She-Geeks discussion

This has been bugging me for awhile, and it occurred to me that this group is bound to have someone with the answers! :) I can't figure out what order to read the Buffyverse graphic novels in. I'm not normally into comics, so I'm not used to these multiple series and spinoffs and what have you!

So far I've read:
*all 7 volumes of the Buffy Omnibus (comics that take place during the show, arranged in chronological order)
*Fray
*Tales of the Vampires
*Tales of the Slayers
*Buffy Season 8, volumes 1 to 6

Now, mostly I'm confused when it comes to Angel. There's Angel: After the Fall, which seems to contain things like Spike: After the Fall and other random Spike stuff. There's also Angel and Faith (warning: that page gave me a bit of a spoiler since I haven't read the end of Buffy season 8), which I gather takes place after Buffy season 8.

And where in all this do I start Buffy season 9? This is all too much for someone used to nice, orderly book series!

(This is not even getting into the various comics that take place during the show; it's quite difficult to figure out which ones are included in the various omnibus editions and which ones have to be bought separately.)

Hello --

Well, everything Omnibus pretty much centers around seasons 3 and 4 if I recall. None of it is considered canon, though. Often times the editors had to actually wait for episodes to be released and then react to them without any real idea about what was going to happen in future episodes.

Still, they're a fun read. And all that changed with Season 8, which is, of course, considered canon since Joss took the helm.

Angel After the Fall takes place where Angel leaves off, same as Buffy season 8 takes place after season 7. There was a bit of a timing discrepancy between the concurrent running Angel AtF and Buffy season 8 because, at the time, two different companies were publishing the titles. But now with everything under one roof (Darkhorse), Buffy Season 9 and Angel & Faith should progress fairly well together, and both continue to be a part of the original series' canon storyline.

As for Fray, since it's a standalone story that takes place in the future (much like Tales of Slayers and Tales of Vampire take place in the past), there's no real need to read them in any specific order. But Fray was the very first Whedon-published Buffy comic book.

Hope that helps! :)

I just read Spike after the Fall, and it works as a supplement to what was going on with Spike in the first (or second?) Angel After the Fall. Worth a read, especially if you're a Spike fan.

Spike Asylum and Spike Shadow Puppets (which is hilarious)can be read any time after Angel After the Fall, volume 4, if you're worried about chronological order.
You sound like you're interested in anything in the Buffyverse, but I'll warn you-Angel After the Fall volumes that don't involve Joss or Brian Lynch are very disappointing. I really liked vols. 1-4 and vol. 6 in the series and felt like the others were a waste of time.

I'm not sure I'm right about the two Spike ones I mentioned. I just finished Spike Asylum (should have read it before Shadow Puppets) and I can't figure out if it's supposed to be in the time frame I originally thought or if it's supposed to be sometime during 5th season Angel. Either way, it didn't seem to matter much, and both were good.

Thanks for the tips!

@Bc: I'm interested in everything Buffyverse, canon or not. The comics collected in the Buffy Omnibus volumes seemed very true to the show to me.

One thing I wasn't sure about was whether Buffy season 8 should be finished before reading Angel: After the Fall. If they were truly like extra seasons of the show, then Buffy season 8 should take place during the last season of Angel, meaning it should be read before Angel: After the Fall. But I don't know if they actually line up that way.

I disagree about the reading order of Fray being unimportant! Not only should it be read before whichever volume of Buffy season 8 has the Fray crossover, but it should really be read before watching Buffy season 7, because that season references Fray.

@Emily: I have the Spike Omnibus, and it contains (among other things) Asylum and Shadow Puppets. I assumed those took place during the show, just because that's the case with all the other Omnibus volumes. But I could be wrong there.

Hi, I'd recommend getting a copy of my book from your local library - they'll order you a copy.The Buffyverse Catalog: A Complete Guide to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel in Print, Film, Television, Comics, Games and Other Media, 1992 You don't need to buy it (it's pretty expensive at $45). But I do have an entire chapter devoted to the comics, to the end of Buffy Season 8. In terms of completeness, I'd say it's definitive ;-)

Lianne (The Towering Pile) wrote: "Thanks for the tips!

@Bc: I'm interested in everything Buffyverse, canon or not. The comics collected in the Buffy Omnibus volumes seemed very true to the show to me.

One thing I wasn't sure abou..."

Okay, I totally missed the Fray reference in season 7. Will have to look into that.

And I meant moreso Fray's placement doesn't matter too much in terms of when it's read during the actual show. But I'd agree that one should read it prior to reading season 8.

Bc wrote: "And I meant moreso Fray's placement doesn't matter too much in terms of when it's read during the actual show. But I'd agree that one should read it prior to reading season 8. "

Ah, I getcha. Well, I've already watched all the seasons anyway, so it's too late for me to read things at the right point in the show. I'm mostly concerned about Buffy seasons 8 and 9, Angel: After the Fall, Angel and Faith, etc. I want to make sure I don't mess those up.

I'm interested in starting Buffy also. Thanks for asking the question and thankyou to those who gave tips on how to read them in order.

I've only just finished season 8 (wish I'd read Fray) and I wanted some advice on where to read Willow Wonderland. I heard about it a while ago and the art was so beautiful that I had to buy the comics, which meant I accidentally ruined the end of season 8 by reading the concept behind the comic. I'm just looking for some advice on if I can read it straight after season 8 or if it falls during season 9 at some point so I should start reading that? Any help from fellow Buffy fans would be great thanks :)

Oh my goodness, I just found the site tradereadingorder.com! There's a Buffyverse reading order here. Unfortunately it's not quite up-to-date, only going up to Buffy Season 8 Volume 7, meaning it doesn't have Buffy Season 9 or Angel and Faith, but it's certainly something!

Here's a grea website for the reading order of the Buffy trades that I found. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_th...

I've only read the 'canon' comics (and the canonicity of some is murky), but here's how I would recommend reading the post-Buffy S7/Angel S5 storylines (although not all take place after the end of the tv series, you really need to read the 'Tales' to enjoy the references to them in other comics later).

First: Fray (needed to appreciate stories in S8 and Tales of the Slayers)

Second: Tales Of The Vampires Tales of the Slayers (some of these stories add to the S8 experience)

Third: Angel After the Fall & Buffy Season 8, they were published concurrently so it's up to you what order you'd prefer to read them in. However, I'd suggest reading After the Fall first, and then Season 8. AtF takes place after the end of Angel S5, and Season 8 takes places about a year after Season 7 (although the timeline is a bit muddy). There's a comprehensive and up to date chronology here (but beware of spoilers!).
For Angel read in this order: Vol 1, Vol 2, Spike AtF, Vol 3, Vol 4, Vol 6 and finish with Spike: The Complete Series that links to Season 8.
For Buffy it's straight forward numbering - Vols 1-8 (if reading in paperback).

Fourth: Angel & Faith/Buffy Season 9/Associated miniseries. Again, these are being published concurrently and, as mentioned, by the same publisher now so there's a wonderful connectivity between titles that there wasn't with AtF/S8.

The first issue of Angel & Faith was published before the first issue of Buffy S9, and the A&F trades come out a few weeks before the Buffy one of the same number. So I'd suggest reading Angel & Faith: Live Through This, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Freefall, Angel & Faith: Daddy Issues, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: On Your Own, then the Spike miniseries (not yet published in tpb, only 4/5 issues released so far), Angel & Faith: Family Reunion, and then would come the Willow: Wonderland miniseries (again, not yet published in tpb because only 2/5 issues released so far). And so on, as the series' complete their runs.

That brings you up to date on the comics as they're being published at the moment. I hope it helped a bit.

I'm not clear on the reading order of all the other Angel titles that were published by IDW that I haven't mentioned, as I didn't read them and wasn't interested in reading them. The numbered volumes will go in numerical order I suppose, but where the other minis fit in, I don't know.