Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #22

Two sword-wielding women strike a battle-ready pose against the backdrop of a grand Japanese pagoda, rendered in Jo Chen's polished painted style — one in tactical armor gripping a short blade, the other in casual clothes with a larger curved sword, both projecting cool, coiled confidence. This is "Swell," issue #22 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, written by Steven S. DeKnight with interior art by Georges Jeanty. Dark Horse's 2009 continuation of the Buffyverse keeps delivering the kind of kinetic energy and strong female leads that made the franchise resonate in the first place.