Buffy the Vampire Slayer #2
Buffy the Vampire Slayer #2 is the second chapter of the first ongoing comics series built around the then-red-hot television property, and it establishes the template for what Dark Horse's 63-issue Classic run would do for years: transplanting the full Scooby Gang — Buffy, Willow, Xander, Giles, Cordelia, Oz, and Joyce Summers — into original Sunnydale adventures that ran parallel to the broadcast seasons. The issue's Halloween-set story introduces the vampire Selke, who becomes the first recurring antagonist original to the comics, threading a consequential multi-issue arc through the early numbers and proving the series could sustain narrative continuity beyond single-issue episodes. In doing so, issue #2 helped demonstrate that a licensed TV tie-in comic could carry the voice and ensemble dynamics of its source material while building its own mythology — a model the franchise would refine all the way through the canonical Season 8–12 continuation.
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The series launched in September 1998 while Buffy was midway through its third television season, with writer Andi Watson and artist Joe Bennett (inked by Rick Ketcham) tapped to bring the cast to the page. Editorial duties fell to Ben Abernathy and Scott Allie — Allie would go on to become one of the longest-serving stewards of the Buffyverse at Dark Horse. Issue #2, published October 28, 1998, brought in Chris Bachalo and Tim Townshed for the painted art cover, a notable guest contributor whose work gave the issue visual distinction from the photo-cover variant. Storylines for the Classic run required approval from both Fox and Joss Whedon as part of the broader Buffy licensing framework, situating the comic firmly within a supervised but non-canonical expanded universe.
Trivia · 7 facts
- Written by Andi Watson; pencils by Joe Bennett; inks by Rick Ketcham; colors by Guy Major; letters by Janice Chiang.
- Cover (art edition) by Chris Bachalo & Tim Townshed; a photo-cover variant using a Season 2 promotional image montaged by Dave Stewart also exists.
- Story centers on a Halloween night in Sunnydale: a surge of vampire murders leads Buffy to rescue Willow from a nest of vampires in a 'Spooky House.'
- Full cast appearance: Buffy Summers, Willow Rosenberg, Xander Harris, Rupert Giles, Cordelia Chase, Oz, Joyce Summers, and Principal Snyder (cameo).
- Introduces the vampire Selke (along with Vezina, Hart, and Norris), who survives the Halloween encounter and returns as the primary antagonist of issue #3 ('Cold Turkey'), making this the seed of the first multi-issue arc in the Classic series.
- Collected in the first Dark Horse trade paperback of the ongoing series, The Remaining Sunlight (1999), alongside issues #1 and #3 and Dark Horse Presents Annual '98.
- Later reprinted in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Legacy Edition Book 1 (Boom! Entertainment, 2020), which collects issues #1–10 in publication order.
Cast · 7 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Willow goes missing on Halloween and Buffy must rescue her from a nest of vampires.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).