Books in Buffy, the Vampire Slayer , No 4 series

The cult-favorite television series from creator Joss Whedon continues in comics with Season 10, where Buffy and the Scoobies are rewriting the rules of magic and monsters . . .While slaying the zompires that have overrun a small California town, Buffy and her pals are shocked to discover another new kind of vampire: harder to kill, able to transform, and walk in the light of day--like Dracula . . . If that weren't enough, the rules of magic are literally being rewritten in the Vampyr book. The crew attempts to restore the status quo, all while Xander is the victim of a haunting, his relationship with Dawn begins to crumble, and Dracula himself enters the picture. Then when the Vampyr book goes missing--now a highly coveted item--Buffy and the Scoobies head for what might be a disaster in Sunnydale where Andrew is up to his good/bad/old tricks again. As everyone feels the responsibility of protecting the book and writing the new magical rules, they are tempted by what new rules can do for them . . . just like the Big Bads who have come knocking on Buffy's door!Writers Christos Gage (Angel & Faith) and Buffy star Nicholas Brendon team with artist Rebekah Isaacs (Angel & Faith) to take on the Slayer and her teammates in her tenth season; they're joined by guest artists Richard Corben (Hellboy), Karl Moline (Fray), and Cliff Richards (Dollhouse)!This oversized Library edition collects the materials from Buffy Season 10 Volume 1 and Volume 2 softcovers, along with all the comic book covers, and an expanded sketchbook section.

From L.A. Times best-selling author Nancy Holder comes a new, original adventure featuring the cast of both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. In his first year in Los Angeles, Angel, the vampire with a soul, came across an inter-dimensional hunter named Jhiera. The seductive woman was only trying to protect other females in her culture from being stripped of their emotions -- intense emotions that gave them dominance over men. Angel fell victim to her heat, but Jhiera had to return to her own dimension. Now "She" is back and searching for a lost young woman who may be the key to unleashing an inter-dimensional war -- a war that will be led by a powerful sorcerer, determined to free China's terra-cotta army of fierce samurai from their long imprisonment.... There exists a hell dimension that is very much like the Ninth Circle of Hell that Dante Alighieri described in The Inferno. It is a frozen, desolate place, and the souls of the damned are buried in vast sheets of ice. Evil beings from many different dimensions have been sent there. The descendants of the imprisoned are chipping away at the barriers that separate the dimensions, hoping to free those trapped in the ice, so that they may return and claim this world for their own. One of these demons is in L.A. searching for Jhiera, hoping to strike a deal that will persuade her to thaw his soldiers -- and dragons -- in exchange for their help overthrowing the Vigories of Oden Tal. But what form will this demonic army take when it arrives in our world? In Sunnydale, Buffy Summers is casting about in her new life -- as school counselor, guardian of Dawn, best friend, keeper of Spike's sanity, and of course as Slayer -- hoping to find something, anything, that will give her back that "finished" feeling. A demonic army with a dragon at its head is so not what she needs right now. And in L.A., Angel and Gunn -- each man pining for a woman he can never have, for a time that will never be what it was -- stumble across a raging battle at a museum. Angel is astonished to see the inter-dimensional fugitive Jhiera again...and to have the same feelings for her come rushing back to the surface. Jhiera escapes, and the Angel Investigations gang starts poking around, trying to discover why the Oden Tal woman was at the museum -- a museum featuring an archaeological exhibit of the terra-cotta army of samurai figurines that were found in a Chinese emperor's tomb. They are a marvel to behold, and both Los Angeles and Sunnydale are lucky enough to host the exhibit. That can't be a coincidence...can it? When the frozen hell dimension is thawed and opened, a demonic army will enter this world through the Hellmouth. The various creatures will occupy the forms of the ready-made army, and a war will be waged.

It's tough being a teenage Slayer. On the verge of failing her junior year -- thanks to annoying Principal Snyder, who seems to be acting even stranger than usual lately -- Buffy agrees to meet with a tutor. Not helping her studies is the fact that lately she's been exhausted, waking up each morning feeling more tired than she did the night before. To make matters even worse, she's tasked with investigating the disappearance of a child...a little girl who happens to have gone missing mere hours before a child vampire surfaced in Sunnydale, accompanied by a wheelchair-bound male who fits Spike's description perfectly. Fighting off exhaustion and uneasy at the prospect of staking a child vamp, Buffy learns that Principal Snyder is the target of a sleep-deprivation spell that has taken over Sunnydale. Putting aside her fear that her tutor is out to get her, and hoping that the sleeping spell is affecting both humans and demons, Buffy investigates Snyder's odd behavior. She follows him to his childhood home to discover that he has arranged to have his abusive mother banished to the demon dimension. Meanwhile, Drusilla, who has been playing mother figure to the child vampire, is learning how difficult it is to be a parent. As sleep takes hold of the citizens of Sunnydale, Buffy begins to realize that unless she breaks the spell soon, the nightmare is just beginning.

DARKNESS AND LIGHT The Creature from the Black Lagoon's less attractive cousin has hit the Sunnydale scene, and Buffy and Co. are all over the new threat. So the Scoobs are stunned, naturally, when members of the Watcher's Council arrive, explaining -- or rather, insisting -- that they've got the matter "under control." Enter Faith. The Council has found a way to spring the rogue-but-repentant Slayer from jail to combat the water beast, and she is enjoying her stint as "the Good One." Buffy, a self-declared independent operator for quite some time, thinks she is going to have to do a little digging. What connection could the Council have to these horrific creatures? There's some soul-searching in store for the Slayer. Even if Buffy is ready to align with the Council, is this a battle worth fighting?

Since the beginning of time, the demonic races have gathered every century to resolve conflicts among them and to determine the course of their future. This centennial event was called the Dark Congress. In the second century b.c., however, the Dark Congress failed to resolve their conflicts. Instead, the Congress ignited into a war that drove wedges between the various demon races from that time until now. And all of it began as a result of Kandida, the great North African river demon, being nearly killed by forces in the Congress and magically entombed in the riverbank. But now, Kandida is free, and for the first time in centuries, the Dark Congress is being called again. All demon races and other varieties of supernatural creatures have been called to gather at the Hellmouth in Providence, Rhode Island. Some gather in hopes of resolution, some in favor of war, and Kandida is tasked to broker a treaty and guide the Congress to peace, wherein everyone might simply agree to disagree. And so the demons gather under a banner of a truce. But the demons still harbor many bitter disagreements with one another. The Congress must have an arbiter of these conflicts, and that someone is Buffy Summers. Buffy is horrified and disgusted to be included. After all, she is not a demon...is she? She knows so little about her powers that she cannot say for certain where they truly spring from. How can she spend so much time wallowing in the darkness without becoming part of it? Can she possibly agree to a truce with all the horrors of the world, and allow them to come Providence without any attempt to stop them? And does she have a choice?

Four tales of the most vile, murderous, and destructive -- not to mention codependent -- couple ever to visit Sunnydale are presented in one volume, covering an entire century of bloodshed, from China in 1900 to Rio in 1999. This 96-page book collects the original Spike and Dru one-shot by TV star James "Spike" Marsters, Christopher Golden, and Ryan Sook, which was heralded by Buffy creator Joss Whedon as the model for future Buffy comics. Also included are the two follow-ups by Golden and artists Sook and Eric Powell, plus the final word on the duo, the 10-page epilogue "Who Made Who?" telling the story of their final farewell in Brazil, refered to but never delved into on the show.

"You never know until you're tested." -- Doyle, "Hero" Since he arrived in Los Angeles, Angel's mission has been to help the helpless. He has saved countless innocents in his city. However, one escaped his grasp: Doyle, the half-demon who came to Angel on a vision quest. Doyle sacrificed himself and in turn reconciled his internal conflict toward his own demonic heritage, leaving Angel and Cordelia to carry on with the good fight. And fight they do. But as the group squares off against evil in the City of Angels, little do they know that back in Sunnydale, trouble is brewing. A shakedown of snitches yields info: Someone other than Buffy has been slaying -- and whoever it is, he or she is strictly after half-breeds, going so far as to lie in wait to attack. It doesn't add up, and the Scoobies are stumped. But back in L.A. the picture becomes clearer when Angel Investigations is visited by an unexpected guest....

THE BIG BAD Since her mother's death, Buffy Summers has had a hard time keeping her chin up. Suddenly finding herself alone and in charge of Dawn is certainly daunting, and being responsible, at the same time, for saving the world...well, it's pressure. And lately the Slayer is feeling bogged down by the little things. Buffy has a toothache, but no dental insurance...as if her financial problems weren't overwhelming enough already. And Anya and Xander are being held hostage in their own home by a plague of ants. Everyone is determined not to sweat the small stuff -- until Spike discovers economy-sized evil wreaking havoc in Weatherly Park. Mini-monsters are perfectly capable of mega-trouble, and in order to stop them, the Slayer's going to have to think...small!

When a zealous devotee of the Master obtains a time-traveling device and dispatches vampire assassins to kill slayers from different periods in history, Buffy and Angel manage to steal the artifact, which provides them a limited window of opportunity to slay the assassins. Original. (Tie-in to the syndicated television series, created by Joss Whedon, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, James Marston, Alyson Hannigan, Nicholas Brendon, & others) (Horror)

As if Ring Day weren't enough to make Buffy Summers anxious (she can't even afford one of the less expensive silver bands), the Slayer has her hands full trying to figure out why an average split-level house in Sunnydale has all the vampires spooked. When she arrives at the library to discuss this new development with Giles, a package he's received from an old folklorist in Russia reveals what's going on: The stars are properly aligned for an attempt to resurrect Koschei the Deathless, a long-dead evil sorcerer. So while her classmates are busy choosing rings to demonstrate their school spirit, Buffy must figure out how to keep someone from reviving Koschei and, should she need to resort to plan B, how to kill him again. A little investigating soon leads Buffy and the gang to the necromancer who originally killed the sorcerer, an immortal Russian sorceress named Yulia Dryanushkina, who can control vampires (which explains their reluctance to pass by her place of residence). When the crew pays Yulia a visit, she assures them that with Willow's assistance, she would be able to kill the sorcerer again should he be revived. Neither Buffy nor Willow are particularly comfortable with aligning themselves with the necromancer, but they have no other choice when, twenty-four hours later, the vampires start behaving strangely . . . and half the senior class goes missing.