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Buffy the Vampire Slayer (trade paperbacks) #17
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: A Stake to the Heart
In a failed attempt to alleviate her pain, Angel accidentally unleashes the Malignancy Demons upon her and her family, each of which personifies and draws its power from particular bad feelings.
104 pages, Paperback
First published May 5, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
September 17, 2020
This was weird.
The only reason I am giving it any type of star is because it shows the stages of what kids go through when their parents get a divorce. Buffy and Dawn are under some serious stress when their mother and father tell them they are going to "separate," even though it is pretty clear it is going to be a permanent thing.
Angel tries to help by doing a spell to take away Buffy's pain and give it to him instead, but he actually unleashes The Malignancy Demons and makes everything a lot worse.
Buffy still hasn't met Angel or any of the other beloved characters.
Few things you see that will make you go all wide-eye:
01. Wolfram and Hart and their lackey Lilah Morgan
02. Jesse (remember him from season one?) and his weird love for Cordelia Chase
03. Harmony Kendall and Cordelia Chase out shopping, being the mean girls of Sunnydale
04. Xander Harris and Willow Rosenberg having a normal phone conversation
05. Giles getting the job as a librarian
06. Principal Flutie being not hyena food
07. Angelus hating his name and wanting a new one
SO, it was super weird... like the random illustrations that kept popping up. That had nothing to do with the story. BUT I did like the fact they showed the grieving stages of split parents and were realistic about it all.
I'm just ready for Buffy to meet everyone. She's moved to Sunnydale. That's the next step right?
Don't play with my heart.
The only reason I am giving it any type of star is because it shows the stages of what kids go through when their parents get a divorce. Buffy and Dawn are under some serious stress when their mother and father tell them they are going to "separate," even though it is pretty clear it is going to be a permanent thing.
Buffy still hasn't met Angel or any of the other beloved characters.
Few things you see that will make you go all wide-eye:
01. Wolfram and Hart and their lackey Lilah Morgan
02. Jesse (remember him from season one?) and his weird love for Cordelia Chase
03. Harmony Kendall and Cordelia Chase out shopping, being the mean girls of Sunnydale
04. Xander Harris and Willow Rosenberg having a normal phone conversation
05. Giles getting the job as a librarian
06. Principal Flutie being not hyena food
07. Angelus hating his name and wanting a new one
SO, it was super weird... like the random illustrations that kept popping up. That had nothing to do with the story. BUT I did like the fact they showed the grieving stages of split parents and were realistic about it all.
I'm just ready for Buffy to meet everyone. She's moved to Sunnydale. That's the next step right?
Don't play with my heart.
July 20, 2020
This is certainly a comic that exists.
April 21, 2017
I really loved this collection of stories. It shows Buffy and Joyce dealing with the pain of the divorce and the move to Sunnydale. I thought the writing was excellent. The manifestation of different emotions was so interesting and it showed the multiple ways people have to deal with pain. I also really loved how the art style would shift whenever Buffy encountered a baddie. I will be reading more of this "Buffy Classic" lineup!
December 17, 2024
Set before the events of Season One and following on from 'Slayer, Interrupted', this book sees Buffy and Dawn facing the emotional fallout of their parents' divorce.
Seeking to ease Buffy's burden, Angel casts a spell to relieve her of her negative feels but accidentally unleashes four malignancy demons; Deceit, Guilt, Abandonment and Trepidation.
Unlike a lot of the Buffy books I've read, this book actually takes some big swings in its themes and narrative, which I respect even though some of them don't hit.
To attempt to tackle the emotional turmoil of two young girls watching their parents' relationship end is brave enough, but to introduce such off-the-wall and horrifying creatures as the malignancy demons featured here is above and beyond.
The demons themselves are probably this book's best element, with each one of them being deeply disturbing both in their design and in their actions in the story.
There are some moments of genuine horror in this book, something which most Buffy stories shy away from, not least when the Guilt demon slowly swallows Joyce whole through the neck-hole that serves as its mouth or the scene where Buffy is stuffed into the gaping, bleeding belly of the Abandonment demon.
This book's biggest drawback, and something that I've noticed with several of the Buffy books I've read, is that the author seems to have forgotten that Buffy is fifteen or sixteen here.
So the scenes where two of the demons separately kiss her are disturbing enough, but the scene where Angel is naked and has an erection whilst thinking about Buffy is just wildly inappropriate. Not to mention how Whistler is constantly making sexually-objectifying remarks about Buffy.
Seriously people, we need to stop sexualising underage girls in media!
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *
Seeking to ease Buffy's burden, Angel casts a spell to relieve her of her negative feels but accidentally unleashes four malignancy demons; Deceit, Guilt, Abandonment and Trepidation.
Unlike a lot of the Buffy books I've read, this book actually takes some big swings in its themes and narrative, which I respect even though some of them don't hit.
To attempt to tackle the emotional turmoil of two young girls watching their parents' relationship end is brave enough, but to introduce such off-the-wall and horrifying creatures as the malignancy demons featured here is above and beyond.
The demons themselves are probably this book's best element, with each one of them being deeply disturbing both in their design and in their actions in the story.
There are some moments of genuine horror in this book, something which most Buffy stories shy away from, not least when the Guilt demon slowly swallows Joyce whole through the neck-hole that serves as its mouth or the scene where Buffy is stuffed into the gaping, bleeding belly of the Abandonment demon.
This book's biggest drawback, and something that I've noticed with several of the Buffy books I've read, is that the author seems to have forgotten that Buffy is fifteen or sixteen here.
So the scenes where two of the demons separately kiss her are disturbing enough, but the scene where Angel is naked and has an erection whilst thinking about Buffy is just wildly inappropriate. Not to mention how Whistler is constantly making sexually-objectifying remarks about Buffy.
Seriously people, we need to stop sexualising underage girls in media!
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *
October 20, 2018
I read this years ago back in 2005 or 2006 when it first came out.
It was an okay book, but I wasn't really feeling it. It takes place after Buffy gets kicked out of school for burning down the gym. Her dad is moving out of the house and Buffy feels guilty for what's happening. The kicker is that Dawn is in this as well and feels guilty too since she is the one that told their parents about Buffy's diary with all the monsters.
Angel tries helping her by taking the guilty and pain into him, but it backfires and he lets demons free. They cover Buffy like a blanket making her feel 100 times worse than she already feels. It takes a little, but Angel fixes the demon problems that are telling Buff it's all her fault. They go so far as to try and get her to kill her self, but she doesn't.
Joyce and Hank call it quits for good and she has to tell the girls. Buffy gets to pick one of four places they can move. Sunnydale is the place she picks from the hat. So by the end of this graphic novel the Summer's women are in Sunnydale. They got pretty much the same problems as before and Buffy's attacked by this moth looking woman in the middle of traffic.
It shows Giles, Principal Flute, The Mayor along with Willow, Xander, Jesse, Cordelia and Harmony along with Angel and Whistler. It's an okay read and has great graphics, I just wasn't into it like I am the books.
It was an okay book, but I wasn't really feeling it. It takes place after Buffy gets kicked out of school for burning down the gym. Her dad is moving out of the house and Buffy feels guilty for what's happening. The kicker is that Dawn is in this as well and feels guilty too since she is the one that told their parents about Buffy's diary with all the monsters.
Angel tries helping her by taking the guilty and pain into him, but it backfires and he lets demons free. They cover Buffy like a blanket making her feel 100 times worse than she already feels. It takes a little, but Angel fixes the demon problems that are telling Buff it's all her fault. They go so far as to try and get her to kill her self, but she doesn't.
Joyce and Hank call it quits for good and she has to tell the girls. Buffy gets to pick one of four places they can move. Sunnydale is the place she picks from the hat. So by the end of this graphic novel the Summer's women are in Sunnydale. They got pretty much the same problems as before and Buffy's attacked by this moth looking woman in the middle of traffic.
It shows Giles, Principal Flute, The Mayor along with Willow, Xander, Jesse, Cordelia and Harmony along with Angel and Whistler. It's an okay read and has great graphics, I just wasn't into it like I am the books.
July 19, 2018
Well, this was the first graphic novel I've read to scare me...not only because the demons were terrifying and awful to look at, but also because of what they represented and how I see them in my own life. Loved watching them get slayed though. Inspiration for me to look at my own self in the mirror. I never would have thought I could have that kind of insight from a graphic novel.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 25, 2017
Angel to the rescue!...or not?
April 25, 2023
Another Buffy prequel, this one simply chronicling her parents break up. Okay there's some demons that feed of the resulting anguish, but this felt drawn-out and unnecessary.
June 1, 2023
buffy is stronger than any man!
March 17, 2014
The Buffy binge continues! Today I bring you A Stake To The Heart, the final arc of the 1998 Dark Horse ongoing series.*
Buffy is out of the institution and back home, but her parents’ failing marriage has finally imploded for good. Watching from afar, Angel devises a plan to try and alleviate the emotional pain gripping Buffy and her family. Not too surprisingly, it backfires and a series of “malignancy demons” are released. Buffy is then forced to battle physical manifestations of the negative emotions she and her family are dealing with.
Plot-wise, this isn’t the most complex of tales. It is, however, very much like the show in that it uses Buffy’s Slayer status to deal with non-tangible issues metaphorically through slaying. It was well-written, with all of the characters ringing true, and pulled the audience full-circle back to where the show started. The art was also great, and whatever problems Richards had with the first “Year One” issues are long gone by this point. Everyone looks like themselves, with the occasional exception of Buffy’s mom. For some reason he has trouble with her…
As with earlier books, this arc can be found in it’s own dedicated TPB or it is included in Dark Horse’s Buffy omnibus series in Volume II.
CONTENT: No profanity to speak of. Vampire violence and slaying, as per the usual for Buffy. No explicit sexual content, but during one of the demons’ attacks we see a female junkie sitting in the bathtub. Nothing is explicitly seen, but she’s definitely naked. There’s also a sequence where Angel is naked as a requirement for a spell he’s working. Again, nothing is seen thanks to camera angle and conveniently-falling shadows, but Whistler makes a comment about him appearing “excitable” that I didn’t need. As mentioned before, Buffyverse vampires are demonic, and to boot this particular arc features both actual demons and magic being worked.
*Yes, the final arc. They went back and did a “Year One” thing after the show was cancelled, to buy time to figure out how to move forward. I decided to read the books in chronological order based on the events depicted as opposed to publishing order, which has a few weird effects but mostly I’m happy with.
Buffy is out of the institution and back home, but her parents’ failing marriage has finally imploded for good. Watching from afar, Angel devises a plan to try and alleviate the emotional pain gripping Buffy and her family. Not too surprisingly, it backfires and a series of “malignancy demons” are released. Buffy is then forced to battle physical manifestations of the negative emotions she and her family are dealing with.
Plot-wise, this isn’t the most complex of tales. It is, however, very much like the show in that it uses Buffy’s Slayer status to deal with non-tangible issues metaphorically through slaying. It was well-written, with all of the characters ringing true, and pulled the audience full-circle back to where the show started. The art was also great, and whatever problems Richards had with the first “Year One” issues are long gone by this point. Everyone looks like themselves, with the occasional exception of Buffy’s mom. For some reason he has trouble with her…
As with earlier books, this arc can be found in it’s own dedicated TPB or it is included in Dark Horse’s Buffy omnibus series in Volume II.
CONTENT: No profanity to speak of. Vampire violence and slaying, as per the usual for Buffy. No explicit sexual content, but during one of the demons’ attacks we see a female junkie sitting in the bathtub. Nothing is explicitly seen, but she’s definitely naked. There’s also a sequence where Angel is naked as a requirement for a spell he’s working. Again, nothing is seen thanks to camera angle and conveniently-falling shadows, but Whistler makes a comment about him appearing “excitable” that I didn’t need. As mentioned before, Buffyverse vampires are demonic, and to boot this particular arc features both actual demons and magic being worked.
*Yes, the final arc. They went back and did a “Year One” thing after the show was cancelled, to buy time to figure out how to move forward. I decided to read the books in chronological order based on the events depicted as opposed to publishing order, which has a few weird effects but mostly I’m happy with.
August 24, 2011
I don't know whether I'd have liked this more if it had clearly identified itself as the 7th comic book in the storyline and told me which comics to seek out before starting it so I wouldn't be coming in in the middle of a fully formed plot. All I know for sure is that the malignancy demons that were plaguing Buffy and her family in this part of the story were simultaneously too abstract and too involved for my tastes, so the story fell flat for me.
April 9, 2008
The only thing this book had going for it was the innovative demon designs. The storyline left me flat, and the whole thing seemed like nothing more than a vehicle letting characters who were in no way involved in the story get cameos.
March 16, 2009
Provides backstory for Buffy series. Nothing new, not even that exciting.
April 12, 2011
Oh my.... *gasps* I love those emotion-ghost-thingies. They are so... urgh. Make me shiver. There illustrations are pretty creepy.
August 20, 2015
I really liked seeing this side of the whole parent's are divorced thing. I feel for Buffy more now that I've seen it. I also like that they showed how it effected Joyce and Dawn too.
December 1, 2014
A truly uncomfortable read and surreal approach to the pains of divorce. Exceelent nightmarish visuals to represent the demons of guilt, abandonment, deceit and trepidation.
September 5, 2009
This one was ok. Honestly it was kind of confusing.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews