Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics refer to comic books based on the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. While many of these comics were published when the television show was on air they are not all considered canonical and often deal with characters who do not appear on in the television series, most notably in the Tales of the Slayers and Tales of the Vampires mini-series.
The books were published by Dark Horse Comics between 1998 and 2004, originally in comic format but then gathered into volumes of trade paperbacks. A small number of Buffy comics have not been included in trade paperbacks, such as the books entitled "Giles", "Jonathan", and "Reunion".
Relation to the TV series
Series creator Joss Whedon and a number of writers involved with the television series authored many of the comic books. Overviews summarizing the comic books' storylines were written early in the writing process and were 'approved' by both Fox and Joss Whedon (or his office), and the books were therefore later published as official Buffy merchandise.
The stories in the Buffy comics take place in between episodes of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series, and continue after the series ended. Issues 1 to 63 take place during the period that the series was still on air, and none are written by Joss Whedon himself. The earlier issues are not very easy to place in the series other than the season they are set in. The stories get more specific later on, however; for example, the Oz Buffy comics fill in the story line of Oz's character after he leaves the TV series, and the Death of Buffy comics clearly take place between Seasons 5 and 6 of the series.
Starting in 2007, a new series of Buffy comics has been produced, also published by Dark Horse Comics. These are a canonical continuation of the television series and as such are considered Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight. One of the other comics considered canon is the 8-part series Fray, since the main character, Melaka Fray, appears in Season 8. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight takes place after the series ended, and the issues are written by Joss Whedon to continue the storyline. A subsequent "Season Nine" series followed, accompanied by a companion or sister-series "Angel & Faith" which is set during the same time period and interchanges plots and characters. "Season Ten" debuts in March of 2014, followed by the continuation of its companion series the following month.
Chronology
Pre-20th Century
These tales take place from ancient times up until 1900.
20th Century
These Buffyverse tales take place from 1900รข€"1995.
BS1
These Buffyverse tales take place before Buffy Season 1 (from spring 1996 up until spring 1997).
BS2
These tales take place during Buffy Season 2, (from autumn 1997 up until spring 1998).
BS3
These tales take place during Buffy Season 3 (from autumn 1997 up until spring 1998).
BS4/AS1
These Buffyverse tales take place during Buffy Season 4, and Angel Season 1 (from autumn 1999 up until spring 2000).
BS5/AS2
These Buffyverse tales take place during Buffy Season 5, and Angel Season 2 (from autumn 2000 up until spring 2001).
BS6/AS3
These Buffyverse tales take place around Buffy Season 6, and Angel Season 3 (from autumn 2001 up until spring 2002).
BS7/AS4
These Buffyverse tales take place around Buffy Season 7, and Angel Season 4 (from autumn 2002 up until spring 2003).
BS8
These Buffyverse tales take place after Angel Season 5 and after Buffy ended, making it what would have been Season 8
Future
These Buffyverse tales take place after Buffy Season 8, 9, 10.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic series
See also List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics
Dark Horse published these comics, that were only later collected into the trade paperbacks described above:
- Wu-tang Fang
- Halloween
- Cold Turkey
- White Christmas
- Happy New Year
- New Kid on the Block, part 1
- New Kid on the Block, part 2
- The Final Cut
- Hey, Good Looking, part 1 (Bad Blood, part 1)
- Hey, Good Looking, part 2 (Bad Blood, part 2)
- A Boy Named Sue (Bad Blood, part 3)
- A Nice Girl Like You
- Love Sick Blues (Bad Blood, part 4)
- Love Sick Blues (Bad Blood, part 5)
- Lost Highway (Bad Blood, part 6)
- The Food Chain
- She's No Lady, part 1 (Bad Blood, part 7)
- She's No Lady, part 2 (Bad Blood, part 8)
- Old Friend (Bad Blood, part 9)
- Double Cross
- The Blood of Carthage, part 1
- The Blood of Carthage, part 2
- The Blood of Carthage, part 3
- The Blood of Carthage, part 4
- The Blood of Carthage, part 5
- The Heart of a Slayer, part 1
- The Heart of a Slayer, part 2
- Cemetery of Lost Love
- Past Lives, part 2
- Past Lives, part 4
- Lost And Found
- Invasion
- Hive Mentality
- Out Of The Fire, Into The Hive
- Remember The Beginning
- Remember The Lies, part 2
- Remember The Truth
- Remember The End
- Night of a Thousand Vampires
- Ugly Little Monsters, part 1
- Ugly Little Monsters, part 2
- Ugly Little Monsters, part 3
- The Death of Buffy, part 1
- The Death of Buffy, part 2
- The Death of Buffy, part 3
- Withdrawal
- Note From The Underground, part 1
- Note From The Underground, part 2
- Note From The Underground, part 3
- Note From The Underground, part 4
- Viva Las Buffy!, Act 1: Broken Parts
- Viva Las Buffy!, Act 2: Full House
- Viva Las Buffy!, Act 3: Deuces Wild
- Viva Las Buffy!, Act 4: The Big Fold
- Hoopy the Bear
- Slayer Interrupted, act 1
- Slayer Interrupted, act 2
- Slayer Interrupted, act 3
- Slayer Interrupted, act 4
- A Stake To The Heart, act 1
- A Stake To The Heart, act 2
- A Stake To The Heart, act 3
- A Stake To The Heart, act 4
A collection of Buffy comics in a number of volumes were published by Dark Horse Comics between 1998 and 2003 as Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus.
Comics by writer
- See Buffyverse comics#Comics by writer
See also
- List of feminist comic books
- Portrayal of women in comics
External links
- Official Buffy the Vampire Slayer Comics Home
- The Unofficial Comic Book Guide to Buffy the Vampire Slayer