You'll never guess what Willow has to do to summon a psychic connection to her naked, blue-skinned, snake-bodied mentor.

You'll be tantalized by the trivia gleaned when Buffy unknowingly walks across a transparent floor.

You'll be surprised when Dawn abruptly transforms from giantess to topless centaur.

Time of Your Life is the fourth volume in Joss Whedon's acclaimed Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8 series for Dark Horse, which picked up where the TV series left off. In this chapter of the continuing adventures of Global Buffy and her Slayer Army, Buffy is whisked into the future previously detailed in Whedon's stand-alone book Fray, where the last slayer stands alone in a world overrun by lurks and demons -- but at least there are flying cars. As usual in comic books when heroes meet, they have to fight, so look for plenty of girl-on-girl slayer action.

Buffy and her gang have plenty of foes arrayed against them in this volume. In the present, there are the forces of the mysterious Twilight, whose allies include a skinless Warren and cheesed-off Amy, both of whom survived the destruction of Sunnydale, as well as a new ally checked out from the Buffy archives whom readers will be surprised to see on the opposing team. In Fray's future world, Buffy finds herself facing -- but no, I can't reveal that. Even though you learn the identity of this particular Big Bad fairly early in the book, you should probably experience that "oh yeah" moment for yourself.

This volume also includes "After These Messages ... We'll Be Right Back," a dream sequence written by Jeph Loeb and penciled by Georges Jeanty, which gives a nod to the animated Buffy TV series that nearly was. This cute, cartoony tale sends Buffy back to high school for a one-off adventure with a dragon.

Whedon & Co. certainly have not dropped the ball since carrying the Buffy franchise from TV to comics. This series continues to excel.