Buffy

• Title: Angel #0
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Bryan Edward Hill
• Artist: Gleb Melnikov

Angel #0 offers a tease of the companion book to BOOM! Studios new re-imagined Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe. With all but the opening scene (showing nothing more than we saw in Buffy the Vampire Slayer #4) taking place well before Angel arrived in Sunnydale, Angel #0 offers a look at the cursed vampire with a soul’s early attempts at redemption.

Following the quick introduction of the character’s history, the issue focuses primarily on Angel’s attempts to make a difference just prior to showing up in Sunnydale. The basics are covered here including Angel’s distrust of magic, yet his need to rely on it to help fight evil, and an important difference in that this version of the character understands what happens if he experiences a moment of true happiness.

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• Title: Buffy the Vampire Slayer #4
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Jordie Bellaire
• Artist: Dan Mora

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #4 teases a major deviation to the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer continuity. One of the themes in the comic so far is Xander‘s loneliness. With Willow having a girlfriend in this version, and still burdened with his unrequited crush on a certain blonde vampire slayer, Xander is more on the outside looking in than ever. And that just happens to play into Drusilla‘s plans.

Given the stress over recent events, Giles gives Buffy the night off allowing for Buffy to spend time with her friends (and a potential new love interest in Robin). The surprise of Buffy’s night off is only matched by her terror of a date and concern for the missing Xander (who unwittingly has walked straight into Drusilla’s trap). Still, things see to be looking up for Buffy who even finds common ground with her mother’s boyfriend.

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• Title: Buffy the Vampire Slayer #3
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Jordie Bellaire
• Artist: Dan Mora

There are some moments in Buffy the Vampire Slayer #3, where despite the alternate version of events and characters, writer Jordie Bellaire manages to capture some of the feel and magic of the show so very well. Two such moments occur based on discoveries Buffy makes in this issue. The first involves the creature released by Drusilla from Anya‘s magic shop, which despite its fearsome visage is actually a friend to the Slayer and her mission. The second is Buffy’s shock at discovering that Giles plays the guitar… in public.

Although Camazotz goes back into the bottle, I’ll be curious to see just what role it may have in the future. The Scoobies continue to show a bit more resilency out of the box than in the original series and Willow and Xander show up to help Buffy, and Cordelia Chase steps in to help fight the big monster (although after the adrenaline wears off she’s less than happy with the trouble Buffy “brought” to town).

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• Title: Buffy the Vampire Slayer #2
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Jordie Bellaire
• Artist: Dan Mora

The BOOM! Studios re-imagining of Buffy the Vampire Slayer continues in issue #2 as we’re re-introduced to more core characters from the series (and a couple of new ones). One of the biggest changes here is the new version of Cordelia Chase who has gone from bitchy clique queen to a character so sugary sweet even Willow is jealous. That’s certainly a change, but I’ll be curious to see what her discovery of vampires might do to her happy-go-lucky mood.

We get far less from Spike, who still looks fairly Spike-like, as he makes a new friend. And there are a few pages of Drusilla attempting to torture Anya for information that turns out badly for the vampire.

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