Buffy: The High School Years - Freaks & Geeks

Buffy: The High School Years #1

by Faith Erin Hicks, Yishan Li (Artist)

Moving to a new school and making new friends will create enough anxiety for any teenage girl. But when you're Buffy Summers, a vampire slayer--the Chosen One (with all that entails)--building a new life can be overwhelming. A group of nerdy vampires, shunned by their cooler brethren, decide to climb the vampire social ladder by taking out the Slayer. They play on Buffy's insecurities, wearing her down until she is full-on distracted by the mental warfare. But in addition to her Watcher, Giles, this Slayer has a couple of new friends, Willow and Xander, to cheer her on . . . except, of course, when they're not getting along.

Award-winning author Faith Erin Hicks (The Adventures of Superhero Girl) brings the angst, the action, and the cool to Buffy the Vampire Slayer!

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

80 pages, Paperback

First published June 14, 2016

About the author

Born in the wilds of British Columbia, the young Faith frolicked among the Sasquatch native to the province before moving to Ontario at age five. There she was homeschooled with her three brothers, and developed an unnatural passion for galloping around on horseback, though never without a proper helmet (because you only get one skull). After twenty years of suffering through Ontario’s obscenely hot summers, she migrated east, and now lives beside the other ocean in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She worked in animation for a bit, and now draws comics full time. She’s not sure how that happened either.

Reviews

[Alejandro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fitting is murderous!


This is the first book of three, part of “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer – The High School Years”, featuring new stories set at the very early arrival of Buffy to Sunnydale. Most likely before the TV episode “The Pack”, even I guess that they’re set even before of “Teacher’s Pet”. Published in prestige format and in a special reduced size. Each story is stand-alone, therefore each book (of three) can be read in any order.


Creative Team:

Writer: Faith Erin Hicks

Illustrator: Yishan Li

Cover artist: Scott Fischer


FREAKS & GEEKS

This first book is easily the best of the three, since it features the best story, also the most original one, since the other two reminds you of ideas used on certain TV episodes.

The good ol’ high school years!

This kinda of miniseries, featuring three separate stories, not only set in Buffy’s High School Years, BUT set back when Buffy was just beginning her Slayer duties in Sunnydale…

…The Slayer is still only one in the world, Cordelia is still antagonist to the “Scooby Gang”, Willow is just a computer hacker, Buffy doesn’t know that Angel is a vampire (with soul), and even Flutie is still principal of Sunnydale High School.

HERE…

…Buffy is still consolidating her bonds with Willow and Xander, and she’s getting used to her dramatic change of school role from popular queen to social renegade due being chosen to The Slayer and passing her nights at the cemetery killing vampires.

Meet: Hester, former high schooler, now undead one.

She is a vampire newbie and she thought that now that she was a vampire, she would become popular in the paranormal underworld, but you can bet that not matter if you’re a creature of the night, if you’re new to any social group (even a supernatural one) you have to start at the bottom of the social scale…

…unless of course if she can kill The Slayer!

Yeah, right, as if that would happen, helloooo!

However, Hester is too obssessed to become popular that she is convinced that along with her vamp minions (formerly teenage friends), she can turn into an overnight sensation and of course, certain access to demon summoning stuff can help in her goal.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reboot of the Buffy tv series situated in the high school, maybe for tween/middle/high school audience. Not part of the elaborate continuation "seasons" of the show, but imagines we are in the world of Buffy and friends and Giles within the first season of the tv show, when it was particularly fun. I read this because this is a Buffy house, and also because I am a fan of Faith Erin Hicks, so the writing was solid, fun. The story focuses on a typical story of that time: A teen vampire club takes on Buffy because they want to be cool. Fun introduction to the series, or fun companion to the tv show. I didn't like the art nearly as much as Hicks's art. It's a small book, which I like, to be read in one sitting.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I dunno, a lot of people are ragging on this one for being simple and not as good as the Season 9 and 10 comics and "the arts is too manga", which I guess is a matter of taste, but the whole point of this "High School Years" concept is to bring the storyline back to that Season 1 period where it was 1997 and the X-Files was still on TV, and Buffy was all about being a jank-ass, episodic show where the monster-of-the-week was a thinly-veiled allegory for the adolescent experience. I think it hit the nail on the head with that one.

The voices were authentic, and if the art was a bit manga, that's a stylistic choice. I rather liked it, especially Willow's giant saucer eyes and Xander's being thin again. The plot itself was dumb as hell, but it fit what it was trying to do and explored an aspect of the trio's relationship that was never really touched on when it would have been appropriate. (I saw a comparison to the season 4 episode "The Freshman" but that's... so not the same that I'm not even sure how to respond to it.)

Someone said "Where's Spike?" It's Season 1. Spike is busy not being invented yet. Technically, he is in Prague. I know this because I am a loser.

[Michelle Morrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I little snippet of life, way back from Buffy S1. Quite a melancholy read, actually, knowing all that is to come for these fresh-faced kids, not quite yet aware that the world is on their shoulders and tragedy will be their spice of life.

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slight. If you've seen the show and imagine the characters' voices it reads okay, otherwise it is pretty flat. The art isn't ugly but doesn't have much expression. Certainly not Hicks' best work.

[Allison · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was 100% terrible. The worst Buffy comic ever written and drawn. The art was awful and the storyline was silly. I hated it.

[Elizabeth (Miss Eliza) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was mildly excited to see that we were to get new Buffy stories set during high school, because all previous comic attempts at this time period had failed miserably in the art and storytelling departments. Sadly this reboot is just the same. Bad, just horrid, manga art of the characters, and why do the vampires all look like little old ladies? Totally unoriginal story, any good lines are lifted straight from the show. Oh, and the whole plot... it was basically the season four opener, "The Freshman" but not as good. I don't see this appealing to any die hard Buffy fans. Maybe the dilettantes... but in my mind setting the comics during season one, by far the worst season, was an irreparable mistake that can't be fixed by any nostalgia or "Freaks and Geeks" comparisons.

[Meghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

For what this is, it's wonderful!!

Longer review to come soon! :)

[Fran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Firstly, if you don't remember Buffy plot details with the clarity that I seem to, and you somehow managed to miss the start-of-book text telling you so, this book is set during Season 1 and somewhat early on at that. As this is planned to be a series, I guess the stories will gradually progress through the time period of the first three seasons.

The writing is what gives this book four stars. I'm not such a fan of the artwork; the manga style isn't my favourite style, but it's by no means bad artwork. I've seen my fair share of comics with truly awful art and this isn't one of them. The awful compression on the digital copy I was granted access to on Edelweiss didn't help matters and the published article may well look much nicer. At times, the art was great. Certain panels, and the dream sequence, in particular, were great. At other times it didn't quite feel right to me, e.g. the vamp faces just ended up looking like corpse faces which, while they technically are, I feel they should still portray somewhat of an eternal-youth quality about their demon faces. But, small niggles.

It's a short volume, perhaps designed to be targeted to a younger audience than the ongoing continuation of the show 'seasons' are, and so it suffers a little in its simplicity, but it does also have outstanding dialogue which bumped my review up from three to four stars. My favourite part:


If you're a fan of Buffy, the tv show, and have never read any Buffy comics then this is a good one to pick up as a starter. If you're a Buffy fan and you already read Buffy comics then, well, you don't really need me to convince you, do you? ;)

[Susan Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the things I really like about early Buffy is how often the plot is based around friendship and teen drama even while having supernatural end of the world type stuff as a background. So I jumped at the chance to go back in time the book is written in a YA style which is well done and not overly simplistic. It completely fits with the book and is an easy quick read but it’s very different from what the Season 8 Buffy books I’ve been re-reading lately.

The art is in a manga style (Yishan Li is a Manhua creator), which took a few pages of getting used to as it’s different from other Buffy comics I’ve read. But once I was in I realised how perfectly it fits the tone of the book and how brilliantly expressive the characters are.

A small thing: its a bit weird to go back to when Willow had a crush on Xander mainly because she deserves better than Xander, everyone desrves better than Xander. Hold on Willow, Tara is coming and she’ll be amazing.

So if you grew up reading the Buffy comics or don’t mind reading YA comics and enjoy the early High School Era of Buffy chocked full of teen feelings I’d say give this series a go.

[Andhisnosestuckinabook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this Buffy story start to finish! Love the topic of friendship and the values & sacrifices we make for it.

[Victoria Hawco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anime style Buffy is very fun.

[Michaela Vysloužilová · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bolo to vtipné a rozkošné a veľmi Buffy. Všetky dialógy sa mi v hlave prehrávali hlasmi hercov a to dodalo môjmu čítaniu akýsi zvláštny (podivínsky) ďalší rozmer. Grafika je iná ako pri tých hlavných omnibusoch, pripomína skôr mangu, ale tá zmena mi nijako výrazne neprekážala (len Willow vyzerala na každom obrázku, ako keby mala slzy na krajíčku a to sa mi úplne nepáčilo). Príbeh bol extrémne jednoduchý (to sa od párstránkového komiksu dalo čakať), ale až tesne do konca som bola pripravená dať tomu štyri hviezdičky. Lenže to vyvrcholenie bolo... Ja ani neviem, ako to nazvať. Odveci? Nečakala som úplne epické rozuzlenie, ale ako, dofrasa, vedeli, že ich bude Buffy potrebovať, že tam prišli všetci traja a ešte k tomu mali po ruke tú správu zbraň? Deus ex machina much? Pointu toho všetkého som pochopila - Buffy sa bála, že stratí priateľov a oni ju na konci prišli zachrániť. Ale toto bolo moc.... meh.

[Anna Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very quick read, I gulped it down in one sitting! I miss the Buffyverse of yesteryear and am NOT a fan of the comic continuations. Actually, some of the very first comics I ever read as a teen were stories of Buffy while still a student at Sunnydale High! :) I liked the artwork for the most part (even if Buffy's nose looked a little weird), the story was simple -but sweet- and it makes sense for Buffy to be feeling insecure, as I'd gage this story as set in Season 1 some time during the first five episodes. She's still finding her footing as the Slayer and the new girl in town, sans popularity. Overall, I enjoyed it a great deal and I'm excited for another installment.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty mediocre. The usual vampire shenanigans, but as a background point more than anything for a story about Buffy becoming insecure about her friendship with Willow and Xander. Not up to the level of the other Buffy comics I've read - this seems like it should be marketed more to younger readers.

Decent illustrations.

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was really great getting back to high school Buffy and friends. I was thought the high school years were the best and I'm glad the comics of gone back there.

[Matthew Lloyd · Rating 2 out of 5]

The theory behind this series of comic books is solid. Of all the seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that could be fleshed out by additional stories, season one is the best; the basis for this story in particular - a group of nerdy vampires highlight how Buffy's old life as a popular girl in LA conflicts with her new life as an outcast in Sunnydale - fits with the high school fears manifest as monsters theme of early Buffy. The error, then, lies in the execution. Pages and pages of this story are spent establishing things that anyone who has watched the show will know about Buffy, her friends, and their high-school social position; far less time is spent on the characters of the vampire nerds and Buffy's 'bullying' of them. More of a problem is that the characters don't really sound like the quick-witted heroes of the television show which, coupled with art that doesn't really look like the characters either, means that this doesn't really feel like Buffy at all. It is worth noting, though, that I have found that Buffy comics written by Joss Whedon himself don't quite feel like Buffy either, and reading them helped me appreciate how much Sarah Michelle Gellar brought to that role. I did laugh a couple of times, so there is that.

Tonally, it feels like this volume is targeted at a young audience - perhaps even younger than I was when I started watching the television show (it was 1999 and I was thirteen). Much like the X-Files Origins novels I just read, I find it strange to target related works from twenty-year-old television shows at children this young (unless they're supposed to be at the children of the now-adult fans of the show?). I stumbled on the book in my library, in the comic book section next to adult literature, not in the children's section, so I guess they were confused, too. Certainly, it doesn't feel clever enough to slide alongside the episodes of the first season of the television show as another 'episode' targeted at a teenage audience. If it is meant to act in much the same way as the animated series, I would say that it's biggest failure is the absence of Dawn. I'd take even a half-hearted attempt at an early season flashback if it incorporated the changes that the Order of Dagon made to Buffy's past (an attempt that has been made, and could be developed further).

One more word on the art: it is generally good, but the characters don't look all that much like the actors who played them on television. This dissimilarity is only a problem because the characters don't sound like Buffy characters, either.

Overall, this short thing I didn't know existed until this morning was a bit of a disappointment.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, kind of slight, little story. Good friendship moments, and the dialogue was p Buffy-y. The art style is fine, but I do wish the characters looked a biiit more like themselves (especially Willow and Cordelia). Kind of just makes me want to rewatch Buffy, though? Also, for the record, Xander is *not* the best.

[Phoebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was delightful! It reads like a real early episode of the show in all its campy charm, warmth, and wit.

The fandom is often divided into people who prefer the lighter earlier seasons, and people who prefer the darker later seasons. This is a loving tribute to the former. It's not going to be for everyone, but if it is for you, it'll go down a treat.

[Jenn Estepp · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's nice to be back in the Buffy-verse, during the early years. The story is fine, but it's all very slight.

[Amanda Mehaffey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man these are a blast from the past! Definitely feeds my Buffy addiction. I also love the artwork in these. It feels more like a manga than the traditional graphic novel style.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic Buffy 1st season episode comic, good for a rainy Friday after work with a cup of tea.

[Jennifer Abella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute but much too short

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

There are probably two points that make or break a graphic novel based up a TV series/movie: is it true to the canon and does it positively add to it? Unfortunately, Buffy: The High School Years missed the mark on both counts: the characters and story are flat and missing the trademark B:TVS zing. Manga-style artwork, complete with sanpaku-eyes, further deviates and alienates from what fans expect and desire from a franchise spin-off.

Story: Season 1 high schooler Buffy feels that she always has her friends at her back - even if they are much quirkier and less 'cool' than before she became the slayer. But when a group of gamer geek 'outcast' vampires decide to take Buffy out in order to be considered 'cool', they will cause her to reevaluate her own friendships and what they really feel about her.

Right off the bat, the story felt lack a shallow homage to the Trio storyline of seasons 6, 7, 8 (with nerds Warren, Andrew, and Jonathan). I found it to be an odd choice for a plot since it was already done so well on TV - nerdy group taking on the slayer for misguided reasons, humor ensues. Where Whedon milked it for all it was worth, here it falls flat - losing the quirky reverence of the gamer geek/nerd atmosphere and instead once again making that group look like cavemen. There's a difference between asocial and stupid - something the author misses completely. So yes, we have all the cliches and none of the pay off.

The plot itself was so pat as to be a five year old's fairy tale: appreciate your friends or lose them. Buffy appreciates hers and they live - the nerdy group leader doesn't appreciate hers and they get dusted (I really don't consider that to be a spoiler). What B:TVS brought to the table was a lot of depth and sly humor. Not so much here - this is the TV series with a lobotomy.

As noted above, the artwork is somewhat jarring. That isn't to say it isn't well done - but it's very simplistic. Pastels and sweetness missing only cute birdies flying around, stars in glowing eyes, and flowers falling from the sky. I can't help but feel it just didn't fit in with the edginess of a Buffy story. If was a weird cross between My Little Pony and Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Not to mention, the cover art looking NOTHING like the inside art (which is really misleading).

In all, it was a very 'fast and forget it' type of read. It didn't really add to the Buffyverse and I don't know that it really stands on its own (unless read by the My Little Pony age reader for whom the moral won't be so pat and the artwork endearing). Fans may find themselves disappointed, especially when there are so many really good graphic novels featuring Buffy and Angel characters already. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Negatives: This was *extremely* short (I think it took me about 15 minutes to read), which is a downer. Plus it is a throwaway story - doesn't really have any continuation it seems going into volume two, and doesn't have any super-interesting big bads or characters outside of the immediate Scooby bunch.

Positives: This was very true to the original, the Season One TV show, which was the whole point. These are supposed to be "extra" stories from Buffy's first year(s) at Sunnyville High School. I kept going back and forth as to whether I liked the art; I loved the art at first (slightly anime feel), but then I changed my mind because it seemed like many of the characters looked *a lot* alike - maybe a different art style would have been better in order to make the faces not look all the same? I'm counting the art as a positive anyway because of the colors and background, if for nothing else!

Really, this should get a three-star but. . . . BUFFY! <3

[Magdalena · Rating 2 out of 5]

Many, many years ago did I start to watch a TV series called Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I got hooked and enjoyed watching it, well until Angel got his own TV series and then the TV series got less interesting to watch. I mean Riley...Ugh! Then, it got a bit better and S5 was rally god. Personally, I felt it could have ended there, it would have been a great ending, but no it goes on a couple of seasons more and I'm not even sure I watched the whole last season.

Anyway, what I want to say that I really really liked the show once upon a time and I knew I wanted to read this volume when I saw it on Edelweiss. Unfortunately, this reminds me of when I tried to watch S1 a while back and realized that I found it bit boring. Some series just doesn't work so well when you're older.

The story is quite simple, it's about friendship. We have a bunch of vampires that tries to be cool and decides to take on the Slayer, and they manage to get Buffy insecure about her friendship with Xander and Willow. And, that they think will bring her down.

The art is not really my cup of tea. It's a bit too pastel and bright and almost a bit manga over it. Sometimes the characters almost looked like the actors playing the roles, but most they looked like a nice try to get them to look like the actors, but not really getting the faces right.

So not my favorite graphic novel!


I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!

[Paula Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buffy Summers has just moved to Sunnyvale and learning how to be a Slayer after she discovered that she was new generation Vampire Slayer. Giles teaches her and supported by her two best friends Willow and Xander. In Freaks and Geeks, we are also introduced to Cordelia who is the school's Queen B. She is the type of person that Buffy would have been friends with in her old school, a life before she discovered that she was the chosen one - Slayer. In Freaks and Geeks, we watch as Buffy trains in the cemetery killing Zombies and Vampires. On the other side of town, there are new Vampires that used to be geeks and they want to be cool. Their mission is to kill the Slayer, and so it begins. Hitting Buffy where it hurts with her new friends, can she get taken down a notch or will Buffy realise that it's mind games and that it doesn't matter what your race is there will always be the Popular Ones and the Freaks and Geeks? As this was a graphic novel, it was a quick read and perfect for fans of the 90's and early 2000's TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

[Gretchen Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a couple of good zingers, but the themes of the story (friendship! coolness!) are a too on-the-nose for Buffy. Maybe that's the point of this series? Buffy-lite? I'm honestly not sure. The artwork leans more towards manga than traditional comic book style, but the colors and character expressions are all spot on. It's probably not going to fill the Buffy-shaped hole in your heart. I would totally hand it to teen readers who aren't familiar with the Scooby Gang and hopes it sparks their interest, though.

[Edward Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't mind the Japanese style of artwork in this Buffy comic, and the old-school story was fun enough, though in spite of being 80 pages long this took me about the same amount of time to read as a Buffy Season 8 or 10 story which is a quarter of the size.

[Variaciones Enrojo]

Futuro cómic de Buffy que transcurrirá entre los primeros capítulos de la primera temporada.