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Buffy the Vampire Slayer (trade paperbacks) #14
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Note from the Underground
This volume collects Buffy newcomer Scott Lobdell's (X-men, Highroads) debut story arc along side veteran Buffy scribe Fabian Nicieza! Joining established Buffy artist Cliff Richards, Lobdell and Nicieza begin their run by wrapping up four years worth of stories, featuring many returning faces. This story paves the way for a whole new direction for the Buffy comics. Collecting issues #47-50 of the ongoing Buffy the Vampire Slayer series.
104 pages, Paperback
First published March 25, 2003
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About the author
Scott Lobdell
1,627 books232 followersScott Lobdell (born 1960) is an American comic book writer.
He is mostly known for his work throughout the 1990s on Marvel Comics' X-Men-related titles specifically Uncanny X-Men, the main title itself, and the spin-off series that he conceived with artist Chris Bachalo, Generation X. Generation X focused on a number of young mutant students who attempted to become superheroes in their own right at a separate school with the guidance of veteran X-related characters Banshee and Emma Frost. He also had writing stints on Marvel's Fantastic Four, Alpha Flight, and The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix mini-series with artist Gene Ha. He wrote the script to Stan Lee's Mosaic and an upcoming film from POW Entertainment featuring Ringo Starr. He also participated in the Marvel Comics and Image Comics (from Jim Lee's WildStorm) crossover mini-series WildC.A.T.s/X-Men.
He is mostly known for his work throughout the 1990s on Marvel Comics' X-Men-related titles specifically Uncanny X-Men, the main title itself, and the spin-off series that he conceived with artist Chris Bachalo, Generation X. Generation X focused on a number of young mutant students who attempted to become superheroes in their own right at a separate school with the guidance of veteran X-related characters Banshee and Emma Frost. He also had writing stints on Marvel's Fantastic Four, Alpha Flight, and The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix mini-series with artist Gene Ha. He wrote the script to Stan Lee's Mosaic and an upcoming film from POW Entertainment featuring Ringo Starr. He also participated in the Marvel Comics and Image Comics (from Jim Lee's WildStorm) crossover mini-series WildC.A.T.s/X-Men.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 5, 2007
Joss and the gang pull out all the stops for Buffy #50. Buffy, Xander, and Dawn are kidnapped by an underground demon gladiator ring. Xander and Dawn are kept as incentive for Buffy to fight. When the story begins, Buffy has already defeated 26 demons and is facing her 27th. She is in bad shape and must tap into her inner slayer in order to defeat her opponent which awakens a bloodlust. After Cordelia has one of her visions, Angel gets Faith out of jail so that they can go help Buffy. But, it is a surprise visit from Pike, the love interest from the original movie, that really makes this issue memorable. Also, through one of Buffy's vision quests to converse with the past slayers we get a play by play reminder of what has happened in her life over the last year. Buffy realizes that her family and friends are what make her stronger and keep her grounded. She mounts a full scale attack to rescue them and save the day. I loved this story because it had all of the funny dialogue and great characters that Buffy fans love. As I read, I truly felt like I was watching an episode in my head and was rooting for all of the characters. I do wish they had given a little more back story on what Pike had been up to over the last 5 or 6 years, but his characters seemless entrance into Buffy's clan was realistic and exciting. It felt like the movie's storyline was finally coming full circle with the TV show's plot.
December 28, 2024
Three stories, the main one taking place after the sixth season of the TV series.
An underground demon fighting ring has Buffy pushed to exhaustion trying to save Xander and Dawn, who are being held as collateral. However, backup arrives in the form of Angel and Faith, who help to defeat a returning antagonist.
In the backup stories, Buffy remembers the first vampire she killed and faces an infestation of giant rats at the mall.
The backup stories here are short and disposable, although I was interested to see that 'The First Time' by Fabian Nicieza is actually a prose short story with a couple of illustrations, rather than a comic. Andi Watson's 'Mall Rats' on the other hand may as well not be here at all for all that it adds to this book.
The title story, however, is the climax of Dark Horse's initial run of Buffy comics (before they looped back to tell prequel stories) and is intended as a reminder and conclusion of everything that has come before. As such we get returning elements from earlier stories (including the vampire martial arts master San Sui from Buffy #1) and reunions with fan-favourite characters like Angel and Faith. It's all a bit fan-service-y but, despite not actually being much of a fan myself, I found that it actually worked pretty well.
The best element of the story here, however, is Buffy's internal odyssey, wherein she has to rediscover what it means to be the Slayer. And it leads to a great conclusion where she actually uses her brains and compassion to win the day, rather than just killing everything in sight. It shows a maturity and complexity that was often missing in the Buffy comics.
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *
An underground demon fighting ring has Buffy pushed to exhaustion trying to save Xander and Dawn, who are being held as collateral. However, backup arrives in the form of Angel and Faith, who help to defeat a returning antagonist.
In the backup stories, Buffy remembers the first vampire she killed and faces an infestation of giant rats at the mall.
The backup stories here are short and disposable, although I was interested to see that 'The First Time' by Fabian Nicieza is actually a prose short story with a couple of illustrations, rather than a comic. Andi Watson's 'Mall Rats' on the other hand may as well not be here at all for all that it adds to this book.
The title story, however, is the climax of Dark Horse's initial run of Buffy comics (before they looped back to tell prequel stories) and is intended as a reminder and conclusion of everything that has come before. As such we get returning elements from earlier stories (including the vampire martial arts master San Sui from Buffy #1) and reunions with fan-favourite characters like Angel and Faith. It's all a bit fan-service-y but, despite not actually being much of a fan myself, I found that it actually worked pretty well.
The best element of the story here, however, is Buffy's internal odyssey, wherein she has to rediscover what it means to be the Slayer. And it leads to a great conclusion where she actually uses her brains and compassion to win the day, rather than just killing everything in sight. It shows a maturity and complexity that was often missing in the Buffy comics.
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *
December 19, 2023
This saw Buffy battling against some old foes and a gathering of everyone, for no particular reason. Faith's role in this story is wasted and the resolution to the story was too heavily reliant on a dream sequence. It was okay, just a bit of a mess.
May 1, 2009
OMG all these years and Pike returns! Awesome
April 12, 2011
Soul pills? That is like... eww :/
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews