Buffy the Vampire Omnibus Vol. 1
Author: Joss Whedon, Christopher Golden, Scott Lobdell, Fabian Nicieza
Published: 2017
On Goodreads
My Rating:
Rated S for the Slayer coming to sin city for a showdown.
Before Sunnydale there was Las Vegas.
In the first volume of the BTVS comics begins at the very beginning. From the definitive moment Buffy became the Slayer to chasing down vampires to Las Vegas. From Pike coming to a sad realization to Angel jumping into a time-loop curse. A visit to a mental institution and the World Fair. This goes beyond the TV series and connects the dots fans only heard whispers about.
BTVS: Omnibus is 1 of 4 graphic novel series that I’m doing for my New Year’s Resolution.
Maybe you’ve seen the tacky 90’s movie and maybe you haven’t. That’s chill. Here, the journey of Buffy Summers as a vampire slayer began. The version in the Omnibus is totally different than the movie and better. While it followed the same storyline, it felt more fleshed out. It left behind the jokes and set in humor with the dark and cult overtone Buffy-peeps know all too well.
The artwork was phenomenal in keeping with the actors of the show. The action scenes were fantastically done. BTVS is action driven and it was impressively put onto the page while sticking to its classic humorous dialogue. The trip to Las Vegas was the ultimate moment Buffy accepted who she was and knew there was no going back. It was incredible and fun. Her first undercover gig and she came up against a weird big bad: siamese twins where one of them was a vampire.
The look into the Scooby Gang’s lives before they came together was great! As a huge fan of the series, I’m also a fan of prequels…when done right. This was nothing short of spectacular. It was here that Buffy was gaining her bearings. The inside look to what becoming a slayer did to her family was heartbreaking as I always imagined. It really reminds you how the slayer is supposed to go at it alone with no one else. A Spike and Drusilla tale is always a delight. They found a playground at the World Fair and it was so fitting. Hell, it was almost romantic. LOL. And Giles’s duel with his past self known as Ripper was freaking epic and beautiful. A true show of embracing one’s actions and the different parts of yourself that you’d rather forget.
I was and am salty about Pike. I always wished he would’ve came in with a cameo on the show. He brought a realistic loo to the other side of knowing a slayer. It’s not always running in headfirst because she can take on everything and anything. There’s the genuine worry that she could actually die because of that and he loved her so much that he didn’t want to be the cause of it. His leaving felt unresolved and maybe that was on purpose. It is a shame it hasn’t been looked back on more. Or, if it has, I haven’t gotten here yet. I loved Pike. While Buffy was out protecting everyone, he wanted to protect her. It was sweet. And whoever says that Buffy doesn’t need that is wrong. She deserves to have somebody—many somebodies—look out for her safety. Sure, the Scooby Gang did, but not at first. She was just a superhero with a destiny and amazing abilities. I always believed Pike knew better, so his leaving was bittersweet.
Overall
Fun, spunky, and hit all the right emotional buttons. These are the stories we didn’t know and finally got to see. Just as good as the show and true to it and its the characters. This gives me the fill I need on BTVS and I should do another binge of the show.
Quotables:
“Do not go gently into the night, Buffy Summers…hold on to that part of you that is so unique to you. Go show them how long a slayer can live.” (Dr. Primrose, p. 307)
More to come soon…
-K.
Song Today? Wild Horses by The Sundays.
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The Scarlet Reader 
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