Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8, Omnibus: Volume 1

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 (single issues) #1-20

by Joss Whedon, Brian K. Vaughan, Georges Jeanty (Illustrator)

Series creator Joss Whedon brought Buffy the Vampire Slayer back to life with this comics-only follow-up to Season 7 of the television show. Aptly named Season 8, these comics are the official sequel to Buffy and continue where the live-action series left off with the Slayer, her friends, and their ongoing challenge to fight the forces of darkness. After the destruction of the Hellmouth, the Slayers--newly legion--have gotten organized, but it's not long before new and old enemies begin popping up. Buffy, Xander, Willow, and a very different Dawn are introduced to the season's big bad, Twilight, and begin to understand the incredible reach of this mysterious threat. Meanwhile, rebel Slayer Faith teams up with Giles to handle a menace on the other side of the Atlantic. It's a dirty job, and Faith is just the girl to do it! Then, as Twilight's ominous influence continues to expand Buffy and her Slayers travel to Tokyo to face a new kind of vampire with powers they've only witnessed in Dracula . . . And, when trouble with Buffy's scythe comes to light, Willow and Buffy head to New York to investigate the secrets behind the ancient weapon; ever full of the unexpected, Buffy is transported to a dystopian future where her first chance meeting is with Fray, future Slayer!
This oversized omnibus edition is one of two volumes that will contain the entirety of Season 8. It includes the first four arcs of the series along with one-shots and short stories written by Joss Whedon, Brian K. Vaughan, Drew Goddard, and Jeph Loeb, with art by the acclaimed Georges Jeanty, as well as Karl Moline, Paul Lee, Cliff Richards, and more.
-Joss Whedon, the man, the myth, the legend, writes the comic with the same genius as he did the show. The art, penciled by Georges Jeanty, is as faboo as the writing.---Janet Evanovich, New York Times best-selling author of Hard Eight
-Buffy the comic might be every bit as good as Buffy the TV show.---Entertainment Weekly (featured as one of the Best Comics of 2007)
-Vaughan is a fantastic writer that conveys emotion and character to a degree of perfection.---Wired
-Drew Goddard is a rare breed: a genre writer who crafts truly inspired characters and lyrical, emotional scenes.---J. J. Abrams (Alias, Lost, Cloverfield)
-Buffy Season 8 is run like the television series from which it came . . . a classic evolving specimen for this era of ever shifting media platforms.---Los Angeles Times
-The whole gang returns, kicking ass and splitting infinitives in Whedon's inimitable dialogue.---Wired
-Series creator Whedon effectively sucks devotees back into his Hellmouth.---Entertainment Weekly

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Fiction, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Paranormal, Graphic Novels Comics

592 pages, Paperback

Published September 26, 2017

About the author

Joss 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

Reviews

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been a fan of the Buffy series for what feels like literally my whole life. So to get to read a continuation of that story, to see the world expand beyond the limits of Sunnydale (and LA) and to see her grow as a leader was really exciting.

For me, it really did feel like a continuation. There was no rewriting history to make a ‘better’ story for the comics. They took what was in the show and expanded upon it.

I liked that there was no loss in humour. Plus, while there were some questionable decisions, I felt the core of the main characters were the same.

I also really enjoyed the multiple story lines. It could get a little chaotic at times however, I feel as though enough attention was given to each plot as to allow us to understand how they all moved along with each other.

My favourite story line was either No Future for You or Time of Your Life.
I loved reading Faith's thoughts and her perception of events that transpired on the show.
Then I just loved the interactions between Buffy and Melaka Fray. They both have a unique way of talking and it was kind of hilarious when they first met.

I am so excited to continue Buffy, Willow, Xander, Dawn and everyone else's journey!

[Ivy · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 🌠

After all the potentials were awakened at the end of season seven, there became an army of slayers across the globe. There are thousands of them all being led by Buffy. They stop vampires around the world and are dealing with new threats, including the army and Twilight. And Amy and Warren are back too. Faith is sent to stop a rogue Slayer by Giles. Dawn sleeps with her boyfriend's roommate and gets cursed by her boyfriend. Xander finds new love only to have her die at the hands of a vampire. Then Buffy gets attacked from someone from the future, Fray, after she gets transported there. Willow's gone evil again and Buffy is forced to kill her.

Nice to see Buffy and the other members of the Scooby Gang again. Weird seeing all the new slayers. Buffy's lesbian tryst with Satsu seemed a little weird though. Would be cool for Buffy to be bi. Hope everyone gets new love again sometime. Who is Twilight? Would be interesting if all of this was inside Buffy's head.

[CozyReaderKelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed revisiting the characters from the show, which was a favorite of mine in high school. I felt like they kept their personalities, and continued the story in a fun way.

[Jesus Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

Varias aventuras post-serie de buffy.

Long Way Home. Donde Dawn es gigante y odia o Buffy, Willow esta desaparecida, Hay una base con muchas cazadoras(slayers),Xander es como el nuevo Giles, y de repente atacan la base. La historia es interesante. 3.5 star

The Chain - Es sobre una prueba , ok - 3 star

No future for you - Historia de Faith, donde tiene que infiltrarse a un grupo de hechizeros, divretida - 3 star

Wolves at the gate - Los lobos atacan la base, Drácula les ayuda, doble agentes. A y Dawn gigante pelea contra una mecha-robot-dawn-godzilla, divertida. Buena historia, buena acción. - 4star

Time of your life - Buffy viaja al futuro, esta esta interesante aunque un par de cosa suenan raras- 3.5 star

After these messages - Esta es la mejor y demasiado corta. Es una historia totalmente al estilo de las primeras temporadas, de la Scooby Gang de Buffy. Y el dibuoj en cartoons tiernos, es magnifico - 5 star

Godess and Monster - Esta de historia es genial, la mejor, es una historia de Willow, enfrentándose a si misma y aceptando su poder al máximo. Magnifica - 5 star

En general buenas historias,

[Ashley Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 overall
The art gets a 100%
However, I wouldn’t have read this if I wasn’t a Buffy fan. And as a Buffy fan, it would have been really hard to read if I wasn’t a comic fan.

However, if you’re a fan of Joss Whedon’s humor, this is great. And if def has the comic crazy plot aspect down.
I am continuing to the next volume of season 8.
We shall see if I go beyond.

[julia ☆ [owls reads] · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty weird and not really in a good way.

[Madison · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's so hard for me to review this. As anyone who knows me can attest, I'm an enormous BTVS fan, which is why I've always put off reading the comics. I will say that it's awesome that so many of the original writers are involved, because the dialogue is completely on point. That being said, the explosion of plot and time-jumping otherworldliness made for a convoluted story, which made me miss the early days of Buffy.

[Anne (ReadEatGameRepeat) · Rating 5 out of 5]

re-read August 31st 2019
I wanted to re-read it, I have all the same feels about the story that I had on my initial reading, I have since then completely failed at re-watching the TV show though, I should really get on that.


Dec 31st 2018
Wow this was sooo good.....I will be rereading this again soonish, just because the art is actually kind of incredible & also because it feels just like watching an episode of the show....which I will also be doing again tbh

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I missed Buffy. Glad to have her back.

[Cris Cuthbertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not a big graphic novel reader but I am committed to Buffy. I finally read this after rewatching season 7. It’s certainly got a lot of naked women.....

I enjoyed this storyline. I like the ability the format has to explore fantasy. I got a little lost particularly when the action flipped back and forth between two different locations AND a dream sequence. But overall enjoyable enough to read the next collection.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of Buffy season 8 is an enjoyable read. The characters are fairly well realised and the stories are engaging enough. But something is missing. It lacks the magic of the TV show though.

[Drululu · Rating 3 out of 5]

El dibujo ha estado muy bien pero la historia un poco con altibajos. Hay tramas que me han resultado bastante más interesantes (Faith) que otras (Dracula, Fray) y aunque hay potencial y aspectos que llaman la atención, se siente todo un poco desperdigado tanto a nivel de trama como de personajes.

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

How I Came to Read this Book: I recently read Slayer and got a little nostalgic for Buff & co, especially as the comic series was referenced throughout the book as canon. So I picked this up from the library to get reverse caught up.

The Plot: This is the first half of 'Season 8' of Buffy, but essentially is four comic collections bundled together. As per this taking place some time after Season 7, Buffy is now the leader of an army of 'Potentials' that are now activated Slayers like herself. The threats keep on coming, and throughout the story, Buffy catches wind of the 'big bad' being something or someone called Twilight. Along the way she has to deal with a trip to the future, Japanese vampires that turn into animals (and smoke), Dawn morphing into a giant (and then something else entirely), and even a lesbian subplot? All the classic characters that survived Season 7 are here too - Willow is still with Kennedy, still working on channeling her power. Xander is still grieving Anya but mostly kind of being a badass with his eyepatch? He's definitely been given a makeover in the series anyway. Faith plays a central role in a particular story involving infiltrating upper crust British society (under the stewardship of Giles) to take out another Slayer that may be a threat to the world (or at least Buffy) and yeah...a lot. Happens.

The Good & The Bad: So I remember hearing about these comics way back when but this was before graphic novels had been given a bit of a cool nerd makeover (thanks Walking Dead) so I was like *eyeroll*. I probably would have enjoyed reading this more back then, and I'm not 100% sure on the omnibus format because it's a LOT at once. It also felt like I was missing a lot of what was going on - I kept on not understanding who I was seeing or why and it was hard to connect the dots.

That being said, much like I felt with Slayer, this was pretty fun once you got into it. I recall hearing fans and Joss Whedon alike saying that moving to a graphic novel format gave them the flexibility to really open up their story and that is fundamentally true. There's an entire graphic novel set in Japan that I can only imagine would have been delightful yet impossible to film IRL. Or there's another set in the future that was a bit Fifth Element that was really trippy but interesting. And most of the humor actually held up pretty well. There were one too many like, 'vision quest' type experiences that were hard to wrap your head around, but in all the story zigzags through a ton of interesting settings while keeping a throughline of sorts, with Twilight.

Honestly, I am interested enough to read the other half of Season 8 - the omnibus isn't easy to track down so I'm going to try to read the five other TPB editions and report back as a single entry here on GR. I also just...I just felt sad that the show never got to keep going in some ways, even if the ending of Season 7 felt pretty perfect.

The Bottom Line: A fun trip down memory lane that really opens up the original 'Slayer' concept.

Anything Memorable?: No.

2021 Book Challenge?: Book #14 in 2021

[slp · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. okay, so, the good: unlike the slayers podcast 90% of this season is 100% Buffy... from overall characters and especially to dialogue, humor, themes, pacing, even the jump cuts. and this makes sense, since this was headed by the fallen hero that was JW.

the less good: I think the shift in genre takes away from some buffy, and it's not all the illustration Style which is fine... tho somewhat inconsistent and not really my aesthetic. let's face it, while the makeup on Buffy was usually pretty tight, the other visual effects were usually B at best, and, while not at all few and far between, the big fantastical ones were limited by budget and the practical realities of live action sets. the CGI fantasy elements, outside of the most common stakings and vamp transitions, while of course Central to show, were also rather grounded in a sense of reality. with the leap to comics, all those bounds are taken away and the fantasy elements are ratcheted up by a good 75%. and while the themes are still totally buffy, I think this takes away from how really human and grounded the show was. additionally, the portrayal of a certain sex scene in season 8 looks like semi gross fanfic art that would not make it so explicitly to the show, and it is a challenge to capture the pacing in comic book form. it really succeeds in places, especially the smash cuts away on a character's punchline, and even reveals to me some things about the original.

on the whole, I prefer the show, and while I will likely read more seasons of this and the angel comic, despite their literally being produced by the creator, they don't really feel like canon to me. I don't care what anyone says, s7 deserved some criticism but was stronger than ppl say and s6 is peak Buffy, and (while I have critiques of how it got there) the ending to both series was perfect.

VAGUE SPOILER:

I'm especially annoyed by the way the forever teased and intended Buffy/Xander dynamic unfolds (partly the whole thing which I'm not behind, partly the pacing/reveal which doesn't convince me of its legitimacy, and also partly of the actual resolution which seems cheap... just, none of it feels earned on the page as we see it, esp after Renee...I was also skeptical of the Satsu storyline, but it was infinitely more grounded in believability and character choices we get to see).

[Rachelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not very good with reviewing comics, so I thought I’d do this a little differently than my normal reviews. Basically, I’m just going to discuss the pros and cons of this volume as I saw them in no particular order.

Okay, so first off, I’m glad that I was able to have a piece of the Buffy world back. I definitely miss it (as my Hulu history can attest to). I was even glad to see two members of the Trio return. Even though they weren’t my favorite villains, I still enjoyed seeing that part of the show on the pages. And Willow got a big thumbs up, except for the weird flying thing. That was a little too far…

Xander was fine. He didn’t make a strong positive or negative impact either way. Faith is still cool. And Buffy is pretty much Buffy. Now Dawn on the other hand, wth!?! I actually liked show Dawn for the most part, but her storyline in this comic was just way too much. I hope it gets resolved soon ‘cause it’s just weird. Oh, and there were some very minute glimpses of Angel and Spike. Very nice. Very nice.

Okay, so here’s the more negative comments. One, minor characters like the extra slayers and villains were drawn super similar, so it was hard to tell some characters apart. Two, just because the writers didn’t have a budget in the show, doesn’t mean they should have gone crazy in the comics—it lost a little of its Buffy specialness with all the big action-y spy feels. Three, sometimes the jumps between characters/storylines was too confusing. Four, Dracula. Boo. Five, Buffy’s experimentation, while it could have been fine, just felt weird. I had no idea who the character was, and I want to know who Buffy’s potential love interests are. They should be worthy of her!

Oh, last but not least, is a mix of good and bad. The future setting. I hated the language mess, but I somewhat enjoyed the plot development. It’s an interesting concept.

All in all, the comic series isn’t for every Buffy the Vampire Slayer television show fan. But, if you really miss the Scooby gang, then you’ll look past the comic’s flaws just to get more time with the characters.

3/5 stars

*Note: I purchased a copy of this book for myself. This in no way affected my opinion/review.

[Shannon Latour · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not to cast any shade on the TV series, cause my family absolutely LOVED Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. Sarah Michelle Gellar was perfectly cast as Buffy along with all the other amazing characters like Willow, Zander, Giles and Spike.

Perhaps loving the feminist slant to this vampire-slaying heroine...not to mention, Willow's transformation into a bad-ass lesbian witch - made this read so completely and utterly disappointing. It's like Joss Whedon and his gang of male-writers all fell on their heads simultaneously and wrote these tawdry, demeaning stories about our most beloved characters:

Faith and Buffy - bathing together???? AS IF!!!
Buffy having lesbian sex in 'Wolves at the Gate: Part One'? NOPE. Would never happen.
Dawn as a centaur, having sex with Zander - WTF?
Spike and Angel having a physical bromance at the end? Gross.

Maybe I'm a prude, but honestly.... they missed the mark on this one. They obviously didn't understand WHAT made 'Buffy, the Vampire-slayer' popular. This collection of ten stories does not further any plot that I can see...in fact it just comes off as a male-fantasy-version of what these characters COULD do together, like, sexually.

I could only stomach reading one of the stories, once in a while, over the span of a couple years, to stave off the bile from rising in my throat. I'll rate this 2 stars for the witty comebacks and mediocre artwork - and then happily toss this one in the recycling bin.

[Rachael C Marek · Rating 4 out of 5]

As many other reviewers have said, I, too am a big fan of the show. Still. So I was excited to learn what the Scooby gang had been up to since they saved the world, yet again. The comic book medium allowed the writers to do things they couldn't have done on the show, and while some of those story lines were fun, there is a lot going on, and at times it felt a bit convoluted, and some things weren't explained at all.

Without giving anything away, Buffy seems distant from everyone, except maybe Xander, who has stepped up Nick Fury style to lead. She isn't really speaking with Giles. She's detached from Dawn who is experiencing some weird things. She hasn't really heard from Willow, who is keeping herself apart from the new army. And an encounter with Faith showed that Buffy is no better at understanding her, despite all they've been through.

There were some fun moments, especially with Andrew, and some of the artwork is truly lovely, but as this is a continuation of the show, I don't think this series is for anyone unfamiliar with the Buffyverse. It jumps right in, without any preamble, which I appreciate. Some of the humor is there, but not quite enough, and I'm not sure if this is a side effect of their new organization, of growing up, but I don't want that to go missing. Their ability to have a sense of humor in dark times is what kept the show "light".

My hope is that in the second volume, some of the questions I have get answers, and they return to form.

[Tori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the less-linear storytelling confused me, and I'm not sure I understand why/how Amy is evil--maybe it's been too long since I saw season 7? It's very obvious that the comics are indulging storytelling ideas would have been beyond a TV show's budget, but I think the constraints of the TV show might have actually forced the storytelling to be grounded in ways that were enjoyable... Some of the more overt sexuality/near-nudity also seems like it's being done mostly because they *can* rather than because it's serving the story very well (and I particularly don't like how Willow tends to talk about Buffy's sex life in the wake of Buffy/Satsu in a way that seems slightly objectifying/jealous), and it's particularly jarring how they still stick to the more PG-13-TV-vibes by censoring swearing...

But, like, the characters are still using Buffy-speak (sometimes cringey, mostly cute/funny) and often look remarkably like their actors, and the weird and extreme ways the plots are going are definitely interesting.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buffy not limited by TV production and costs and everything else, where the only limit is Joss Whedon’s imagination is very different beast to the TV series. There’s flying and giants and centaurs, submarines, time travel, all manner of weird and wonderful creatures, all the sex, but all the characters we know and love are back (and a lot of the shit ones too) and the dialogue is unmistakably Buffy, and even though the setting has changed to the Highlands of Scotland (with stops in Japan, Italy, New York and various dream realms) it still feels familiar despite being fairly chaotic. There is a lot going on here, a lot of one offs that veer wildly off from the main plot, in fact it’s mostly sideplot, with the main villain, Twilight, disappearing without a mention in a lot of issues, and a few of the side stories just sort of fizzle out.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were good chunks of it I enjoyed almost as much as the show, but some of it... I didn't understand, mostly the bits that had to do with the future and shit. I felt like I walked into a movie a quarter of the way through, which now doing research, I kind of did. Had no idea Whedon had created a future vampire slayer by name of fitch or something... I dont know. I didn't really know what anybody was talking about or care to try and figure it out... Also, some of this starts reading like fan fiction for what male writers wish they could've done with their female characters (fantasies about centaurs and turning Buffy into a lesbian briefly) nothing wrong with that, but just knowing that the show had some problems with harassment, it kind of gives the book a little ick factor.

Overall though, fun to revisit the world of Buffy.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buffy is now the general of an international army of slayers battling evil, and they've attracted unwanted attention from suspicious civilian military forces who turn to supernatural forces to fight Buffy on her level.

This first omnibus of season 8 was great fun. I haven't watched Buffy since I slammed it in college, and this continuation felt right on the mark. The sense of humour and dialogue style was re-created perfectly, and it was fun to see what they could do with no television budget constraints. It definitely feels more Fantasy.

I enjoyed Willow's character development so far in her search for more magical training to help her balance her power. I thought Buffy's girl-on-girl experimentation was a little weird but it was handled realistically and in character.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

BtVS was on the air for seven seasons...
SEVEN(!)

Then, they got the great idea to continue the stories with the creators/original writers approval...
Season 8 was born (and it's SO big it fits into TWO Omnibi)

-Buffy is in charge of a growing number of empowered young women who are Slayer powered
-Willow was off learning magic stuff
-Giles survived the deaths of the Watcher Counsil and now..leads alone
-Faith is the black sheep of Slayers. She does the things nobody else can stomach
-Dawn got big...GIANT SIZED, actually. She bumped uglies with the wrong FWB
-Andrew is still pop culture nerd extraordinare

[Kristen Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

After watching the series again, I decided to reread the graphic novel continuation. It is really hard (and expensive) to find for purchase, but luckily I was able to find a site that provides it for free online.
The artwork is really well done. The storyline is a bit extra from what the show was, because the format allows for a lot of things that the show might not have been able to pull of for one reason or another. Season 8 brings back a few characters that we love to hate (Amy, Warren, Dracula), and includes a giant-sized Dawn (she was cursed by an ex-boyfriend). I'm looking forward to reading the next season, because I honestly can't remember a thing from last time I read it.

[Samantha Matherne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved diving back into the Buffyverse with new adventures. A few of the stories are a little “out there”, but the original feel of the show and essences of the characters are poured into the writing and artwork wonderfully for my taste. Old favorites are back along with some easily hated enemies. Finding out what happened once all those slayers were awoken after season 7 fed right into my thirst for Buffy and the rest of the Scooby Gang.

[Alyisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was happy to revisit Buffy’s world and get some new (to me) content in the process! Some of these comics, like “No Future For You”, starring Faith & Giles & written by Brian K. Vaughan, were a *delight.* Some, like “Wolves at the Gate”, starring Dracula and his racism (used for comedic effect?!) & written by Drew Goddard, were truly terrible. It’s still racist even if you point it out to scoff at it, if you, as a white man, are using it for your benefit.

[Maïlys · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a big, giant fan of BTVS since it first started (pretty much) it pains me to say that i didn't enjoy it as well as i hoped. I was so excited to find the comics in my library (finally !) and get more Buffy's stories, but i was confused by the too many different stories going on there, i felt like the humour wasn't exactly like in the series, and i also felt like sometimes it was a bit too out of character for all of them.
I'll still keep on reading them, because, well, it's still BTVS.

[Joanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best possible continuation of Buffy The Vampire Slayer after the TV series. I could not have asked for more. Plus I've watched the TV series so often I could literally hear the actors' voices as I read the dialogue. So, so much fun, especially for a long-time fan! Omnibus volume 2 hurry the fuck up.

[John Michael Strubhart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this continuation of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The little side stories near the end were quaint, yet entertaining. Too bad that I'll never know about seasons 9 through whatever. Dark Horse went dark on Buffy when the franchise got bought out and left to waste away on that OTHER comic book. Personally - not interested. On to Volume 2!

[Elijah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty solid follow-up to the TV series, extending the story with the aftereffects of activating every potential Slayer in the world. Some of the storytelling was top-notch and some of it was a little bleh. Overall, I think this would have been an interesting season to see produced onscreen.

[Jesi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wicked! Loved it. More to Read! So wish I'd read this way back when it first came out. True Buffy-verse in all the ways they couldn't do it on the show. Basically they were free to truly let loose! Can't wait for volume 2!