Title: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus Volume 1
Authors: Joss Whedon,
Christopher Golden, Dan Brereton, Scott Lobdell, Fabian Nicieza and Paul Lee
Artists: Eric Powell, Joe Bennett, Cliff Richards and Paul Lee
Genre: Horror / Comedy / School / Action / Romance
Year Published: 2007
Year Read: 12/31/2015
Series: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus #1
Publisher: Dark Horse Books
Source: Library
Content Rating: Ages 16+ (Some Language and Gory Violence)
Buy or Add on: Amazon //
Goodreads
Introduction:
Now, I have to tell everyone
who reads this review something…I am a HUGE
FAN OF “BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER!!!”
I have always loved that show and when I heard that they were making
comic books out of this series, of course I had to check them out! So, when I picked up the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus Volume One,” I was wondering what
this volume was going to be all about and to my excitement and delight, this
volume detailed the early years of Buffy Summers when she first moved to
Sunnydale and how she became a vampire slayer and I was quite impressed with
the whole experience!
What is this story
about?
This volume contains five stories that details Buffy’s first
year as a vampire slayer and also features other characters during their early
years such as Angel, Spike and Drusilla.
These are the five stories featured in this omnibus:
All’s Fair:
Written by: Christopher Golden
Artwork by: Eric Powell
In this story, Spike and Drusilla (Dru) go off to the World’s
Fair in 1933, causing mayhem as they suck out the blood from various unfortunate
human beings while discovering a demon who wants to be freed from its prison at
the same time!
Buffy: The Origin
Written by: Dan Brereton and Christopher Golden
Artwork by: Joe Bennett
Based off of Joss
Whedon’s original script for the origin story of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” this story details how Buffy Summers
first became the vampire slayer we all know and love and the character
development that she goes through to realize her true destiny.
Viva Las Buffy!
Written by: Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza
Artwork by: Cliff Richards
After Buffy gets expelled for burning down her old school,
she and Pike run away from home and ended up in Las Vegas to start a new
life. But, Buffy will soon learn that
she cannot run away from her problems when she encounters a sinister ring going
on inside the casino.
Dawn and Hoopy the
Bear
Written and artwork by: Paul Lee
Dawn Summers, Buffy’s younger sister, ends up getting a cute
little teddy bear named Hoopy the Bear from a total stranger and while she
loves her teddy bear unconditionally, she will soon realize that Hoopy the Bear
is not what he seems at all...
Slayer,
Interrupted
Written by: Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza
Artwork by: Cliff Richards
Inspired by the “Buffy
the Vampire Slayer” TV episode “Normal
Again,” Buffy’s parents ended up admitting Buffy to a rehab center since
they believed that Buffy has gone insane when she started talking about her
vampire slaying business. Has Buffy
really gone insane and her vampire slaying business is really all in her head
or is Buffy’s destiny truly real?
What I loved about
this story:
The writing: Oh my goodness! Who would have thought that several separate
stories about Buffy’s early years as a vampire slayer would be mind-blowing
good? I have to tell you that I enjoyed
each story in this volume (although the only story that I thought was half-way
decent was “Dawn and Hoopy the Bear”)
and I think that each writer had done this series a true justice! I was always curious about the origin story
of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” since
I was only familiar with the TV series created by Joss Whedon and I have never seen the original 1992 movie that
detailed the origin story of “Buffy the
Vampire Slayer,” although I did see bits and pieces of the movie when I was
younger. When I first found out that the
original 1992 movie was not what Joss
Whedon originally intended when he scripted out the origin story for “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” I was a bit
surprised (and yet not really, since this is Hollywood we are talking about) and
I was glad that we got a closer interpretation of Joss Whedon’s vision of the origin story of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” in this omnibus since I wanted to see
how Joss Whedon really wanted Buffy’s
origin story to go. I also enjoyed the
fact that we get to see not only Buffy’s early years, but other characters too
like Spike, Drusilla and Angel. I really
loved Spike and Drusilla’s story since they are truly funny together and I
always wanted to know what Spike was like before he met Buffy. I was also really excited to see Angel in
this omnibus since I love Angel as a character, even though I wished that Angel
had his own story in this volume so we get to learn more about his character
during his early years.
The artwork: The
artwork in each story is truly beautiful and effective to look at, especially
with how each artist manage to capture the actor and actresses’ true facial
expressions. I think the artists that
really captured Sarah Michelle Gellar’s
facial expressions the best were Joe
Bennet and Cliff Richards as they truly draw the characters realistically
and it felt like I was really watching a TV episode of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” since each character look like their
live action counterparts from the TV series!
What made me feel
uncomfortable about this story:
For anyone who does not like language and gory violence in a
graphic novel, this omnibus does have some language and gory violence (mostly
revolving around Buffy staking vampires in gory ways). Also, I have mentioned that the short story “Dawn and Hoopy the Bear” was a story
line that I could have done without since I felt that this story did not really
bring anything to the main stories and was just there to tell a story about
Dawn.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus Volume 1” is a truly fantastic
volume for anyone who is a huge fan of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” in general and who wants
to learn more about the origin stories of our favorite vampire slayer!
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