Buffy the Vampire Slayer:

The Long Way Home (Vol 1)

Created by: Joss Whedon, Andy Owens, Georges Jeanty
Pages: 136
Since the destruction of the Hellmouth, the Slayers – newly legion – have gotten organized and are kicking some serious undead butt. But not everything’s fun and firearms, as an old enemy reappears and Dawn experiences some serious growing pains. Meanwhile, one of the “Buffy” decoy slayers is going through major pain of her own. Buffy creator Joss Whedon brings Buffy back to Dark Horse in this direct follow-up to season seven of the smash-hit TV series. The bestselling and critically acclaimed issues #1-5 are collected here for the first time, as are their covers by Jo Chen and Georges Jeanty

Buffy the Vampire Slayer:

No Future For You (Vol 2)

Created by: Joss Whedon, Brian K. Vaughan, Georges Jeanty
Pages: 120
Eisner award-winning writer Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina) tackles Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight with “No Future for You.” When a rogue debutant Slayer begins to use her power for evil, Giles is forced to recruit the rebellious Faith, who isn’t exactly known for her good deeds. Giles offers Faith a clean slate if she can stop this snooty Slayer from wreaking total havoc – that is, if Buffy doesn’t beat her to it. Georges Jeanty (The American Way) remains at the top of his game as series artist, and Whedon stays on as “Executive Producer” in this direct follow-up to Season Seven of the smash-hit TV series.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer:

Wolves at the Gate (Vol 3)

Created by: Joss Whedon, Drew Goddard, Georges Jeanty Pages: 136
Vampires that, at will, can transform into wolves, panthers, insects, or fog invade the Slayer base of operations in northern Scotland, and not only walk away unscathed, but in possession of Buffy’s scythe, the symbol of Slayer power worldwide. Buffy and the Slayer-legion travel to Tokyo in order to learn more about their dangerous new foes, as Xander journeys to Transylvania to solicit the only person they’ve ever known to possess such power – Dracula!

Buffy The Vampire Slayer:

Time Of Your Life (Vol 4)

Created by: Joss Whedon, Jeph Loeb, Karl Moline
Pages: 136
Willow and Buffy head to New York City to unlock the secrets of Buffy’s mysterious scythe, when something goes terribly awry. Buffy is propelled into a dystopian future where there’s only one Slayer – Fray, the title character of Joss Whedon’s 2001 series, the first comic he ever wrote. Their uneasy alliance falls apart, leading to the death of a major character from the TV series, while back in the twenty-first century, the Scotland base falls prey to a mystical bomb courtesy of the Biggest Bad – Twilight!

After seven years on the television, Buffy takes “Season Eight” to the graphic novel realm. It is the same great Joss Whedon awesomeness in full colour artistic beauty before your eyes.

By making the jump from television to book, you open up the ability to do the things that budget simply would not allow for on the small screen. For instance, after a *possible incident* with a thricewise, now Dawn is the 50-foot woman. I don’t know about you, but 50-feet of Dawn is enough to strike fear in MY heart.  I did enjoy the time travel vignette as well.

The comic book issues release monthly, but now you can get them in book form – five issues in one volume. Having now read the first four volumes, I must admit I like what Joss did with the Buffy-verse.  The wit, the fascinating story-lines, and the character interactions remain just as strong as the television show.

The comics/graphic novel volumes market themselves as “Season 8” for good reason. Much like how the tv show ran with a long reaching arc over the season spread across the episodes with their own smaller story line, that is how these read. You can watch the smaller story lines build into something much larger, and I hear there is promise of a Big Bad showdown coming up in future volumes.

I’ve been feeling a little sad with no good Joss-evision to view every week. I like the creative works of his mind. This helps to fill that void.