Today I picked up my comics from my supplier. I'm sitting here reading the new Spike series, and it's literally laugh out loud funny. Comic books aren't for everyone, and they can get kind of expensive if you read a lot, but if you are a Buffy or Angel fan, I have to recommend a few different series.
We'll start with the newest Spike series I was just talking about. I've gotta say I was never really a Spike fan throughout either Buffy or Angel, but he's definitely won me over in comic book form. #1 starts off with a little bit of Twilight mocking in the form of books and movies called "Twinkle". It really doesn't get much better than this. It helps when reading this one if you've already been following along with Buffy season 8 (which I'll talk about in a minute) and all the Angel storylines (which I'll also talk about in a minute). You can purchase the start of the Spike series
at IDW, but if you want to buy comics, if at all possible, try to get them from
your local comic book store.
Okay, so here's where things get a little bit tricky. There are so many different Angel series, spinoffs, and one-shots (for non-comic readers, that just means it's not part of a series) that it can get a little confusing as to what order to read them in. Well, I'm here to tell you that I can't help you. Do start with Angel: After the Fall vol. 1, or even better, check out
the first TPB
from your library to see if you like it. And then find someone who knows more than me and figure out where to go from there. But After the Fall starts directly after the events at the end of season five of the TV show Angel.
Next we have Buffy, which basically continues the TV series in comic book form. This is season 8 (the show ended on season 7). Once again, I'd recommend looking for the first trade paperback of this one:
The Long Way Home (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 1)
. Season 8 is just about wrapping up, and I'm not sure if there will be more after this. I haven't loved the whole season--there have been some good parts and some bad, and right now, nearing the end of the season, I'm kind of in a "what the heck?" place with the whole thing. But, if you're a big Buffy fan like me, this is a way to keep on with the story since there's no more show.
To some of you this is all old news, and you're either yawning through my post, or you haven't even read this far. But I'm thinking maybe there's someone out there who was a fan who wasn't aware of these comics, or who was aware and just didn't know if they were any good. I definitely have liked the Angel (and now Spike) series better than the Buffy, but they're both worth reading, for sure.
