"Wow… that was... that was... Wow," says Buffy the Vampire Slayer, her naked body wrapped in tangled bed sheets and one hand on her sweaty brow.
"'That was wow' pretty much covers it," responds Satsu, a fellow slayer who, also dripping with sweat, clutches Buffy, as various items of clothing and underwear are shown strewn around the bed.
In the latest instalment of the comic book series Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, which continues the saga of TV's popular vampire and demon slaying student, she experiences her first lesbian one-night stand - a plot twist already being labelled "a cynical marketing ploy" and "another example of the media's pro-gay agenda" by critics.
Joss Whedon, executive producer of the comic, tells ABCNEWS.com that the storyline flows naturally and is nothing controversial.
"We had already established that there was this character, Satsu, was in love with Buffy and that Buffy was kind of lonesome," said Whedon. "[We decided] it would be fun if they just went ahead and did it, rather than have it be a 'will they won't they' situation."
Whedon asserts that lesbianism in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer adventures is nothing new Buffy's best friend Willow came out in the fourth season of the cult TV show.
Comic book guru Matthew McAllister says LGBT characters in comics are nothing new. "We've definitely seen gay characters in mainstream comics over the past 10 to 15 years," he explains, "but usually those tend to be secondary characters, not leads.
"Buffy is a metaphor for teenage life, and one of the issues teenagers face is the questioning of sexuality. Now they're trying to explore it a little bit more."
