Tales of the Vampires

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format = 144 pages, full color
publisher = Dark Horse Comics
date = December 25, 2004
issues = "Tales of the Vampires #1-5"
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"Tales of the Vampires" is a five issue American comic book limited series (later collected in a single trade paperback), published by Dark Horse Comics and set in the Buffyverse. It comprises an anthology of short stories written by Joss Whedon, Jane Espenson, Ben Edlund, and Drew Goddard. Each story tells the tale of one or more Buffyverse vampires, and the otherwise unrelated collection is strung together by a bridging story written by Whedon.

"Some Like it Hot"

*Story by: Sam Loeb
*Pencils and inks: Tim Sale
*Originally appeared in: Tales of the Vampires #5
*Setting: Early 19th Century
*Synopsis:

::A vampire seeks fun in the sun through some unusual surgery.

"Jack"

*Story by: Brett Matthews
*Pencils and inks: Vatche Mavlian
*Originally appeared in: "Tales of the Vampires" #2
*Setting: 1888, November
*Synopsis:

::The story opens up in late 1888 London with another crime being reported to police Superintendent Mallory. Inspector Whitcomb is on Jack's case but holds a secret of his own.

"Tales of the Vampires"

*Story by: Joss Whedon
*Pencils: Alex Sanchez
*Inks: Derek Fridolfs
*Colors: Michelle Madsen
*Originally appeared in: "Tales of the Vampires" #1-5
*Setting: Early 20th Century
*Synopsis:

::The anthology is presented as a series of stories told by an ancient vampire to a group of young Watchers. "Tales of the Vampires" is the tale of that storytelling session and functions as a bridge among the other items in the anthology.

::At a Victorian Watcher's academy, the instructors are teaching a group of young Watchers about vampires by allowing them to hear tales from a particularly evil vampire captive, Roche.

"Father"

*Story by: Jane Espenson
*Pencils and inks: Jason Alexander
*Originally appeared in: "Tales of the Vampires" #3
*Setting: 1922 and onwards
*Synopsis:

The tale of a long relationship between a vampire and his human son told over the lifespan of the latter.

"Dames"

*Story by: Brett Matthews
*Pencils and inks by: Sean Phillips
*Originally appeared in: "Drawing on Your Nightmares" (Dark Horse one-shot sample, Oct. 2003)
*Setting: USA, Las Vegas, 1930s
*Synopsis:

A noirish tale in which a gambling vampire meets his match while scouting casinos.

"Dust Bowl"

*Story by: Jane Espenson
*Pencils and inks by: Jeff Parker
*Originally appeared in: "Tales of the Vampires" #4
*Setting: 1933
*Synopsis:

::"Dust Bowl" opens up with young Joe Cooper trying to work a barren field that rain hasn't touched. He is soon 'turned' into a vampire, but must face this new experience by himself.

"The Problem with Vampires"

*Story by: Drew Goddard
*Pencils and inks: Paul Lee
*Colors: Michelle Madsen
*Originally appeared in: "Tales of the Vampires" #1
*Setting: Prague, Buffy Season 2
*Synopsis:

::Days before the events of "School Hard", we see how and Spike and Drusilla leave Prague amongst chaos.

::Drusilla has been captured by a human inquisitor and thrown into a Prague jail. The inquisitor proceeds to torture Drusilla in a unique chair built for that purpose in 1478. He hopes Dru will remember the pain forever, serving as a warning to other vampires to stay away from the people of Prague.

::Drusilla tries to recount the things that make her happy, including little girls lost at the fair and little boys wandering too far from home, so that she can forget the torture. Spike is lying imprinted into the ground under the bridge he was thrown from by a Prague mob that shoved a stake into his chest, inches from his heart, not dusting him so that he can flee and warn other vampires to stay away from Prague. He then moves across the city, finds Drusilla, and dispatches her captor.

::Spike picks up a damaged Drusilla and carries her out the door, headed for a first showdown with a Slayer in a town with a Hellmouth called Sunnydale.

"Numb"

*Story by: Brett Matthews
*Pencils and inks: Cliff Richards
*Colors: Michelle Madsen
*Originally appeared in: "Tales of the Vampires" #5
*Setting: USA, Sunnydale, Buffy Season 3
*Synopsis:

::Fleshes out some brief events that happened to Angel, as he controls his evil side during "Amends".

"Stacy"

*Story by: Joss Whedon
*Pencils and inks: Cameron Stewart
*Color assist: Chip Zdarsky
*Originally appeared in: "Tales of the Vampires" #1
*Setting: USA
*Synopsis:

::A young teenage vampire named Stacy explains how, whilst human, she was enchanted by the idea of magic. Stacy's tale starts with her explaining that she is different and special because she understands magic. As she tries to explain this to her two friends, Jason and Dwayne, during a Lord of the Rings showing that captivates her, we learn that she remains isolated in her beliefs.

::After the movie, in her vision of magic she is an elf princess, battling orcs. In reality, she spends time battling her friend Jason's unwanted advances. Stacy again reminds us that most people think her magic is silly, but then surprises us by stating that most people have never been murdered either. We are then taken through Stacy's siring at a party from which she rises up after two days in the bushes. No one found her in all that time.

::This young girl then becomes connected--"evil, but connected". She finally realises that the magic lies not with the solitary elves, but with the orc hordes, the monsters. She claims her magic with a band of other vampires.

"Spot the Vampire"

*Story by: Jane Espenson
*Pencils and inks: Scott Morse
*Originally appeared in: "Tales of the Vampires" #2
*Setting: USA, New York
*Synopsis:

::Spot the Vampire is a poem punctuated. The artwork is influenced by 1950s style children's magazine games and New Yorker magazines. The story is simply a single frame from a 1950's-looking department store on Christmas shopping day. The reader is then invited to look at each person in the frame to discover which is the vampire.

"Taking Care of Business"

*Story by: Ben Edlund
*Pencils: Ben Edlund
*Inks: Derek Fridolfs
*Colors: David Nestelle
*Letters: Annie Parkhouse
*Originally appeared in: "Tales of the Vampires" #4
*Setting: USA
*Synopsis:

::This story is about a vampire from the 15th century who was formerly an inquisitor. He has become maddened over the centuries and believes that the clergy should be killed because they are too 'certain' that God exists and that God prefers doubt. He thinks that he is an agent of God - until one night when he is buying candy at a gas station in San Gabriel.

::A confrontation of minds ensues between the vampire and a dog-collared man who claims to be God.

"Antique"

*Story by: Drew Goddard
*Pencils and inks by: Ben Stenbeck
*Originally appeared in: "Tales of the Vampires" #3
*Setting: Europe
*Synopsis:

::Buffy, Kira, and another scythe-activated Slayer break into the stronghold of the legendary vampire, Vlad Dracula, in an effort to rescue Buffy's comrade, Xander who had been placed in a trance to serve as Dracula's manservant. After a brief battle, Dracula finally reluctantly agrees to release Xander from the trance and return him to Buffy.

Canonical issues

:main|Buffyverse canonBuffy comics, with the exception of Season Eight, which is the eighth season of the television show and is only available in comic form, are not usually considered by fans as canonical. However not only was this published as official Buffy merchandise, but the stories were written by members of Mutant Enemy Productions, specifically Ben Edlund, Jane Espenson, Drew Goddard, Doug Petrie, and Joss Whedon. Events from "Tales of the Vampires" and "Tales of the Slayers" are followed up in Season Eight, confirming their canonicity.

Trivia

*The bridging story, "Tales of the Vampires", is particularly noteworthy in that it features the first and only appearance of Edna Fairweather, the grandmother of Buffy's Watcher Rupert Giles.
*"Antique" marks the first appearance of Buffy and Xander following "Chosen", the final episode of the television series.

Cover artists

* "Tales of the Vampires #1" cover - John Totleben, Dave Stewart
* "Tales of the Vampires #2" cover - Ben Templesmith
* "Tales of the Vampires #3" cover - Eric Powell
* "Tales of the Vampires #4" cover - Ben Edlund
* "Tales of the Vampires #5" cover - Brian Horton

ee also

*"Tales of the Slayers". This offers a similar anthology of stories covering assorted Slayers throughout history.