Where's the Buffy?

It's a little weird to notice that there aren't any Buffy The Vampire Slayer comics coming out anymore. They have been more or less in continuous publication for a quarter of a century, before slowly fading away and stopping altogether earlier this year, and nobody seems to be in any hurry to bring Buffy and the gang back again.

Probably because nobody really talks about Buffy at all very much these days. The whole thing has been overshadowed by the awful personal behaviour of the creator and principle creative force, and all the things the TV show did that were so innovative and new at the time have been endlessly rehashed by lesser programmes.

I certainly have fond memories of many parts of the TV show - it could surprise, or move in unexpected ways; and sometimes it just had some terrific fights between extremely good-looking people.

And I've read a hell of a lot of the Buffy comics that started coming out while it was still on the air, and that have continued to be published in the many years since the final episode was broadcast. Some of them had lovely art, and a few of them had stories that were fun and entertaining, but they have mostly been fairly mediocre. 

There have been several attempts at revitalizing the Buffy comics, often bringing in creators from the show and going in grand directions, but they almost all petered out. There was even a full reboot a few years ago, for one last bite at that plump artery, but that new well also soon ran dry. 

So there have been a lot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics, and there was something oddly comforting about the way they kept it going, regardless of results. It's like when I see Tom Sniegoski still writing Vampirella comics - it's not my thing but it's something that is nice to know is still quietly ticking along out there.

Everything ends eventually, and even wildly popular TV shows pass into history, and while I have little doubt that somebody, somewhere will pick up the Buffy concept and run off to do comic books with it, it's still slightly disconcerting to see it currently so quiet on the slayer front.