‘Buffy’ flashback: ‘Carnival of Souls’ (2006) (Book review)
Nancy Holder’s status as an elite Buffyverse author was already secured, but disappointingly – especially considering she’s coming off the outstanding “Queen of the Slayers” (2005) — she wraps up her run with the forgettable “Carnival of Souls” (April 2006). This Season 2-set novel calls to mind John Vornholt’s “Coyote Moon” (1998), which has some
‘Buffy’ flashback: ‘Afterimage’ (2006) (Book review)
In the early days of the “Buffy” books, the series released just a handful of Season 1-2 novels before staking out Season 3 as its primary storytelling ground. With the book series still popular enough to stay afloat after the end of the TV series, and with rumblings of Joss Whedon continuing the narrative someday
‘Buffy’ flashback: ‘Spark and Burn’ (2005) (Book review)
In the early days of the “Buffy” novels, we got the points of view of supporting characters – as well as a chance to revisit episodes prior to syndication and home video – in series such as “The Angel Chronicles,” “The Xander Years” and “The Willow Files.” Diana G. Gallagher’s “Spark and Burn” (July 2005)
‘Buffy’ flashback: ‘Queen of the Slayers’ (2005) (Book review)
Nancy Holder gives extra care and attention to “Queen of the Slayers” (May 2005), writing it as if it’s the canonical followup to “Buffy” Season 7, taking place simultaneously with “Angel” Season 5. A lot of what she writes would later be contradicted (and a lot of it repurposed/borrowed) for Joss Whedon’s canonical “Buffy” Season
‘Angel’ flashback: ‘Love and Death’ (2004) (Book review)
Jeff Mariotte probably didn’t know “Love and Death” (October 2004) would be the last “Angel” novel when he wrote it, but it plays pretty well since it has that status. By Season 4, when this book is set, the likelihood that the general public doesn’t know about vampires and demons was starting to be stretched
‘Buffy’ flashback: ‘Season 12: The Reckoning’ (2018) (Comic book review)
“Buffy” Season 12 should ideally be longer than four issues, and I’m guessing it would’ve been 12 issues if the timing had worked out better. But Fox brought the “Buffy” license back in-house – ending Dark Horse’s 21-year run with the title and canceling this 11-year canonical continuation of the TV series – so Joss
‘Buffy’ flashback: ‘Giles: Girl Blue’ (2018) (Comic book review)
During the time of “Buffy” Season 11, Giles is off at high school in Los Angeles in the clunky four-issue series “Girl Blue” (February-May 2018). It’s credited to Joss Whedon and Erika Alexander (also an actress, who has a role in “Get Out”), but since I get no sense whatsoever that this is a Whedon
‘Angel’ flashback: ‘Book of the Dead’ (2004) (Book review)
As she did with “Buffy: These Our Actors” (2002), co-written with Dori Koogler, Ashely McConnell writes an “Angel” novel – “Book of the Dead” (July 2004) — that makes me wish she wrote more than two Buffyverse books. Unlike most of the tie-in authors, McConnell isn’t shy about building on the established mythology. “These Our
‘Angel’ flashback: Season 11 (2017) (Comic book review)
Dark Horse’s “Angel” comic series ends its run with a surprising but appealing smaller scale. With the “Buffy” characters facing a major threat in their Season 11, Angel would have to be seriously sidetracked to not help out, and new writer Corinna Bechko (“Star Wars: Legacy Volume II”) finds a perfect way to occupy him:
‘Buffy’ flashback: Season 11 (2016-17) (Comic book review)
Just as “The X-Files” returned for shorter TV seasons in recent years, the “Buffy” comics take a crack at the miniseries format in Season 11, which is only 12 issues long, compared to at least 25 in the previous three seasons. On one hand, important side stories are missing within the overall arc of the