Comics and Books etc...

   In this section of Tales of the Slayers, you will find a sort of Vampire Slayer directory - that is to say, a listing of every show, book or comic where you will find reference to a Vampire Slayer, no matter how small.  I will also summarise, rate and review, as well as providing all the details you need to track down the books etc... yourself. 

 

Medium - Film

Slayers Present - Buffy Summers, Winifred "Winny" Smith (slave), Teresa Fannigan (barmaid), Princess Amirah (Indian Princess)

Summary - Buffy Summers is your average blond, cheerleading, popular ditz living it up in L.A.  That is until Merrick finds her and explains she is the Vampire Slayer, the chosen one of this generation.  She has a hard time coming to grips with the idea, but eventually saves the day after Merrick dies at the hands of the great vampire Lothos.  She kicks undead butt at the High School dance with the help of the rather gorgeous Pike and says goodbye to her old life for good, cheerleading and normal boyfriends included. 

Rate and Review - Joss Whedon's original vision of the Vampire Slayer...unfortunately high-jacked by the Powers-That-Be, so as a result is kinda naff.  I personally like it, but my brother can't stand it.  Watch it for the nostalgia I say, but read "The Origin" comic book for the true vision.  6/10. 

 

 

Medium - TV Show

Slayers Present - Buffy Summers, Su-Li Kim

Summary - After being expelled from High School in L.A., Buffy moves with her now divorced Mom to Sunnydale, California, where she thinks she can start her life anew, Vampire free.  Rupert Giles, her new Watcher, has other plans; for one thing, the very innocent looking Sunnydale is situated on something called a Hellmouth - literally a gateway to Hell and a great excuse for all sorts of demonic mischief to occur.  She spends most of the year battling with the Vampire Master, who is trying to return to Earth, with the help of her new found friends Xander Harris, Willow Rosenberg, and the somewhat reluctant Cordelia Chase.  She meets a 'dummy' called Sid who tells her of a Korean Slayer, Su-Li Kim.  She falls in love with a Vampire with a soul, the rather cryptic Angel, and then after defeating invisible girls, nightmares coming true and magic crazed cheerleaders, dies battling the Master at the Junior Prom.  Luckily, Xander is at hand to bring her back to life.  She kills the Master once and for all, but sadly ruins her beautiful prom dress - which was way so much better than the one from the film :-)

Rate and Review - An amazing start to any TV Show, Season One of Buffy, especially the Pilot "Welcome to the Hellmouth" and "The Harvest" is a joy to behold.  Buffy is a far more human character than you might expect, and her adventures are never boring for the viewer.  Only twelve episodes long though, it leaves us gagging for more...9/10.

 

 

Medium - TV Show

Slayers Present - Buffy Summers, Kendra

Summary - Buffy starts the year more than a little miffed at the fact that she died at the beginning of summer, and consequently treats here friends quite appallingly.  She gets over herself though after stopping a plan to raise the Master once again, and approaches the rest of the year as the lovable Slayer we know and love.  Unfortunately for her though, the fabulous English Vamps Spike and Drusilla show up with a mind to take over the world, as does Kendra the Vampire Slayer, the rather stiff girl called after Buffy's short death.  The two become friends however, and thwart Spike and Dru's plans for a time being, but Buffy's pesky prophecy dreams return.  Angel, after a moment of true happiness with Buffy, looses his soul once more and becomes the hideously scary Angelus, and Kendra is murdered by Dru as Spike is working with Buffy to stop Angelus.  In order to save the world, Buffy has to send her former lover packing to Hell, just as his soul is restored...Ohh - I need a hug!

Rate and Review - Season Two remains one of my favourite seasons to date.  Not only do we have the introduction of Spike and Dru - firm faves for years to come - we meet the werewolf Oz, Willow's boyfriend, and Xander gets together with...Cordelia of all people! The term 'Scooby Gang' is used for the first time in "What's My Line, Part 1" and Jonathan appears in "Inca Mummy Girl" - hurrah! But what makes this Season incredible is the end; I couldn't believe Buffy killed Angel! Amazing stuff.  Plus, the last song introduced me to Sarah McLachlan - yey! 10/10

 

 

Medium - TV Show

Slayers Present - Buffy Summers, Faith

Summary - Buffy has run away to L.A. rather than cope with killing Angel.  A run in with 'Lily' (from Season Two) changes her mind though and she struggles back to her life in Sunnydale.  She gets a pretty hard time from her friends before they forgive her, and low and behold, Angel returns! Buffy has to go through a Slayer coming of age ritual that almost kills her and gets Giles fired.  Queue hilarious new Watcher Wesley (after crazy new Watcher Gwendolyn Post) Faith, the new Vampire Slayer, called after Kendra's death, shows up, but she seems a bit of a loose cannon and it's not long before she's switched sides and joined forces with the creepy but brilliant Mayor Wilkins.  In a big showdown at the gang's graduation ceremony Buffy puts Faith in coma, then blows up the Mayor (in his ascended, big snake form) taking the High School with him.  Angel leaves for L.A. and Buffy and the gang have to consider life at UC Sunnydale without their beloved library.

Rate and Review - Unfortunately I read a whole bunch of spoilers for this season, which kinda spoiled it for me, but it is still excellent, not least for the ridiculous amount of continuity genius it creates (especially for Season Seven...oh my God!) We meet Anya, as well as of course the too-fabulous-for-words Faith.  The Mayor is a brilliant work of character and Spike even returns for an episode ("Lover's Walk" :-) Amy and Jonathan have significant appearances and Snyder get eaten by the Mayor...yey!  All in all, a great season.  9/10

 

 

Medium - TV Show

Slayers Present - Buffy Summers, Faith, The First Slayer

Summary - College time! It's all a bit overwhelming for Buff and the gang, and Giles and Xander in particular are feeling quite redundant.  There's a sneaky army type organisation running about, which turn out to be a Government Agency called the Initiative, who Buffy's new boyfriend Riley actually works for.  They are supposedly researching demons, but are actually secretly building a super demon named Adam.  Faith wakes up out of her coma, and switches bodies with Buffy for a brief time; the experience really opens her eyes to what it means to be the Slayer, and when bodies are switched back, escapes to L.A. with a lot on her mind.  Spike gets a chip in his head meaning he can no longer hurt people (he can still hurt demons though). Seriously freaky guys called the gentlemen invade Sunnydale and steal the town's voices, and we meet the absolutely gorgeous Tara, who eventually becomes Willow's girlfriend.  Buffy brings the initiative's power by using the essence of her Slayer powers with Xander, Willow and Giles...or something, then the very first Slayer visits them in their dreams to teach Buffy what it really means to be the chosen one. 

Rate and Review - There are a few outstanding episodes in this season, "Pangs", "Hush" and the Faith episodes for example, but on the whole, it's kinda...off.  In general, I think the problem is that it is just too much of a departure from the Buffy we know and love, and takes a while to get back on track.  My least favourite season.  6/10. 

 

 

Medium - TV Show

Slayers Present - Buffy Summers, The First Slayer, Nikki Wood, Xin Rong

Summary - Buffy kicks off the year with a full on battle with Count Dracula, and we are then introduced to...her little sister?!? Dawn is a mystical 'key' in the guise of a fourteen year old girl.  Glory, a seriously deranged Goddess, wants the key to get back home, but in doing so will destroy the universe.  Oops.  Spike realises he is in love with Buffy, and Buffy asks for his help, demanding he explain how he killed the two Slayers he did (Xin Rong and Nikki Wood).  Riley leaves for the jungle and back to the Initiative and Buffy's Mom, Joyce dies of a brain tumour.  Poor, poor Buffy.  She goes on a retreat in the desert to talk to the First Slayer, who tells her 'Death is her Gift', which upsets her even more.  Glory eventually discovers Dawn is the key, and kidnaps her for the blood ritual.  To close the ritual after it has started, Buffy knows the blood of the key must be used.  Dawn is willing to sacrifice herself, but Buffy realises her 'sister' was made from her own blood, so takes her own life to save the world.

...What?!? Buffy died?!?

Rate and Review - My second favourite season.  I couldn't quite believe Buffy actually died.  Some magnificent work to be seen here, especially the whole feeling of complete desperation throughout.  Spike's infatuation is at first priceless, but soon a real devotion and sense of true love emerges, and his break down at the end is heart breaking.  Xander and Giles find purpose once more, and the end...well, what can you say about "The Gift"? Just superb.  10/10.

 

 

Medium - TV Show

Slayers Present - Buffy Summers

Summary - Convinced that Buffy's unnatural death has landed her in some sort of Hell Dimension, Willow uses Dark Magick, with the help of the gang, to bring her back to life.  But something is quite evidently wrong when the first thing she asks is "Is this Hell?" We soon discover from a confession to Spike that she was actually in Heaven, and is devastated to be back on Earth.  As Spike is the only one who knows this, and also is the only one who has also had to crawl his way out of his own grave, the two become very close.  Spike discovers Buffy is some how 'defected' during one of their many fights and he can actually hit her without causing the mind blowing headaches.  This leads to a ferocious battle, the pair 'exorcising demons' in effect, and they finally sleep together. Troublesome stuff.  It is not until an all-singing, all-dancing demon called Sweet arrives in Sunnydale and turns the whole town into a musical that everyone else finds out about the rather upsetting news the Buffy was in Heaven, as through song everyone reveals their inner feelings.  Willow, meanwhile, after the success of the resurrection spell, becomes obsessed, addicted even, to her powers, fuelled by the malicious and newly de-ratted Amy.  After some near death experiences, she goes cold turkey, but when Tara is murdered at the hands of the Trio (Warren, Jonathan and Andrew) she goes postal and tries to destroy the world.  Xander saves the day by convincing her that he loves her and brings her back to her senses.  Buffy does a full U-Turn, and is really quite glad the world didn't end, much to the surprise of Dawn :-)

Rate and Review - Very, very depressing season.  I mean, "Once More With Feeling" is definitely one of my Top 5 episodes, and I'd been waiting for Buffy and Spike to get their act together for ages, but poor, poor Buffy has to go through a considerable amount of crap before becoming her old self again.  A rather humiliating reunion with newly-wed Riley, Xander and Anya's failed wedding, working at The Doublemeat palace, and a empty, almost soul destroying relationship with Spike.  Also, the 'villains' of this year, though thoroughly loveable, are just a load of geeks in the end with an unhealthy obsession with Star Wars - not exactly rivalling Angelus in the scary stakes...until Warren kills Tara, then we can hate him with the fiery heat of a Nova....bastard.  On the plus-side-never-saw-it-coming-front, Spike, after almost raping Buffy, goes to 'become what he was so that Buffy can get what she deserves'.  I assumed this meant removing the chip so he could kill her.  HE GOT HIS SOUL BACK!!! Joss...you are the man.  8/10.

 

 

Medium - TV Show

Slayers Present - Buffy Summers, Faith, Nikki Wood, The First Slayer, Scythe Activated Slayers

Summary - The worst thing that Buffy could have ever imagined comes to pass...Sunnydale High School has been rebuilt! Of course Dawn attends, but it is not long before everyone realises that everything is not as it seems...even more so than normal.  For one, the new Principal, Robin Wood, is none other than the son of the Slayer Nikki Wood, and has a few things to say about it to Spike, her killer.  A spectral is back in town commanding the dead, and Buffy is dreaming of girls dying across the world at the hands of somewhat familiar minions with Playstation symbols as eyes.  She realises The First is back after trying to get Angel to kill himself four years ago, but now with plans for world domination.  It's minions, the Bringers, are killing off all the Potential Slayers, so that when it finally kills Buffy (or more to the point Faith) there will be no one left to take their place.  Crafty.  As the town evacuates, Potentials start rolling into Sunnydale, the first batch brought by Giles himself from England, and Buffy tries create an army to defeat The First and it's force of Uber-Vamps.  The Watcher's Council in England is destroyed.  Using the power of the ancient Slayer Scythe, Willow changes the rules, and makes it so that now all those with the potential to become the Slayer, actually do become Slayers.  Spike, now a 'champion',  uses an amulet given to Buffy from Angel via Wolfram and Hart to destroy Sunnydale, as well as the Uber-Vamps and himself in the process.  Most of the new Slayers and Scooby Gang make it out to watch the town fall, destroying the Hellmouth.  Buffy is finally free of the burden of being the sole chosen one, and so are all those to come forever after. 

Rate and Review - The. Best. Season. EVER!!! "Joss Whedon is my King, Joss Whedon is my King..." okay, I'll stop singing.  Just fabulous all round, with exceptional episodes such as "Him", "Selfless", "Storyteller", "Conversations With Dead People", "Lies My Parents Told Me" and of course, "Chosen".  Andrew is an awesome addition to the cast, Spike has a soul, Anya is amazing and exits with her usual grace and vigour, Faith returns and doesn't kill the good guys (good girl!) - in fact, she starts a proper relationship with Robin Wood, yey! And the end...I can't even tell you how much better the end was than ever I thought it could be - I was almost certain Buffy was going to die for good :-) Undoubtedly the best Season of them all.  Thank you Joss.  10/10

 

 

Medium - TV Show

Slayers Present - Buffy Summers, Faith

Summary - Set during Buffy Season Four.  Angel sets up a detective agency in L.A. with Cordelia Chase and the lovable Doyle (who sadly only makes it to episode nine).  Wesley Windom-Price (spelling?) - Faith and Buffy's former Watcher - follows shortly in his footsteps.  Buffy visits pretty soon in the year to check up on her former beau just at a time when Angel has been made human...good timing hey? Unfortunately, he's now useless, so after a perfect day with Buffy, begs the Powers-That-Be to make him a Vamp once more.  They rewind the day so only Angel remembers what happened.  *Sob.* Faith shows up after switching bodies with Buffy and back again, and Wolfram and Hart approach her with an offer so assassinate Angel.  After torturing Wesley, she ends up is a spectacular street battle with Angel.  It seems she's Hell bend on killing him, taunting him to try and take her, but the taunting soon becomes screaming, and Faith falls to her knees, beating him with empty blows, begging "Kill me - kill me - I'm Bad!" Realising a cry for redemption when he sees one, Angel is the first person since Buffy to take Faith under his wing and try and help her.  Which is ironic as Buffy shows up to kick Faith's ass for what she's done.  In stead of fighting or running, Faith finally faces up to what she's done, and hands herself over to the police. 

Rate and Review - Thank God for Season One of Angel, coz Season Four of Buffy wasn't really up to par.  The scene where Faith is screaming in the pouring rain remains one of my favourites in the entire Buffyverse, and the relationship between her and Angel created is amazing.  9/10. 

 

 

Medium - TV Show

Slayers Present - Faith, Buffy Summers

Summary - Set during Buffy Season Five.  Angel investigations moves location, and the boss man has to re-asses his motives.  Remembering saving lives is what's important, not tallying up achievements and counting the days till he becomes human as prophesised, he pays a visit to Faith in jail to make sure she's doing okay; their relationship is as strong as ever.  The year ticks along, with the addition of Charles Gunn to the team, and eventually they all, along with "The Host" Lorn, end up in Pylea, a demon dimension, looking for Cordelia and a girl called Fred.  They succeed in rescuing both girls, but on their return, Willow is sitting on the Hotel's steps, waiting to tell them of Buffy's death.  :-(

Rate and Review - The best ending to any Angel season so far.  Yey Faith cameo too! A whole section of brooding in the middle however and the return of Darla make it all quite dark.  Good stuff though.  8/10.

 

 

Medium - TV Show

Slayers Present - Buffy Summers

Summary - Set during Buffy Season Six.  Angel is very depressed about Buffy's death, but gets all happy again at her return...not too happy if you know what I mean though! Angel and Darla have a son named Conner which results in all sorts of chaos. 

Rate and Review - Not much Slayer activity in this season, and again quite depressing.  My least favourite season.  7/10. 

 

 

Medium - TV Show

Slayers Present - Faith

Summary - Set during Buffy Season Seven.  The guys resort to resurrecting Angelus in order to fight "The Beast".  Unfortunately, as usual, he's too sneaky for them, and manages to escape.  Conner is all up for killing him, and the others aren't that far behind, but Wesley knows that wont do, and makes a visit to a certain jail-bird Slayer.  On hearing that Angel is in trouble, Faith doesn't even blink as she breaks out of prison to save him.  She ends up in a sort of coma (again - poor girl's gonna end up brain damaged!) and helps Angel (the 1990's street urchin Angel) fight the current day Angelus.  She succeeds in helping Angel win through and restore his soul, just as Willow shows up with a story of The First and Potential Slayers.  Faith says her goodbyes, and heads back to Sunnydale to a less than warming initial welcome. 

Rate and Review - Another depressing Angel Season.  It has it's moments of shining fabulousness - "Spin The Bottle" for example - but all the Conner stuff is very hard going.  Faith's appearance is a joy though, and Conner is obviously infatuated instantly - bless :-) Good ending though I have to say.  7/10. 

 

 

Medium - TV Show

Slayers Present - Dana, a number of other Scythe Activated Slayers, Nikki Wood, Xin Rong

Summary - Angel Investigations are now the head of Wolfram and Hart...yikes! Spike shows up in a rather odd amulet as a ghost to torment Angel and Harmony's his secretary - yey! When a girl escapes from a mental institution though, the team assume it to be a regular demonic possession job.  Angel quickly realises however when she starts shouting off in Romanian about being chosen that she is in fact a deranged Slayer.  Andrew, now a Watcher in training, arrives to take care of the situation, but not before Dana tries to settle her demons by taking her pain out on Spike (channelling Nikki and Xin as she does).  She is neutralised, and Angel tries to take her back to Wolfram and Hart.  Andrew and a whole host of new Slayers have other ideas though, and take her with them back to the new Watcher's Council. 

Rate and Review - Undoubtedly the best season of Angel yet.  A pity it looks as if it will be the last :-( 10/10. 

 

 

Medium - Comic Book

Slayers Present - Buffy Summers, Mary O'Brian, Lady Sarah, Winifred "Winny" Smith, Princess Amirah

Summary - The true story of Joss Whedon's original vision.  Same basic plot as the film, but Buffy does burn down the school gym as mentioned in the show's pilot.  No dodgy plot holes (flying vampires and reincarnated Watchers?!) but Pike it still there - as cool as ever :-)

Rate and Review - Definitely worth the read; one of my favourite graphic novels.  10/10.

 

 

Medium - Comic Book

Slayers Present - Buffy Summers

Summary - After accepting her destiny as the chosen one, Buffy and Pike go on an adventure to Vegas where Pike realises he is only holding Buffy back.  So, after defeating some really odd vamps, they go their separate ways.  Angel is in the shadows, keeping an eye on his Slayer, which is cool, and Giles even makes an appearance back in England, using Dark Arts to weed out a traitor at the council. 

Rate and Review - Good for a laugh - nice continuity to fill in between the film and the show, especially with an appearance from Dawn!  I'm not the biggest fan of Cliff's work, but he gets the job done.  7/10.

 

 

Medium - Comic Book

Slayers Present - Buffy Summers, an unknown Slayer

Summary - Following directly on from "Viva Las Buffy", our Slayer makes it back from Vegas only to be committed by her troubled family.  This gives her time though to come to terms  with her calling (with the help of an old lady Watcher) and rid the Institute of it's pesky demon problem.  Giles has to go through a potentially lethal test to prove he can be Buffy's Watcher and Angel is still looking over Buffy with Whistler at his side.  This then leads almost straight into the TV Show, Season One. 

Rate and Review - I preferred this immensely to "Viva Las Buffy", even though there was no Pike :-( A great story, and the way the different strands intertwine is very well done.  There are cameos from the Sunnydale crew and Wesley as well :-) All in all, the end to a 'trilogy' that's definitely worth the read, if only to complete the break in Buffy's life between film and TV.  9/10. 

 

 

Medium - Comic Book

Slayers Present - The First Slayer, "Righteous", Claudine, Elizabeth/Edward Weston, Naayeeneizghani, Anni Sonnenblume, Nikki Wood, Melaka Fray, Buffy Summers, Princess Amirah

Summary - A collection of stories about various Slayers of the past...and one of the Future. 

Rate and Review - I have read this comic to death.  If you are on this site and haven't already bought it, there's something wrong with you. 

 

 

Medium - Novel

Slayers Present - Thessily Thessilonikki, Virginia Dare a.k.a. White Doe, Ildiko Gellert, Marie-Christine DuLac, Mollie Prater, Britta Kessler, Asha Sayre

Summary - A collection of stories about various Slayers of the past.

Rate and Review - The first in the Tales of the Slayers series, this book offers some excellent work...and some not so commendable.  Never mind - still worth it for the really great Tales.  7/10. 

 

 

Medium - Novel

Slayers Present - The First Slayer, "Nubian Goddess", Kishi Minomoto, Eliane Ward, Robin Whitby, Carissa Avenhaus, Samantha, Elizabeth/Edward Weston, Marie Siegner, Catherine Hogarth, Frankie Massey, Angelique Hawthorne, Ardita O'Reilly, Betty Winters, Buffy Summers

Summary - A collection of stories about various Slayers of the past.

Rate and Review - Again, a good mix of stories, less mediocre ones though, and some reall corkers too :-) 9/10.

 

 

Medium - Novel

Slayers Present - Dark of the Moon, Margaret 'Maggie' Madden, Xiaoqin, Eleanor Bordeaux (is that right?), India Cohen

Summary -  A collection of stories about various Slayers of the past.

Rate and Review - Buy this simply and only for "Ch'ing Shih" by Mel Odom if nothing else.  The rest is good, but that one is definitely in my Top 5 Tales, and that's saying something.  9/10.

 

 

Medium - Comic Book

Slayers Present - Melaka Fray, The First Slayer, Winifred "Winny" Smith, Teresa Fannigan, Princess Amirah, Buffy Summers

Summary - Sometime in the future, all magicks will be banished from this Earth, including all the demons in it, only to return again in the 26th Century.  Melaka Fray is the Slayer of this time, and she kicks arse!!!

Rate and Review - You have to buy Fray.  I mean it.  Why are you still reading this?! Go buy it!!!  The artwork is something short of genius, the story is magnificent, and Mel herself is cleverly and innovatively drawn out.  Just amazing.  10/10.