Are the comics worth reading?

[RoxySilver]

So I finally was able to get my hands on the eight season (which isn't easy in Europe) and I'm having a hard time getting into the story... It seems that a lot of us on the Boards are reading them and reviewing the story, so I started wondering.
So here's my question: are the comics worth reading in your opinion?
Do they really continue the Buffy experience? Are they a legitimate part of the story?

I'll try to get around reading them at some point but I'a a bit curious as to what you think of them as a general idea.

 

[GwenRaiden]

Following. As I'm very much in the same boat. In a way I'm scared to start the comics, I love the TV show(s), they were perfect for me. I don't know if I'll be able to accept the comics.

 

[gite63]

I love the comics, BtVS seasons 9 and 10 as well as Angel & Faith (season 9 is perfect), I love Angel: After the Fall (great “season 6"), Spike: After the Fall, Willow: Wonderland, Lorne: Music of the Spheres, Spike: A Dark Place and Spike: The Complete Series. I think they all are Buffyverse and I'm glad that I could/can have more of it.

BtVS Season 8, I have a problem with just one thing (I don't want to give spoilers, I don't know if you know all about it), but the more I read it, the more I like it (I can think of it as an Alternative Universe...) I'm even liking the part with Fray, in the future, which I didn't like much – I've just bought Fray (finally!) and I'm looking forward to reading it.

I had never read comics before - well, just some dog related ones, Asterix, Mafalda, Tintin, Disney...

 

[VisionBoy]

It's not the smoothest transition from TV to comic.
For me it was a very mixed bag. There's some really great stuff in there and some quality writing for the characters... but there's also a lot of stuff that really just seemed like Joss getting way overexcited with the new format and lack of budget constraints... basically, if things are too bizarre for you at the start, I'm not sure the last few bits of season 8 are something you'll wanna stick around for.

Having said that, opinions vary so much with the comics. If you haven't already, I'd say get volume 1 (I think it's like 8 years old now, so you should be able to get it cheap somewhere online I should imagine) and just take it one step at a time. See how you feel about it.

If you're not crazy about it, as gite63 has already mentioned, the Buffy/Angel comic-verse is pretty expansive these days and there are some really good stories out there even if you're not so keen on the main title.

 

[gite63]

basically, if things are too bizarre for you at the start, I'm not sure the last few bits of season 8 are something you'll wanna stick around for.

I've always thought if we could jump to Season 9 and make it Season 8. After Sunnydale was destroyed, the Scoobies go live in San Francisco. There are some adjustments to be made, of course (Spike's arrival, the death of someone, the end of something etc), but I think it would be possible.

 

[white avenger]

I can't compare Season 8 and beyond to other comics, since I gave up reading those back in the '70's, but they are definitely different from the televised series, and requires a certain amount of readjusting your suspension of disbelief sense, but I've enjoyed them at least enough to keep reading all this time.

I do wish that Angel has either stayed in LA, or taken what was left of his team to England with him. I miss Gunn, Connor, and the others.

 

[jom]

i have never tried the comics and i dont think i'll ever try them. From what i've read here there seems to be a lot of bad things. I think the comics are for hardcore fans who might not had been satisfied with the series endings. Angel ended perfect for me. It ended the way it should had with a bang. I provably would give it a bigger bang by having illyria get her full powers back and let her and Angel owned before they are finally overcome. They all died for me, and it was fitting. Buffy should had ended in season 5, buffy's death ending was not gonna be overcome by any ending that they could come up with, and it wasnt.

 

[thetopher]

For me Season 8 feels like all the characters that matter (Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles, Faith, Dawn) have moved on to different situations, a different world really- one that's based on the show only more so.
But the characters are easily recognizable, the humor and wit are still there even if the plot goes off the rails in the last third (halfway through 'Retreat'). To me the story is engaging because I still feel that I know these characters- even when crazy weird stuff is happening to them.
Then Angel and Spike show up and the whole focus shifts. 🙁

Season 9 of Buffy is terrible, boring rubbish. Boring bad guys, Buffy is infuriating, there's no real spark of wit, add in a couple of insulting plot twists (I don't want to spoil things for you) and its probably the worst the comic has ever got. For a lot of my friends Season 9 is the time they gave up reading the comics.
It does get better towards the last couple of arcs.
A&F is great, just.. read it, it's good.

Season 10 started well for Buffy but is lacking some serious emotional heft right now. A&F (although it started poorly) is a bit more interesting.

 

[sosa lola]

Buffy S8 was my first ever comic to read. I personally enjoyed it a lot - though I disliked that Joss had a lot of freedom to experiment. While S9 and S10 are more like the TV show's standards with less weird stuff happening, I found S8 more interesting and took risks and made us think a lot. There are a lot of meta and interesting discussions at the S8 run. Not to mention yummy fanfic.

I have to agree that S8 lost its way after the reveal of Twilight, it was too out of place and didn't make much sense, but the issues before that were fun and interesting.

 

[The Bronze]

@RoxySilver & @GwenRaiden

There's not a one size fits all answer to this. It all depends on what you're hoping to get out of it really. I'll try to give you an idea of the pros and cons so you can weigh up if you think it's worth it.

I'll start off with what I think is the most important thing before starting the comics. That's to be realistic with your expectations. The show is fantastic and the comics simply can't fully live up to it. As far as I'm concerned even the worlds best comic wouldn't live up to what we got with the series, hours of live action with terrific actors bringing the great stories to life.

It's worth thinking about how happy you are with the ending of both shows and where you left the characters as well. The comics are considered canon and once you start reading them you're going to take on board the story. This means you might well end up seeing some characters in a different light.

I'd also throw in that if you're not used to reading comics which I wasn't then it can be very confusing to begin with. You get used to it but be prepared to re read and take time to figure out the order and let it all sink in.

Now on to the positives. It's more Buffy! If you find you're missing the shows and want to know what's going on with your favourite characters then the comics really scratch that itch. We're onto Season 10 now and I still look forward to the comic showing up at my door. The quality does vary from arc to arc but the good stuff can be very good. It can feel a bit like watching an episode again.

The other positive of course is that it keeps this place lively and relevant for a show that has been off the air for over 10 years. We get to speak about what the characters are up to now and the comics have also lead to interesting discussions about the mythology of the verse and events from the show.

So for me yes I think they're worth it. They can be a bit jarring and over the top at times but it's held my interest and I've enjoyed them. It's a mostly positive experience for me. Others of course have hated them and prefer to keep to the series finales as the endings.

 

[Silverspike]

For me I realised season 8 wasn't for me the moment I saw the first splash page in the first issue which depicted Buffy dressed in a skin tight outfit brandishing what looked like a big gun. Yeah, your standard comic bookfanboy fare. Yes the 'gun' turned out to be something else, but for me that wasn't the point It still looked like one. For me it was just flagging up that pandering to the 'male gaze' was back with a vengeance and that these comics weren't going to be very much like the show at all.

I thought on the whole season 8 was just awful, so much so It barely felt like the Buffyverse at all to me. The characters felt 'off' to me somehow and the least said about that awful, awful ending the better. Dear god it stunk up the joint it was that bad. For the first time in my life I actually felt embarrassed to be a Buffy fan.

9 was dull and badly written, whilst 10 is a tad better, but still has a long way to go to getting anywhere near the quality of the series.

As for Angel and Faith, well lets say I can barely keep my eyes open when reading it, I find it that dreary.

 

[jom]

i dont mind comics, i can enjoy them if done good. From what i read here and some place else, the comics have a ridiculous feel to it and weird story lines. I dont think it should be that difficult to go from Tv series to comics and deliver a good product. I know with comics the writers have more room to expand their imagination but you got to keep it in a serious realm if the original source material was serious, you have to make the reader feel like it matters and that there's little BS, and keep the same atmosphere and feeling that the series had. Also the art matters a lot.

 

[The Bronze]

For me it was just flagging up that pandering to the 'male gaze' was back with a vengeance and that these comics weren't going to be very much like the show at all.

I always thought the show had plenty for males to gaze at as well. In fact more so because real people are more attractive than drawings.

 

[thetopher]

I always thought the show had plenty for males to gaze at as well. In fact more so because real people are more attractive than drawings.

Yeah, how many guys on the show had their shirts off for no reason? Angel, Riley, Spike, Xander.
I don't remember any fans moaning about that.

Far from it, lets not have any illusions, most people like to look at attractive people on television and attractive drawings in a comic book. What matters is what these attractive things are doing. Is it interesting or boring?

 

[Fuffy]

Don't read the comics, but I've been told that A&F is better than the BtVS comics 🙂

 

[EVIL UU]

As of 2015? Kinda, yeah.

The comics are kinda like the show, there's stuff I like, there's stuff I don't like, there's stuff I find entertaining, there's stuff I find boring. So far no comic season has achieved the quality of the best TV seasons, but the comics' best moments are certainly better than the show's worst moments. Sometimes they're even on par, for example "The Core" ( season 9 finale ) was the best season finale since "The Gift" in my opinion.

For me I realised season 8 wasn't for me the moment I saw the first splash page in the first issue which depicted Buffy dressed in a skin tight outfit brandishing what looked like a big gun. Yeah, your standard comic bookfanboy fare. Yes the 'gun' turned out to be something else, but for me that wasn't the point It still looked like one. For me it was just flagging up that pandering to the 'male gaze' was back with a vengeance and that these comics weren't going to be very much like the show at all.

As opposed to the TV show?

Look, puritan, sex sells and there's nothing you can do about it - humans are sexual beings, it's our nature. Get over it. I don't understand it, why would anybody not want to watch beautiful bodies? What is wrong with you people?! I can't believe this shit, BtVS is a show with one of the most ridiculously over the top beautiful/attractive/doable cast ever and it would be crazy to even suggest that it has no effect on the show's popularity. Are you seriously expecting the comics to not capitalize on that?

For me it was just flagging up that pandering to the 'male gaze' was back with a vengeance

What about pandering to the female gaze, probably even more prevalent in the comics than on the show?

 

[AndrewCrossett]

I liked the Angel: After the Fall comics up to the point where Brian Lynch stopped writing them.

The first half of season 8 was excellent. The second half pretty much fell apart story-wise, but still a worthwhile read on the whole.

Season 9 was split into Buffy and Angel & Faith titles. The Buffy part was kind of dull, I thought, but Angel & Faith was great.

Season 10 is split the same way. The Buffy part is good if you don't mind a lot of talky touchy huggy feelings stuff, which takes precedence over the monster killing so far. The Angel & Faith part is pretty good.

 

[NightLady]

I don't know s8 and 9 but I'm loving s10 so far. Of course it's not the same as the show, not even remotely but... better than nothing I say.
I have though a complain about the lenght, I think 20 pages once a month are not enough. It's not that I like it long (well, I do actually 😛 ) but it's like watching a 10 min. episode. They should make longer issues and make the plot richer

 

[Silverspike]

I always thought the show had plenty for males to gaze at as well. In fact more so because real people are more attractive than drawings.

Yes but imo it was more evenly balanced and instead of Buffy being the sex object (which you would expect in most other shows of that era) it was 9 times out of her ten her men/vamps. 😀

And as for those talking about the 'female gaze' well at that point on TV women were very badly served, being the sexist media that it's always been, so Buffy was a breath a fresh air imo.

 

[VisionBoy]

I don't know s8 and 9 but I'm loving s10 so far. Of course it's not the same as the show, not even remotely but... better than nothing I say.
I have though a complain about the lenght, I think 20 pages once a month are not enough. It's not that I like it long (well, I do actually 😛 ) but it's like watching a 10 min. episode. They should make longer issues and make the plot richer

Yeah, that's why I tend to wait for trade paperbacks rather than buy monthly issues. It means waiting a lot longer sure, but I usually find it much more satisfying being able to read a full arc in one sitting. I find that when I buy monthly, I'm far less patient when it comes to weaker moments in a story. 

Yes but imo it was more evenly balanced and instead of Buffy being the sex object

I dunno... to be honest, it seems like they do alright.