The Buffy Comic Project: "A Stake to the Heart, Act 3" [BUFFY]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer # 62
Dark Horse Comics (Volume 1, 1998-2003)

Creators:  Fabian Nicieza (story), Cliff Richards (pencils), Brian Horton (paints), Will Conrad (inks)

Setting: Between Movie & Season 1

TV/Movie Character Appearances:  Buffy, Dawn, Angel, Whistler, Joyce, Giles,

Major Original Characters:  Nil

Summary:  Buffy tries to comfort Dawn about the Summers' family impending move, but the appearance of a Malignancy Demon ("Abandonment") appears.  Buffy confronts the demon in a dream-like setting, and her inner willpower triumphs.  Joyce comes home with the names of four destinations for her new gallery, and Buffy picks one out of a hat: Sunnydale.  Meanwhile, Angel succeeds in casting a spell to force the Malignancy Demons to leave Buffy alone, and the demons get drawn to the nearest "weirdness magnet": the Hellmouth!

Review

The whole idea of the Malignancy Demons has been a great theme for the final arc of the series.  Abandonment, of course, is what this issue is all about, as Buffy deals with her parents splitting up and an imminent move away from her school, friends, and the only home she's ever really known.  It all sets up Season One quite cleverly, and I'm perfectly willing to accept it as "canon" in my head.  The artwork in this issue is gorgeous, with some fantastic visuals, such as Buffy being pulled into the belly of the demon.  In this penultimate issue of the series, it's good to know they're going out with a bang!

Notes

* Next issue: the final Malignancy Demon, "Trepidation"!

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