Are the comic books worth it?

Buffy comics yay or nay?

  • Yes buy them all!

    Votes: 18 81.8%

  • Nah, don't bother

    Votes: 4 18.2%
  • Total voters
    22
S

Spuffyy

The Slayer
Joined
Dec 2, 2008
Messages
192
Location
Washington State
I know they aren't cheap for books, and I'm not sure how GOOD they are, should I bother with buying them? I want them just for the sake of having Buffy stuff but I don't know if it's worth it to buy them all if I won't enjoy actually reading them, kwim?
 
I voted No.

They are great, and if your buying them from the start, it makes sense to continue them. But to get them now, well individually, your looking at around £55 in UK money for the 24 copies...thats a LOT of money for what is essentially 1 single story. 1st editions make that even more (#1 1st edition wont go for anything less than £10 on ebay... on that note, I have a spare if anyone wants to buy it off me).

So because of the way your poll is phrased, I said they are not worth it. It is a good story but very different from the show imo, too much fancifulness and crazy things. Talking trees, giant dawn, super duper flying Willow where suddenly magic is no problem. I said this in another thread, they took the concept of freedom of budget and went too far with it. Buffy needs the constraint of budget because it gives it so much more believability. The comic takes Buffy and makes it so crazy, you step more into a fantasy world and less like vamps could actually exist in the dark. Buffy was always believable to me, there could be someone out there protecting us from things we dont understand...not with the comic.

There good, but in their own way.
 
I think the comics are as good as the TV show, although they are different. I would recommend getting the first trade paperback (The Long Way Home) and seeing if you like it.
 
S
Silum
Even the TPB's, 5 volumes all at just under a 10...for one story.
I would say yes, they're worth it if you mean worth READING. Unfortunately, collectors have already started driving the price of the earlier issues up, at least around where I live, so,as has been pointed out, you're talking about a relatively sizable investment. If I had never read any of Season 8, I would almost certainly buy the TPB's instead of trying to track down each individual issue. They can still be found and bought at a relatively reasonable price, and you have the advantage of having the entire arc available in one package, no waiting for each issue to come out. (Of course, it's a whole lot more time between TPB's than monthly issues)
 
S
Silum
[No message]
You can get the old issues cheap,(and sometimes the tradepaperbacks) so why not try it? So many love them, and there's a chance that you might too.

But yeah, over all, buying comics, unless you find a bargain, it's expensive in the long run.
 
I have a subscription to the comics. Every time there is a new issue it's sent directly to my house. I'm usually pretty excited when one shows up in my mailbox. However, it is really pricey to do it this way. I've had to cancel my netflix just to keep up with it. haha.

I have a lot of friends that just wait for the Trade Paperbacks which is, I think, a better deal. If I were you I'd just buy the first Trade Paper and see if you like it and , if you do, buy them up to where we are now. I wish I wouldn't have to compulsively buy the comics, it'd save me a bundle. 🙂
 
I'd recommend buying the TPB's, i've got them and while its slower to read as tpb's come out only once the arc has finished its definately cheaper.

I wouldnt recommend buying the first one and judging it on that one, because the first TPB (written by Joss Whedon) IMO sucked so much besides the last issue. It was horrible, get the first two TPB's and based on those then you can make a reasonable decision.
 
I buy both the individual issues and the TPB's. The issues so I can keep up with the story month-by-month, and the TPB's so I can easily find and refer to old issues without having to search through a pile of comics. Also so I can take them with me easily.

The problem is that Dark Horse is notoriously slow coming out with their trade paperbacks... about six months behind. The TPB for the "Time of Your Life" arc (issues 16-19 plus the #20 standalone) will be coming out within the next couple of weeks. The "Predators & Prey" TPB (collecting 21-26) won't be out until the fall.
 
AndrewCrossett said:
I buy both the individual issues and the TPB's. The issues so I can keep up with the story month-by-month, and the TPB's so I can easily find and refer to old issues without having to search through a pile of comics. Also so I can take them with me easily.

The problem is that Dark Horse is notoriously slow coming out with their trade paperbacks... about six months behind. The TPB for the "Time of Your Life" arc (issues 16-19 plus the #20 standalone) will be coming out within the next couple of weeks. The "Predators & Prey" TPB (collecting 21-26) won't be out until the fall.
Click to expand...

I really cant understand why it takes them so long. I've got Time of your life and predators and prey pre ordered but geez. You have to wait so long in between volumes!
 
B
BillyidolwannaB
You dont understand?? Its to get you to part with your money. :) moooneeey.
Silum said:
I voted No.

They are great, and if your buying them from the start, it makes sense to continue them. But to get them now, well individually, your looking at around £55 in UK money for the 24 copies...thats a LOT of money for what is essentially 1 single story. 1st editions make that even more (#1 1st edition wont go for anything less than £10 on ebay... on that note, I have a spare if anyone wants to buy it off me).

So because of the way your poll is phrased, I said they are not worth it. It is a good story but very different from the show imo, too much fancifulness and crazy things. Talking trees, giant dawn, super duper flying Willow where suddenly magic is no problem. I said this in another thread, they took the concept of freedom of budget and went too far with it. Buffy needs the constraint of budget because it gives it so much more believability. The comic takes Buffy and makes it so crazy, you step more into a fantasy world and less like vamps could actually exist in the dark. Buffy was always believable to me, there could be someone out there protecting us from things we dont understand...not with the comic.

There good, but in their own way.
Click to expand...

I agree with most of your points...

My bigger objection is that the scope is too large, rather than it being too fanciful (though I agree that it crosses a line that the series didn't). The large scope prohibits the Scoobies from all being together, Buffy will be in Tokyo, Xander in Ireland, and Willow in another dimension, etc. That's a huge detractor since their interactions were 60%+ of the show.

All those objections withstanding, all of them have been really enjoyable, and have kept true to the characters, well, Willow, Xander, Giles and Faith. Andrew's evolved, and Buffy is going down a worse path than she was after her S6 resurrection... The current Predators & Prey Arc is pretty bad, easily the worst thing to bear Joss' name, imo, but the other arcs were enjoyable.
 
They're so worth it. 🙂 Just buy the whole arc and not individual issues. Right now, only four volumes are out, each one contains five issues, buy them all I say, because you'll get to the half of the story when you reach issue 20.
 
I don't think the comics are very good. However, I still think they're still worth having, because I just like having Buffy stuff. I personally enjoy collecting the individual comics, not the trades, because I really like the covers. IMO they are the best thing about the comics.

I won't reveal any spoilers, but many of the characters act completely out of character imo, and many of the plot lines seem right out of bad fanfiction. There are actually several plot lines that trivialize extremely important events that happen in the tv series.
 
B
BillyidolwannaB
[No message]
Buffed said:
I don't think the comics are very good. However, I still think they're still worth having, because I just like having Buffy stuff. I personally enjoy collecting the individual comics, not the trades, because I really like the covers. IMO they are the best thing about the comics.

I won't reveal any spoilers, but many of the characters act completely out of character imo, and many of the plot lines seem right out of bad fanfiction. There are actually several plot lines that trivialize extremely important events that happen in the tv series.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing you're referring to
Magic, but you have to remember that since S7, Giles told Willow that her relationship to magic is far deeper than an addiction now. Also, I think Chosen implied that Willow had finally tapped into purely "white magic" hence the turning white rather than black. Anyway, we also know that the current timeline has Willow reverting back to the dark magics...

I honestly think that Buffy's the only one who has done things out of character. The whole Satsu thing was not organic at all. I've read critiques by Comic Critics and even a few gay activist critics saying that the whole thing seemed more like a "Ploy" to raise a controversy than anything else. I think it cheapened how well Joss managed Willow's transition to be honest...
 
F
Five
[No message]
Actually no! I wasn't referring to that at all. I don't know how to post spoilers blocked out by black text...but two things I was referring to was
1) the character that appears at the very end of Issue 3
2) also in issue 3, about 5 pages from the end, when Willow is talking to Buffy about the situation with Kennedy.

Hope I left it vague enough so no spoilers and you get what I mean. But those are two examples of things that not only are pretty far fetched, but also affect/diminish important events in the tv series
 
Spuffyy said:
I know they aren't cheap for books, and I'm not sure how GOOD they are, should I bother with buying them? I want them just for the sake of having Buffy stuff but I don't know if it's worth it to buy them all if I won't enjoy actually reading them, kwim?
Click to expand...

Well, I got the first two volumes as gifts, and the last one I bought myself. The individual issues I bought at the Comicon, for like a dollar each, and had them signed by Georges Jeanty and the Dark Horse people, which was pretty cool. So, it hasn't been been a big expenditure for me, but I can understand if you don't want to buy them. If you're just interested in keeping up with the story, most public libraries surely have the first two volumes at least in their system, so you could get them from there. Or, buying them on Amazon is pretty inexpensive. Or, you could buy all the individual issues at a used book store, like Half Price Books. All their comics are very reasonably priced,l like 1.50 each. Then, you'd only be spending about 36 dollars for the whole thing. I'd like to own all the individual issues eventually, just because I like the cover art. And, since S8 is consitered canon, I feel like I have to own it, you know? So I then can say I own the whole show 🙂
 
B
Buffyverse Fan
[No message]
Wow this gives me a lot to ponder.. I think if I could get my hands on all the comics I would just for the sake of having them but what are the chances of that. (For semi cheap anyway.) I might get those books, there's only 4? That shouldn't be too bad.. In light of how different everything since I wonder if I will even read them however. I don't want anything to 'ruin' the Buffy I already know, kwim?
 
Shouldn't there be a 3rd option? I was more along the lines of "Well... damn. I guess you should pick it up, because, after all, it's Buffy. But man the story has taken a turn I don't like." I feel a little under represented.
 
Spuffyy said:
Wow this gives me a lot to ponder.. I think if I could get my hands on all the comics I would just for the sake of having them but what are the chances of that. (For semi cheap anyway.) I might get those books, there's only 4? That shouldn't be too bad.. In light of how different everything since I wonder if I will even read them however. I don't want anything to 'ruin' the Buffy I already know, kwim?
Click to expand...

The comics don't do anything to change seasons 1-7. Those episodes will always be there, just like you remember.

The comics just move things on to the next level. The difference is sort of like when you graduate from college, and have to face up to the fact that you're not a kid anymore and life is going to change. Grownup Buffy's life is just as weird and interesting as teenage Buffy's... just on a bigger scale.

YMMV, but I couldn't stand the thought of knowing that this story was continuing and I was missing it.
 
There's a comic book store about 10 minutes from me. I think I might go there this week. See if they have any of the buffy comics. [I'm also getting a willow doll hopefully]. I just hope it's worth it. I love the tv show so much. So if the comics aren't anything like the tv show at all as far as plot developements etc..I don't know if it would be worth it for me personally.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom