Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Sink your teeth into some tasty teasers from Joss Whedon’s first arc that’ll have you salivating at the vampire slayer’s best season EVER!

In the comic book equivalent of TV’s Nielsen ratings, Buffy the Vampire Season 8 made an “American Idol”-sized splash.

Moving over 100,000 copies in initial orders of March’s issue #1, good enough for a spot in the Diamond Top 10 and necessitating a second printing, Dark Horse has staked its claim on a bona fide hit with Buffy Season 8.

“We’re all real proud of what we’ve done,” says Buffy Editor Scott Allie. “Joss is loving the book, and his plans just keep growing. What started as a 22-issue ‘season’ is more likely going to be twice that.”

And the summer only gets hotter as the vamp train rolls on-take a look at these top-secret story morsels for the rest of Whedon’s first five-part arc, as well as a super-sneak-peek at writer Brian K. Vaughan’s first issue, hitting in September!

MORE ACTION, JACKSON!

With comics’ unlimited budget, Whedon has upped Buffy Season 8’s action and special effects budget to astronomical figures. We’ve already seen a full-on Slayer raid against demons in issue #1, and a ninja-versus-Slayer melee in issue #2. The book only gets more frenetic in May’s issue #3 when the Slayers must repel an all-out zombie attack, and Willow goes all dark witch against Amy, followed by Buffy taking on the U.S. military in Buffy #4 in June.

NEW BUDS, NEW BADDIES

The Scooby Gang gets amped up with an army of Slayers at Buffy’s beck and call as familiar faces like Rona and Violet (from “Buffy” Season 7 who show up in issue #5 in August) join with new recruits Satsu, Leah and Rowena. But the new friends mean more targets for the new big bads as well, as the Slayers must do battle not just with blood-sucking vamps, but with an order of demons sporting a secret agenda, another former foe from the TV show, the U.S. military who wants to take them down, and a Slayer gone bad (in Vaughan’s issue #6 slated for September).

SEXPOT SLAYER

The comic adventures of the sultriest Slayer ever take a cheeky turn for the titillating, starting with Buffy’s passionate pass at Xander in issue #2 (true, it was a dream sequence, but it was hot enough to knock off Xander’s head!). Look for more passion plays in Buffy Season 8’s summer installments, including one smooch from a secret admirer and one familiar stalker-type for Buffy, a steamy threesome scene and a hilarious heart-to-heart about the birds and the bees between Buffy, Xander and Willow in issue #3. That installment also has a panel featuring fledgling Watcher Andrew and a bevy of Slayers that’s so steamy, Whedon asks artist Georges Jeanty in his script to make sure “nothing un-Dark Horse-able is showing”!

ASTONISHING ABSURDITIES

The comic carries over Whedon’s penchant for the bizarre and multiplies it to the Nth degree. If seeing Dawn transform into a 50-foot giant for losing her virginity to a mystical Thricewise isn’t enough, wait until you see these scenes: the zombie dance party in issue #3; the death of a Slayer close to Buffy in issue #5; and bad girl Faith do her “My Fair Lady” impression to take down a high-society Slayer gone rogue!