Predators and Prey (TPB)

"Predators and Prey" is the fifth story arc that spreads from the twenty-first to the twenty-fifth issue of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' Season Eight series of comic books, a continuation from the television series of the same name.

Part I, Harmonic Divergence (Issue #21)
But I want in!

We begin with Harmony trying to work her way into a hot spot night club, after being turned down she bumps into Andy Dick who is taken in by her looks. He pulls her into a alley, where they are pursued by paparazzi cameras, catching Harmony feed from Andy Dick. Later Harmony is her apartment looking at the photo on her computer and narrating about how it got her famous. The photo was released in tabloids which caused a world-wide stir of interest in vampires. Harmony uses this pop culture buzz to land her own reality TV show with MTV, much to the Scoobies shock. Elsewhere in the city, underneath a billboard ad for the Harmony Bites reality show, a potential Slayer, Soledad, is trying to negotiate her way out of a street gang when she is jumped by the other members. This being her sixteenth birthday she is imbued with the powers of the Slayer and turns the tide of the brawl to her favor. Soledad leaves the gang to walk through the city where she watches Andrew and Vi's television commercial for girls who have been recently imbued but have no where to turn, as seen in The Chain. Rather than call the number as advertised, she figures that she would rather be discovered, where to her surprise, she is approached by Andrew Wells. After talking to Buffy on the phone, the slayer figures that joining Buffy and the other girls would just be joining another gang. The Slayer then decides to have her gang tattoo covered up and while she is in the parlor Harmony and Clem show up with the reality show in tow. Soledad approaches the crew about getting on to the show, where they tell her that they will be shooting a party scene later that night and she is welcomed to come. At the party the Slayer has shown up, removed of her stake by security, and waits until Harmony makes her big scene arrival. Lacking her stake, Soledad improvises by breaking a clapboard and using the wooden shard to attack Harmony. Her attack is thwarted by Harmony throwing her Pomeranian at the Slayer, the Slayer recovers but not before Harmony grabs hold of the clapboard shard and impales Soledad with it on live television. Worldwide watchers are shocked and enthralled, propelling the reality show to number two. Harmony's publicists feed news organizations information that the Slayers are really villains, even better than Nazis. And as Anderson Cooper carries on a interview with Harmony, the world believes it.

Part II, Swell (Issue #22)
''Uwa! Kaijuu da! Dare ka tasukete!''

Swell opens with Satsu tracking a four-armed monster through the city alter it has attacked a Santorio Corp. armored car and made off with whatever was in the truck. On a bridge Satsu confronts the demon and successfully amputates one of its four arms, dropping the item in question. The monster knocks Satsu off guard with its tail but not before it is zapped by Kennedy. Rather than being delighted in Kennedy’s timely arrival, she upset that Buffy sent the “other lesbian Slayer” to check up on her. During the conversation the monster attempts to attack the two Slayers, but is quickly kicked into the water below. The two continue their conversation about how Buffy is really straight and that Satsu’s “true love” can never be reciprocated. They make off with the monsters bag only to discover that within is a Vampy Cat Play Friend prototype doll, which is the hottest new vampire crazed commercial item. The story then shifts to the now three-armed monster conversing with a wrinkled yet young Asian man with glowing red eyes, who only promises the monster a quick death as reward for letting the doll get caught. During the night, the Vampy Cat doll comes to life and sneaks into Satsu’s room and climbs down her throat where in the morning, Satsu begins to act like a straight, traditional young Japanese maiden. What Kennedy mistakes as Satsu joking around winds up becoming a violent fight between the two, with Satsu verbally degrading Kennedy for her alternative life style. Kennedy, enraged, kicks Satsu square in the stomach, forcing the Vampy Cat doll to be vomited out and discovered. It attacks Kennedy only to have its head sliced off by a confused Satsu. The Slayers then descend on the Santorio Corporation building via helicopter, where they find the entire staff deceased and sucked dry of all their bodily fluids. Checking through the computer files, they are informed that the entire Vampy Cat inventory shipped an hour before their arrival, with half a million of them on a ship headed for Scotland, Buffy’s secret location. This destination is due to the prototype Vampy Cat ascertaining the information from Satsu while it had possessed her, which it sub-sequentially downloaded to the other Vampy Cats. On the Santorio’s freight ship, “Daikaiju”, Kennedy and Satsu attempt to place a bomb on board to destroy the shipment, only to be caught before they could start. Since the entire crew on the ship is possessed by Vampy Cats, they are remarkably easy to dispatch, the bodies quickly crumbling into dust. The Vampy Cats abandon their hosts to attack the two Slayers whilst threatening to devour their ovaries. With the last Vampy Cat destroyed it warns that “nothing can stop the Swell!” On queue a giant conglomerate of Vampy Cats, declaring itself Legion, tear through the deck of the ship knocking back the two Slayers. It begins to hail Twilight and boast on the destruction that they will bring. Before the fight can ensue Satsu lights a flare and throws it into the sky, the signal for plan B, a hidden Korean submarine that the Japanese Slayers liberated from some vampires. The sub fires two torpedoes at the Daikaiju, thus destroying it, and the Swell. Back at headquarters Buffy and Xander confirm that all the Vampy Cat shipments have since been destroyed along with the factory that produced them; whilst on Larry King Live, Harmony purports the destruction of the Vampy Cats by the Slayers as another anti-Vampire outlash. From here on out, Buffy wants the Slayers to be more focused, to be more than human and better than the Vampires in order to win this war with Twilight. Much to Satsu's dismay, Buffy does not have any personal words for her, nor acknowledges their relationship as having happened.

Part III, Predators and Prey (Issue #23)
It's Buffy -- and Andrew -- on a mission in Italy... together! Awkward? Yes!Since Harmony's television stunt, the ensuing of general vampire-love from the masses, and the destruction of the Scotland base, operations at Slayer headquarters have been somewhat strained. Rogue Slayers--Simone and her gang--have not been helping Slayer-civilian relations with their attacks against the military, bank robbing, and occasional snitching at Hot Topic. Now, Andrew has a lead on how to gain intel on Simone's plans. . . but he has to go to Italy -- now! With Xander and Willow busy holding together their Slayer legions Buffy seems to be the only one with an open schedule to act as Andrew's backup. Hours of travel... just Buffy and Andrew... Really?

Part IV, Safe (Issue #24)
In a one-shot issue, Krueger fleshes out the go-to girl for dirty deeds, Faith, and her new partner, Giles. After her last thankless escapade, where she put a stop to Buffy-hunting Slayer and kindred spirit Lady Gigi, Faith decided that though she's determined to be finished with bloodshed, she's not ready to leave misguided Slayers (like Gigi) with nowhere to turn. Fast-forward to the present. . . bloodshed still abounds, and the Faith-and-Giles team is still finding out what it really means to help those chosen to slay. ..

Part V, Living Doll (Issue #25)
Doug Petrie, formerly a writer and director on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series, joins Buffy Season Eight with "Living Doll." The spell little Dawnie got whacked with by the Thricewise demon she angered just keeps. . . evolving. First, she's a giant; then, she's a centaur; now, she's a. . . what?! Buffy, ever busy saving the world, will finally have to take action regarding her little sis when Dawn's mysterious disappearance makes it a priority. At least, she better be in some sort of danger, or Buffy's going to kick her butt for wasting precious time acting like an attention-seeking teen -- which is what Dawn is, after all.

Writing and artwork
Unlike the previous four story arcs, which have four issues each, this one has five. Each individual issue will be written by a different writer and each issue has a title instead of the overall story-arc title. The story-arc is a very loose one compared to the previous ones and each issue involves certain characters point of view of the over-all plot.

Canonical issues

 * See also: canon

This series has been described as 'canon' by both Whedon and various commentators. As the creator of Buffy, Joss Whedon's association with Buffyverse story is often linked to how canonical the various stories are. Since Whedon is writing this story, it will be seen as a continuation of the official continuity established by Buffy and Angel.

This may mean it contradicts information given in the previously released non-canonical Queen of the Slayers, and Dark Congress, which are described as being set in an unofficial "parallel continuity".

Timing
Intended to be set a year and a half after Buffy ' s seventh season and also after Angel ' s fifth, concurrent with Angel: After the Fall. More specifically this arc occurs after Buffy Season eight issue #20, ''After These Messages ... We’ll be right back!.

Tie-ins
Harmony Bites, the E-comic in Myspace and Dark Horse Presents issue # 18, the reality television show for Harmony that happens in and around “Harmonic Divergence”. Other tie-ins to the "Harmonic Divergence" issue appeared on a Myspace page for Harmony Kendall, and in "special inserts" in the Dark Horse comics Kull #3, Solomon Kane #4, B.P.R.D.: The Black Goddess #1, and The Cleaners #2, where Harmony is interviewed about her show.

Vampy Cat Play Friend, the E-comic in Myspace and Dark Horse Presents issue # 19, which is a commercial for the Vampy Cat doll that appears in “Swell”