Suggested reading after Buffy Season 1. It just doesn’t make sense to read stories about Angel before we meet him in the series. And there are some Buffy stories that take place earlier but wouldn’t be great without the show as a foundation. Thus, Interlude: Buffy & Angel. All of these stories take place chronologically before the first episode, but make much more sense to read after the first season. Of course, the movie isn’t really canon, but we have the pleasure of being able to see the Joss Whedon’s origin as an adaptation of the screenplay (which I’m putting in this interlude because, well, I think it fits).

I created this page because I wanted a simple reference that showed all the Buffy and Angel Episodes, along with all the comics, and maybe some of the books – and their nominal viewing/reading order.

Contents: Jim’s Analytical and Comprehensive Order for Buffy
Full Chronology at the Buffyverse Wiki // Optimal Viewing Order: Buffy/Angel Episode Watching Guide

Trade Paperback	Title	Interlude: Buffy & Angel
		Buffy
	Buffy: The Origin	Timeframe: Spring 1996. The end of Buffy’s freshman year of high school at Hemery High School in Los Angeles. TPB: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus v1 (Dark Horse, 2007) Origin: The Origin Dark Horse 3-part mini (1999) Notes: This is the intro to Buffy – based on Joss Whedon’s script for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Buffy is telling the story to Xander and Willow, sometime in the spring of 1997, one year after it happened.
	MacGuffins	Timeframe: Summer 1997. TPB: Buffy Omnibus v. 2 Origin: Dark Horse Presents Annual 1998 Dark Horse (1998) Notes: A fun, quick story taking place during the summer of 1997 between Seasons 1 and 2, while Buffy is staying at her dad’s house in LA.
		Angel
	Angel vs. Frankenstein: The Heir	Timeframe: 1800. (Geneva) TPB: Angel: The John Byrne Collection (IDW, 2011)  Origin: Angel vs. Frankenstein: The Heir IDW one shot (2009)  Notes: That was an interesting story! This is, of course, about 100 years before Angelus becomes Angel. I thought it was going to be kind of hokey, but it wasn’t. I guess when I think of Frankenstein, I see the movie in my head, not the book. (The story starts off with the line, “A few weeks ago, the bells of this fabled town rang in a new year, and a new century.” Which puts this in 1800, since Frankenstein came to be in the some time in the century before.)
	Angel: Barbary Coast	Timeframe: 1906. (San Francisco) TPB: Angel: The John Byrne Collection (IDW, 2011)  Origin: Angel: Barbary Coast IDW 3-part mini (2010)  Notes: Less than 10 years after he’s cursed, Angel is in San Francisco trying to cure the guilt that plagues him. He’s not quite yet on the road to redemption. One of the things that I like about these past stories is the history I learn. Apparently, the Barbary Coast was a red-light district in San Francisco that was named after the Barbary Coast of Africa which was known for raids by pirates and slave traders on coastal villages. How do we know the exact year? I won’t spoil it for you.
	Angel: Blood & Trenches	Timeframe: 1915 or 1916. (Paris) TPB: Angel Omnibus v2 (IDW, 2008)  Origin: Angel: Blood & Trenches IDW 4-part mini (2006)  Notes: I realized I know very little about World War I, so I had to do a little research to figure out when this took place. And even who was on which side. It takes place after the war started (which was in 1914) but before the U.S. jumped in (1917). Thus my 1915-1916. Which means, at this point, Angel has been cursed for a little less than 20 years. The story jumps back and forth in time and is a bit hard to follow, but I ultimately liked it. It as interesting to see how (and why) he got involved in the conflict when he was living off of rats in New York City.
	Angel vs. Frankenstein II	Timeframe: Sometime between 1917 and 1920. (New York) TPB: Angel: The John Byrne Collection (IDW, 2011)  Origin: Angel vs. Frankenstein II IDW one shot (2010)  Notes: This take place just a few years after Blood & Trenches. I don’t know how long Angel was in Europe, but the war ended in 1918. If he came right back, this takes place around 1917/1918. If he came back closer to the end of the war, it takes place around 1920. Angel vs. Frankenstein stories are nice bookends to this little Angel interstitial, I think.