Buffy Omnibus Volume 2

Wow, what a great series. It is cool getting to learn Buffy's Backstory, which started in Volume 1 and continues through this one. I thought that the Dru and Spike stories were a waste as the plot of each one is nothing but "let's get something to eat" in each one. It is great that all of these collections have been put together in one nice book.

Following Buffy from her parents' decision to get a divorce, moving to Sunnydale and even into the evil Angel era, this excellent collection of tales of the Slayer will help to keep your thirst for Buffy to a manageable level. The art in this one is uneven - the first story is done in a very unusual manner - that is, in a very cartoonish manner - and it was rather a shock. I ended up rather liking it, but I think this is an issue that will definitely be a polarizing one: people will either love it or hate it and froth about it. :-) However, I liked the story it told and I especially liked how Angel was lurking all over the place in the story. Some of the stories were rather fun, such as Maguffins (McGuffins? MacGuffins? - I can't remember how it is spelled now and I'm too lazy to go check!) - taking place in the summer between Season 1 and Season 2, two mischievous imps are sent to Buffy as a "test." As they destroy her father's house, she must figure out how to stop them. We also get a rather ... interesting story with Dawn, set at the same time that Buffy is in Las Vegas - a case of mistaken identities leaves Dawn with a Djinn that causes no end of troubles. The addition of Dawn into these stories is one that Joss Whedon says he thought long and hard about, and one which is also likely to be a polarizing force among fans. He said he finally decided to go with having her there because although she wasn't REALLY there, Buffy REMEMBERED here being there ... plus it gave him a chance to have the artists and authors writing these stories come up with some fun ones, such as the story just mentioned above. All told, an excellent addition to the Buffymorbilia of a true Buffyaholic. Don't miss it!

If you are a Buffy fan then this is a must have. Ever since the show ended I've been finding different things such as vampire novels, buffy comics, angel comics etc. just to get my slayer fix. This is a great collection of previous comic stories in one place.

When Dark Horse Comics began publishing in 1986, they took a strategic path far different than most of the other independent publishers of the day. Dark Horse was clever enough to go after licensed properties that already had a built-in fan following. Titles such as Aliens, Predator, Terminator, and the many Star Wars titles gave them a huge leg up on their competition. That's why they are still around over twenty years later while companies like Eclipes, First, Comico, and Malibu are but distant memories. Another property which has proven to be enormously popular for Dark Horse has been Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This is the second omnibus edition of slayer tales and reprints several issues from the Buffy comic as well as various trades/graphic novels into this 320 page tome. The stories are set at various points in Buffy's career although they are all set in during season three of the TV series or earlier. In fact the first story, "A Stake through the Heart" predates Buffy's move to Sunnydale although after the destruction of the gym at her old school. In this tale writer Fabian Nicieza makes the controversial move of retconning Dawn into the Buffyverse before her actual creation. Buffy and Dawn are dealing with their parent's separation and their eventual move. Buffy is already feeling guilt over her parent's marriage troubles and Angel makes things worse by accidentally releasing malignancy demons to torment her. "McGuffins" is a short story from Dark Horse Comics Presents. Giles sends Buffy a "present" as a test...a pair of nasty little gremlin-like creatures who run amok in her house. Buffy cannot win this one with her fists. She'll have to use her wits to defeat the little pests. Two of the stories are Spike and Dru adventures and don't even feature Buffy at all...kinda strange since she's the title star but oh well..."Queen of Hearts" finds Spike and Dru gambling on a riverboat and discovering their host is a demon who leeches the luck off his customers. The pair have a bad breakup in "Paint the Town Red" as Spike nearly destroys Dru. He takes a break from her, heading off to Turkey but Dru isn't going to let him go so easily. "Ring of Fire" takes place during Season Two when Angel is going though his evil period. He, Dru, and the wheelchair-bound Spike have found a set of ancient Samurai armor that belonged to a demon named Kelgor. They plan to use the armor to raise the demon and Buffy, Kendra and the rest of the Scoobys have to stop them. Finally in "Dust Waltz" two ancient demons, Lillith and Lamia come to Sunnydale for an ancient Hellmouth ritual called the Dust Waltz where each chooses a champion to battle to the death. Since Buffy has killed Lillith's champion, she is forced to fight in his place. There isn't a standout story in the book but there are no stinkers either. "Stake through the Heart" is probably the weakest as it is a slower moving, depressing story that seems out of place with the tone of the stories from early i

If you missed any of the comic books, this'll get you what you need. My only complaint is that comic books are too darned short! I am always left wanting more!