My own self

Loving this issue more than what is sane. (Missed the opening credits-shot we got in the first two issues, though.)

Actually, I didn't really get this issue.

It seemed like for the most part it was just fighting for the sake of fighting. Then inbetween there was some dialogue that forwarded some vague plot that I didn't really notice anyway, since they had been fighting for several pages already and I had resorted to just skimming the pages until something interesting would appear.

That would be your problem. I loved every single second of it. The fight did not drag out, Angel vs. Illyria was very quickly done with and had a lot of nice hints and foreshadowing in Illyria's ever-awesome dialogue, as well as the time-ripples. The following fight between Illyria and the Dragon was always back-ground-action behind plot-furthering dialogue between Spike, Angel and Connor, and thus just added coolness and humour to a scene about something else entirely. The only thing I felt could've been done a little better was the time-ripples - they were intentionally confusing, okay, but maybe a little bit too much so. Other than that, I loved every single thing about this issue, from the Loan Shark to the insanely exciting cliffhanger revelation.

If I was to grade this series so far, this is it:

Issue 1: 10/10
Issue 2: 7,5/10
Issue 3: 9/10

In other words, I'm incredibly, incredibly happy with this series so far. A (less accurate du to less re-reads and more issues to keep straight) run-down on Bs8 for comparison, for instance, would not be nearly as positive despite my loving that too:

"The Long Way Home": (weakish) 8/10
"The Chain": 7/10
"No Future For You": (weakish) 9/10
"Anywhere But Here": 8,5/10