makeup.) Soon, she's even got her own reality show on MTV (which has given up on music entirely, it seems), and the viewing public seems to love it even more when someone dies on camera.

When that person is a rogue Slayer, though, things get tough for Buffy & Co. Suddenly the Slayers are the villains in Harmony's little TV drama, and public opinion is strongly against them.

Predators & Prey, the fifth volume in BtVS: Season 8, is a series of one-shot tales from this period.

This collection makes several points very clear: Dawn is still a centaur. The demon Clem still has an excess of skin. There's a legion of Vampy Cat plush dolls shipping all over the world, but these hot items are sentient and bitey. Buffy still isn't gay. Andrew is still annoyingly chatty. Daniel Craig has across-the-aisle appeal. Dawn is now a porcelain doll. Veronica Mars DVDs should be handled with care. And even if she is of legal age, it's still awkward when Dawn pops up naked in this book.

Predators & Prey, though entertaining, is easily the weakest volume in the Season 8 series so far. I put this down to some extent to the lack of continuity between chapters, the disparity of writers and artists and the growing sense that much of what goes on here is merely a build-up to whatever happens next. This ain't great Buffy, but it's still a good read and is likely vital toward understanding the story arc that follows.