Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Panel to Panel

by Scott Allie, Chris Bachalo (Illustrator), Tim Townsend (Illustrator)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, captivating cult phenomenon and one of the most critically acclaimed TV series of the last decade, burst into the comics realm in August of 1998. Nearly every year since, the rich thematic material of good vs. evil, Slayer vs. vampire, friendship vs. isolation, and black vs. the new black has been explored at Dark Horse in over a hundred different issues - and by the biggest luminaries in the business. The stunning visuals unachievable on a small-screen budget have come to life, realized by Chris Bachalo, J. Scott Campbell, Jeff Matsuda, Mike Mignola, Terry Moore, Eric Powell, Tim Sale and Ryan Sook, among others. Take a look back at the most dynamic and memorable line art and paintings from the first ten years of the Slayer in comics - the best visions of Buffy that comics have to offer is finally given the deluxe coffee-table treatment, in a tradition started by our popular Star Wars: Panel to Panel series.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Vampires, Art, Fantasy, Graphic Novels Comics

192 pages, Paperback

First published December 12, 2007

About the author

Scott Allie is an American comics writer and editor, best known as an editor and executive at Dark Horse Comics from 1994 to 2017.

Reviews

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fasinating! I love Buffy!

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe that’s just the nerd in me talking but I really like this book. It displays the best images from various Buffy (hmm, what’s the best way to describe them?) "graphic novels" i suppose? This book has good images in nice big glossy detail. Its funny though that sometimes the artists take creative licensing with how they draw Buffy both physically and facially and you have to just assume the blonde chick with the stake is Buffy cause other than that she bears no resemblance to Sarah Michelle Geller! But worth a look if you like comic art and Buffy the Vampire Sayer. :)

[nidah05 (SleepDreamWrite) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The show was really good. Has its flaws but still good. So when I heard about the comics I been catching up on that. Some of the arcs were good to okay. And the art style is the same where it can be good and times when it got weird. So with this book, its mostly the different art covers and it was interesting to see the different art styles and characters on the covers. If you like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, then you'll like this.

[Parka · Rating 5 out of 5]

(More pictures on my blog)

This is a huge artbook with the cover art that's printed on some shiny surface. Mine was scratched slightly, and I could see parts where the ink came off and the silver shine behind. The reproduction on the thick paper is great. It's 192 pages total.

The book features art from the comics up to the Season 7. The illustrations are beautiful and printed big. I like the strong use of blacks for negative space which gives the art impact. In fact, I pretty much prefer the outlined comic art compared to the painted ones without them. If you follow the comics, then the commentary by Scott Allie will have more context.

There's also a good varied style to look at, with art from Chris Bachalo, J. Scott Campbell, Jeff Matsuda, Mike Mignola, Terry Moore, Eric Powell, Tim Sale and Ryan Sook and more.

Nice book for comic art fans.

[Alannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really for fans of the old Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic series... it's a great compilation of art, covers and some interiors taken from the series. I jumped on the bandwagon very late in the series, so it was a great way for me to see what I'd missed since I've been buying the Buffy Omnibus collections. The book is done in an oversize format, which really allows the art to be presented in its full glory (unlike the strangely scaled down Omnibuses!). Accompanying the art is some great (but sparse) commentary which kind of details the history of the comic series and talks about some of the behind the scenes goings-on. Even at the full cover price, this book is a bargain and a great addition to any Buffy comics fan's collection. Highly recommended!

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you are a huge fan of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series published by Dark Horse comics from 1998 until recently when Buffy creator Joss Whedon took the reins of the series... this book will be an absolute treat. Artwork from those early Buffy comics is reproduced here at a large size with commentary from the editor involved with the series from the beginning. There's some nice stuff in here, especially the contributions from John Totleben.

I can't help but wonder, is there a fan base for these comics large enough to support a book like this? I know there are fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer so dedicated they'd buy Buffy brand ice cubes... but this seems such a weirdly small and specific area of comic publishing to do a lavishly illustrated book.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best moment: Three of the editors/artists are sitting at a cafe and Sarah Michelle Gellar walks by and sits two tables away. They deate if they should be all, hey, we draw comics of you and we actually have stuff here and COOL RIGHT? Scott, the main dude, shoots them down because he finds the whole thing terribly awkward. He then tells this story to Joss, who tells him they probably avoided getting charged for stalking. HA.

There is not enough Giles in this book, but then again, there was only 1 Giles-centric comic in the entire series, so um, there you go.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scott Allie's commentary was interesting and felt very direct and honest. It was fascinating to realize that I recognize a lot of the artists and authors that worked on the comics from other things I've read recently. It as also interesting to get some validation on why I enjoyed some of these more than others - understanding what was going on in the background regarding artists dropping in and out, scheduling, and other issues that led to less than stellar efforts and also how some of the really great arcs came about. Great artwork and nicely presented.

[Mari · Rating 2 out of 5]

My sisters are huge fans of Buffy. I have seen a little of the show, but I am not a raving fan. I have not read any of the graphic novel/comic book adaptions of the show, so this art was all new to me. Some of it I liked and actually looked at for a few minutes, the rest was just okay. It just felt like a compilation, and they threw everything, and anything, in.

[Reeny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the Buffy Season 8 and 9 comics but I have never really been interested in the multitude of other Buffy comics out there. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Panel to Panel is an art book that is an overview of the Buffy comics that were written while the show was still on. The concept art is really interesting as are the notes.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm Liking This Book ,But I'm Not Done So Hold On!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read great cover art.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is absolutely beautiful

[Elaine Wisdom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the Graphics and sketches! Makes me wish for a Buffy comeback!