Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Ugly Little Monsters

This new Buffy trade paperback, a reprise of BTVS comics #39 through #42, opens with 'Night of a Thousand Vampires.' Buffy is deep in the midst of grieving the loss of her mother. Meanwhile, across Sunnydale, another mother plots revenge for the loss of her daughter, whose voodoo magic put her in conflict with Buffy, and finally caused her death. Originally intending to fill the night with vampires, the spell is triggered too early, forcing Buffy to rouse from her own grief to undo the damage another's has done. This introductory tale (from #39) takes up only a quarter of the book, leaving the rest of the space for a major piece of grand theater.The title story is about the inexplicable appearance if a set of Avendshrook demons, impish creatures that feed on anger and jealousy. There influence sets the entire Scooby gang at odds. Sort of a divide and conquer approach. The Avendshrook may not be able to do much physical damage, but they can make you miserable while World War III is breaking out around you. Anya and Willow are hissing at each other, Xander thinks Tara is behind the infestation, and Spike (poor Spike!) is perpetually getting thrashed by Buffy. If someone doesn't figure out what to do, vampires will be the least of Buffy's issues.While Buffy is not always great at temper management, this is the first Buffy comic series where everyone is out of control. It is interesting to see our favorite group of misfits act out a whole theme and variations on jealousy and anger. Even though everyone is so deadly serious, this is still a very funny story. Surprisingly, it is Spike, normally the really bad guy, who shows the most character. As we know, Spike is maturing throughout the fifth season, and this shows in Fassbender and Pascoe's writing. Cliff Richards and friends, as usual, wield the pencils and inks with their usual brilliance. A short addendum displays the cover work of Jeff Matsuda.