Product Description
Celebrating the 65th anniversary of Stan Lee's employment at Marvel Comics! In five all-new 10-page tales written by "The Man" himself, Stan meets his web-slinging creation, journeys to Greenwich Villiage to catch up with his old pal Doctor Strange, is abducted to Latveria by the sinister Doctor Doom, makes the mistake of bicycling past Yancy Street and surfs the stars with a certain silver-skinned space-farer! Plus: Today's hottest writers and artists pay homage to Stan's life and career in five new 10-page stories. Also featuring classic Stan-scripted stories from Amazing Spider-Man #87, Fantastic Four #79 & #87, Marvel Premiere #3 and Silver Surfer #14! Collects Stan Lees Meets Superheroes 1-5; Amazing Spider-Man 87, Fantastic Four #79, 87, Marvel Premiere #3, Silver Surfer #14. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Josh Whedon one the best
I literally laughed out loud when I read it. I won't give it away but it's worth buying the book for

STAN LEE FINALLY TEAMS-UP WITH HIS CREATIONS!
It's Stan "The Man" Lee teaming up with some of the most recognisable and iconic characters ever to be created -- by him, no less! What else need you know?
Now, if only Marvel will allow him to Team-Up with Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny, The Tooth Fairy and maybe even Jesus Christ (assuming that Big Foot's too busy to return his calls, of course!) then - and only then - will my comic collection be complete! ... Read more

Product Description
Top science fiction and fantasy writers profess their devotion, interrogate the show's complexity and speculate on what might have been if Firefly had been renewed. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (49)

Not for everyone
I got through this whole book, but some of the essays in it were a challenge to finish.Just because it says "Serenity" on the cover doesn't mean it's going to be exciting, and at some points I don't even think they're talking about the show or the movie anymore.And some of the differences of opinion made me kind of mad at some of the authors.But most were interesting.

thought-provoking, but disappointing, collection of essays on a brilliant show
A collection of essays dissecting one of the best science fiction series ever, the prematurely cancelled western-scifi Firefly. The essays range from whining about the cancellation to dissecting the philosophy, gender roles, music, themes, production, and blend of cultures on the show. While many of the essays leave much to be argued with, it cannot be argued that most of the essays are thought-provoking and definitely complimentary to the genius of the beloved television show. Grade: B+

Provides some closure for fans
The thing about this book is that when it's good it's really good, and when it's bad....well it's awefull. It is a compilation of essays from various people about the show Firefly, meaning multiple authors. Now when you have multiple authors your quickly going to find yourself loving how some write and detestinghow others do. So the parts you enjoy never last long enough, and the parts that you don't enjoy, well they drag on. This is certainly a worthy purchase for fans of the show, and will give you some closure, especially the writtings of Jewel Staite(Kaylee). However some of the essays are garbage, pompous, and frankly I sometimes wondered if these people where watching the same show.

Enjoyable
You may not agree with everything that the various authors have written, in fact they do not always agree with each other, but every essay is thought out and well written.Most will make you think, a few may make you argue.You do have to keep in mind that this was written between Firefly and Serenity, so a few of the guesses and suppositions have already been aswered by the movie.

Firefly Fans - a must read!
A collections of essays for Firefly fans.I enjoyed reading each one."Finding Serenity" brings a new prespectives to this short lived TV series. ... Read more

Product Description
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the latest in a long tradition of young women who've been trained to give their lives in the war against vampires. We've gotten glimpses of these other women over the years on TV, in comics, and in books. Now for the first time, the writers from the television series, including the show's creator, Joss Whedon, and one of its stars, Amber `Tara` Benson, present the tales of these girls, with the help of comics greatest artists. Gene Colan, co-creator of Marvel's Blade and Tomb of Dracula, returns to Dark Horse for the story of a young black girl in 1970s New York, battling vampires. Tim Sale, fan-favorite artist of recent epics Batman: The Long Halloween and Superman for All Seasons teams with Joss Whedon for a grim tale of a medieval slayer. American comics legend P. Craig Russell (Dr. Strange, The Ring of the Nibelung) and international rising star Mira Friedmann (Actus Tragicus) also join the stellar lineup. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (30)

Loved it
The stories where great but the book was rather short. They could have waited and simply added the other Slayer stories. Beyond that Top Notch writing.

Squeezing money from a stone.
Not anyone's finest hour. This exploitative collection is nothing more than a quick way to steal hard-earned pocket money from the Whedon-starved masses.

The Espenson/Russell collaboration is the best of the lot, but even it feels like a rejected script from "Season 2" instead of a clever Austen pastiche.

The Whedon/Sale story is predictable and unchallenging, but the Sale art looks good.

The others all feel rushed, and, frankly, boring.

Tales of the Slayers
I enjoyed reading about some of the past slayers. Some stories are more captavating then others but as a presentation of past history, it's all good. Who knows if some of these slayer stories won't find it's way in the main Buffy story within the conclution of series eight The Long Way Home? Just an idea thrown out there... And yes, I now am thinking of purchasing the Tales of The Vampires comic book as well.

If you are a Buffy fan (especially a Fray fan)
If you are a Buffy fan (especially a Fray fan) then you will love this comic book.Remember the first TV spot for Buffy when they went through the ages: "in 1810 all these people were dying which stopped by the arrival of a young girl named..."Well this comic is most of those stories.The negative is that none of these characters are developed, you just get to see snip-its of their lives.However, it does widen the Buffyverse, so it's a definite read for fans.Also you get to see a bit more of Fray, the future slayer.

A Great Buffy Companion

While this pales in comparison to the current Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight series being put out by Dark Horse now, "Tales of the Slayers" is a treat for the open-minded Buffy fan.

Like any Whedon product, this trade paperback supports a much larger theme than it appears to have.These stories about slayers stretching back over time are about loneliness, solidarity, but at the same time, they're about how each slayer is connected to the slayers of the past.Reading this book can give new perspective on Buffy, Faith, and all of the other slayers shown in the television series.

As a whole, the book is good, but not each individual story is satisfactory.The best in the book are Prologue (Joss Whedon), Righteous (Joss Whedon), Sonnenblume (Rebecca Rand Kirshner), and Tales (Joss Whedon).Righteous is told completely in rhyming verse, and has the most intriguing story and unique slayer of the collection.Sonnenblume has the worst art of the collection, but also one of the most solid stories; a young German girl in 1938 struggles between what her Nazi teachers tell her and what she feels is right.Tales is a treat, as it is about Melaka Fray from Joss Whedon's miniseries "Fray" and it wraps up this collection nicely, paying off to the over-all theme (a complicated one at that) of isolation/togetherness.

Some of the not-so-good stories are The Glittering World (David Fury) and Nikki Goes Down (Doug Petrie).Fury and Petrie are both competent, if not astounding, writers who have made note-worthy contributions to the Buffyverse, particularly Petrie's "Fool for Love" which makes nearly every Buffy top-ten list.However, these two stories in "Tales of the Slayers" seem forced, paced oddly, and suffer from the incoherent narration.Perhaps, had these writers has an entire twenty-two page issue to play their story out, they would have done better.Or maybe they are just better television writers.

To sum it all up, the good outweighs the bad.This is an item that every fan of Joss Whedon's work needs, and it is a great companion to the Buffy series (the television show as well as the comic).

7/10 ... Read more

Product Description
Before the smash hit movie Serenity came Firefly, the cult TV series which started it all and became a DVD phenomenon, selling almost half a million copies.

Set 500 years in the future, Firefly centres around Mal Reynolds, captain of the ship-for-hire Serenity and its eclectic crew of galactic misfits. When he takes on two passengers, a young doctor and his mysterious, telepathic sister, he gets much more than he bargained for…

This official companion is just what the show’s fervent fans, the ‘Browncoats’, have been waiting for, with unseen photos, scripts, behind the scenes secrets, and exclusive input from the cast and crew, including of course creator Joss Whedon. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (39)

A must for fans
This book is great for Firefly and Serenity fans, with all sorts of interesting tidbits, photos, etc.Obviously, if you're not a Firefly fan, then it's not for you.

Great info
The background info on the series is invaluable but the copies of the scripts included make this a must have for Firefly fans. Want to know what they're saying in Chinese? The translations are all here!

If you like the series, this book is a must own
I'd been holding off on picking this book up, but now that I own it, I'm wondering what I was waiting for.The commentary by the actors, as well as the side notes is worth the price alone, the scripts then add to the whole thing.If you enjoy the series, this book is a must own.

Must Have For Every Browncoat
Bought both Vol 1 and 2 of Firefly the visual companion as gifts for my fiance, who thanks to me is now a fellow browncoat. and we both really enjoy it. lots of interesting facts and behind the scenes information and pictures and stories. just so much awesomeness worth investing in. must have all 3. great additions!

I've already watched the shows...
Why do I need to read the scripts now?I can not give this more than 3 stars because of that.I wanted much more behind the scenes and making of information than this "companion" offered.What was there was great.But, I'm a fan, not a film student.An interview with Joss was great.How about with all the actors too?Anyway, what was there was good.Just needed to be a lot more of it. ... Read more

Product Description
Having experienced her own death, Ellen Ripley awakens on a space station and learns that her resurrection is the result of an incredible experiment that has altered both her and the alien creature she is carrying. Original. Movie tie-in." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (21)

A very exciting book out of a mediocre movie
This was my first novel written by veteran Star Wars and Star Trek author Anne Crispin, and with this book she gained my full confidence in terms of producing page-turner novels. Unlike the majority, I had enjoyed the fourth movie in the Alien franchise but also thought it had lacked an intelligent script and mystery factor. Crispin delivers on both fronts. While there are few or no extra scenes in the book that didn't appear in the movie, Crispin gives very detailed descriptions of what is going on in the heads of the main characters, including the Aliens. The action scenes are also described in a very exciting manner. It also made me realize a lot of things that I missed in the movie (for example telepathy between Ripley and some of the Aliens). All in all, I really enjoyed the writing of Crispin with the little material she was given to work with, and I am looking forward to reading her other novels specifically within the Star Trek Universe.

Magnifies the movie's flaws
Alien Resurrection (Film Novelization) / 0-446-60229-9

I like all of the four aliens movies (I don't count the predator cross-overs) including "Alien Resurrection". Although it wasn't well-received at the time, I felt that it was an interesting expansion of the aliens universe and I particularly liked the evolution of Ripley's character as Number Eight - a woman so emotionally shell-shocked and traumatized that she just shuts down emotionally and stops fearing or caring as much as she once did. I guess I'm saying that while "Alien Resurrection" wasn't really the movie continuation that I might have wanted, it wasn't terrible and I appreciated what the writers were trying to do, even if it wasn't always terribly sophisticated.

The film novelization breaks with tradition and is written by A.C. Crispin rather than Alan Dean Foster who wrote the first three film novelizations. If you're reading the novelizations in order, as I have, you will find the change in tone incredibly jarring, more so than even the shift in tone between the movies. Crispin's writing style contrasts badly with the crisp, clean writing of Foster and the novel is not the better for it. Crispin relies heavily and frequently (as in almost every page) on formatting tricks to take the place of actual human emotion and I would love to know the difference, in Crispin's mind, between a sentence spoken in bold-face, a sentence spoken in all-CAPS, and a sentence spoken in both bold-face and all-CAPS. I half expected some sentences to end in an "!!1!", just for maximum emphasis. Lacking the grace and subtlety of Foster, Crispin milks the facehugging scene for all it is worth, calling it blandly a "rape" (the facehuggers have always been a metaphor for rape, but I liked it better when they didn't break the fourth wall to call it such) and having the cyrotube victims 'foul' themselves in fear. Also, for no particular reason, she decides that the grown aliens like swimming in human sewage and devotes quite a few pages to that alone.

In doing all this, we lose all the class, subtlety, sophistication, and charm of the original series to instead go and wallow in the shocking and gross in the hopes of drumming up some sales. And I realized, as I read this book, that this is the very thing that so many aliens fans have accused "Alien Resurrection" of all this time - of trading all the intelligence and psychology of the first movies for flashy effects, cheesy dialogue, and a Whedon-esque script that seems determined to jam at least three moral lessons down our throat. To my surprise, the flawed film novelization highlighted these problems with far more glaring light than the movie ever did, for me at least.

Not that the novelization does nothing right. There's a lot of inner monologue here, which is useful in a setting where Ripley is so taciturn - we can see the inner evolution of her thoughts in more detail, which is always a nice touch in a novelization. The genetic cross-over effect is explored more thoroughly here, explaining that just as Number Eight is now part-alien, so are the aliens now part-human, neatly explaining away some of the inconsistencies in alien behavior in the film. Some of the human characters are given more backstory (such as how the crew of the Betty first got together), but others criminally are not (what is Call's motivation for saving humanity, and why did she pick such a poor manner in which to do so?) considering that the backstory in such cases would be plot relevant.

Incidentally, Crispin makes me want to pull my hair out with some major inanities. Super-duper totally-Top-Secret massively-classified science experiments don't have "graduate students" working for the scientists. I mean, honestly, I know there's some kind of "all mad scientists have a graduate student interning for them" rule in science fiction, but use your brain and realize that this is probably not one of those cases. Also, when a modern scientist wants to justify a dangerous line of research (which is often), they do not wave their hands in the general direction of several hundred years ago and use the mistakes of the past to justify new mistakes in the future. (To Crispin's credit, most science fiction authors feel the need to compulsively talk about our own time period, but if Alan Dean Foster was able to abstain from such nonsense, his successor should have taken note and done the same.)

Oddly enough, I really wanted to like this novel. I think that if it had been written by a different author, or perhaps tightened up a bit in the editing, it could have been fairly decent. But the dog-and-pony formatting tricks on every page, used to avoid having to show real human emotion (after all, you don't have to make a character believably agitated when you can just HAVE HIM TALK IN ALL CAPS), gets old after the first three pages, and the massive amount of "it just doesn't work that way" details like the government handing out high clearances to college kids for their summer internship just really jar the reader from the experience. The juvenile writing is a big problem and feels like the author thought Fear Factor "gross-out" details were the best way to make a compelling science fiction novel. And, for me at least, it isn't.

Applause for this novelization of a sub-par film!Al
Alien Resurrection was without a doubt one of the worst sequels of the 1990s.A sloppy script alongside a plot which belonged in the 1950s/

This novel does the best it could with this poor script and takes it to a whole new level.On the pages of this book you actually can feel the emotions and care for the characters.Ripley is great in this book, not being a hero or alien, but the novel has her falling somewhere in between creating captivating story about humanity.

Alien Resurrection Novelization
The Alien Resurrection Novelization is a great book for one who is looking for a scene by scene, indepth picture, and follow by book from the Alien Resurrection film. I have just finished the novel and found this book to be very moving, ongoing, adventurous, and Spectaculury addicting.

If you have scene the new edition film/D.V.D. of Alien Resurrection, you will find the directors cut version. It has also been shown in the Alien Resurrection Novelization. Having the scene by scene directors cut version shown in the book will give you a lot more indepth picture of the story going on between Ripley herself, the clone and the real Ellen Ripley that died 200 years ago on planet Fiorina 161.

Overall, this book is fantastic and very addicting. I recommend this book to anyone with Alien follow by intrests.

A winner of a book.
She died to save humankind from a species that would have destroyed it. She died with an embyronic queen alien growing inside her, knowing it was the only way. So how can Ellen Ripley be alive again now? Decades later, aboard a laboratory ship in Pluto orbit? And what's become of her unwelcome passenger?

I can't believe I read this book through to the last page. Its gore and grossness factor goes far beyond my usual tolerance, which is why I found myself unable to watch the movie on which it's based. But I picked the novelization up anyway because of A.C. Crispin's other work, and she hooked me before I finished the first chapter. Her villians are the kind any reader will love to hiss, her Ripley is the most poignant of heroines, and each of her secondary characters is a memorable individual. Even the aliens themselves gain a certain creepy sympathy in the hands of Crispin and co-author Kathleen O'Malley. Add to this a fast-paced, adrenaline-pumping story line, and you've got a winner of a book. Media tie-in or not, it makes no difference.

... Read more

Product Description

NEW SCHOOL.
SAME ASSIGNMENT.

Something's wrong in Sunnydale, California...something more than the usual bad hair day. As long as there have been vampires, there has been the Slayer. One girl in all the world to find them where they gather and stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers. In this generation, she is Buffy Summers, 16 years old and a new student at Sunnydale High. Her experiences at her last school persuaded Buffy to try to resume the life of a normal teenager. But it is no coincidence that Buffy has come to this town at this time. The area is a center of mystical energy, and all the signs point to an iminent, crucial upheaval. Once in a century comes The Harvest: a night when the Master Vampire can draw enough power to break free and open the portal between his world and ours...unleashing havoc. With the help of new friends and a new Watcher, Buffy's back in business.... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (44)

Introducing Buffy...
Welcome to Buffy's world.It's been a long time since I've seen the pilot episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.This book is identical to that episode.Here we meet Buffy, Xander, Willow, Cordila, and Giles.This was a great TV series and a great book.However, I've now read it 2 times and I can safely say I'll never read it again.If you've not seen the show or you have an have a desire, such as I, to read the books this is a must have.

Jhaeman's Buffy Reviews
The Harvest
By Richie Tankersley Cusick, based upon scripts by Joss Whedon (1997)

RATING: 3/5 Stakes

SETTING: Season 1

CAST APPEARANCES: Buffy, Willow, Xander, Darla, Giles, Cordelia, The Master, Luke, Jesse, Joyce, Principal Flutie, Harmony

BACK OF THE BOOK SUMMARY

"New school. Same assignment. Something's wrong in Sunnydale, California . . . something more than the usual bad hair day. As long as there have been vampires, there has been the Slayer. One girl in all the world, to find them where they gather and to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers. In this generation, she is Buffy Summers, 16 years old and a new student at Sunnydale High. Her experiences at her last school persuaded Buffy to try to resume the life of a normal teenager. But it is no coincidence that Buffy has come to this town at this time. The area is a center of mystical energy, and all the signs point to an imminent, crucial upheaval. Once in a century comes The Harvest: a night when the Master Vampire can draw enough power to break free and open the portal between his world and ours . . . unleashing havoc. With the help of new friends and a new Watcher, Buffy's back in business . . . ."

REVIEW

The first in what would become an amazingly successful line of Buffy television tie-in novels, The Harvest is a novelization of the first two episodes: Welcome to the Hellmouth and The Harvest. Cusick sticks very closely to Joss Whedon's script; the novelization matches almost scene-for-scene, word-for-word with the final televised episodes, the only differences being an occasional minor change to a line of dialogue.

The downside is there's nothing here that wasn't on the screen, but the upside is that Whedon's humor shines through bright and clear. As The Harvest doesn't add anything to the episodes, this book is probably only for two classes of people: those who can't obtain the original episodes on VHS or DVD; and those who collect all things Buffy.

Welcome to the Hellmouth
"Into every generation, a slayer is born. One girl, in all the world. . ." If these lines sound familiar, then you probably already know the plotline of this book.

For those of you without a clue to the Buffy saga, the story tells of a teenage girl whose destiny is to rid the world of vampires. Having been kicked out of her old school for burning down the gym (for more information on that, watch the BtVS movie starring Kristy Swanson), Buffy and her mother relocate to Sunnydale to start a new life. Well, surprise, surprise, Sunnydale happens to be situated on top of the Hellmouth, an ancient portal for all forms of evil. Buffy, with the help of her watcher Giles and new friends Xander and Willow must fight to destroy the vampire forces that want to open the portal and unleash hell.

The Harvest is the novelization of the first two episodes of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer tv series. The book offers no additional backstory or new information and will be appreciated mostly by die-hard fans of the series, especially if they haven't seen the opening episodes in a while. Speaking as a die-hard fan, it was fun to remember just how innocent the Scooby gang was when they started out and how much their characters developed by the end of the series.

Quick, Fun Read
I recently decided to start reading all of the BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER titles, and this was a great start to the series.

I really enjoyed being introduced to Buffy, Giles, Xander, and Willow, and I'm sure there will be much more to learn about these characters. I hate Cordelia already, and know that I'm going to love Angel, but I'm still really excited to keep reading.

A great start!

Super Reader
The Harvest is a retelling of the story told at the start of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer tv series. A novelisation of the tv show, if you want to put it like that, taken from the Whedon script. There is a master vampire in Sunnydale, and on one particular night he is able to open a portal and summon an army.

Buffy has a new Watcher, and meets some new friends at her new school, after being booted out of the last one, and has to come to terms with all this and deal with Head Vamp into the bargain. ... Read more

Product Description
As a professional thief, Melaka Fray has seen her share of danger and excitement. But is she ready for the challenges facing a Slayer? This issue, Melaka learns some of the history of the Slayers and comes to understand a little about what it means to her. Ready or not, here she comes! She's taking on the forces of darkness like no one else can. This Fourth of July, Fray has got more fireworks than your Uncle Al's barbecue! Joss Whedon, the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, makes his comics debut with this epic, new, eight-issue series! ... Read more

Product Description
In Angel's final television season, his world ended... but his story didn't. Picking up where Season Five of the fan-favorite TV show left off, this first collection looks at who lived and died after the climactic battle. Why did the team go their separate ways? How did Connor rise up to become one of Hell's greatest champions. Find of what really happened on the night L.A. went straight to hell. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (28)

A Pleasing Continuation of the Saga
This was a very happy arrival for me because I got to see where my favorites from Angel went and what happenened to them after the series finale.Highly recommended

Angel: After the Fall V1
Great continuation on paper.Miss the TV series though. Looking forward to the other volumes.

Season Six stumbles with too much to take in!
This, unlike the beginning of the Buffy Season 8 series, doesn't feel or sound like Joss Whedon's voice.Its sad as the cliffhanger from the TV show was so open-ended the possibilities were endless.Sadly, this characters all slightly change but all are present in one way or another.Second, there was so much introduced that it was hard to keep track of what was happening and to whom.Lastly, the art.It was okay.Just okay.Characters were not easily recognized at times which made reveals that much less impactful.Its too bad cover artist Tony Harris didn't do the interiors.All that being said, enough is here for me to want to check out the next volume.

But What About the Alley Fight?
I bought "After the Fall" 1 and 2 but doubt that I will
buy the rest of the series. Joss Whedon really ripped us off by not continuing the story where the TV series ended, but some time thereafter, when Los Angeles had already gone to Hell (literally, this time, which was a nice touch). The point is, I bought the book expecting to see the action of the Fight in the Alley but only get bits and pieces of it now in flashback. Joss could do better than that.

Good Angel plot but not as compelling or real as the show
this is the first time i have read a graphic novel and it was a bit difficult to get used to at first. in books imagination is used for the imagery and in film visuals and sounds are given by complex shots and actors portrayals. graphic novels are stuck in between these mediums and the emotion and nuances can get lost in the crossfire. it's possible that graphic novel veterans will find it as gripping and meaningful as the show. however unfortunately i have mixed feelings.

pros:

my first impression of the book was that it was very good quality. it's very sturdy and not at all flimsy like most comic books I've seen. the cover is sleek with embossed designs on the back and there is a very useful ribbon bookmark embedded in the spine. the pages are crisp and smells great. overall it has the appearance of a high grade, tall and thin book.

the story is on a par with season five, many of the lines have a similar flow and verbage to the show. there are plot twists that are as big as the Fred-Illria arc or the revelation of Cordy being the villain in season 4. I was able to place myself in the world; in the perspective of the characters. it's not quite as powerful or poignant as the series but much of it it's still there.


the artwork is very beautiful, the colors are rich and the contrasts are well done. some of the character designs are uncanny and is really great. the level of detail and dedication is exceptional.

last but not least there is bonus material in the back portion of the book. it contains a good 15-30 artwork and pen ink photos and the script with added notes. some of them would be great for posters. the Wesley and Illyria is one of the best ones; it's powerful and moving.



Cons:

the length of the book is about as long as one disc on one of the angel seasons. at $16.18 per volume and a season usually having about 6 discs. the price of a season would rough be around $100



some of the plot is hard to follow the first time. you might have to reread some parts over. (particularly with the plot twists) some parts have to be inferred rather than be understood right away.

some of the characters designs seem too much like generic comic book characters rather than close depictions. nina is the worst. nina doesn't really look like the actor on the show and her outfit is a little over the top for her character.

roughly 10%-15% of the book is bonus content which makes the length of story misleading and it seems to end sooner than it should seem.

a picture is usually worth a thousand words but the pictures in this book contain much more. unfortunately no matter how well drawn they are it's still not going to be as good as the actors performances. the book lacks sound and movement and many of the subtleties of tone and mannerisms the show had. the people that worked on this did a very good job; it's not their fault. the medium just falls short.


In short buy the book if you have the money and want some closure. expect to be at least a bit disappointed. there are a lot of good things to look forward to though.

thanks for reading and being part of the Angel/Buffyverse. : )


... Read more

Customer Reviews (70)

Almost as Good as The Movie
The book was really nice, followed the movie quite well. Deleted scenes from the movie were in place in the book, so it made it a bit more fun than the movie. but the movie does have awesome special fx and explosions... i mean explosions come on. what book can replicated that?! oh sorry. got off topic. Yeah the book is deffenitly worth adding to your Firefly/Serenity Collection. money well spent in my opinion :)

Great blend of back story with the script
This book integrates the back story from the series with the action packed script of the movie. It can easily standalone and be a great gift for the sci fan in your life.

A letdown
It's hard to say exactly where this novelization goes wrong, as a feeling of 'wrongness' permeates the bulk of the novel. There are good parts that stand out, but only because the rest of the writing feels sub-standard.

Ironically, part of this is due to what could arguably be one of the novel's pros. DeCandido obviously did his research, as the book is filled with an impressive ammount of references to the TV series. However, this also serves to intensify the problem that there's little inovation in the story. The characters feel two-dimensional, the narrative feels like a copy and paste effort of the movie. Granted, there are events that we don't see on the big screen, but there's a noticable lack of innovation. It was as if guidelines were applied from the start that couldn't be deviated from.

The book can be read without seeing the movie and vice-versa. But given the similarity between the two, they don't really complement each other.

A Decent Interpretation
A very good novel in it's own right since it is based on the awesome movie of the same title. There are some details that were included in the original script that didn't make it into the movie so that should appeal to anyone interested in learning more about the 'Verse

Basically the extended version of the movie
As has been said by other reviewers this book is the full script for the movie turned in to a novel.

It becomes obvious when reading the book that it was written off the script and not after the final movie was released as there are some things that happen slightly differently.

If you have seen the movie and the deleted scenes on the DVD then this book adds nothing to the story, but is however a reasonably plesant read. ... Read more

Product Description
Buffy and Fray take on a powerful foe, who's lasted hundreds of years just so she can bring down the last two Slayers.Joss Whedon and Karl Moline, cocreators of the hit comics series Fray: Future Slayer, reunite in Buffy Season Eight with the highly anticipated story arc "Time of Your Life." Jo Chen and Georges Jeanty provide covers. o "Whedon writes people who are self-deprecating, pop-culture savvy, madly in love with wordplay, quick-witted, terrified of sounding pompous and with wells of emotion lurking beneath a shiny, protective layer of self-aware sarcasm." -Kristi Turnquist, The OregonianFray returns in Buffy Season Eight! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

A great way for Joss to go out
This is the last one with Joss Whedon directly writing for the series. The next on is not so good.

Back On Track
After a nearly two month long wait, Joss Whedon and friends deliver the conclusion to the hyped Buffy/Fray crossover, "Time of Your Life." After some still-good-but-slightly-off-if-you-know-what-I-mean issues, Joss finally lives up to the standard he set in the fantastic #16, which kicked this arc off. Revelations--huge ones, in fact--are made, confrontations are had, and things get all sorts of stabby when Buffy faces off against the many, many people in the future who either want her dead or want to prevent her from returning home. With everything on the table, it's definitely the second-best conclusion to an arc we've seen thus far, ranking in just below Drew Goddard's fantastic #15.

There was a lot of plot to tie up here, so it's no surprise that the issue got a few extra pages. The awesome, but non-essential stuff was dealt with in a quick and neat manner, which enabled the story to focus more on the core of the arc and its ramifications on the characters. A lot of the main conflict, which can be boiled down to Buffy vs. Fray/Buffy vs. Dark Willow, is made up of action, but the dialogue and the final resolution to the conflict (c'mon, you don't think I'd give it away, did you?) is at once terrifying and sad. There are a few images here that you won't soon forget, I'll say that much.

Also, a major Who Is Twilight? theory is either proven or debunked in this issue (not sayin' which). Let's just say... what we learn leaves us asking more questions that ever before, yet is somehow satisfying. For now.

Looks like, thanks to Joss Whedon, Karl Moline, Scott Allie, and co. taking their time to make sure this issue gets done right, Buffy: Season Eight is back on track. I've had a damn rough past two days, but this issue sort of helped to take my mind off the shit. Thanks, guys. Loved the issue.

9/10

Back On Track
After a nearly two month long wait, Joss Whedon and friends deliver the conclusion to the hyped Buffy/Fray crossover, "Time of Your Life." After some still-good-but-slightly-off-if-you-know-what-I-mean issues, Joss finally lives up to the standard he set in the fantastic #16, which kicked this arc off. Revelations--huge ones, in fact--are made, confrontations are had, and things get all sorts of stabby when Buffy faces off against the many, many people in the future who either want her dead or want to prevent her from returning home. With everything on the table, it's definitely the second-best conclusion to an arc we've seen thus far, ranking in just below Drew Goddard's fantastic #15.

There was a lot of plot to tie up here, so it's no surprise that the issue got a few extra pages. The awesome, but non-essential stuff was dealt with in a quick and neat manner, which enabled the story to focus more on the core of the arc and its ramifications on the characters. A lot of the main conflict, which can be boiled down to Buffy vs. Fray/Buffy vs. Dark Willow, is made up of action, but the dialogue and the final resolution to the conflict (c'mon, you don't think I'd give it away, did you?) is at once terrifying and sad. There are a few images here that you won't soon forget, I'll say that much.

Also, a major Who Is Twilight? theory is either proven or debunked in this issue (not sayin' which). Let's just say... what we learn leaves us asking more questions that ever before, yet is somehow satisfying. For now.

Looks like, thanks to Joss Whedon, Karl Moline, Scott Allie, and co. taking their time to make sure this issue gets done right, Buffy: Season Eight is back on track. I've had a damn rough past two days, but this issue sort of helped to take my mind off the shit. Thanks, guys. Loved the issue.

9/10

Another worthy addition to Buffy Season 8
This oversize issue wraps up Buffy's trip into the future to meet the future slayer Fray.As a meeting of the two slayers the arc left something to be desired, but as a new twist in the friendship and occasional rivalry between Willow and Buffy.Without going into details, Willow gets to be both the villain and the hero in this story, and one wonders how it will affect things between the two in episodes to come.As the fourth major arc in BUFFY Season 8, this one was a winner, though I still would give the edge to both Brian K. Vaughan and Drew Goddard's arcs.

According to the publicity, we'll now get a string of standalone issues with a number of distinguished TV and comic writers kicking in stories.For instance, Jeph Loeb (who would have been the show runner for the animated version of BUFFY had it been green lit) will take a stab at an issue, and Jane Espenson, who has been plying her trade on BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (the TV show, now the comic -- she has both written episodes for the series and wrote the screenplay for the upcoming BSG movie, which will be directed by Edward James Olmos) but will shortly reunite with Whedon as a writer on DOLLHOUSE.

The last I heard the hope was for BUFFY 8 to extend to 60 issues.So they are barely at the one-third point.Over the years Joss Whedon has been involved with the cutting edge of mass media.BUFFY was the first show to have successful season-long story arcs, the show that made TV safe for TV heroes (e.g., no show copied XENA, but a host of shows directly recognized BUFFY as their inspiration), and pretty much invented the body count on TV.BUFFY was the first show to be widely downloaded over the Internet (this was because the WB refused to show two episodes from late in Season Three after the Columbine tragedy, causing thousands to download the episodes over the Internet after Canadian fans uploaded them).Along with FAMILY GUY, Whedon's FIREFLY was the first cancelled TV show to achieve cult status through huge DVD sales.This summer Whedon made the first critically acclaimed production made directly for the Internet in DR. HORRIBLE'S SINGALONG BLOG.So it isn't surprising that he was the first to continue a television series in comic form.Other show creators have talked of doing the same, including Rob Thomas continuing VERONICA MARS as a comic (made difficult by his currently working on adapting two series to television) and this past week Bryan Fuller indicated that he was talking to DC Comics (perhaps Vertigo?) as a place to continue PUSHING DAISIES.All I can say is, thanks Joss, for thinking of all the ways to stretch and improve popular culture.

While I will certainly get and enjoy the next few standalone issues, I'm anxious for them to get back to a multiple issue arc.Hopefully we'll finally get Dawn back in more or less human form and we'll find out more about that odd secret organization that popped up early in the series.

Time of your life part 4 - end of Fray crossover - no spoilers
Superb comic. Superb series

Christ its getting good. Season 8 is absolutely superb. Started a little slow (issue 1 was the only one that didn't bowl me over

Not to give anything away, but an old friend of Buffy (Puffy?) turns up at the end

Fray is dealt with (that comic is superb by the way - also written by Joss)

Absolutely superb series

This series just keeps getting better and better. Was Buffy a "don't miss" tv show? Well, this is a "don't miss" comic!

PS I think this is one of the better comics I have read, period. Each new Buffy I HAVE to have now. I'm still checking out the new Angel (series 6) comic series (After the Fall) but thats not as great as this. It kinda reminds me when I was an avid Elfquest reader and there were great series (Shards, Hidden Years) and some rather mediocre ones (Blood of ten chiefs) that you would leave till the last

Angel isn't really getting better, and its not as good a series as this

I wonder when this comes out as a graphic novel if it'll be in the Fray series (earlier published)

You don't have to be familiar with the earlier Fray series to thoroughly enjoy this. Although thats well worth a read on its own account ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

James Marsters takes Spike to the next level as Season Five ends
Because "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was a mid-season replacement on the WB there were only 12 episodes that first season instead of the full slate of 22.That meant when the show ended its fifth and final season on the WB the last episode would be number 100 for the series and since the fate of the show was uncertain, creator Joss Whedon had to make sure that if "Buffy" did not find a new home that there would be a big finish.That he certainly provided, but as I watched the second half of Season Five (Episodes 12-22) again, what struck me is how many of the best moments have to do with Spike.Specifically I am thinking of when Spike tells the "Buffybot" why he would not betray Buffy and a couple of moments in the final episode: when Willow tells Spike to "go" and he does without a second thought, the look of horror on his face when he realizes he has failed Dawn, and when he is the one who totally breaks down at what happens to Buffy.The show took a character who was basically Billy Idol with fangs, put a chip in his head so that he was effectively neutered when it came to humans like Buffy and the Scoobies, and inspired by what happened in "Something Blue," decided to have William the Bloody fall in love with the Slayer.But it was James Marsters who took that character and made him so memorable that Spike still has a calendar and Angel does not.The big story arc is Glory's relentless search for the Key, but watch these episodes again and notice how often Spike becomes the focus of your attention:

Episode 12, "Checkpoint" (Written by Douglas Petrie & Jane Espenson, First aired January 23, 2001) has Buffy and the gang going up against the Watchers Council.Quentin Travers has information about Glory, but insists the Slayer and her friends undergo a review first, which does not go well (although Willow declaring Tara is her "lesbian-gay-type lover" is awfully cute).At least Buffy finally gets to find out that Glory is not a demon (4.5 Stakes).

Episode 13, "Blood Ties" (Written by Steven S. DeKnight, February 6, 2001), finds Dawn hanging with Spike and reading in a Giles' journal that she is the Key.If that was not bad enough, Ben learns that Dawn is the Key, right before he turns into Glory.This just cannot be good (4.5 Stakes).

Episode 14, "Crush" (Written by David Fury, February 13, 2001), is what Spike has on Buffy and dressing up Harmony as the Slayer is just not cutting it.Then Drusilla shows up in a forgiving vein and when she knocks out Buffy, Spike knocks on Dru so that he can offer to kill her to prove his love for Buffy.Not that Harmony likes any of this (4.5 Stakes).

Episode 15, "I Was Made to Love You" (Written by Espenson, February 20, 2001), has a strange girl name April looking all over town for some guy named Warren.It turns Warren made April, who is a robot, to be the perfect girlfriend.Apparently there is such a thing as too perfect (4 Stakes).

Episode 16, "The Body" (Written & Directed by Joss Whedon, February 27, 2001), Buffy comes home and finds Joyce dead.After Joss received an Emmy nomination for writing "Hush" we figured there would be a second one for this episode.He did not get that, but the bigger insult might be not getting a directing nomination (5 Stakes).

Episode 17, "Forever" (Written & Directed by Marti Noxon, April 17, 2001), is how long Joyce will be dead and a grief stricken Dawn cannot take it.So she does a spell to bring Joyce back from the dead (4.5 Stakes).

Episode 18, "Intervention" (Written by Espenson, April 24, 2001), is what is called for when Xander and Anya see Buffy boinking Spike.The only thing is that Buffy is out communing with the First Slayer (Buffy's gift is death apparently).It seems Spike got Warren to create the Buffybot, which provides Sarah Michelle Gellar's funniest moments in the entire series.But before Buffy can kill Spike it seems Glory will beat the Slayer to it because she thinks Spike knows who is the Key (5 Strakes).

Episode 19, "Tough Love" (Written by Rebecca Rand Kirshner, May 1, 2001), finds Buffy quitting college to look after Dawn.But then Glory drains Tara's brains, turning her insane, and Willow goes off to take revenge against the god.Then things get really bad as Glory finally learns that Dawn is the key (4.5 Stakes).

Episode 20, "Spiral" (Written by DeNight, May 8, 2001), has Buffy getting Dawn and everybody else out of town to try and save the Key from Glory.But then the Knights of Byzantium, sworn to destroy the key, attack the Winnebago carrying everybody, and Buffy and the gang have to hold up in an abandoned gas station.Giles is seriously wounded, so Buffy calls Ben, not knowing that she has invited Glory's host past Willow's mystic defenses (4.5 Stakes).

Episode 21, "The Weight of the World" (Written by Petrie, May 15, 2001), finds Buffy has gone off the deep end and is in a catatonic state.Willow takes charge and gets everybody back to Sunnydale, where she enters Buffy's mind to make sense of the circular dream images that Buffy shows her.Meanwhile, Glory plans to use Dawn's blood to open up the doors between the hell dimensions (4.5 Stakes).

Episode 22, "The Gift" (Written & Directed by Whedon, May 22, 2001), begins with a reaffirmative that Buffy is not "just a girl."If Dawn's blood is spilled, Hell will be unleashed on Earth and the only way to stop it is to kill Dawn.But Buffy did that with Angel and she refuses to do it with her sister.Glory is going to enact the ritual atop a giant scaffolding constructed by her minions, and Buffy leads an all-out attack on Glory.Although they defeat glory, it is too late, and the demons are coming to make Earth their home (5 Stakes). ... Read more

Product Description
Dream-team creators JOSS WHEDON (creator of TV's Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and JOHN CASSADAY (Planetary, CAPTAIN AMERICA) bring you the explosive #1 issue of the all-new flagship X-Men series! This issue marks a return to classic greatness and the beginning of a brand-new era for the X-Men. ... Read more

Product Description

Giles (to Buffy): "What did you sing about?"

Buffy: "I, uh...don't remember. But it seemed perfectly normal."

Xander: "But disturbing. And not the natural order of things and do you think it'll happen again? 'Cause I'm for the natural order of things."

Since she's been brought back from the dead (for the second time), Buffy the Vampire Slayer hasn't quite been feeling her calling. Sure, she still gives the underworld a run for its money, but her heart just isn't in the job. Luckily, she's been able to keep her lack of enthusiasm a somewhat secret.

Until now. When someone accidentally summons a music-making demon named Sweet, Buffy finds herself belting out her most private emotions. And she's not the only one -- before the battle is done, each of the Scoobies will have uncovered -- through song and dance, for better or for worse, each others' most guarded thoughts -- prompting the question, "where do we go from here?"

Here, in one volume, find complete, uncut dialogue, song lyrics, sheet music, and a full-color photo insert. For the true fan, a complete, authorized guide to the smash hit musical episode! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (23)

The Best Musical Thus Far
This is the best musical I've ever seen. and for the ultimate Buffy fan, this book is amazing! This is a rare book, and I'm glad I bought it before they were all sold out.
If you love Buffy, then buy this! You wont regret it... it's one of the best episodes ever to show...

A must for Buffy fans
If you love BTVS, they you probably love the "Once More, With Feeling" episode. And you MUST add the script book to your collection. Awesome.

a must have for fans
This volume should be purchased by two kind of readers: the fan of the series who wish to possess everything was ever officially published and the fan who wishes to learn more.

I address this review to the second kind because the first one simply needs no spur to buy. He will be pleased with the text of the songs and with the pictures.

Someone interested in the know how of Buffy's authors, possibly to learn how to become a screen writer, will be interested in reading the script. Those interested in the music, such as myself, will find the score (vocals + piano) of all the songs.

I gave just four stars because of the commentary which was a little disappointing: from Mr Whedon I expected much more humour.

This volume is rather inexpensive so I think no one will be disturbed by the average quality of paper and pictures.

Great Product and....
a lot of fun.This one of our 2 favorite Buffy episodes.It's a lot of fun reading the script along with watching the episode.The musical script is in the back of the book so you get all the songs as well.

Good item for Buffy fans
The Buffy musical episode was undoubtedly one of the most memorable moments in Buffy history, perhaps in television history as well. This script book is a good item for avid watchers and musical fans, as it includes not only the full original script, but sheet music and photo inserts. I found the sheet music (for all of the songs featured in the episode) very fun and useful, especially if you're a music fan, like myself. ... Read more

Product Description
A demon who takes sadistic delight in forcing his victims to express themselves in song visits Sunnydale. In the process, Buffy and her friends are made to reveal some inner secrets which would otherwise have remained unspoken. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Love It!
Huge fan of all things Buffy, and a music major in college.This books has a huge amount of background information, as well as the full script and vocal selections.Great for any Buffy-enthusiast!

The perfect companion volume to the "BtVS" musical
I have three different CD versions and the "for your consideration" Emmy video tape, so of course I am going to add "the original shooting script from the acclaimed musical episode" of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." We all thought that once Joss Whedon was nominated for his script of "Hush" the Emmy people had recognized what great work he had been doing in relative obscurity over there on the WB. We figured "The Body" would obviously get a nomination, but that did not happen. Then we though "once More, With Feeling" was a no brainer, but, ironically, it turns out we were right and the people who do Emmy nominations do, in point of fact, have no brains.

This edition of "Once More, With Feeling" proves once again that the "official" volumes associated with "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" are top drawer. What we have here is much more than the script, but let us start with that, because this is a Joss Whedon script, and if you have ever read one of these efforts you know that he tosses around editorial comments with gleeful abandon. For example, the script begins with the TEASER, which immediately explains how there is NO TEASER, but sketches what he would like to see if they have the time. Even if you have the entire script memorized, you will still have fun reading Joss' stage directions. This is essentially the shooting script, which is just a way of saying that you are not going to find lots of stuff that ended up on the cutting room floor, especially since the episode ran eight minutes over anyhow.

Once you finish the script, you happily discover you are not even halfway through the book yet. There is a list of "Musical Terminology from the Script" that helpfully explains not only the basics such as melodies and verse, but also the pop culture references to Carmen Miranda's coconuts, Seventy-six (bloody) trombones and "Koombaya." Then we have "I've Got a Theory," where Joss not only explains about the genesis of this musical episode, but also offers insight on the role of music in the series (there is an especially interesting section that talks about "The Body"). Marti Noxon offers insights on the production problems and other behind the scenes personnel provide additional details, including the literary idea of nonstop dancing (i.e., "The Red Shoes"). "Something to sing about" provides a musical look at the episode, explaining the rational behind the various types of music. Of course, we already know that the strength of the songs were that they were so wonderfully character drive. "Where Do We Go From Here?" covers the rest of the season in answer to the musical question that closes the episode.

Obviously, by this point we have more than gotten our money's worth from this volume but now we get to the color photographs taken mostly from the episode and then you get sheet music for all of the major songs (i.e., not for the bit pieces "Parking Ticket" and "They Got the Mustard Out"). That is certainly a lot for your money and a lot more than just the script and/or the sheet music. When you have a rare individual like Joss Whedon, who puts together a first rate-television show that keeps finding ways of establishing high water marks, and who also takes care of the show's fans in terms of products like this, then supporting him and his efforts through out patronage is both a privilege and a pleasure. ... Read more

Product Description
Faith hits the ground running after she infiltrates the estate of a rogue debutant Slayer. Following a snafu with some gargoyles, the heiress discovers that Faith is also a Slayer and quickly takes her under her wing-exquisite meals, fancy clothes, and a bubble bath later-the two begin plotting the end of the world. That is until Buffy pops in and is confronted by her longtime nemesis, Faith. Certainly, chaos ensues. A smash hit, Season Eight continues to enthrall readers with writer Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man; Pride of Baghdad; Lost), artist Georges Jeanty (The American Way) and Buffy creator and Executive Producer Joss Whedon all at the helm. Brian K. Vaughan (writer of Lost) takes on Faith in Season Eight. Top-ten seller Buffy #1 went immediately back to press-twice-to satisfy demand . . . totaling over 150,000 copies! Joss Whedon's Season Eight continues! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

What are they doing to Buffy?
I consider Joss Whedon to be the most potent storyteller since Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In Buffy Summers he has created an iconic figure more exciting and loved and cared about than any other in our popular culture.
So what is going on here? Is Joss Whedon trying to undermine his own heroine? Why does he have her overpowered and defeated as it happens in this episode? Conan Doyle never did this to Sherlock Holmes.
To be candid I am baffled and upset. Of course it is a tribute to the artistic power of Joss Whedon and his team that they can provoke such powerful emotional reactions by means of a comic book.But in my case the reaction is so strong that I cannot bear to read any more.

Faith and Buffy are slugging it out again (and this time they're wet)
One look at Jo Chen's cover painting of Faith drowning Buffy and you have to be thinking of Yogi Berra's infamous saying about it being deja vu all over again."Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8" issue #8 brings up Part III of "No Future For You."The story so far is that with almost two thousands Slayers running around in the world some of them were likely to go bad rather than join Buffy's European-based organization.At the top of the rogue Slayer list is Lady Genevieve Savidge, an English aristocrat who will be responsible for bringing on the next Apocalypse (I lost count long ago: how many would that be in the Buffyverse?).Giles, the one-Watcher Watcher's Council, approaches Faith, the original rogue Slayer, to go undercover, crash Lady Genevieve's 19th birthday party, assassinate her, and thereby wipe the slate clean in Giles' book.Giles does the "Pygmalion" bit with Faith, turning her into Hope Lyonne, daughter of the Viscount Avalon.But at the big bash Faith never gets around to killing Genevieve; instead the two hit it off and Genevieve clues in on her master plan, which is to kill the queen."Hope" thinks Genevieve means Elizabeth II, but the true target is Buffy.

If the cover art for this issue whets your appetite for the next rematch between Buffy and Faith, then rest assured that scripter Brian K. Vaughn, penciler Georges Jeanty, and inker Andy Owens deliver.What you will find here is not quite on the level of the epic battle in "Graduation Day, Part 1" or the flip-side fights in "This Year's Girl" and "Who Are You," but we still have one more issue to go in "No Future For You." The storyline necessitates glossing over what happened at the end of the final season of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," where Faith and Buffy were fighting side-by-side, but the problem is that the character of Faith is more interesting when she represents the dark side.Vaughn couches the situation in black and white terms for Faith: whenever Buffy is around, Faith is the villain; but as soon as she is gone, Faith becomes the hero.Of course, that just means there needs to be another villain and it is obvious who that is going to be in the final round.

Water is a recurring element in this issue and for those of you who think that there are not enough scenes of Slayers taking a bubble bath together, this issue will provide that titillating scene for your edification.Since "Becoming, Part II" is still the operatic high point for me in the "BtVS" saga, I am happy to see Slayers totting swords again.Meanwhile, back at the castle, Willow and Buffy are discussing the inevitability of a clash between her "terrorist sells" and the military types who are looking for them.At this point we have to be anticipating that they will be the Big Bads for "Season 8, which raises the issue of how Slayers fight humans without crossing the line and slaying them.But in the short term we have a trio of Slayers going "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly" route and all trying to kill each other.I still have trouble buying Faith sticking to her undercover routine as a hoity-toity English lady for this long, but once Buffy pops up we are back to familiar territory.The question now is how it will all play out this time and to see if "No Future For You" ends up being better than the first story-arc, "The Long Way Home."At this point odds are it will be.

Faith And 'B' Goin' At It
In a recent interview, Brian K. Vaughan told us how hard it was for him to write characters like Buffy and Willow. He said that he was more interested in--and better at--writing darker characters like Faith. Well, whatever initial problems he may have had writing for Buffy certainly don't come across in this issue, because her quips while fighting Gigi (yes, that does happen here, and YES, it is awesome) are some of her best dialogue since... a long time.

The blend of seriousness and comedy is at its best in this issue. I'll lay it out for you. We start with a serious Faith/Gigi conversation, then go to a light-hearted Faith/Gigi conversation. Then, we get a light-hearted Buffy/Willow conversation that begins to turn really serious, and then POOF (you'll get my "POOF" if you read the issue), we get a kick-ass fight, and then a really, really serious Faith/Buffy confrontation. This is the issue that finally puts on the table all of the things we were hoping Buffy and Faith would get into in Season Seven. I won't spoil anything, but it ain't pretty.

This issue also gives us a lot more to chew on that #7 which was, for all intents and purposes, a bridge between #6 and #8. Here, we get an awesome thing about Faith to speculate on, a revelation about how Faith currently sees how her relationship with The Mayor was, and a killer cliff-hanger that will leave us scratching our necks for more like Tyrone Biggums. Vaughan also brings up an issue that we fans have been debating for a long time, since the show was on air. Buffy and company have always been against killing humans... but what happens when humans are the main players in the war against good? Buffy takes a very surprising, sensible, and different stance on this than I would have expected, and the inclusion of her new views (not even a panel) will give us something to talk about until the issue is opened up further.

As for the art, not only does Georges seem to be improving on his likenesses of both Faith and Giles, but this issue also marks the first time he nails Buffy's mannerisms. Her 'movements' are spot-on, and she's coming off as the Buffy we loved in Seasons 1-5, not the Buffy we were frustrated with in 6 & 7. However, we also get bad ass Buffy in action, which Georges seems to be getting better and better at. While the fight scenes in #4 were pretty good, Georges blows that all away with the spectacular Buffy vs. Faith scene. His most interesting character design has to be Gigi; the girl can go from beautiful to scary in a panel--and I don't mean that in a bad way. On the not-so-good side, Georges seems to be getting lazy with Willow. I know she isn't essential to this issue, but she is one of the main four characters in the series, so I don't think it's asking too much to request more detailed and accurate Willow-faceage next issue. And since I liked to end on a plus, I have to add that it's pretty cool that Georges didn't make the tub scene all boobalicious or gratuitous. He kept the integrity and respect that the series always maintained.

For those who love to debate, this issue will scatch you in areas that #7 couldn't. For those who missed bad ass fight scenes, this issue will tickle your pickle. For those who are fiends for spot-on characterization, this issue will salt your fries. For anyone who likes all of the above, your areas, pickles, and fries will all be taken care of by this issue.

9/10 ... Read more

Product Description
Composer Greg Edmonson created a flavorful, guitar-based score for the adventures of the crew of Serenity that has helped this "science fiction western" TV series live on in the hearts of its dedicated fans. This folio features 12 piano solo arrangements, including: Firefly Main Title * Inara's Suite * Inside the Tam House * Out of Gas/Empty Derelict * River's Dance * Tears/River's Eyes * and more. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Firefly Sheet Music
When it arrived, my only disappointment was that there wasn't more. I've played through several of the songs and I have to say that this collection of sheet music is phenomenal. Every I learn a new measure, it makes me giddy. If you're a Firefly fan and you love to play music, this is must for you.

firefly soundtrack
Good soundtrack -had nearly everything that I was looking for and the previous reviews helped me pick which tracks from the series I was looking for.

Another Excellent Firefly Product
This no-frills song book (no extra pictures or other information) none-the-less contains all the music that you would want from the Firefly show, particularly of course, the theme song itself. A must have for Firefly completists, even if you're not a musician or can't read music.

I love it....
So, I gave it four stars because I reserve 5's for outstanding, unearthly stuff, but this book is great. Easy to read piano music without being too simple and middle school student sounding. Definitely pick this up to impress friends while putzing around on a piano.

I don't actually play the piano, but this was a great gift ...........
I bought this for my mother, who is a fantastic pianist.She loves it and has had a great time learning and playing the various pieces included in this collection.In spite of being able to play many Chopin, Beethoven, etc. pieces, my mother has told me that, with the exception of the "River's Dance" piece, this collection is moderately difficult to play due to the syncopation in most of the pieces.So, this is probably a collection for more experienced players rather than beginners.Many, many thanks to the great and wonderful Greg Edmonson for putting this out. ... Read more