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Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 9 #1-2
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9: Library Edition Volume 1
The world has lost its connection to magic, thanks to Buffy’s choices at the end of Season 8, and there are growing pains all around. Having relocated to San Francisco, Buffy discovers a new breed of troubles—zompires, a magical siphon, a sullen Wiccan best friend, and, along with her other twenty-something-type ordeals, a pesky student loan. Then, when Willow goes walkabout, Buffy is suddenly dealing with a pregnancy, body snatching, robots, and a rogue Slayer—all while coming to terms with her relationship with Spike.
Collects the first two volumes of Buffy Season 9 in a deluxe hardcover format with sketchbook extras!
Collects the first two volumes of Buffy Season 9 in a deluxe hardcover format with sketchbook extras!
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 27, 2015
19 people are currently reading
616 people want to read
About the author
Joss Whedon
482 books4,351 followersJoss Whedon (born Joseph Hill Whedon) is an American screenwriter, executive producer, film and television director, comic book writer, occasional composer, and actor, and the founder of Mutant Enemy Productions and co-creator of Bellwether Pictures.
He is best known as the creator and showrunner of the television series 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003)', 'Angel (1999–2004)', 'Firefly (2002)' and its film follow-up 'Serenity (2005)', and 'Dollhouse (2009–2010)', as well as the web-series' 'Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (2008)'. Whedon co-wrote and produced the horror film 'The Cabin in the Woods (2012)', and wrote and directed the film adaptation of Marvel's 'The Avengers (2012)', the third highest-grossing film of all time.
Many of Whedon's projects have cult status and his work is notable for portraying strong female characters and a belief in equality.
credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joss_Whedon
He is best known as the creator and showrunner of the television series 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003)', 'Angel (1999–2004)', 'Firefly (2002)' and its film follow-up 'Serenity (2005)', and 'Dollhouse (2009–2010)', as well as the web-series' 'Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (2008)'. Whedon co-wrote and produced the horror film 'The Cabin in the Woods (2012)', and wrote and directed the film adaptation of Marvel's 'The Avengers (2012)', the third highest-grossing film of all time.
Many of Whedon's projects have cult status and his work is notable for portraying strong female characters and a belief in equality.
credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joss_Whedon
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
October 31, 2019
Rereading some of the Buffy comics! I didn’t love Season 9 of Buffy when it originally came out (Angel & Faith was flawless), but this is my third time reading through the entire season, I believe, and it really grows on me the more I return to it. This IS a fairly slow burn season, and it’s all over the place, so I can see why I was so unforgiving while reading it month to month. Those problems aren’t as apparent when you binge it though, obviously. Season 8 has too many characters, debatably, whereas Season 9 has too few (at least for long stretches of time). Buffy is always the main character of her book, but you really feel the lack of her supporting cast here. Spike is really the only other player by her side in this volume, with Willow acting standoffish and then leaving, and with Xander and Dawn kinda off doing their own thing too. And of course, Spike also leaves in the end. (Giles need not be mentioned.) So yeah, this season is flawed, but it’s a much better read for a binge. And it’s so good to see Buffy back in a “small town” environment. 4.5/5 Stars! The first seven issues were pretty solid (especially 1 and 6), but once the “twist” is revealed, it kinda derailed into craziness that felt like a copout and unearned.
August 9, 2017
Buffy has to face the impact of her decision to destroy the Seed, cutting our world off from demon dimensions, but also cutting it off from magic. As she has done before, Buffy tries to fit in to a normal world, trying to give attention to her non-slayer identity, but the supernatural world keeps on infringing on her desire to live a normal life. Her slayer identity once again impacts work, the lives of her friends and her roommates. Buffy finds herself hunted by an enemy who wants to drain her of her power, has to deal with the possibility that she might be pregnant and what that may mean for her life as the Slayer, cope with police who believe she is a murderer, and keep exploring what she and Spike mean to each other... or even if they mean anything. But her biggest challenge is one that has continued to shape her - what it means to be "normal" and the impossibility of a normal life.
March 3, 2023
With the current Buffy comics so dire I wanted to continue my slow, but steady, re-read of the canonical Buffy comics as done by Dark Horse.
Season 9 starts strong - the world, especially Willow, is reeling from Buffy’s decision to destroy the seed in season 8. New types of vampires are rising and we’re seeing what happened to the demons that would’ve been reliant on magic to travel between dimensions. This run ran alongside the stellar Angel + Faith series and because of this I always deemed this run of Buffy as a bit weak but a re-read has me considering it more of a return to basics. Season 8 was big and indulgent, space bugs and robots aside, season 9 is reigning that back.
The art throughout is consistent (it can be done BOOM! comics) but I was particularly pleased to see Cliff Richards drawing Buffy and co once more. Also having Phil Boot’s stunning covers printed in large print with no text etc is a real treat.
3/5
Season 9 starts strong - the world, especially Willow, is reeling from Buffy’s decision to destroy the seed in season 8. New types of vampires are rising and we’re seeing what happened to the demons that would’ve been reliant on magic to travel between dimensions. This run ran alongside the stellar Angel + Faith series and because of this I always deemed this run of Buffy as a bit weak but a re-read has me considering it more of a return to basics. Season 8 was big and indulgent, space bugs and robots aside, season 9 is reigning that back.
The art throughout is consistent (it can be done BOOM! comics) but I was particularly pleased to see Cliff Richards drawing Buffy and co once more. Also having Phil Boot’s stunning covers printed in large print with no text etc is a real treat.
3/5
December 27, 2015
4.5 • I am liking season 9 way more than season 8 in terms of plot, character development, and artwork. The artwork is GORGEOUS and is waaaay easier to tell who's who than in Season 8. Season 8 was all over the place and so confusing - I felt that too much had progressed in not enough time from season 7 to be believable. Season 9, while still outlandish due to events in season 8, is a lot more grounded in reality and focuses a lot more on the Scoobies' relationships which is why I fell in love with the series in the first place. Can't wait to read the rest.
April 23, 2018
Much weirder than s8, but consistent in its characterizations; maybe dialing back the scope was the trick? But then again, spike & his bug spaceship are amazing and there’s lots of cool new characters and going new and different directions seems to be healthy for the comic too.
October 27, 2018
Not much to say other than it was a good book. Great follow up to s8 and if you love Buffy you’ll love this as well.
October 6, 2016
Hm. I dunno. 3 for content, but 4 for potential. This volume both is and is not a return to form for the series. We're grounded back in the bounds of a character-driven supernatural melodrama, but there are still bits of it that are a little overly.
It's good she's dealing with a roommates and a job. Not a fan of the zompires. Spike's ship is dumb as hell, but handled in such a self-conscious way that it works. Buffy is never at its strongest when dealing with technology and robots, but that's a pretty big plot element. And apparently it only takes about an hour to brainwash someone.
This could become great, but so far it's just good.
It's good she's dealing with a roommates and a job. Not a fan of the zompires. Spike's ship is dumb as hell, but handled in such a self-conscious way that it works. Buffy is never at its strongest when dealing with technology and robots, but that's a pretty big plot element. And apparently it only takes about an hour to brainwash someone.
This could become great, but so far it's just good.
April 8, 2019
OHMYGOSH, I loved this. It was back to basics in the best way.
Season 8 was fun for the novelty of moving the characters into a graphic novel format. Think of it as a TV show with an unlimited special effects budget.
But Season 9 is off to an amazing start in this first book and I can not wait to read what's next for Buffy and the Scoobies.
SPOILER time:
Buffy is back to being one of only a handful of slayers. She's in San Francisco, back to food service, and just trying to live a normal-ish life, something that has always, always been a challenge for her from day one when she wanted to be a slayer/cheerleader (and also a friend, and a student who wasn't flunking, and a good daughter).
Willow and Buffy are navigating a rocky relationship as Willow doesn't think Buffy quite understands how the fallout from Twilight is affecting everyone else in the world. Then a demon comes looking for Buffy, to maker her pay. It's a moment of comedic relief when it turns out he's there to make her pay her student loans. With the seed destroyed, he's trapped in our realm, and honestly, he's just trying to get by. Don't shoot the messenger.
Then there's a pregnancy scare! Maybe has something to do with the night Buffy and her roomies threw a party and she blacked out. Complete with The Hangover-like lapses in time and mysteries uncovered later as she tries to piece together what she can't remember. And more Spike!
Joss and co., thank you so much for Season 9.
Season 8 was fun for the novelty of moving the characters into a graphic novel format. Think of it as a TV show with an unlimited special effects budget.
But Season 9 is off to an amazing start in this first book and I can not wait to read what's next for Buffy and the Scoobies.
SPOILER time:
Buffy is back to being one of only a handful of slayers. She's in San Francisco, back to food service, and just trying to live a normal-ish life, something that has always, always been a challenge for her from day one when she wanted to be a slayer/cheerleader (and also a friend, and a student who wasn't flunking, and a good daughter).
Willow and Buffy are navigating a rocky relationship as Willow doesn't think Buffy quite understands how the fallout from Twilight is affecting everyone else in the world. Then a demon comes looking for Buffy, to maker her pay. It's a moment of comedic relief when it turns out he's there to make her pay her student loans. With the seed destroyed, he's trapped in our realm, and honestly, he's just trying to get by. Don't shoot the messenger.
Then there's a pregnancy scare! Maybe has something to do with the night Buffy and her roomies threw a party and she blacked out. Complete with The Hangover-like lapses in time and mysteries uncovered later as she tries to piece together what she can't remember. And more Spike!
Joss and co., thank you so much for Season 9.
January 8, 2024
This volume was less terrible than the previous season with one glaring exception: Buffy gets casually date-raped.
Look, without spoiling it, the writers do kind of smooth it over. BUT BUFFY LITERALLY BELIEVES SHE GETS DATE-RAPED BY EITHER XANDER,SPIKE, HER ROOMMATE OR SOME RANDO, AND FEELS SORT OF WHATEVER ABOUT THE WHOLE THING?
The authors have completely lost the thread at this point. Where is the devastation? She believes she’s been abused (and actually really has, just not in the way she thinks) by a person she loves and trusts. All she can do is blush and be embarrassed that she got drunk?
Between this and the fact that Xander and Dawn are in a relationship that, IN NO WAY DRIVES THE PLOT FORWARD, the writers are bizarrely and grotesquely relying on moving things along by just people fucking. Characters are only relevant in relationship to who they’re interested in sleeping with, who they’re romantically connected to, who they lust after or who they can’t have. THERE IS AN ACTUAL STORY AND THE WRITERS ARE IGNORING IT.
There was a moment when the story started to feel like the show again though. A sub-plot that reflected Buffy’s internal struggle was nicely captured and the prose sounded like her. The pacing has gotten better and the artwork has shifted to favoring clarity over aesthetic (an absolute relief).
They had better be going somewhere with this Dawn and Xander thing though, I cannot stomach another Cordelia/Conner situation.
Look, without spoiling it, the writers do kind of smooth it over. BUT BUFFY LITERALLY BELIEVES SHE GETS DATE-RAPED BY EITHER XANDER,SPIKE, HER ROOMMATE OR SOME RANDO, AND FEELS SORT OF WHATEVER ABOUT THE WHOLE THING?
The authors have completely lost the thread at this point. Where is the devastation? She believes she’s been abused (and actually really has, just not in the way she thinks) by a person she loves and trusts. All she can do is blush and be embarrassed that she got drunk?
Between this and the fact that Xander and Dawn are in a relationship that, IN NO WAY DRIVES THE PLOT FORWARD, the writers are bizarrely and grotesquely relying on moving things along by just people fucking. Characters are only relevant in relationship to who they’re interested in sleeping with, who they’re romantically connected to, who they lust after or who they can’t have. THERE IS AN ACTUAL STORY AND THE WRITERS ARE IGNORING IT.
There was a moment when the story started to feel like the show again though. A sub-plot that reflected Buffy’s internal struggle was nicely captured and the prose sounded like her. The pacing has gotten better and the artwork has shifted to favoring clarity over aesthetic (an absolute relief).
They had better be going somewhere with this Dawn and Xander thing though, I cannot stomach another Cordelia/Conner situation.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 9, 2017
Robots, steampunk spaceship, zompires, drunk Buffy, a pregnancy scare?! Just a dash of everything, really.
I currently have a beef with Andrew's overall role in everything. He has caused some major screw-ups in Seasons 8 and 9 wherein it wouldn't be unreasonable to say, "Look guy, um, can you leave and not come back?" Buffy, it would be totally okay if you decided Andrew should have a long walk off a short pier. The writers give Andrew long geeky monologues to add to the joke of "Gosh, he's so geeky. That's funny, right?" in the hopes that you forget that he was complicit in several attempts to harm/murder Buffy and the attempts continue, albeit unintentionally.
It's a shame he killed Jonathan, because I'd be so curious if he was still around.
I currently have a beef with Andrew's overall role in everything. He has caused some major screw-ups in Seasons 8 and 9 wherein it wouldn't be unreasonable to say, "Look guy, um, can you leave and not come back?" Buffy, it would be totally okay if you decided Andrew should have a long walk off a short pier. The writers give Andrew long geeky monologues to add to the joke of "Gosh, he's so geeky. That's funny, right?" in the hopes that you forget that he was complicit in several attempts to harm/murder Buffy and the attempts continue, albeit unintentionally.
It's a shame he killed Jonathan, because I'd be so curious if he was still around.
July 15, 2019
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 Library Edition Volume 1 — Joss Whedon — July 2, 2019
This was the second BVS comic book I read, based on Season 8. I downloaded this in July 2018, read nearly a year later and unfortunately, there are no following volumes from this season available anymore.
I’m not sure why I waited so long, except that I have never really been a fan of comic books but I was intrigued by this one because I liked the TV series so much.
The characters were well drawn and the plots followed the series fairly well. There were only a few “stories” in this one, with one story told over several “parts.”
Still any enjoyable, fast read. Wish I would’ve known that subsequent volumes wouldn’t be available, else I would’ve bought them at that time.
Four stars.
This was the second BVS comic book I read, based on Season 8. I downloaded this in July 2018, read nearly a year later and unfortunately, there are no following volumes from this season available anymore.
I’m not sure why I waited so long, except that I have never really been a fan of comic books but I was intrigued by this one because I liked the TV series so much.
The characters were well drawn and the plots followed the series fairly well. There were only a few “stories” in this one, with one story told over several “parts.”
Still any enjoyable, fast read. Wish I would’ve known that subsequent volumes wouldn’t be available, else I would’ve bought them at that time.
Four stars.
June 24, 2024
Buffy has to deal with the aftermath of destroying the Seed, which made all the magic in the world disappear. Willow is passed at her, Dawn and Xander are in a relationship and kind of in their own world. And then Buffy gets some earth shaking news...
This is an interesting book. It actually has Buffy trying to make some serious decisions for herself, and talking through some stuff with Spike. The Spuffy fan in me was all for the amount of Spike in this set of books.
I'm pretty disappointed, though, I'm going to have a hard time finishing out reading the series, because the library I got the book from doesn't have any more in the Buffy series, and reading comics on my phone is awful... We'll see what I can manage...
This is an interesting book. It actually has Buffy trying to make some serious decisions for herself, and talking through some stuff with Spike. The Spuffy fan in me was all for the amount of Spike in this set of books.
I'm pretty disappointed, though, I'm going to have a hard time finishing out reading the series, because the library I got the book from doesn't have any more in the Buffy series, and reading comics on my phone is awful... We'll see what I can manage...
May 14, 2025
Never a dull moment for Buffy...
After having severed Earth's connection to magic, Buffy is left with trying to find out what a new 'normal' feels like. She picks up a job, new housemates, and *dun dun dunnnnn* college loan payments. Average, right?
Then...they find out how it's all gone wrong. Without magic, vampires can't vamp. They're like listless zombies with no demonic magic to anchor then. Gross! On top of all that, could Buffy be preggers? With the Slayer powers out there, maybe she could have that life she's always been denied.
On top of all that, we've got a magic siphon guy, robotic duplicates, and Slayer slayer(?)
====
Bonus: Only part I'm unsatisfied with is the Buffy/Spike relationship and it feels like it's been gone over....and over....and OVER
After having severed Earth's connection to magic, Buffy is left with trying to find out what a new 'normal' feels like. She picks up a job, new housemates, and *dun dun dunnnnn* college loan payments. Average, right?
Then...they find out how it's all gone wrong. Without magic, vampires can't vamp. They're like listless zombies with no demonic magic to anchor then. Gross! On top of all that, could Buffy be preggers? With the Slayer powers out there, maybe she could have that life she's always been denied.
On top of all that, we've got a magic siphon guy, robotic duplicates, and Slayer slayer(?)
====
Bonus: Only part I'm unsatisfied with is the Buffy/Spike relationship and it feels like it's been gone over....and over....and OVER
January 13, 2019
Officially rating it 2.5 stars.
A serious decline after season 8 both in terms of story and artwork.
The artwork I found really shoddy and almost ugly at times :(
I found the latter stories in this first volume more compelling than the earlier ones, but I can see why this season has been slated on reviews!
I’m only really pursuing as a means to end to get to season 10 which I hear is much better!
A serious decline after season 8 both in terms of story and artwork.
The artwork I found really shoddy and almost ugly at times :(
I found the latter stories in this first volume more compelling than the earlier ones, but I can see why this season has been slated on reviews!
I’m only really pursuing as a means to end to get to season 10 which I hear is much better!
March 4, 2023
A re-read at least in part. Reading this in this form is an adventure. And exercise. But the presentation quality is really good. And the cats like playing with the bookmark. It took awhile to get in to this again. And it had at least one major twist that I didn't appreciate. But it got faster as it went along. Until I was sad over it being over. It was entirely too focused on Buffy. But the cast was there, especially Spike.
November 29, 2016
I keep wanting this to be better and it's just not. If you thought the season 8 comics jumped the shark, season 9 is when they decided to go full Sharknado on the franchise. I should have gave it a one star but it gets two because I was invested enough to finish.
February 16, 2017
Liked beaucoup! I had given up on the comics a while back because of how absurd season 8 had gotten. This was a welcome return to that more realistic tenor of the tv show. I'm hooked again. Must get volume 2 stat.
July 27, 2018
Funny reading
The artwork in this collection was great and the story line was a good one. Buffy is no longer the teenager from the TV series, she is a young woman that has to deal with a lot of issues in her life. If you like comics then give this one a look.
The artwork in this collection was great and the story line was a good one. Buffy is no longer the teenager from the TV series, she is a young woman that has to deal with a lot of issues in her life. If you like comics then give this one a look.
August 20, 2018
Great follow-up to season 8. I liked the start of season 9 with Buffy dealing with the "real world" and not solely focusing on saving the world. This time she's trying to build a life, even if it involves working at a coffee shop and having roommates who don't know she's a slayer.
April 28, 2020
This got a little complicated for me. But I'm amused by the weird new life Spike's got going on, and I liked the deeper dive into Nikki. Also, Andrew and Buffy share a relatively cute moment that pays off his redemption storyline.
December 5, 2016
Way better than season 8 so far. Characters actually look and sound like themselves. I don't mind the touch of sci-fi.
May 7, 2017
I'll always want more episodes, but I'm glad the series continues in graphic novel form.
November 13, 2017
This edition includes 1-10 plus In Space no one can hear you slay
February 16, 2018
Rainy day at the library ---- started this season series. Not that great.
February 21, 2018
And now I need the sequel...
March 13, 2018
3.5 stars, but Buffying it up to 4. Feels back on track after Season 8 sort of rolled off it.
August 22, 2018
The robot thing is still rubbish and makes no sense and spoils the whole thing.
July 15, 2019
The story was so bad (and the artwork so mediocre) that this has now made me swear off Buffy comics forever. And the show is probably my second favourite show ever!
December 15, 2019
Exceptional. A must-read for Buffy fans.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews