Buffy Season 8 Comic
Fortun Bawa
While many comic books based on the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer were published when the television show was on air they are not all considered canonical and often deal with characters who do not appear in the television series, most notably in the Tales of the Slayers and Tales of the Vampires mini-series.
The first series of 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".
Following the television series finale, Dark Horse began releasing new books titled Season Eight, Nine, and Ten, and various spin-offs, which are written and/or supervised by creator Joss Whedon and officially recognized as canon to the show. In 2007, Dark Horse allowed the rights to produce the comics for Buffy's companion show Angel to lapse, and they were picked up for a short time by IDW Publishing, which released the canon series Angel: After the Fall among other non-canon titles. Dark Horse reacquired the rights in 2010 and went on to release the official Angel: Season Six and the spin-off series Angel & Faith.
In 2018 it was announced after 20 years at Dark Horse Comics, the license for Buffy and all related material will transfer to BOOM! Studios.[1] The first issue of the reboot series was released in January 2019.
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" debuted in March 2014, followed by the continuation of its companion series the following month.
The series serves as a canonical[3] continuation of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and follows the events of that show's final televised season.[4] It is produced by Joss Whedon, who wrote or co-wrote three of the series arcs and several one-shot stories. The series was followed by Season Nine in 2011.
When Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight was finished, Dark Horse Comics decided to publish a new comic season of Buffy. They also decided to follow up the series Angel: After the Fall with the publication of Angel & Faith as a part of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine after IDW Publishing lost the license to Angel and it went to Dark Horse Comics.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eleven is the sequel to the Season Ten comic book series, a canonical continuation of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Buffy & Angel consist of only 12 issues per series, a much shorter run than the previous seasons, while the miniseries, Giles, runs for 4 issues. The series was published by Dark Horse Comics and began on November 23, 2016.[5]
Fray is an eight-issue comic book limited series, a futuristic spin-off of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Written by Buffy creator Joss Whedon, the series follows a Slayer named Melaka Fray, a chosen one in a time where vampires (called "lurks") are returning to the slums of New York City, and the rich-poor divide is even greater. Volume one is drawn by Karl Moline (pencils) and Andy Owens (inks).
In 1998, Dark Horse Comics published its first Buffy comic story, "MacGuffins." The series was initially a non-canon extension of the television series, with little to no input from the show's writers. These comics were later renamed Buffy the Vampire Slayer Classic, to differentiate from the upcoming canon series. In 2003, the production for the Buffy meta-series halted, and Dark Horse started producing canonical works in other meta-series: Tales and Fray.
In 2016, it also began the graphic novel miniseries Buffy: The High School Years, set during the first season of the television show. The Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eleven began in the same year, followed in 2018 by the the final season, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Twelve. The story wrapped up in its finale when it was revealed that the license for the Buffy comics was moving from Dark Horse after 20 years.
Exceptionally, in 2018 Little, Brown Books for Young Readers published the first of a new graphic novel series, simply titled Buffy the Vampire Slayer, introducing Buffy Summers with a new Scooby Gang acting in middle school.
The 20th Century Fox-owned publishing house Boom! Studios picked up the license of the comics from Dark Horse, debuting in 2019 the homonym Buffy the Vampire Slayer series. Described as the original television show reimagined for the year of 2019, the series was complete with 34 issues. After its conclusion, Boom! Studios announced the new series The Vampire Slayer, another series taking place in an alternative universe.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight is a comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics from 2007 to 2011. The series serves as a canonical[2] continuation of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and follows the events of that show's final televised season.[3] It is produced by Joss Whedon, who wrote or co-wrote three of the series arcs and several one-shot stories. The series was followed by Season Nine in 2011.
The series was originally supposed to consist of about 25 issues,[4] but eventually expanded to a 40-issue run. The series also spawned a handful of spin-off titles, including a Tales of the Vampires follow-up and one-shots focusing on Willow and Riley.[5]
The success of the series prompted IDW Publishing and Joss Whedon to publish a concurrent continuation of the Angel television series, titled Angel: After the Fall, and a Spike comic book series, which bridges some aspects of continuity between After the Fall and Season Eight.[6] A motion comic version of the series debuted in 2010.[7]
A year after the end of the television series, Buffy and Xander now lead command-central, which is situated at a citadel in Scotland. At their disposal are a wide array of psychics, seers, witches, and Slayers,[8] along with a vast amount of technology, revealed to be the result of Buffy robbing a Swiss bank to acquire the funds.[9] There are 1,800 Slayers worldwide according to Buffy, almost 500 of whom are working with the Scoobies, separated into 10 squads. Squads include Andrew's in Southern Italy,[10] Giles' in England,[11] Vi's in New York City,[12] Robin's in Cleveland, Ohio,[13] and another led by Rona in Chicago, Illinois.[14] For Buffy's protection and because her name is feared worldwide, two decoys are put in place: one partying in Rome and one on a mission in demonic caverns.[15] Buffy now relies heavily on Willow, whose character arc sees her under the tutelage of a powerful demon called Saga Vasuki.[9][16] Under Saga Vasuki, Willow's power has grown phenomenally; for example, she can now fly and cast extremely complicated and large-scale spells.[8]
In the wake of Sunnydale's destruction, elements within the U.S. government view the expanded Slayers and the Scooby Gang as international terrorists and characterize Buffy as a "charismatic, uncompromising and completely destructive" leader. General Voll, a member of a mystically aware Initiative-like government project, describes fear of their resources, power, and ideology.[8] The government has teamed with Sunnydale survivor/powerful witch Amy Madison and Season 6 villain Warren Mears in the hopes of bringing Buffy down.[10] Simultaneously, an evil British socialite Slayer called Lady Genevieve Savidge plots to usurp Buffy's place in the Slayer hierarchy,[13] and a shrewd cabal of Japanese vampires scheme to reverse the global activation of Potential Slayers in "Chosen".[17] The appearances of these villains are connected to "Twilight", the enigmatic Big Bad of the season, a masked person who views the expanded ranks of Slayers as a threat to humanity and wants to destroy them, and bring about an end to all magic on Earth.[14] It later transpires that like Amy and Warren, Buffy's ex-boyfriend Riley Finn is also loyal to Twilight,[18] though Riley turns out to have been Buffy's double agent.[19]
Halfway through the season, ditzy vampire Harmony Kendall rises to fame as a reality TV star and ushers in a new pro-vampire, anti-Slayer world order.[20] Under attack from Twilight and other demons as well as militaries across the world, the various Slayer squads (including Faith) reconvene in retreat from their enemy. Because Twilight can now track the group through their use of magic, Buffy and her friends relocate to Tibet to learn from Oz how to suppress magical natures for witches and Slayers alike. Giles and Buffy are both concerned with the extent to which they rely on Willow, worried she may go overboard again as in Season Six;[21] Buffy's fears are in part justified by her visit to the future (a crossover with the Whedon miniseries Fray) where she was forced to kill a future Dark Willow.[18] Following the fray with Twilight, in which many Slayers were killed, Buffy developed abilities similar to those of Twilight.
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