Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 9 Volume 5: The Core (Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Dark Horse))

Overall I didn't enjoy this series as much as the last one, but having reached the end I'm quite happy. It all sort of made sense and the relationships are well drawn. I'm re watching the tv series currently and this fits in well. There can never be enough Buffy, so it's great to feel that it has still got places to go as an epic story. I'm looking forward to season ten. Previously I bought season eight on hardcover library edition books which I loved but I don't have enough room to store them hence I bought the kindle version this time round. I'm not dissatisfied, because there are pros and cons, but if you have the space I reckon the real books are a lot more fun to read and hold. Ah well.

The story running through Dark Horse Comics' Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 issues #21-25 is collected, along with a three-part story from Dark Horse Presents that runs in parallel with them, as  Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 9 Volume 5: The Core (Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Dark Horse)) .This is my first Buffy comic book, and I was very impressed by the quality of the story, scripting and artwork. I have not seen any Buffy comics before - though I am a great reader of `graphic novels', as my local library calls them - and I have not watched any TV episodes since the finale of Angel back whenever. Basically, the characters looked like their TV counterparts - which many film and TV tie-ins fail to achieve; they spoke like their counterparts; and they behaved like their counterparts. Therefore, they WERE their TV counterparts come back to life to me; the only difference being that there seemed to be more logic to the way magic and mysticism worked in the comic-book world than I remember from the TV series - but they have had a long time to work it out properly. I am off to the library for more.THE SPOILER ZONEAnyway, this also happened to be the season finale, and the team has to fight its way into a vault - the Core - where the Council of Watchers keeps the remaining sources of magic power, and which doubles as the prison for ancient evil creatures imprisoned since the dawn of time. There are two entrances to the Core, and the baddies, who also want to get in, have planted a traitor in the ranks of the goodies, so, while the goodies have to fight their way in through one entrance they sneak in round the back. What happens down there is all in keeping with the spirit of the original TV series, though it would be advantageous to have read the previous issues to fully understand the motivations of the various characters. However, most people get what they deserve, while some get more than they deserve... which didn't always happen on the TV show. Maybe Mr Whedon has mellowed over the years, or he was too busy with the Avengers.