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Most comic book series are ongoing. DC Comics’ Action Comics debuted with Superman as its main character in 1938 and today is at issue No. 859. The Amazing Spider-man is still published since its original appearance in 1963.
Some comics are not as fortunate; however, today we find that some of these old, ended series are only just beginning.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8 (Dark Horse)
Don’t wig out, but I was one of the people with a tear in his eye when the seventh season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer concluded. I was even more devastated the following year when Angel, the spin-off of Buffy, was canceled in its fifth year. The Buffy-verse was over, creator Joss Whedon having moved on to Serenity and writing Astonishing X-Men.
And then Buffy was resurrected — again — for the third time.
Dark Horse began publishing the official Season eight of Buffy recently. Written by Joss Whedon, the Long Way Home trade paperback includes the first five issues.
Every few issues are going to be written by a different author, much like episodes of a TV show, all while having a main story arch.
The current issues are written by Brian K. Vaughan (The Hood, Lost).
The series is essential for fans – unanswered plot threads are tied up, and all your favorite Scoobies are back.
Maybe now we’ll see what happened to vampire cowboy Lyle Gorch!
Badger (IDW Publishing) —
Most super heroes have one secret identity. The Badger has several. Norbert Sykes has multiple personality disorder, and one of his personalities is the comical super hero Badger.
A comical series written by Mike Baron (Nexus), Badger has been published by various publishers in its tenure and was recently revived by IDW Publishing.
IDW has published a one-shot Badger: Bull and will begin publishing a new miniseries Badger Saves the World next month.
Also, for those who want to start reading the series, IDW will release the previous series in trade paperback form.
Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future (Titan Books & Virgin Comics)
We colonists may not know who this character is. Dan Dare was a British comic book character printed in the comic strip magazine Eagle during the ’50s.
A pilot in the Interplanet Space Fleet, Dare pilots rocket ships in the futuristic ’90s.
Fighting the green, large-headed alien, The Mekon, Dare’s exploits take him and his companions to many adventures in space.
While the series has been brought back in other series since the original strips, recently, rebel billionaire Sir Richard Branson of the Virgin Group decided to have writer Garth Ennis (The Boys, Preacher) write a new series with Dan Dare through Virgin Comics just because he can.
But the old still holds a certain majesty.
As Ennis told Variety Magazine, “Dan Dare is the quintessential British hero. He’s our Captain America, our Superman, our Batman; he’s all of them rolled into one.”
Titan Books offers hardback collector’s editions of Dare’s reprinted stories, and while they may seem cliché and outdated by some, they are still a testament to the past’s dream of the future and good, old-fashioned escapist fun.
Matt can be reached at buzz.comics@gmail.com
Check out more at blogs.the217.com/capes
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