Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 9, Library Edition: Vol. 2

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 9 #3 & Willow: Wonderland

by Andrew Chambliss, Christos Gage, Jeff Parker (Artist)

When Buffy is unemployed and killing fewer vampires than ever, a group of Slayer-driven special forces called Deepscan gives her hope for a more prosperous future. But Buffy can’t resist her slaying instincts in a new world where not all bad things are…bad. The world keeps changing, and the Slayer struggles to keep pace. Meanwhile, Willow embarks on a singular journey to reclaim her identity and her magic in strange worlds where she confronts extraordinary beasts, resists magical temptations, and must discover the gateway home again.

Collects the third volume of Buffy Season 9 and Willow: Wonderland in a deluxe hardcover format with sketchbook extras!

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

288 pages, Hardcover

First published July 7, 2015

About the author

Andrew Chambliss is an American television writer and producer. He is well known for working on series such as Dollhouse, The Vampire Diaries, and Once Upon a Time.

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice edition. It has the Season 9, #3 Buffy Volume in it, plus the Willow: Wonderland in this lovely edition.

Both stories were well done and entertaining and this was a great entry in the Buffy verse. It's a great way to find the Willow stories which is some of the best writing they have done in my humble opinion and she is one of their best characters.

[TJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume contains three VERY different stories, and honestly... they’ve aged pretty well. I remember feeling “meh” about a lot of this volume the first time I read it (issue to issue, month to month), but it reads much better all at once. It’s cool seeing Buffy face Wolfram and Hart, even if Kennedy has to be in a few issues (and she’s far less annoying on page than on screen). Billy’s two-parter is a bit illogical, but it has tons of heart and is so empowering to me as a queer dude who loves Buffy. I wish they’d integrated him into the Scooby Gang in a more cohesive, logical way— or just kept him as a stand-alone story. Instead, we got some forced ending and then he gets nothing to do all season and then gets written out early next season. Ugh! Billy deserved better. And then the Willow miniseries: it probably is an issue too long, but it ended up really working for me in the end. The return of Rack feels a bit repetitive after Warren, but it actually serviced the story and Willow’s arc really well. 4.5/5 stars. I’m enjoying Buffy season 9 way more than I remember, overall!

[S.C. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This comic is still a good continuation of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer story. I didn't like this comic quite as much as previous ones due to the lack of Spike and large Willow witch story. I'm not much of Witch Willow fan. I miss computer nerd Willow.

[Kate M. Colby · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoyed this volume, it is probably my least favorite of the Buffy comics so far. I appreciated seeing how the absence of magic continues to affect the characters. However, I found the Billy the Vampire sidestory uncompelling (unless he becomes a part of the main storyline later). As for Willow's journey, I liked her character growth and the way magic was handled. My only complaint is that, while most of the art was beautifully done, I felt that Willow's image was a weak likeness to Alyson Hannigan. Overall, this volume was enjoyable, but the stories felt like placeholders/transitions, and I'm hoping they lead to better things.

[FrontalNerdaty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume of Buffy is a real mixed bag of quality.
The story with Buffy and Kennedy is good fun, it feels like a plot point the show would’ve ran with. The integration of Wolfram and Heart is neat and seeing Buffy outside of the Scoobies is always fun.
I was never a fan of Billy. I felt his inclusion was hackneyed and lacked the subtlety the show had. I also side eye having a male ‘slayer’ even in essence.
Willow’s adventures fall in to the ‘gay lesbian fantasy wank’ category of fan fiction BUT it mostly saved with some good call backs to the show.

Side note - these library editions that Dark Horse put out are stunning. In the back there are full page ‘trials’ and variants from the likes of Phil Noto and Jenny Frison and they’re beautiful.

3/5

[Gillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's taken me so long to finally get around to reading Willow Wonderland and I loved it! Generally I just love when the comics connect back to moments in the show, really grounding the comics when they verge into the absolutely bonkers. And the Billy the vampire slayer story was very enjoyable as well!

[Beau N. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great installment of the series. The art isn't always as clean as I prefer, but it's perfectly readable.

I love Willow, so I really enjoyed the Wonderland section.

4 out of 5 stars.

[danica j · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 • I debated rating this down to a 2, but it's more of a 2.5 and I bump up.

Guarded gets all 3 stars here, folks. I hated Billy the Vampire Slayer and getting through Willow: Wonderland was torture.

I don't appreciate Billy being labeled a "boy Slayer" because it really takes away from the whole female empowerment theme. Slayers are females. Otherwise Xander would be a "Slayer." Billy and Devon are just randos playing make believe.

The Willow series... I mean the last two pages are all I needed. Was I the only one cheering for Rack when he called Willow out on her being a little selfish crybaby bitch? Just me? Well. Willow has been a little selfish crybaby bitch since season 8, but season 9 (so far) takes her to much more annoying levels. Get. Over. Your. Shit.

The real winner here is Guarded, which explores the career Buffy could have in a magic-free world. If the series were to end now, I would be content with knowing that their organization exists and that Buffy would likely be part of it. Kennedy is whack though.

[D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Buffy comic is back on track in this volume. After a lackluster Volume 1, I found the second Volume of Season 9 to be much more engaging. The storyline continues to build off of the changes made at the end of Season 8, and our beloved "Scoobies" lives continue to change. A few new folks are added to the cast, which infuses some nice changes to the status quo. The second half of the book concentrates on Willow, as she seeks to undo some of the damage done to magic in the world.

Good stuff!

[Adrian · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was intially a bit annoyed about this volume for the lack of ongoing Season 9 material and the number of spin-offs - it's a shame each character seems to need their own spin-off when it's the group dynamics I find the most fun. But then the Billy the Vampire Slayer bit was a story worth telling. The lengthy Willow spin-off was a bit 'Season 8 fantastical' for me, but hopefully will become relevant to the rest of the story. Roll on the final volume.

[b · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buffy and Willow both get to fight terrifying tentacle monsters and there’s a queer dude slayer (I’ve wondered if JW would eventually write a trans slayer because magic definitely doesn’t believe in gender, so I guess we’ll wait and see (maybe it’s already a thing and I haven’t read far enough ahead)). Lots of good weird fun stuff happening in this volume. Really enjoying s9.

[Schuyler Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommended!!!

I really liked Willow Wonderland and think it's awesome that she went on her own little quest to restore magic to the world. I was surprised by the ending. My only complaint is the artwork, since there were some panels where the characters didn't look anything like the actors who played them in the show.

[pianogal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked Willow's story line. But the farther we go from the TV show, the more I feel left. I don't think I've followed all the story lines as well as I could and now I feel like I'm missing something.
Sigh.

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the slayer bodyguard service Kennedy came up with. A clever idea with the slayers in a magic-less world. I did have a problem with Willow's story in wonderland. I found it really confusing and hard to follow. Pretty good overall.
Ps. I miss Spike

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5
I don’t know what took me so long to pick up this volume because I missed those characters so much! Sad we didn’t get any Spike on this one, and also a bit disappointed at how Willow was drawn, but I really liked her character development in this one!

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some dramatic twists and turns (so common in the Whedonverse) keep the story moving at a fast pace.

[Scott Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it, but I am a huge fan of all things Buffy!

[Ronja (queer-is-the-universe) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Real power isn't something you steal. It's something you earn. And once you do ... it comes to you from everywhere.

[Ted Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

The build-up is getting interesting. Excited to see where the story goes from here.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I already read the Willow Wonderland story and gave it five stars. There were really only like four Buffy issues in this, but they were pretty great.

[Zachariah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Willow kicks ass. Always.

[ocean_of_paper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Questi fumetti sono divertenti e bellissimi!!

[Sonya Huser · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lot of reviewers didn't like Vol 1 of Season 9, but I loved it. I loved that Buffy was dealing with real-life things like a potential unplanned pregnancy. I was so excited about volume 2, only to be disappointed as Buffy was barely in volume 2. It starts with her working for Kennedy, who is employing former slayers as bodyguards for the rich and powerful. Buffy's fairly terrible at it, as she tends to demonize, well, demons and forgets that some threats have nothing to do with the supernatural. However, remember back when she started college and hated her roomate? Everyone criticized her for always looking for the bad. But it turned out she was right and her roomate really was a baddie!? And same here. The social media guru she is hired to protect is being threatened from another dimension.
But then Buffy only makes an appearance on one other page. The rest is a two part story about a slayer boy named Billy and the guy he has a crush on, who takes on the role of his watcher. And then a five part story about Willow off in other dimensions restoring magic. Willow has been frustrating lately as she mourns the loss of magic. At least she comes to realize some things about magic and herself, but I can't help wishing the story would have been stuck somewhere else.

[Taha · Rating 5 out of 5]

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, we've got the second library edition to go through for Season 9...

Looks like I already double dipped since this collection contains 'Willow: Wonderland' too. Oh well
We've got Buffy still coming to grips with being a Slayer in name only. No magic in the world and no superpowers to call her own. Buffy takes a job as a Human Shield/Security through Kennedy (yea, Willow's ex). We also find out that Wolfram and Hart is trying to claw their way back to the Earth dimension with a demonically encoded Facebook clone.

...there's also the underwhelming sidestory of 'Billy the Vampire Slayer'

The Willow story is probably the best piece of this collection

[Highland G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing really happens here we have a random gay power Male Slayer story that really had no relevance at all. The Willow are was the most relevant stuff in this book but it feels like it’s much more of an Angel and Faith arc than a Buffy one. The buffy story just kinda ended abruptly a few issues into this book so no idea what’s really going on there.

[Randy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This arc has been the slowest of the Buffy cannon comics. Will the Billy the Slayer story was fun and enjoyable, it's weighed down by Willow in Wonderland. That being said, the further queer representation in the Buffy-verse is always great.

[emiloubooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

So glad i'm getting back into this series, I've missed it!
As always the artwork is beyond stunning. Plot bit slow in this one but still very good overall!

[Joey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty lame. Pretty disappointed. :(