Amph Buffy The Vampire Slayer & Angel book/comic book discussion

Sweet!!

BTW, love your sig.

 

We seriously need some real discussion in this thread.

What about that last Buffy issue? I thought it the absolute best. Form one of the first frames where Xander has the perfect hand gestures, that cuased me to pause, lol and sigh with memories of the series.

Poor Buffy. Nothing like being dragged into the spotlight before even getting the chance to get things settled in your mind.

Drac is back. That is so awesome! lol

 

Sorry, I haven't been able to update in a while. But this Sunday I will, promise. It'll be a big one as well. I'll be reviewing recent issues of Buffy and Angel, as well, "Spike: Old Times".

 

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Tales Of The Vampires by Joss Whedon, Jane Espenson, Drew Goddard, Cliff Richards, Jeph Loeb, Sam Loeb, Ben Edlund and various artists.

In 2004, Whedon and company wrote a mini-series anthology. Here is that story. It is the early 20th century London. A group of children are being trained to be the next generation of Watchers. Among them is Edna Fairweather. The children as part of their training must spend time with a vampire named Roche who is a captive of the Watchers. He will tell them tales from across time of vampires and Slayers.

-"Father". In 1922, a father is attacked by a vampire and is sired. But rather than killing his son, he opts to raise him despite not having a soul. Over the course of years, we see how the father deals with his son and the relationship they have, ending in 2003 with the arrival of a Slayer.

-"Dust Bowl". It is 1933 and the dust bowl has occured in the US, on top of the depression. A young boy named Joe Cooper is sired and finds himself unaware of who he is and what his life will be like now.

-"Find The Vampire". An old poem brought to life as a single frame drawing.

-"Jack". 1888 London and Jack The Ripper is on the loose. Only Inspector Whitcomb of Scotland Yard can track him down, but he harbors a dark secret of his own.

-"Stacy". A young girl named Stacy explains to us the nature of being alone and eventually becoming connected to life...by becoming a vampire.

-"Dames". 1930's Las Vegas and a vampire finds himself intrigued by a mystery woman.

-"The Trouble With Vampires". Prauge, 1997. Spike is on a rampage in Prauge as he and Drusilla are attacked by the locals in and are separated. We learn the story of why Drusilla was weak in season two.

-"Some Like It Hot". A vampire seeks to find a way to walk around in the daylight, by having the same surgery that James did in "Heartthrob" in season three.

-"Taking Care Of Business". A vampire from the 15th century has gone mad from what happened during his time as an inquisitor. Now, he thinks that he is an agent of God who will destroy all other clergymen for their belief in a God who has doubt.

-"Antiques". Romainia, 2004. Buffy, Kira and another Slayer confront Dracula in order to free Xander Harris. During the fight with Dracula, we learn how depressed and dispondent Dracula has become in the years since we last saw him, as well as his becoming famous thanks to Bram Stoker.

-"Numb." Sunnydale, 1998. Angel must face his inner demons as the First Evil begins to attack Angel in his sleep.

As Edna and the other students listen to Roche's stories, Edna begins to become suspicious of Roche as she believes that he is hiding something. And her actions here will shape the future of the Watchers and the Slayer line for generations to come.

TOTV was the last official Buffy and Angel story to be written until recently. We are given a wide range of stories from various writers of both shows, as well as new talent. Sadly, this would be one of the few stories written by Sam Loeb, son of comic and film writer/producer Jeph Loeb before his untimely death from cancer a few years ago. The story holds a big place in the canon of Buffy due to the main story, "Tales Of The Vampires" and because of "Antiques" which is refered to on issue #13 of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Twilight-Wolves At The Gate". Hence this review.

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"Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Wolves At The Gate" Part 1. by Drew Goddard, Georges Jeantry, Andy Owens and Joss Whedon.

Willow brings Andrew to stay at the castle, but no sooner than they arrive then Willow is knocked out without Andrew knowing it. Meanwhile, Xander and Renee are on watch and notice fog rolling in. Along with wolves, bees and panthers. Concerned, they go to wake up Buffy only to find her and Satsu in a compromising position. Soon, an attack is launched on the castle by vampires with bizarre abil

 

I am so going to have to look for Tales Of The Vampire. SOunds great.


"Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Wolves At The Gate" Part 1. Brilliance and fabulous. That was the one my last post referred to. Just all kinds of wonderful.

All caught up with Angel and loving it. I'd have loved to see this on TV

Hm, didn't know about a new Spike and as any with him is on my pull list, the comic store better have me one.

 

"Old Times" came out before "Old Wounds", "Spike Vs Dracula" and way before "After The Fall".

 

Buffy News.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer Tarot Card Deck.

The Slayer's Tarot includes elements from the "Buffy's" seven seasons on TV as well as "Buffy: Season 8." "Season 8 is extending the story, and extending the ideas, so we're doing some things there that include some of what happens in Season 8, some of the characters," Pollack said. "There are also little hints of what will come, which obviously we can't talk about now. Hopefully people will be intrigued, and maybe even later on look back on it and say, 'Oh, so that's what that card meant.'"

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Assistant Editor Sierra Hahn discusses "Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Twilight-The Time Of Your Life" by Joss Whedon and Karl Moline.

Kennedy and Violet will appear in this arc. Also, various characters from "Fray" will return.

 

Oh, that tarot deck is sweet. DOn't know a thing about it, but I'd love to have it. lol


Hmmmmm, might be a fun way to learn about it though.

 

I need that. And the latest issue of Buffy man oh man. Anyone else get the feeling Xandar is up to something witchy?

~PK~

 

Sorry I haven't posted reviews lately. I'll be doing a big one at the end of the month.

In the meantime, some new covers.

Issue 18 alternate cover.

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Issue 18, Jo Chen cover. Spoilers in the cover.

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Preview page from issue 16, "The Time Of Your Life".

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"Wolves At The Gate" TPB cover.

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"Spike: After The Fall" #1.

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Man. The finale of Wolves at the Gate. There was so much that should've not worked at all -- and yet it did. (Except for Buffy and Willow having a whole conversation in the time it took Satsu to fall off a building. How does that work again?) But everything else: gold. Dracula: Amazing. Dawn: Amazing. The countermeasure: should have been idiotic, but: Amazing.

 

Grrr, I really have to keep up on getting my comics.

Plus to ask them about the tarot cards as well again.

 

Buffy Tarot Deck has officially been cancelled!

THIS PRODUCT HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

Official word from Dark Horse:

"Due to circumstances beyond our control, Dark Horse will not be producing the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Tarot Deck. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, but no existing orders will be filled. We appreciate your support of this program, and again apologize to those who placed advance orders and to fans alike."


Cover to issue 12 of Angel.

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Special covers to Spike and Angel by John Romita.

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Okay, bit overdue, but here are the updates and previews.

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"Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Twilight-Wolves At The Gate" parts 3 and 4. By Joss Whedon, Drew Goddard, Georges Jeantry and Andy Owens.

Having found out Dracula's involvement with the Japanese vampires, he joins Xander in helping Buffy and the rest to retrieve that which was stolen. But the group soon finds them in a trap with deadly consequences. Including a Mecha-Dawn robot. This story is definately a strong Xander story and shows how far he has come as a character since his days in Sunnydale. Nicolas Brenden said that he was very impressed with how far Xander had come, going from being able to managing himself to running the operation in Scotland. Goddard's strengths as a writer really shone through in this series, managing to make a simple short story into a centric plot line and adding new twists to the overall product. Also, the controversial story with Satsu comes to a close with the door left open for a return.

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"Angel: After The Fall-First Night" parts 2 and 3." By Joss Whedon, Brian Lynch, Scott Tipton, Tim Kane, Nick Runge, Stephan Mooney, Fabian Mantvani, Kevyn Schmidt and Micro Pierfederici.

As Betta George remains a prisoner, we are treated to flashbacks to the first night. We learn that upon his death, Wesley awoke to the face of Fred and with the promise that they could be together forever. However, he knew it was a lie and that he was really in the White Room and that Fred is one of the conduits to the Senior Partners. We learn of what lead to his becoming the new liason to Angel, filling the void that Eve and Hamilton occupied. As well as the reason it's Wes rather than someone like Lindsey. Conner, meanwhile was saved by Kate who has been busy in the three years since she was kicked off the force. Elsewhere, Gwen was on a date when the change occured and the device to control her powers wound up shorting out, forcing her to become active again. After a brief look at how the people of L.A. reacted to the change over, we learn the tragic story of what happened to Charles Gunn and how he became a vampire. Back in the present, George wonders what a Slayer is and why his captor is fixated in them.

And now we know most of the story of what happened to everyone. How they survived and how they ended up where they are now. Overall Whedon and Lynch have done a pretty good job coming up with explainations that does not diminish the ending of "Not Fade Away" and does not rely on the arrival of the Slayer army or some such. We'll see more in "Spike: After The Fall".

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"Angel: After The Fall" part 6. By Joss Whedon, Brian Lynch and Nick Runge.

The confrontation between the Fang Gang and the Lords Of L.A. reaches its climax, with a brawl and a bang. Angel is informed about what is going on with Illyria, while letting Conner know that he has the situation under control. Meanwhile, Gunn watches and plans for his revenge. By the end, we get to see another return. Wesley reveals more about what has transpired since his return and his attempts to enlist help from an old friend.

I liked the return of the Hyperion and Spike's reaction to it. Interesting is that the Powers That Be are either incapable of helping or unwilling to do so. Especially Cordelia, who we know would give away Xander's right eye to help them. I wonder if she will return at all.

New artist Nick Runge steps in as Franco Urru moves over to Spike. While there is a noticeable difference, he does an adequte

 

"Angel: After The Fall" ends with #16, which will then lead into "Angel: Aftermath" in 2009. It will be done by a variety of writers.

 

Sorry for the delays. Issue #21 of Buffy.

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I promise to try and get the reviews up for Buffy and Angel, in the near future.

 

I just discovered Buffy last Spring (yeah, I got into the game a bit late) and having recently finished Season Seven, decided to dive into the Buffy EU. Based on the recommendations in this thread I picked up the first two TPB's of Season Eight and really enjoyed the story line (the artwork not so much) and have started going through the 20 or so Buffy novels that my local library system has.

My favorite character is Faith and I loved her arc in Season Eight. I know she has her own book, Go Ask Malice, and I believe she was featured in some of the earlier Buffy comics as well. I also see that previously in this threadThe Deathless was reviewed and it apparently features Faith as well. Are there any other books she plays a role in? And are any of these books/comics worth buying? I know the earlier Dark Horse stuff is generally negatively viewed.

 

"Go Ask Malace", "The Deathless", "The Wisdom Of War", "The Book Of Fours", "The Unseen Trilogy: The Burning, Door To Alternity, The Long Way Home", "Queen Of The Slayers", "Dark Congress" and "Chaos Bleeds". Plus the Angel novel, "Endangered Spieces". "The Faith Trials" adapts three Faith stories from season three. She also features in "Haunted" and "Note From The Underground".

 

Great reviews darth-sinister! I became of Buffy/Whedon fan about a year ago, so I'm trying to catch up. The Angel and Buffy comics have blown me away. This is the first time that must buy a comic(s) the week they come out. Keep up the great work!

 

Upping...and I wasn't very pleased with the Fray story. I guess I expected more. The Faith story remains my favorite.

Is this lack of interest in these boars indicative of poor sales for the comic? (Of course, the two could be completely unrelated.)

 

What lack of interest?

 

Lack of interest in this thread. Barely any activity.

 

No, it means that I'm too busy to be in here regularly. If you'll note, I've been posting a lot of reviews and people do view it. They may not always discuss things, but that doesn't mean that the books are doing poorly.


Anyway, here's some more news from the New York Comic Con. First, from the IDW panel about Angel.

Ryall said that ?Fallen Angel goes away with issue #33.? Peter David explained that as sales drop month after month, something needs to be done. Since a new creative team wasn?t an option and the series had reached a natural breaking point, a new #1 seemed like a good idea. ?Frank miller doesn?t do Sin City every month, or Mignola Hellboy,? David said. The relaunched Fallen Angel will guest star a character from the Buffy universe, the writer hinted. David said that okaying the appearance involved ?Me walking up to Joss? in San Diego last summer and expressing interest in a guest appearance. Whedon replied, ?You?d do a great job with that, okay.? The arc will be set during Buffy?s fifth season.

?If sales are strong, we?ll keep going. If sales drop, well hit another natural breaking point,? he joked.


A five-issue Angel series by Kelly Armstrong and Dave Ross will spin out of Brian Lynch?s current Angel story. Lynch will be coming back to do a couple special issues, including ?everything dealing with Spike?s death,? he joked. Juliet Landau co-wrote two chapters in an upcoming story, after she and Lynch ?met randomly at a Facebook bar.? An upcoming issue will show what happened to Gunn. Franco Urru will be handling the art.

Angel: Blood & Trenches, by John Byrne, sees Angel in World War I, a setting Byrne wanted to explore with the character. Byrne is ?doing some special things with the art.?

A new Spike series, by Lynch and Urru, will debut. It will continue ?just do until I?ve had enough,? Lynch said, suggesting that it will probably run around a year in length. It will be ?a big horror, fun, sci-fi thing.?

From the Dark Horse Panel about Buffy.

Shifting the focus to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy editor Allie talked about how vampires? becoming public has upset the status quo of the series. Harmony gets a reality show, Harmony Bites, he said. Over the next few months, the popularity of vampires will be making life harder for Buffy and friends. The arc Predator and Prey finds the Slayers becoming the prey.

?With Joss on Dollhouse, it?s been hard to keep on track,? Allie admitted. ?We?re taking the month of June to get the title caught up. The regular monthly won?t come out in June, but Buffy fans have been asking for side-projects, and they?re getting one in June.? Becky Cloonan will be writing a Tales of the Slayer one-shot for June. Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon will be contributing covers to the special.

The June-shipping Tales of the Slayer will be in present timeline, and although Joss Whedon doesn?t write it, ?everything is going through him.? Creative team and stories were approved by Whedon, and the comics have ?more of his fingerprint than the old Buffy comics.?

?Eventually,? Allie said when asked who Twilight is.


Although the Buffy and Angel comics are totally unrelated, Allie told fans that Dark Horse has the rights to use characters from any series. However, he ?can?t tell you? if readers will see Angel in Buffy.


Because Whedon is doing ?that stupid Dollhouse thing,? Allie joked, there will not be more Serenity comics in the near future. Whedon is doing everything he can to keep Buffy coming out on time. ?He edits every script, looks at all the art, checks the colors. Doing serenity would be the same level of commitment.? Dark Horse fully intended to do more Serenity, but they will not go forward until Whedon has the proper time to devote to it. He mentioned Sugar Shock and Fray as other Whedon properties that will be seen again when Whedon has more time for comics.