Buffy the Vampire Slayer Legacy Edition Book One

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Classic (Legacy Edition) #1

by Andi Watson

The definitive collection of every Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic, for the first time presented in publication order! 

THE OFFICIAL TIE-IN TO JOSS WHEDON’S AWARD-WINNING BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER TELEVISION SERIES! Set during the third season of the Buffy The Vampire Slayer television series, discover untold stories of the Scooby Gang and their fight against evil in Sunnydale - all while trying not to fail their exams! As Buffy faces the consequences of saving the world - by killing the man she loved - the rest of the team face their own challenges like Angel returning to life without a soul; Willow helping Oz confront the beast inside of him; all while Xander and Cordelia kiss, makeup, kiss, makeup...you probably get the picture.

Collects Buffy The Vampire Slayer #1-10 (Dark Horse Comics), as well as short stories from the era. Legacy Editions collect for the first time every issue of the most popular BOOM! Studios series in chronological order, in a newly designed, value priced format.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Vampires, Fantasy, Supernatural, Graphic Novels Comics

320 pages, Paperback

First published April 14, 2020

About the author

Andrew "Andi" Watson (born 1969) is a British cartoonist and illustrator best known for the graphic novels Breakfast After Noon, Slow News Day and his series Love Fights, published by Oni Press and Slave Labor Graphics.

Watson has also worked for more mainstream American comic publishers with some work at DC Comics, a twelve-issue limited series at Marvel Comics, with the majority at Dark Horse Comics, moving recently to Image Comics.

Reviews

[Jim C · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a collection of old comics based on the television show. The description says it takes place during the third season. After reading this I would argue that point as it seems like it takes more place in the second season.

I am probably being a little too harsh with my one star rating but there were aspects that really irked me. I don't blame the company that put this collection together as I loved the idea of getting to read a whole collection of older material that would be a task to track down. That would be the only positive to this collection. The reason for the one star rating is the constant mistakes I saw with these issues. Why is Darla's hair brown? And it was impossible to tell the difference between Cordelia and Willow. Also, if I am writing a story set in a particular universe I might want to get my facts straight about the city where the characters live. It is Sunnydale not Sunnyvale. That would be like me writing a Batman story and calling it Hotham. The ending was the final straw. We were into a new story and it just ends in the middle of it. No "to be continued" or what not. Did the company just say forget it and did not care about the editing.

I love Buffy as I am in one of my rewatches and maybe that had an influence on me. Obviously, this doesn't rate with the actual show and maybe that is why I found this to be so bad. I liked the idea about the concept but after reading this and its editing it seems obvious this was just a cash grab.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buffys kesse Sprüche finde ich immer wieder witzig, habe viel Spaß gehabt beim Wiederlesen.
Dass die Reihenfolge streng chronologisch ist, führt leider dazu, dass eine Geschichte in der Mitte unterbrochen wird, aber damit kann man leben.Dafür ist das Format etwas größer als die alte Omnibus=Ausgabe von Dark Horse.

[Cale · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did this book no favors by reading it right after Season 11. Going from thoughtful, topical stories to 20-year-old media tie-ins with little aspirations to even mediocrity was whiplash. But it also didn't help its case with its format and presentation - there's a two-part story that has three-four short comics interspersed between the cliffhanger and the continuation of the story. And in the digital edition I read, the book ends with the first 3 pages of a story, cut off abruptly. Like it goes from a story to an ad to the end of the collection. Terrible decision.
At least there's a lot of content here - over 300 pages of stories. But the majority are middling to terrible, with a lot of cheesecake poses and terrible dialogue, and art that often makes it hard to recognize the characters. A few of the stories are decent - there's a sea creature story that has its moment, and a frozen demon Christmas story (although there are several other holiday stories that don't work at all - the Thanksgiving story in particular). But there's also a multi-issue arc about ghouls and plastic surgery that is terrible, and in point of fact almost unreadable. That was true of a couple of other stories, too.
There have been a lot of Buffy comics over the years. Some great, some terrible. This is for the most part in the latter category. Stick to the later books - the ones that existed at the same time the show did are some of the weakest.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never read the classic BTVS comics so I was quite excited when I heard that Boom! Studios was going to be re-releasing them in chronological order. These were written during the late 90's while season 3 was airing so for me, some read as if they were filler between episodes. I can't say I loved all of the storylines but they were still enjoyable and managed to maintain the humor/interactions I love from the show. It should be no surprise that reading this made me want to begin (another) re-watch.
That being said, they are far from perfect - Xander bugged me more than usual so I'm hoping he gets better as the issues progress. BUT this book served its purpose. It was entertaining which is something I definitely need right now and it was fun reading some - new to me - mini adventures of the Scooby Gang.
I can't wait until Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Legacy Edition Book Two releases in August so I can revisit the series that I've loved for over 20 years!

[Irene ➰ · Rating 4 out of 5]

MacGuffins - 3.5/5
#1 - 4.5/5
#2 - 4.5/5
Dance With Me - 2/5
#3 - 4/5
#4 - 4.5/5
#5 - 3/5
Rogues Gallery - 4/5
#6 - 5/5
Hello Moon - 3.5/5
Cursed- 5/5
Dead Love - 2.5/5
#7 - 5/5
#8 - 4.7/5
#9/10 - 4/5
Play With Fire #1/3 - 2/5

ACTUAL BOOK RATING: 3.8/5

GENERAL THOUGHTS
Buffy has always been a HUGE part of my childhood and I knew since the end of the TV Show that comics were being released. Why I never started them? Simply because I wasn't into comics.
Now, I have a super long checklist on my notes regarding all the different comics and short stories that had been released till now, and let me tell ya this will be a challenge, especially 'cos some are not that easy to find. But I'm not scared of it, nonono, I'm so excited to finally be able to enjoy this side of the BuffyVerse as well!
I'm starting with the Legacy edition, that has all the first comics released during the TV show all together plus a few extra stories. So far I'm very liking how this was put together, some stories were cooler than others but that is inevitable. I just love going back to this world with a whole new eye.

ps. There will be high chances I'll read meanwhile the new reboot, being a different thing I may continue that story side by side with the main series.

[cloverina · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF.

I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's hilarious, intelligent, heartbreaking, riveting, and very importantly- it's so comic book-y. Because of this, it should work PERFECTLY in comic book format. Sadly, these authors completely miss the mark.

For one thing, everybody is COMPLETELY out of character here. Willow gives Buffy the silent treatment for giving Oz an injury when he was about to eat someone... What? Giles is a stickler for the rules to the point where it's ALL his dialogue. He's more similar to Wesley than he is to himself. Cordelia is a one-dimensional rich girl and only makes comments like "this is why I get the help to do this for me" when that's NOT all she is and it doesn't even keep up with season 3.

That's the other thing, this can't be set during season 3. Giles is still Buffy's watcher, Wesley and Faith aren't in it at all, Dru and Spike are still in town and together, the Willow x Zander drama hadn't happened, etc.

The characters can still be well written or at least entertaining without being in-character though, right? Yes, but that's certainly not the case here. Every character is unreasonable, annoying, gross, annoying, oh yeah, they're also pretty annoying. It reminds me of the one Gen13 issue I read (also in the yikes-no-thanks shelf).

I think I take for granted the life that the actors breathe into the characters, because clearly it was tough getting the characters voices and personalities translated onto the page. Oz is a very unique character that I'm certain Seth Green breathes life into. Sarah Michelle Geller makes Buffy hilarious, fun, and keeps her from being annoying. Willow is also very unique. Zander is pretty much just Zander here, but... Honestly, he's unlikeable (intentionally).

I will agree with other reviewers and say that the best story is the fish monster story. It fits in between Buffy episodes without contradicting any lore, but more importantly, it's INTERESTING. Plus, it's also actually about something. Every other story is bad, innacurate, annoying, quick, pointless, and overall just has terrible plot and even worse execution. This contributes SOMETHING to characterization and universe without making a drastic change.

My one compliment in the first 150 pages or so was that this is a great collection. It still is, mostly. It's amazing that these issues are being collected here and it's presented in a very pleasing format. The unnacceptable amount of spelling errors and the fact that they call it "Sunnyvale" at least 3+ times across different stories isn't the imprint's fault. The thing I have a problem with, though, is THAT THEY DONT COLLECT FOLLOW-UP ISSUES. SOME OF THESE STORIES MEAN LITERALLY NOTHING WITHOUT THE "TO BE CONTINUED..." ISSUE AND THEY DONT INCLUDE THEM.

Overall a very rage-inducing collection of bad stories that rely solely on crappy quips. You'd be better off skipping it and despite others saying the next volume gets better I just can't do it.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who doesn't love buffy

In this graphic novel you get to see bits that are in-between episodes. It's nice to see things that fill in the gap. Can't wait to see what is next.

[Cynka · Rating 2 out of 5]

i found it all so confusing! everything happens too fast and the way it is written and drawn makes it impossible (for most of the time) to tell how much time's passed between one frame or the other. and don't even get me started on the designs of the characters... i mean they don't have to or even shouldn't look like the actors from the show, but come on, i should be able to tell xavier and angel apart. this was such a dissapointment, eh

[Emma Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up. This is a fun collection of earlier plots that didn’t make the show. Really fun for any Buffy enthusiast but doesn’t match up to the brilliance of the show.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fine, I guess. The art kind of bothered me and the characters didn't always act like their TV selves. I liked the Selke storyline though.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

So apparently, this is a collection of Buffy comics written while the show was actually airing. I didn't know that until I started reading it. It doesn't do much to place itself strictly in continuity, but I guess it makes sense somewhere in season three--Faith isn't around, but Angel is reintegrated into the group, and Xander and Cordelia are still dating.

In addition to "chapters" of the official comic, there are also some short (as in three or four pages) interstitials with standalone stories, some of which last mere moments.

Is it as good as the show? No. The writing is half-baked, like fan fiction. The characters are pretty off-model, especially Oz, who doesn't have a single Oz-worthy line in the entire collection. But it has some fun ideas. Buffy gets a job in the food court at the mall in one issue, prefiguring Doublemeat Palace. There's an innocence about the whole thing that's sort of appealing. The artwork ranges from good to "who is this supposed to be?"

If you like horror comics, these scratch that itch. You just have to forget it's supposed to resemble an iconic television show.

[Crystal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not only did this collection seem unnecessary (just little snippets that would have fallen in between episodes) but the artwork was not very true to the characters as we've seen them portrayed in the show. (Which I think is wrong...I know the show and the comics are two different things but when a show is as iconic as Buffy you should stick with artwork that looks like the actors who portrayed the characters.) For example, I had trouble telling Cordelia and Willow apart half the time which should not happen!

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up a few single issues as a kid and was always curious about the full story and as a hardcore Buffy stan, I am happy I did. For those that aren't aware, despite the BOOM branding, these are the original comics from the late 90s/early 2000s from Dark Horse comics that were made while the show was still on air. This brings both positives and negatives to the reading experience that I will go into more detail further down.

First off the presentation of the book is GORGEOUS. I do love the new cover, it reminds me a lot of the flashback sequences of the original film. Each issue is started with an edited version of either a comic cover or some artfully edited panels from the comic. It can be very photoshoppy to some people, but for me I like the simple, clean look. As for the art, it's good. I wouldn't say it's groundbreaking, some of the outfits can read a little bland, especially if you're used to the season 8-12 books or the new run from Boom, but it's serviceable. And the likenesses are well done... with the caveat of it only being for main characters. Side characters like Snyder, and prominent locations like the Bronze and the library look nothing like on the show. If you can separate it from the show as its own thing, its not TERRIBLE, but I couldn't help but think about how it was a tv property comic in the late 90s/early 2000s and that maybe not a lot of extra research was put into certain things.

Which segues well into my next small gripe. The comics in this volume are supposed to be set in season 3, but it seems like most of the plot is actually trying to fit in to season 2 (No Faith, Spike and Dru mentioned a few times as being possibly responsible for shenanigans, Buffy's hairstyle... nitpicking I know). As a superfan I winced with some of the contradictions, but again it's non canon so it's fine for what it is. There's also several places where they say 'Sunnyvale' instead of Sunnydale. That was uh... not fun.

BUT all in all, I really do enjoy it. Do I recommend it for EVERYONE? No, it has problems I don't think everyone can forgive. But I do think this is an excellent addition to your library if you're a Buffy megafan that already has everything else, and it IS really nice to see the issues collected in release order instead of the weird jumbled order the Dark Horse releases did their Omnibuses in.

[Kirsten · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm going to start by saying, I do love Buffy, haven't watched it in a long, long time, but have been listening to the Buffering the Vampire Slayer podcast - they have a fun time doing a brilliant job of watching and analyzing. I enjoyed all the bits in these comics that were in between everything noted below.

I forgot what the '90s was like and since these were pretty much all originally published in the '90s... ...The tv series holds up slightly better over time in regards to misogyny, racism, ableism and sexism, and later comics have been much better at actual story-telling, with nuance and context. These early comics don't feel like they were made for the same audience as the show - Buffy is a sexual human being in the show, but the way she's portrayed in these comics feels like it's more often about the straight male gaze/desire than it is about Buffy having desire. A big part of the show for many of us growing up was seeing the female characters be allowed to choose who they love and how they show that love, and seeing these comics I'd never read before was jarring; I cringed pretty often as I turned the page from one scantily-clad, leg-spread teenager to the next. There are a few moments where Buffy tries to verbally push back on this view, and of course she kicks butt(!), but a good chunk of the panels were not for me.

Some of the Oz/Xander exchanges also made me cringe as their sexist banter wasn't tempered by the nuance and context of the show, or it's multiple seasons of growth. They didn't really seem to be called out by any of the female characters, as they were occasionally in the show. I also noticed some 'no homo man-up' moments that are classic 1990's.

[Sasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's great that BtVS has had a new life after the show has ended. Although I've heard varying things about the content, I have wanted to check it out. I picked this since it seemed to be a omnibus of sorts, but I didn't realize this was set in season 3, and not after the finale, which isn't a bad thing. I just had no idea what I was expecting when going in. While it's nice and fun to read these little side adventures, overall the show happened, and so I know nothing game changing will ever truly pop up. Still, it's nice hanging out with the Scooby Gang and getting more Oz.

It's funny, because season 3 aired in 1998-1999. and so the comic does try to emulate some of the fashion. Right now in 2021, we're revisiting 90s and early 2000s fashions, so it's amusing to see the things they're wearing in style now.

I will say with some of the art styles, I had trouble picking out who Angel was supposed to be. The others were a little easier due to hair color, but there was one part where Buffy's boss walks by and then Angel walks by and I thought her boss took off his jacket. At some points the art looked a lot like the actor and sometimes it didn't.

[FrontalNerdaty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boom continues to reprint the classic Dark Horse Whedon content in their ‘legacy’ range. The contents is similar to the small omnibus editions Dark Horse put out years ago. However unlike those editions these stories are collected in the order they were released whereas Dark Horse took the time to print them as stories to be read when they were sat. It was a much more cohesive read.
As it stands reading these classic, mostly non canonical’ stories is quite fun. They are extremely dated in style and contents but all the better for it. There are some oddities to be found such as Willow often having brown hair and some of Buffy’s outfits are... choices.
If you’ve never read these comics just take them for what they are and know that eventually Dark Horse really knocked it out of the park with the Buffy license.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Set during the third season of the show, these are tales that didn't make it to the small screen. The writing is choppy and fairly scattered. The stories are mostly one shots except for the final arc with Buffy chasing a ghoul and being scouted by a modeling agency, which doesn't finish at all. The art is a solid C+. Mostly average but with serious issues since Angel and Xander are impossible to tell apart, and an older picture of Angel looks completely different from current Angel. Vamps are also green for some reason. It was still nice to get a taste of stories about the Slayer, but nothing refers to the storyline of the show other than who the main characters were at the time. Promising and disappointing at the same time.

[Angela C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most things buffy will get 5 stars from me! We all have that nostalgic book series or tv show that got us through childhood, and Buffy (and doctor who) is 100 % that for me. I’m not a big comic person, but I’ve enjoyed dipping my toes in with all these Buffy comments. The stories are true to the characters and the vibe of the show, and the art is just phenomenal! I think some of the art is more accurate and recognizable to the characters than others, and sometimes the art is not necessarily a style I might enjoy, but i do think that’s the beauty of a collection of comics- you get to see a variety of artists’ work and appreciate the different styles. A happy Buffy fan!

[Ellen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've read some of these comics before, and they were okay the first go-around. But to compile them again, and then in such a weird order? Seems like someone was just looking to make some quick money. I'd've given it 2 stars, but I'm incredibly irked that the digital copy I read ended in the middle of a story, only a couple of pages in... I thought I accidentally clicked too far, since it went from an action scene straight to advertisements, but nope.

Shame that the new company is just trying to reap some of the benefits from what Dark Horse had previously produced.

[Ridley · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an enjoyable read but sometimes I did feel like it was confusing and the quick jokes and humour that we love about Buffy didn't translate well on paper, and often felt like the characters were just randomly saying something out of thin air. Wasn't really a fan of the vampires being big green monsters either. 

It kind of felt a little like fan fiction and not offical cannon. Also it states that this takes place in season 3 but it feels more like season 2, as their is mentions of spike and dru being quiet. But the little boy in me who grew up on buffy did find it a fun and quick.

[Letande D'Argon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kinda love the idea behind this one. Unlike Dark Horse, BOOM! is re-releasing the old comics in publication order, not in chronological one. Which I totally prefer, since it helps re-living those times and, well, it's less confusing. At least, in my opinion. Unfortunately, those early comics are pretty bad (painfully forced and uninspired stuff, totally skippable), while things like Dan Brereton's The Dust Waltz aren't included at all. So... yeah. It's nice to have as a part of your Buffy collection, but actually reading it? Doesn't feel good.

[Slayermel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first part of the Legacy series.
It's a graphic Novel that takes place in and around season two of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. These are additional stories of things that happened in and around that time in the series.
I enjoyed the read, but when it comes to Buffy I love most things!
Can't wait for part two and three to be released as there was a bit of a cliff hanger in a couple of the stories and I just need to find out what happens to Selke and the continuation of what will happen in the Haunted old house.

[Ame · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting anthology of stories that take place during the Season 3 timeframe of the Buffy show, but there are all kinds of quirks/little mistakes throughout - A sign for the mall that says "Sunnyvale" instead of Sunnydale, Willow heading out during a full moon to go see Oz and then Oz stating he was at band practice (well no, not unless you were eating your band mates in your werewolf form!), etc.

[Liz (IG: Thorns.reading.corner) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled to enjoy this. It says its a TV tie in, well if thats the case the characters should be similar, not have different hair colours etc and it became tricky at points to tell the difference between willow and cordelia.
The change in art style also didnt help and there for it just didn't flow.

This isn't Boom! fault has they tracked down the original comics and pulled them together to make a collection.

[Louise TM · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's Buffy the Vampire Slayer so I'm not capable of hating this Legacy Edition - but - and yes, there is a big BUT... The stories are not very good and the drawing is not good either, all the characters look identical. The things portrayed in the stories are not canon, like Darla having brown hair and Angel as a human being called Angelus...

[Edmund Bloxam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked it well enough to start watching the show. Thank you, 'BPRD' for showing me that 'horror' can just be monsters.

I'm deeply uninterested in non-serialised storytelling and I hate one-shots. This is all just that. I won't be reading any more. If the tv show doesn't move anything along, I'm out from that too.

[CJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man, I love Buffy. This is the first one I’ve read that takes place during her high school years and I enjoyed it a lot. It could be a bit disjointed, but that didn’t bother me. Art style changes a bit, as well.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the stories and the extra time with Buffy! I’m re-watching season 2 right now so this fits right in with just a few spoilers from later. I enjoy the drawing as well, which I never realized would be as important as it is. Buffy and Angel - swoon.

[Kris Ritchie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag reprint of comics published during Buffy's original airing. It suffers a bit from being tied in to how the story progresses in the show, and some likeness issues for Willow in the first half, but fans of the Scooby Gang will enjoy these extra bites of the show.

[Nick Martinez · Rating 3 out of 5]

have loved the show for a long time so picked this up. great art but mostly monster-of-the-week type stories which is fine for television but not the best for reading. excited to hopefully get into more complex, multi-issue narratives and character development in vol 2 +