World Famous Comics: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus, Volume 3
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus, Volume 3
By: Various Publisher: Dark Horse Average Rating: Binding: Comic Label: Dark Horse Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 320 Publication Date: February 06, 2008 Reading Level: Young Adult
Product Description: The third volume of Dark Horse's Buffy omnibus series follows the gang through harrowing trials and tribulations - slaying vampires, going to high school, and young love. Angel has lost his soul and found it again, Xander and Cordelia kiss and make up, and Willow and Oz confront his inner beast. With so much romance in the air it seems only natural that we would catch up with Spike and Dru in the short story "Who Made Who." We meet the twisted duo in Brazil following a brutal break-up involving Dru's sire and former love interest, Angelus.
Graphic SF Reader I have seen omnibus one, but not omnibus two. This volume is certainly a lot more like it than the first, with the Sunnydale High School setting, and madcap vampire and demon slaying.
Demon slumber parties, ice elementals in ice-cream type shops, trashy demon freckly redheads, and more of that sort of thing, and plenty of bad puns to be had, too.
Escaped weredoggies, supernatural movie traps, ensorcelled collectables, all the sort of zany things you want to see.
3.5 out of 5
Not As Good. (Read the review; follow the links) I'll start you would-be-buyers off with a little snippet from my review of the first and second BUFFY omnibus volumes. Don't fear, it's as relevant here as it is there:
"Unless you're a completist with oodles and oodles of cash, this is the way to go if you want to collect the older Buffy comics. Before this, they have been collected (for the most part) into smaller trade paperbacks, each of which cost almost as much as this volume. Now, before I get into my review, let me explain the omnibus series, as I've seen a lot of people misunderstanding when talking about it on message boards: This is not the only omnibus. There are to be seven of them all together(...)"
Those of you who enjoyed the first two Buffy omnibus volumes will find this one to be a bit different. While these comics take place chronologically after those from Volume 1 and Volume 2, these are the first Buffy comics that Dark Horse has ever published... and it shows. For the first 3/4 of this volume, the art is pretty bad, to the point where the characters hardly look like their television counterparts at all. Later in the volume, we get a break from Hector Gomez and Joe Bennett's horrible pencils when the far superior Christian Zanier and the popular Cliff Richards come along.
Another difference you'll notice is that while the first two volumes were largely composed of story arcs with the occasional one-shot, this book is dominated by one-shots. Other than one two-part issue, there are no story arcs to be spoken of in this book. Perhaps that's a blessing, because Andi Watson--the author whose work makes up the vast majority of this book--is only tolerable in small doses.
That is the biggest problem with this book. Andi Watson. He doesn't 'get' the character, or the pacing or the humor of the show. He does improve--quite vastly--in the comic The Final Cut but it doesn't excuse his first six comics, most of which give me the distinct feeling that he has never even watched the series. (A more comprehensive review of his comics Wu-Tang Fang, Halloween, Cold Turkey and White Christmas, Happy New Year, and New Kid on the Block can be found at those links).
The omnibus ends with a solid one-shot comic, "The Latest Craze," by Christopher Golden. Golden has a much better understanding of the characters and pacing of the show than Andi Watson, and the few stories he has written in this omnibus--Food Chain Part 1&2, Play With Fire, and The Latest Craze--make this book worth the price. The art in the last few pages is also some of the best the early Buffy comics has to offer. Penciller Christian Zanier, who worked on "Food Chain," captures the essence of Buffy's character splendidly in his art, and he also excels at drawing Willow. He seems to be less talented at drawing males, though. Cliff Richards, whose style you'll recognize from the first two omnibus volumes, is always a pleasure.
By and large, this volume pales in comparison to the first two. While it may disappoint, I recommend that fans of BtVS buy this book. This is the only way to chronologically collect the old Buffy comic series. As this book collects the first Buffy comics ever to be published, it has the distinct feel of a comic series that hasn't found its footing yet. I trust that, by Volume Four, things will have vastly improved.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
