Comic book review
Written by Joss Whedon
Art by Georges Jeanty
Dark Horse Comics
Release date Out now

The main man behind the magic, mayhem and majesty of the long-running TV show returns to his famous creation — in a brand new medium…

For over seven years, Joss Whedon transformed television with a biting, witty and thoroughly involving show about a teenage vampire slayer that still commands a healthy following to this day. Now unhampered by budget or the limitations of TV, he’s transferred the series onto the printed page, overseeing a canonical eighth season alongside friends and creative talents such as Brian K. Vaughan of Y: The Last Man and Lost fame, Jeph Loeb and Brad Meltzer.

With the Hellmouth destroyed at the end of season seven, and a whole slew of slayers across the world taking care of the vamps and big bads, you would imagine there’d be little left for Buffy Summers to do. Whedon shakes up the status quo by transferring her to Scotland and putting her in charge of an army of slayers, most of who are inexperienced and naïve.

Familiar faces such as Xander, Dawn and Andrew return, and the surprise foe in the first chapter just goes to show there’s still plenty of mileage in the mythos. The quips are spot on, and the developing arc that pits the slayers against the world is something that could barely be contained in a small box in your living room.

The only criticism that can be levelled at this volume is that the story doesn’t move as fast as it could. It falls down by setting up a long arc rather than featuring self-contained Buffy episodes that might have re-established the character after her absence. To flip back to the plus side: Georges Jeanty, who worked on Wildstorm mini-series The American Way, provides the series’ pencils and, unlike the previous Dark Horse series, characters actually look like their on-screen counterparts.

With issue 1 of the comic selling over 150,000 copies so far (and unusually remaining in print for a comic), and 50 issues in the advanced planning stages, it’ll be a challenge to maintain both the interest of fans and the high quality content for that length of time. But providing Whedon remains in his ‘executive producer’ role for the foreseeable future, this series should satisfy both new and long-time fans alike. JP Rutter

VERDICT: 7/10
Buffy fans should find much to enjoy here.