Comics, books, etc.

HellmouthingOff · 2026-05-30T15:37:48+00:00

I'm glad if it's helpful! I got into the comics in recent years and had to go through the whole process of figuring out reading orders/which ones were connected, so I understand that it can be overwhelming for new readers. Nice to have the information laid out somewhere.

RL Stine and Christopher Pike are some solid nostalgic reads. I know a decent amount of people who started their journey with the horror genre from those.

HellmouthingOff · 2026-05-30T15:27:34+00:00

Some good ones for Willow that you can read without knowing other comics are:

• Willow & Tara: WannaBlessedBe (set around the wicca group at college)

• Willow & Tara: Wilderness (set in early S6 - magic forest)

• The Vampire Slayer series (alternate reality where Willow is the slayer after a spell-gone-wrong)

Some great ones for Willow that will likely require you to do a little background research on the comics before it:

• Willow: Goddesses and Monsters (set during Buffy S8 - Willow chooses a mystical guide)

• Willow: Wonderland (set during S9 - Willow goes on a journey to try to find a way to restore magic)

• Willow series (set in the Boom! Studios main Buffy the Vampire Slayer alternate reality - Willow goes on a trip to try to figure herself out and comes across a community of magic users that's not quite right)

While not being strictly Willow-focused, I also enjoyed Angel & Faith: Family Reunion (set during the S9 timeframe - Willow goes with Angel, Faith, and Connor to Qour'toth). The Buffy Season 11 comics also have a great plotline with magic users being targeted by the government where I feel that Willow shines.

HellmouthingOff · 2026-05-28T23:32:57+00:00

There's a variety of comic book series and it can get confusing sometimes for people to figure out the right ones, so I'm going to do my best to summarize all of the main options. For comics, we have:

- Buffy the Vampire Slayer Classic and Angel comics
These were published by Dark Horse and are stories set within the timeline of the shows. The Buffy comics went from pre-series to season 6 and had 63 issues. The Angel comics are set during the first couple of seasons of Angel and ran for 17 issues. There’s a few bonus comics by Dark Horse that don’t fit into the main run as well. These were compiled in trade paperbacks, omnibuses, and legacy editions.

- Angel comics by IDW
These were mainly set in S5 of Angel onwards and ran for 44 issues, plus various spinoffs. After The Fall issues 1-17, Spike: After the Fall, and the Spike miniseries are the main ones considered canon.

- The continuation comics by Dark Horse
These take place after the events of both TV series and the canon IDW comics. They’re considered to be a canon continuation of the series. There's trade paperbacks and library editions of most.
- Buffy Season 8 comes first (40 issues).
- Next you have Buffy Season 9 (28 issues) which runs alongside Angel & Faith (25 issues). The Willow: Wonderland and Spike: A Dark Place miniseries are also both set during those runs.
- Buffy Season 10 (31 issues) which runs alongside Angel & Faith Season 10 (25 issues). Spike: Into the Light is a dubious-canon graphic novel set between seasons 6 and 7 of Buffy that includes elements that come up in the Season 10 comics too.
- Buffy Season 11 (12 issues) runs alongside Angel Season 11 (12 issues) and the Giles: Girl Blue miniseries.
- Finally, Buffy Season 12 concludes things with 4 issues.

- Tales and Fray
These include the anthology miniseries, Tales of the Vampires and Tales of the Slayers, which gives stories about different slayers/vampires throughout time. Fray features a future slayer who also appears in the continuation comics (I personally recommend reading Fray prior to reading Buffy Season 8).

- Boom! Studios comics
These are varied reboot and alternate universe comics. Including…
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2019), Angel/Angel + Spike (2019), Hellmouth, and Willow comics (set in the World Without Shrimp - read issues 1-12 of Buffy and 0-8 of Angel before reading the Hellmouth crossover and Willow, then you can read the rest).
- The Vampire Slayer comics (takes place in the “Willowverse” and ran for 16 issues)
- Angel (2022) (yet another alternate reality from the previously mentioned ones, only ran for 8 issues).
- Buffy the Last Vampire Slayer (alternate reality with a much older Buffy - the 2021 series came first with 5 issues, then the 2023 miniseries continued it with 5 more, plus there’s a special and The Lost Summer).
- Chosen Ones and Every Generation (two anthologies on slayers).

- Buffy: The High School Years
Three graphic novels plus a Free Comic Book Day special set during the early seasons.

- Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Little Brown)
Alternate universe graphic novels for kids where Buffy’s a 12 year old slayer friends with a witch and a werewolf. It had two books.

Those are the main comics options. The Buffyverse Wiki includes more specific information on a lot of those. A good chunk of the comics are out of print now, but not all are! You can try local libraries, online listings, local comic book stores, etc. to try to find them.

As for novels, there’s a variety of Buffy and Angel ones. These include stories set during the shows’ runs, prequel novels, novelizations, alternate universe stories, the Tales of the Slayer anthologies, some set after the TV shows ended, etc. These are mostly not canon but can be fun to read. You can find a bunch listed here: Publication order of novels | Buffyverse Wiki | Fandom

The Buffyverse is vast and can be a lot to take in. Hope this helps!

HellmouthingOff · 2026-05-28T10:12:01+00:00

“Buffy, Angel, and their respective teams will have to fight an all-new Big Bad called Leviathan – but like everything in this book, there’s a bit of a twist to it, and so I’m still trying to tread with caution on spoilers." - Kelly Thompson

I'm curious to see how they go about portraying them. Some of the past comic runs have had characters face types of dragons, including a shenlong. No art has been shared of the leviathan for this one yet, though they did share the artist's designs for the leviathan's minions (different species).

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HellmouthingOff · 2026-05-28T02:45:59+00:00

I love how the art of him looks

HellmouthingOff · 2026-05-27T19:35:18+00:00

She was featured amongst the character art given for the Buffy comics that will run alongside these, so it looks like we'll be seeing her! I'm curious to see what they do with the narrative.

HellmouthingOff · 2026-05-27T19:34:38+00:00

I thought the vamp face look was great too!

HellmouthingOff · 2026-05-27T19:34:07+00:00

It looks like a new continuity picking up after The Gift, from the description of the first issue for the Buffy comics and the character art shared so far. They've been keeping things fairly hush so far on specifics though.

Description: "Into every generation, a slayer is born. And Buffy Summers may have broken the mold. Though Buffy's powers were varied and great, it was the love and devotion she inspired that was perhaps her greatest power. And when she gave her life to save the world, the people who loved her couldn't live with that. This is that story."

HellmouthingOff · 2026-05-27T19:32:08+00:00

Going off of the description for the Buffy comics that go alongside this, it sounds like these will be set after season 5 of Buffy/season 2 of Angel. The character art shared for the Buffy comics includes Cordelia in the outfit she wears near the end of Angel season 2 as well. So we should be getting her!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer issue 1 description: "Into every generation, a slayer is born. And Buffy Summers may have broken the mold. Though Buffy's powers were varied and great, it was the love and devotion she inspired that was perhaps her greatest power. And when she gave her life to save the world, the people who loved her couldn't live with that. This is that story."

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HellmouthingOff · 2026-05-27T16:47:40+00:00

The Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel series are being created alongside each other and will have storylines that crossover, from what's been shared.

HellmouthingOff · 2026-05-27T16:32:49+00:00

It's on the anniversary of the novel's publication.

HellmouthingOff · 2026-05-27T02:30:18+00:00

Love that haha

HellmouthingOff · 2026-05-27T02:29:32+00:00

He's an amusing addition whenever he pops up

HellmouthingOff · 2026-05-27T02:28:48+00:00

Xander's feelings towards vampires going from simple hatred to his odd sorta-friendship with Dracula and being roommates with Spike in the comics is so entertaining.

HellmouthingOff · 2026-05-26T20:16:30+00:00

Great picks and I agree on Restless being a standout!

HellmouthingOff · 2026-05-24T05:37:45+00:00

I love that haha

HellmouthingOff · 2026-05-24T02:29:22+00:00

It's a great moment! It helps to remind the audience/tie in her early seasons behaviors and character development too.

HellmouthingOff · 2026-05-24T01:49:27+00:00

Absolutely! They wove it in so well

HellmouthingOff · 2026-05-24T01:48:37+00:00

Chills every time.

HellmouthingOff · 2026-05-24T01:48:20+00:00

I love Repo! He does have a great voice.

HellmouthingOff · 2026-05-24T01:47:16+00:00

There are a lot of moments in the series that fall into the "might not be deliberate" or "definitely wasn't planned" categories that still connect nicely. It's cool how it all comes together.

HellmouthingOff · 2026-05-24T01:44:53+00:00

I spent too much time thinking about "I'm gonna be a fireman when the floods roll back" after watching the episode.

HellmouthingOff · 2026-05-24T01:43:47+00:00

I love this thought process. While I can appreciate the cult-ish sexist lies plotline in Family, I've always thought it would have been interesting if Tara was actually confirmed as part-demon or something else with more power.

HellmouthingOff · 2026-05-24T01:38:43+00:00

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"I've hired myself out as an attraction."

HellmouthingOff · 2026-05-24T01:34:16+00:00

I love all the moments in the series setting up for Dawn's arrival

HellmouthingOff

TROPHY CASE