Product Description

This second volume of our Buffy omnibus series collects many of the best Buffy comics to see print. As we follow the newly-chosen slayer from Los Angeles to Sunnydale and through her parents' divorce - with Dawn in tow - the souled vampire Angel makes his first appearance and the not-so-souled Spike and Drusilla cleave a bloody path towards the West Coast. This collection includes the critically acclaimed graphic novel Ring of Fire and the miniseries A Stake to the Heart, and reflects the Season One to Season Three timeline of the cult-hit TV series. A fitting companion to Joss Whedon's comics-based relaunch of the show.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49423 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 296 pages

Customer Reviews

Rich and engaging
The price of this book would almost be worth paying for the first three stories alone. The expertise of X-Men writers Fabian Nicieza and Scott Lobdell really do justice to the first, very short story, juxtaposing humour and adventure, along with Angel's earlier low-key involvement with Buffy's life.

But it is the second story, 'A Stake to the Heart' which is the stand-out one of the book. Filling in gaps left by the television series - Giles arriving in Sunnydale, Hank leaving the Summers girls, Buffy slowly waking up to her calling, Angel trying to help and messing up - the demons throughout this mini-series are both subtle and horrifying in a way TV would find it difficult to accomplish. Nicieza knows the strength of a comic, the advantage it has over other mediums, and he uses it to the max, right down to Dawn's presence, like a memory, both present and not. Yet for all the heartfelt trauma and darkness in these pages, there is humour as well, like a really good episode.

The third story, 'MacGuffins', is short and very funny, some welcome relief after the previous. If it had been an episode Jane Espenson would probably have written it.

The art throughout is very high quality, with the exception of the last story (Willow and Cordelia are almost indistinguishable, it's that bad). Brian Horton deserves special mention with his beautiful (or disturbing) covers and sections of 'A Stake to the Heart'. His paintings often appear to be like classical art. His cover of the book is extraordinary - Angelus monstrous and overwhelming, and Buffy with a translucent grace and calm, the two in an unusual balletic motion.

There are two Spike and Drusilla stories, which I wouldn't rate quite as highly as some. The art is very good but has a stillness that doesn't always seem quite appropriate to the violent dynamics of the action, and at the end of the day a Spike and Dru story pre-Sunnydale is only likely to be monsters battling monsters. If you're a fan of these two lovebirds though, then you'll like these stories.

This review has gone on long enough I guess. The main thing is the rich variety and general high standard of the stories in this omnibus. If it hadn't been for the last story and clunky dialogue with Spike and Dru, this collection could easily have got five stars. But then, an omnibus is meant to collect everything, and in that respect we're fortunate to have so much quality in one volume.

Nicely expands on the show and has some genuinely great stories.
Buffy omnibus one was good, but it featured a mixed bag of stories all okay but none were of the standard presented here. The comic expands nicely on the buffy mythos and actually keeps the feel of the series in which they are set. The shorter stories aren't great but they are short and aimple but the larger stories really feel like part of the TV show. The story of Buffy's parents divorce is excellent and is surpassed by Ring of fire a story set within series two when Angel was evil.