Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Haunted

This is pretty much a no-brainer for a Buffy fan. Now that the series is being continued through a canonical comic series, many fans may want to check out some of the older Buffy comics that Dark Horse has published. Many of them are bad, most are mediocre, and few are good, but the quality of this can't even be questioned. It's written by Jane Espenson. She was a major writer of the actual televised series, working closely with Joss Whedon since as early as the third season. She's written some of Buffy's most major moments, so putting her in charge of this story is pretty much like putting a fish in water to see how good it will swim. Needless to say, this story worked. And it worked well. "Haunted" is set during one of the most intriguing periods of the Buffyverse timeline. The main action (excluding the Faith/Angel intro) of the story begins directly after the third season ends. Many lose ends of the series are tied up, and major back story is given on the Initiative and Adam, who serves as the Big Bad of the fourth season. But this comic didn't just set out to tie up lose ends, it also had a very interesting standalone story about the Mayor's spirit jumping from corpse to corpse, trying to reek havoc on Buffy's life. The plot is interesting, the character interaction is even better, and the Mayor's internal dialogue (he's basically the `narrator' for much of this trade paperback) is spot on, and always hilarious. I thought the resolution of the Mayor conflict was a bit rushed and came off "too easy," but the sheer quality of the rest of the book makes up for that. Artist Cliff Richards, who is well known for drawing countless Buffy comics, doesn't offer up his best work here. His art in these issues is pretty consistently good, but only one panel really wowed me (when the Sunnydale graduates watch the burning school). Richards had to draw many characters from the television that never appeared before in the comics. His takes on these characters (Faith, Maggie Walsh) is mediocre at best, and he's clearly more at home with Buffy, Xander, and Willow. However, I was disappointed to see that his depiction of Giles was actually quite horrible. In no way did it resemble Giles in the slightest. Usually, I wouldn't comment so much on the art, but I felt it was appropriate, as Cliff Richards was pretty much THE major Buffy artist (pre-Season Eight). This is a comic that any Buffy fan will enjoy. The best part about it is that it fits comfortably into continuity, basically because it's written by someone who deeply understands the mythology and character arcs of the series--because she had a hand in creating it. Essential Buffyverse reading. 8/10

Excellent story line by Jane Esperson. She is one of the original writers from the Buffy TV series. She knows the characters well and probably has the best personification of it in all of the Buffy graphic novels. Also, Cliff Richards is absolutely the most accurate artist for the Buffy Graphic novels--all of the illustrations closely resembles each of the star actors. If you are a Buffy fan, this graphic novel is a must, and it will become your favorite as it is mine. -scott

You just can't keep a bad Slayer down - not in Sunnydale, at least!Buffy finds herself up against a body-hopping nightmare with attitude - a single intelligence animating all sorts of evil undead nasties, with a special taste specifically for her and her Scooby Gang. What - or who - could it be? Buffy's best clue should probably be who is suddenly haunting her dreams: Faith the Fallen, still in coma in the hospital, but active as hell on Buffy's psychic psyche. Every time the battle-weary Slayer falls asleep, her arch-nemesis combats Buffy in "Dreamland" - a place Faith has learned to navigate especially well, given the several months she's been in that netherworld between life and death. Which raises the old question as to whether or not, if one dies in a dream, they will also die in real life - but then (so Faith informs her), Buffy is already dead...Veteran Buffy series writer Jane Espenson penned this little goodie, which heralds the welcome arrival of that great diabolical duo, Faith and the Mayor - yes, the discarnate intelligence stalking the Scoobies is, of course, the Mayor (which is revealed in the opening panels, so I'm not spoiling anything) - to Buffy's comic book adventures. The artwork, in common with all the Buffy graphic novel series, is spotty - sometimes good, sometimes not so good - but the story is strong, and the writing of Faith and especially the Mayor is fabulous. There are also some nice tie-ins between the third and fourth season of the show (when this story is set), bridging the demise of Sunnydale High and Buffy's discovery of the military underground Initiative.Given that the evil Mayor Wilkins is such a nerd, there's as much humor as horror to this particular story, making it one of the most entertaining the series has to offer. Perhaps his own exit line from Season Three - the best ever, in the show - sums "Haunted" up best: "Well, gosh!"