Well, this is only for one comic shop, but according to Brian Hibbs of San Francisco’s Comix Experience, Buffy the Vampire Slayer was his top-selling book of 2008.
To me, this says a lot. Buffy, of course, was a cult-favorite series with a ready-made obsessive fanbase, and Joss Whedon was One Of Us (a comic lover). What could be more natural than Buffy comics, right?
Buffy‘s also the type of heroine that us women comics-readers dream of seeing more often. She’s smart, sassy, screwed-up, but in control. We love her because she kicks ass, of course, but also because she makes mistakes, dates the wrong boys, loses her confidence, gets overconfident…you get my drift.
I’d love to see the breakdown, if it were possible, of the buyers of Buffy comics. How many are Buffy fans who just buy the comics because they’re still in mourning for the end of the series? And how many of those buyers slowly start looking around for other comics, and suddenly find themselves hooked?
On the other hand, how many Buffy buyers rolled their eyes at first at the idea of a Buffy comic, but came around because they liked Whedon’s other work, or because Brian K. Vaughan was writing it?
Either way, the fact that Buffy was a top seller proves that there’s a market for good female characters, and a market to bring non-comics fans into the comic shop.
Now, can I get those Twilight comics? I want Jasper backstory written by Garth Ennis and drawn by Steve Dillon, and Alice backstory written by Alisa Kwitney and drawn by Ryan Kelly…
January 7th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
I don’t even like Twilight, and I want Alice’s backstory, dammit. Although I’d want Holly Black and Jill Thompson to do it.
January 8th, 2009 at 7:11 am
Hopefully Buffy’s success will pave the way for more books like Amber Atoms.
January 8th, 2009 at 9:38 am
I was a Buffy fan, so I picked up the comics, and I’m enjoying them. I was consistently buying each issue as it came out for a while, but mid-2008 I missed a couple issues and couldn’t catch up. So now I’m just buying all the trade paperbacks. They’re so much better than the ones that came out DURING the series, which I’m reading the Omnibus Volumes. Maybe because Season 8 doesn’t take Dawn too seriously like the series did.
I’m buying Angel:After the Fall in its hardcover form, too. Any mention of that and how the various Angel franchises are doing?
January 8th, 2009 at 10:08 am
I’m a fan of both the Buffy and Angel series, and I picked up Season 8 and After the Fall when they came out in the volume sets. I can now say that I am hooked! The reason I bought them was b/c they were canon, and I’m hesitant to buy something that’s not canon, since it usually is overglorified fanfiction. This is not the case with S8 and AtF, since Joss was involved in both, and it shows. On the other hand, I did learn that writers who are not from the televised Buffyverse can add great things to the series.
I second Courtney’s question. How is After the Fall doing? I prefer it to Season 8!
PS Hate Twilight!
January 8th, 2009 at 10:29 am
“On the other hand, how many Buffy buyers rolled their eyes at first at the idea of a Buffy comic, but came around because they liked Whedon’s other work, or because Brian K. Vaughan was writing it?”
As soon as I heard Whedon was writing it, I was psyched. I’ve never bought any of the earlier Buffy comics, and have no interest to. (FRAY I just haven’t gotten around to purchasing.)
January 8th, 2009 at 11:18 am
I started reading the comics having been a fan of the TV show. Having said that, I never bought any of the Buffy comics not written by Whedon (there has been over 60 I think from recent years, during the time when Buffy was at its peak). Thus, I think it’s fair to say that the fact that it is overseen personally by Joss Whedon has been the key to the success of Buffy Season 8.
I don’t think many rolled their eyes at the Buffy comic idea, as it had been proven to work with Fray, Tales of the Slayers, etc. I think it worked because there was a story left to tell with regards to all the new Slayers. If the show had ended seamlessly, a continuation wouldn’t have worked. Everything down to the wonderful Jo Chen artwork has made the comic book run a hit because it all fits so well.
January 8th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
I was a BTVS fan, and I’m realy admire Mr. whedon (the Joss one) work – its not that I don’t like the others… its just I don’t know their work enough. I like how he writes things and how he sees what he writes and tells his stories. But I wasn’t sure about the comic until I first read the Astoshing X-men. Since then I got all the serenety/firefly related stuff and Buffy/angel new seasons and found myself pretty much enjoyng it a lot!
I’m thinking of go give a chance to the omnibus series. I will take a look to what it has to tell me about the verse.
January 8th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
I’m a BtVS fan from way back, and a fan of superheroes in general. But I was never a comics reader. Season 8 turned me into a weekly comic buyer.
January 8th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
I’m a 31 yr old female from SC. I’ve never even held a real comic before but when I read that Joss would be writing a canonized comic continuing the series, I was there. I’ve been buying them in the collector’s volumes (Angel season 6 also).
I probably wouldn’t have if they had not been written and overseen by Joss.
Yes, I miss the show so I bought for that purpose but mostly because I wanted to know where Joss was taking the series. I also long for any canon mentions of Buffy/Angel love.
January 8th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
I’ve been a long time Buffy fan and so when it ended and they announced the comic series, it was just natural that I would check it out. If it was really bad I doubt I would have continued to follow it – but I liked it. I’m also a comic book fan, but I only buy volumes, mainly TPBs – so that’s exactly what I do with Buffy too. It’s cheaper and cleaner. I read for the enjoyment of the comics, not the value of them later – I’m not a collector. I have read the BSG comics too, though I don’t own them.