In addition to the main series and miniseries, in the early days of the “Buffy” license, Dark Horse was good for at least one one-shot per year. Here’s a look at three of the early ones (reviews of others are coming in later posts):
By a quirk of timing, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” became linked with the 1999 Columbine school shootings. The WB pushed the airings of “Earshot” (3.18) and “Graduation Day, Part 2” (3.22) into the summer, citing the sensitive subject matter. In reality, neither episode explores school shootings, let alone takes a political stance on them. In […]
In the early years of Dark Horse’s main “Buffy” and “Angel” series, the comic magazine Wizard sponsored two bonus issues – “Buffy” No. ½ (July 1999), titled “Stinger,” and “Buffy/Angel” No. ½ (November 2000), titled “City of Despair.” Because these were “special” issues, they cost more (and I fell for it, naturally), but they can […]
In addition to the main “Buffy” series and its miniseries and one-shots, Dark Horse put out several short tales about the Slayer in its early days with the license. The main outlet for these yarns was “Dark Horse Presents,” a monthly black-and-white comic that served as a way to advertise the company’s titles and get […]
With Alicia Vikander’s “Tomb Raider” relaunch now in theaters, I figured it’s a good time to watch “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” (2001), which I had seen back in the day but didn’t remember a darn thing about, and “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – Cradle of Life” (2003), which I barely knew existed.
Angel’s first “solo” adventure actually came out a few months before his debut as a TV leading man. Although later collected in a trade paperback with the familiar “Angel” logo, the three-issue “Angel: The Hollower” (May-July 1999) debuted under the “Buffy” banner and is set in Season 2, so it’s technically a “Buffy” yarn.
I was never involved in theater in school, but I learned to appreciate it during my years covering arts and entertainment for newspapers (even if my love of music, movies and TV was why I initially sought those jobs). Not to discount the pleasure of seeing a well-performed play or musical, but what I most remember […]
“For the People” (10 p.m. Eastern Tuesdays on ABC) is competent at what it does, but personally, I’m not wired to enjoy what it does: Through a variety of cases each week, this courtroom drama illustrates the frustrating flaws of the American justice system. We get just enough of a window into the process to […]
“Here Be Monsters” (June 2000) is the most padded “Buffy” novel so far, but the meat of Cameron Dokey’s debut effort is pretty decent. Once the 178-pager finally gets to Buffy’s trial – proscribed by the demon Nemesis — where she takes on the monsters in her head, there are some fun references that ask […]
“Life Sentence” (9 p.m. Eastern Wednesdays, CW) is notable for being a rare CW show not based on comic books or the supernatural, and unfortunately it’s also notable for being really bad. You’d think there’d be something special about it if the network is willing to push aside its DC superheroes for a whole hour, […]