Product Description

"Into every generation, a Slayer is born. One girl in all the world, to find the vampires where they gather, and to stop their evil and the swell of their numbers..." Joss Whedon's now legendary introduction to the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer created a mythology all of its own, a mythology which is now as much as part of the popular cultural landscape as Dracula himself. Buffy Summers is its archetype -- but before Buffy there were countless other Slayers, just as there will be many after her. In TALES OF THE SLAYER top genre authors and writers from the television show conjure the lives and deaths of Slayers past and future, expanding the world of Buffy into other places and other times and providing a feast of imagination for Buffy fans.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #307197 in Books
• Published on: 2003-11-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

On the Shelf Tripwire March/April 2002
At last Buffy the Vampire Slayer the comic has managed to equal the pulp thrills of its TV progenitor.

BookMunch 30th July 2002
"For devotees, it's a real treat."

Customer Reviews

Brilliant!
Now lets get this clear; this book is irrelevent unless you like Buffy or Angel. Its a great little collection of stories by the writers on the show, with some brilliant artwork. There is a twist at the end of almost every one of the 8 stories which the fans will love; I know I did.
The best stories are ones which manage to convey a good set of characters, and then give it a twist at the end or an emotional moment. The best stories are Presumption, Sonnenblume, Nikki goes down and Tales.
The latter two are of note; the "nikki" in "Nikki goes down" is indeed Nikki Wood, principle (season 7) Wood's mother, the slayer that was killed by Spike in the seventies.
"Tales" is a based on Joss' slayer of the future, Fray. As well as the super cool artwork, the final moment...fills you with some kind of happiness. I won't ruin it, but you remeber everything you love about the show in the final panel.

If you own a Buffy comic and not this; sell the Buffy comic and buy this!

A worthy addition to Buffy lore
This is a good addition to the 'Tales' saga. These four tales tell of very different Slayers in very different times:

DARK OF THE MOON, 1250
The Slayer Dark of the Moon is the guardian of the Anasazi tribe. This is a dark tale of a doomed people and a Slayer who does not really know what she is or what she is fighting. This tale cuts very effectively and oozes despair. Good.

CH'ING SHIH, 1856
The weakest tale in the book. The Slayer Xiaoqin lives in squalid seedy Shanghai fighting to protect those who depend on her unaware of what she is. Then she meets her Watcher and faces the biggest battle of her life. This tale is rather too long but it does portray the Slayer's bleak life well.

VOODOO LOUNGE, 1940
A direct sequel to the novel 'Spike & Dru: Pretty Maids in a Row'. Eleanor survived the unholy carnage at the end of 'Spike & Dru' to become the Slayer. Now as the shattered Watcher's Council attempts to rebuild, she and her Watcher visit LA to find a missing Watcher. The trail leads to an underground club where Eleanor gets caught up with murder, vigilantes and revenge. A very good story with a nice nod to the 'Angel' series, Eleanor makes a wonderful Slayer and I would like to read more stories about her. I do think however that the date of this story and the dates in 'Spike & Dru' don't match up.

THE CODE OF THE SAMURAI, 1993
A prequel to the novel 'The Book of Fours'. India Cohen is the Slayer and unknowingly is Buffy Summer's predecessor. Living in Japan on a military base, she and her Watcher answer a call for help from a family plagued by their vampiric ancestors leading to a fight in a snow covered graveyard. This is very good. In 'The Book of Fours' India came across as an idiot, here she is slightly better written though her cow-eyes mooning over her Watcher is slightly unnerving - dude she is 15 - eeewww!. The author makes some very clumsy allusion to the 'Buffy' series but they can be overlooked. The minor character of Kohana is very interesting. This was my favourite story.

A good read even if none of the stories can match the power of 'Again' from Vol 2. This tome is very much recommended. I hope Vol 4 will deal with all those Slayers created as a result of the ep 'Chosen' and that Faith and Kendra will at last get a story.

Fabulous
A fantastic collection of short stories from the same writers who make the show happen. Not a bad story amongst them; this collection delves into the history of the slayers, and shows remarkable continuity with the established history from the episodes "Fool for Love" and "Darla". A must-read for any Buffy or Angel fan.