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Buffyverse Comics Reading Order, The Dark Horse and IDW Years

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Welcome to Sunnydale, a California city located on a Hellmouth, a mystical portal attracting supernatural evils, and the setting of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer tv series. Vampires and other demons are omnipresent and they can prey easily on their victims in the many dark alleys, abandoned houses, factories, and such. Well, that is, if they don’t encounter a little blonde with a stake named Buffy! 

Buffy Summers is the Chosen One, granted powers to fight and kill vampires, demons, and other supernatural creatures. She was a cheerleader in high school when she learned about her destiny and accidentally burned down the school gym while fighting vampires before moving to Sunnydale with her mother for a new start in life. She has the surprise to discover that vampires are well established in her new little town, and she now must juggle between the challenge of her teenage life and her mission as a Slayer. She killed many vampires, saved many lives and lived many other dangerous, dark, funny adventures with her family and friends during the seven seasons comprising the series. 

However, Buffy’s story didn’t stop there! The vampire slayer also lived many adventures in the pages of several comic books! Publisher Dark Horse Comics released the first Buffy comic in 1998, as an extension to the television series, but not officially part of the canon. It will continue to do so until 2003, telling parallel adventures of Buffy and the Scooby Gang. 

After that, Dark Horse began producing canonical works with the release of Tales and Frey, joined later by the comic canonical continuation of the TV series that started in 2007. The publisher would go on to release several seasons of Buffy, as well as several spin-offs featuring Angel, Spike, Willow, and more! 

During those years, Dark Horse has not been the only publisher for the franchise, as IDW Publishing obtained the rights to Angel for a time, and published non-canonical works as well as the direct follow-up to the Angel TV Shows. 

After 20 years of publishing stories in the Buffy Universe, the licensing moved on to Boom Studios (2019-2023), and more recently to Dynamite Entertainment (2025-). This article is devoted to the Buffy Comics published by Dark Horse and IDW between 1997 and 2018. 

Buffyverse Comics: The Slayer Menu

The Buffy and Angel Comics Reading Order

Buffy: The Slayer Tales

You can explore those tales of Slayers and Vampires before a rewatch of the series or reading the comics! You can also keep them for later, although we recommend in all cases to read those tales before Buffy season 8 (except for two tales set during this particular season) as they can be considered a primer.

  • Fray
    The story takes place hundreds of years in the future. To read preferably before Tales (as Fray has a story in it).
  • Buffy Omnibus: Tales
    This is a collection of more than 20 short stories featuring different slayers and vampires through time.

    • The last two stories, The Thrill and Carpe Noctem are set after Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #21 and should not be read before

Stake Buffy Reading Order

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Classic

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Classic is the original Buffy comic published by Dark Horse between 1998 and 2003. The ongoing series explores events set before and during the TV show. It has been collected in two editions, offering a different way to rediscover those stories. It also had several spin-off while the first Angel comic series run parallel to it for a time, between 1999 and 2001.

Buffy/Angel Legacy Edition, the publication order

The Legacy Edition is a 2020-2021 collection from Boom Entertainment that reprints the Buffy The Vampire Slayer comic series in order of publication.

  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer Legacy Edition, Book 1
    Set during the third season. Collects Buffy The Vampire Slayer #1-10 (Dark Horse Comics), as well as the MacGuffins, Dance with Me, Rogues Gallery, Hello Moon, Cursed, Dead Love, Play with Fire (parts 1-3).
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer Legacy Edition, Book 2
    Set during the third season. Collects Buffy the Vampire Slayer #11-19 (Dark Horse Comics), as well as the short stories Stinger, Play with Fire (parts 4–6), The Latest Craze, Bad Dog, Killing Time.
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer Legacy Edition, Book 3
    After the third season finale. Collects Buffy The Vampire Slayer #20-29 and Angel #15 (Dark Horse Comics), as well as the miniseries Haunted.
  • Angel Legacy Edition Book One
    Set during Angel seasons 1 and 2. Collects issues Angel #1-9 (Dark Horse series), as well as Angel: The Hollower, “Point of Order”, and Lovely, Dark and Deep.
  • Angel Legacy Edition Book Two
    Set during the first two seasons of Angel. Collects Angel #11-17, Buffy the Vampire Slayer #29-30, Angel: Long Night’s Journey #1-4, along with stories from Dark Horse Extra.
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer Legacy Edition, Book 4
    Set during the sixth season. Collects Buffy The Vampire Slayer #30-39 and Angel #16 (Dark Horse Comics), as well as Punish Me with Kisses and Spike and Dru: Who Made Who?
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer Legacy Edition, Book 5
    Set during the fifth and sixth seasons. Collects Buffy the Vampire Slayer #39-50 (Dark Horse Comics), as well as the short stories Willow & Tara: Demonology Menagerie, Rock ‘N Roll All Night, Mall Rats and Angels We Have Seen on High.
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer Legacy Edition, Book 6
    Go back to the summer of 1996, before Buffy Summers arrived in Sunnydale. Collects Buffy The Vampire Slayer #51-63.

Buffy/Angel Dark Horse Omnibus Collection and The High School Years

Dark Horse reprinted all things Buffy from this period in a paperback omnibus collection that puts everything in chronological order. It begins at the beginning: with the adaptation of Joss Whedon’s original screenplay for the film and goes all the way to stories set during seasons 5 and 6.

  • Buffy Omnibus Vol. 1
    Take place before Buffy’s arrival in Sunnydale. Collects the one-shot Spike and Dru: All’s Fair, The Origin miniseries, and Buffy #51-59.

Buffy: The High School Years! In 2016-2017, Dark Horse Comics delivered some new action for Buffy and the Scooby Gang with the Buffy: The High School Years comic, consisting of three stories and one short story (collected in the Season Twelve Library Edition). The action is set during season 1, more precisely between The Harvest and Angel episodes.

  • Buffy Omnibus Vol. 2
    From before season one to the beginning of season 3. Collects Buffy the Vampire Slayer #60-63, the short stories “Angels We Have Seen on High” and “MacGuffins”, the one-shots Spike and Dru: The Queen of Hearts and Paint the Town Red, the graphic novels Ring of Fire and The Dust Waltz.
  • Buffy Omnibus Vol. 3
    During season 3. Collects Buffy the Vampire Slayer #1-8, #12, 16 and the short stories “Dance with Me” “Play with Fire,” “The Latest Craze.”
  • Buffy Omnibus Vol. 4
    Through the end of season 3. Collects Buffy the Vampire Slayer #9-11, #13-15, #17-20, the complete miniseries Angel: The Hollower, a one-shot, and six short stories.
  • Buffy Omnibus Vol. 5
    Start right after the end of season 3 and goes into season 4. Collects Buffy the Vampire Slayer #21–28, the miniseries Haunted and Oz, and the two short stories “Take Back the Night” and “Killing Time”.
  • Buffy Omnibus Vol. 6
    During Seasons 4 & 5. Collects Buffy the Vampire Slayer #29–38, Angel #15-16, four one-shots and three short stories.
  • Angel Omnibus
    During season 1 and one story during season 2 of Angel. Collects Angel #1-14, #17, the complete Long Night’s Journey miniseries and three other stories. Angel #15-16 are part of the crossover Past Lives with Buffy and collected in Buffy Omnibus Vol. 6 (above!)
  • Buffy Omnibus Vol. 7
    During seasons 5 and 6. Collects Buffy the Vampire Slayer #39–50, the miniseries Willow & Tara: Wilderness, three one-shots, and the  short story “Spike in ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll All Night (and Sleep Every Day)'”.

Stake Buffy Reading Order

Angel The IDW Years

IDW obtained the rights to publish Angel comics in 2005 and started to release mini-series and one-shot set during and after season 5 — generally considered non-canon. 

Following the success of Buffy’s season 8 at Dark Horse, Joss Whedon collaborated with writer Brian Lynch (Spike: Asylum) to plot a continuation of the Angel series with After the Fall that lasted 17 issues. After this particular saga, the Angel series with Whedon only overseeing the project (making the canon status of the rest more ambiguous).

Before the end of Angel

After acquiring the Angel comic licence, IDW released comic book adaptations of TV episodes, several miniseries taking place at different moments in time, and some one-shots. It also published several Spike stories, including Asylum and Shadow Puppets. While not part of the official canon, those two stories are often taken into account as they introduced characters that appear later.

  • Spike: Into The Light
    Written by James Marsters. Set near the beginning of season 7 of Buffy, although it fits well here.
  • Angel Omnibus Vol. 1 
    Collects Angel: The Curse, Angel: Old Friends, Angel: Spotlight, and Angel: Auld Lang Syne.

    • Most of those stories are set during or after Angel season 5.
  • Angel Omnibus Vol. 2
    This omnibus collects adaptations of several episodes from season 5, which include:

  • Angel Masks #1
    Halloween Anthology featuring 4 stories, two of them uncollected.
  • Spike Omnibus
    Collects the miniseries Spike vs. Dracula, Spike: Asylum, and Spike: Shadow Puppets, as well as three Spike one-shots.

    • Spike Vs. Dracula spans from before the show to the end of Angel season 5 (before After the Fall) and can be companion piece to the Dracula vs. Buffy episode (5×01).
    • Spike: Asylum and Shadow Puppets set up elements for the characters before After the Fall.

Angel: After The Fall and Beyond

The official follow-up to the Angel series starts here! Set after Angel’s conclusion but before the start of Buffy season 8, After the Fall explores how Angel copes after the apocalyptic event and how he tries to rescue people he has sworn to protect. Brian Lynch’s run (plotted with Joss Whedon) lasted 17 issues. IDW then extended the Angel series, with other writers and artists (generally considered not canon). IDW also released several spin-offs during this period, mostly focused on Spike and Illyria. 

Stake Buffy Reading Order

Buffy Post-TV Show Era

Following the series finale, Dark Horse officially expanded the world of Buffy in Comic book form with a continuation of the story, considered canon. If you haven’t yet read Fray and the other Tales, this is the perfect moment to do it, as the character and part of the mythology will come into play!

In the end, 5 comic seasons were produced, as well as several spin-offs and one-shots that you can collect in hardcover or paperbacks.

Buffy The Library Edition

Released by Dark Horse and Boom! Studios, The Library Edition is a hardcover collection that collects most of the canon Buffy Post-TV Show era (Angel and Faith Season 10 has not been reprinted in this format).

Buffy Post-TV Show Trade Paperback

Buffy Season 8 Comics

Set a year and a half after season 7, continuing where the series left off with the Slayer, her friends, and their ongoing challenge to fight the forces of darkness. Behind the scenes, with many issues written by Joss Whedon and other Buffy writers.

Buffy/Angel & Faith Season 9 Comics

In late 2011, the Angel comic licence returned to Dark Horse Comics, allowing them to integrate the vampire and his gallery of characters into this new Buffy season. The publisher launched “Angel & Faith”, with Christos Gage as the main writer, running parallel to Buffy and considered also “season 9”, as well as several mini-series and shorts.

Buffy/Angel & Faith Season 10 Comics

After his work on the last season of Angel & Faith, Gage took over writing duties on Buffy (with Nicholas Brendon) for the tenth season, while Victor Gischler, who previously wrote Spike: A Dark Place, continued Angel and Faith’s story. 

Buffy/Angel Season 11 Comics

 Christos Gage continued his work on Buffy for a short season 11, while Angel was going solo again under  Corinna Bechko’s pen. In parallel, Giles headlined his own miniseries, from Erika Alexander and Joss Whedon. 

Buffy Season 12 Comics

It all culminates in the twelfth and final season of Buffy! As 20th Century Studios was taking the Buffy license back, the Dark Horse era came to an end with a four-issue miniseries, written by Christos Gage and Joss Whedon and illustrated by Georges Jeanty.

After the Dark Horse Comics era of Buffy concluded, a new chapter started at Boom Studios, with a Buffy reboot telling an alternate version of the original series for a few years that you can explore with our Buffy Boom Studios Reading Guide. It has been recently announced that Dynamite Entertainment has obtained the license and will release new Buffy and Angel comics, both written by Kelly Thompson.

Note: An earlier version of this guide appeared on our site in 2021. It has been refreshed and updated with more information, books and new pictures.

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