I began work on this list for myself because as I was collecting the comics, I was really wondering what the best watching*/reading order would be for all the Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel episodes. Also, I wanted to have a complete list of all the Buffy comic stories and where I could find them. Note that the nominal reading order of the stories isn’t always chronological** in case you’re wondering why sometimes things are out of order.
In the individual lists (click on seasons and interludes in the Links column), I include the timeframe each story is supposed to happen (mainly in reference to the year and to the shows), where and when the story was first printed, and (if a comic story) the best TPB(s)*** to find it. Trades are pictured in the separate tables for each season in case you are looking for the most complete way to get all of these stories.
As you can see, I’m only getting started with this list. I’ve completed the first two seasons of Buffy, the last season of Angel, and Angel: After the Fall. I’ve started work on others, but we’ll just see how they pan out.
I hope this enhances your enjoyment of Buffy and Angel!
| Links | Notes (Information Key at the bottom) | |
|---|---|---|
| Buffy Season 1 | Timeframe: 1996-1997. TPBs: The comics stories during this season take place in the 3 High School Years comics (and the Free Comic Book Day comic) Notes: Just a few comics in this one. I don’t include comics that take place prior to the show because I didn’t think it made sense to include stories before being introduced to the characters. So take a look later in this table for those stories – as background once we meet them. | |
| Interlude: Buffy & Angel | Timeframe: 1800-1997. TPBs: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus v1, Angel Omnibus v2, Angel: The John Byrne Collection Notes: Even though they take place prior to Buffy Season 1, these stories really won’t make a lot of sense until we’re somewhat familiar with the Buffyverse and the characters within. But really, its just a few stories about Buffy and Angel. (Other early stories with other characters will be shown later.) | |
| Buffy Season 2 | Timeframe: 1997-1998. TPBs: Tales, Tales of the Vampires, Buffy Omnibus v2 Notes: Just a few comics during this season, too. The Stake Your Destiny gamebooks take place during this season, and I was able to find a few, so I included them. | |
| Interlude: Spike & Dru | Timeframe: 1933-1998. TPBs: Buffy Omnibus v1, Buffy Omnibus v2 Notes: A couple of comic stories. One takes place summer of 1998 right after Buffy Season 2. The other is an older Spike & Dru story which makes sense to read after we’ve been introduced to them in Season 2. | |
| Buffy Season 3 | Timeframe: 1998-1999. TPBs: Notes: | |
| Interlude: Summer 1999 | Timeframe: 1999. TPBs: Notes: | |
| Buffy Season 4 / Angel Season 1 | Timeframe: 1999-2000. TPBs: Notes: | |
| Interlude: Doyle | Timeframe: . TPBs: Notes: | |
| Buffy Season 5 / Angel Season 2 | Timeframe: 2000-2001. TPBs: Notes: | |
| Interlude: Dawn & Gunn | Timeframe: Summer 1996 TPBs: Buffy Omnibus v1, Buffy Omnibus v2, Angel: The End Notes: | |
| Buffy Season 6 / Angel Season 3 | Timeframe: 2001-2002. TPBs: Notes: | |
| Buffy Season 7 / Angel Season 4 | Timeframe: 2002- August 2003. TPBs: Notes: | |
| Interlude: Tales | Timeframe: . TPBs: Notes: I think this is a really good time to read this. | |
| Angel Season 5 | Timeframe: September 2003 – May 2004. TPBs: Angel Omnibus v1, Angel Omnibus v2 , Spike Omnibus, Angel: The End, Angel: Smile Time (collection), Angel: Masks, Fallen Angel: Reborn Notes: The end of the first episode takes place 3 weeks after the final episode of Buffy. Maybe September 2003, putting the end of Buffy at about August 2003. | |
| Angel: After the Fall | Timeframe: May 2004 – 2005. TPBs: Angel Season 6 v1, Angel Season 6 v2, Angel: The End, Angel Omnibus v1, Angel Omnibus v2, Angel: The John Byrne Collection, Illyria: Haunted Notes: These stories start with the end of Angel Season 5 (May 2004) and go through 2005. | |
| Buffy Season 8 | Timeframe: 2006. TPBs: Notes: | |
| Buffy Season 9 / Angel/Faith | Timeframe: 2006-2007. TPBs: Notes: | |
| Buffy Season 10 / Angel Season 10 | Timeframe: 2008. TPBs: Notes: | |
| Buffy Season 11 / Angel Season 11 | Timeframe: 2008-2009. TPBs: Notes: | |
| Buffy Season 12 | Timeframe: 2011. TPBs: Notes: | |
| Future Stories | Timeframe: . TPBs: Notes: | |
| Alternate Timelines | Timeframe: . TPBs: Notes: | |
| Information Key | This is the information I include in the tables for all the stories that are interspersed between the Buffy and Angel episodes. Timeframe: Basic timeframe that the story falls in. I generally don’t have much more info than this when I list the TV episodes, but I add the information (TPB/Origin/Notes) below for the comics stories. TPB: The best place to find the story in a trade paperback or collection. To make these easier to find, I try to stick to the bigger collections and omnibuses. Origin: Original printing of each story. Notes: Other interesting pieces of information. Sometimes my take on the story. |
*If you want just the viewing order, or want to check out the original viewing order this is based on, take look at the Buffy/Angel Episode Watching Guide over at the Buffyfest Blog. I really like this order, because it allows you to stay with the same show as much as possible (great if you have a bingeing habit)!
**If you want a full chronology, check out the Chronology at the Buffyverse Wiki – a comprehensive chronology of everything Buffy. This is an excellent resource and where I started from, but I needed something more streamlined without all the flashback info or all of the novels I might not get around to reading. Plus, it’s not always best to do things in chronological order:
- If there are spoilers in a comic story, I will put the comic as a prequel or flashback for reading after the episode(s) it could spoil (e.g., the comics story Codename: Comrades would chronologically take place prior to the Buffy episode Superstar, but it wouldn’t make sense and would spoil the episode, so I reverse the order).
- There are several stories that are more fun or interesting to read after you’ve got some experience with the series (e.g., the Tales interlude).
- Finally, I thought it made sense to wait read the history in older stories of characters after you meet them on the show (e.g., older Angelus stories are listed after Season 1 since you have already been introduced to the character and know who he is).
***Trade Paperbacks. If you’re new to comics, this term has slightly different meaning than in the regular book world. In the comics world, trade paperbacks (sometimes referred to as TPBs or trades) are collections of previously published stories. I show the trade that contains each story for people wanting to read and collect the stories; it’s hard enough to collect all the TPBs that include the all the comics stories, but actually finding the original comics would be near impossible without unlimited time and resources.
j manchester 