Tales of the Slayers

Tales of the Slayers is a Dark Horse Comics Buffy the Vampire Slayer graphic novel that consists of multiple stories written by Joss Whedon, Amber Benson, and others which tell of different members of the Slayer line.

Tales of the Slayers
Book Cover
Publication information
Publisher	Dark Horse Comics
Format	96 pages, full color
Publication date	February 20, 2002[1]
No. of issues	1
Main character(s)	First Slayer Nikki Wood Melaka Fray
Creative team
Created by	Joss Whedon
Written by	Joss Whedon Amber Benson Jane Espenson David Fury Rebecca Rand Kirshner Doug Petrie
Artist(s)	Tim Sale Ted Naifeh P. Craig Russell Steve Lieber Mira Friedman Gene Colan
Penciller(s)	Leinil Francis Yu Karl Moline
Inker(s)	Dexter Vines Andy Owens
Colorist(s)	Dave Stewart Lee Loughridge Lovern Kindzierski Matthew Hollingsworth

The stories are presented in chronological order and offer snapshots of Slayers throughout history, from The First Slayer to Melaka Fray (the Slayer of the future who starred in her own limited comic series). The overarching theme of the graphic novel is on the loneliness and duties of being the Slayer. This is reflected in the juxtaposition of the first line in the first short story ("I am alone"), and the final line in the last ("I am not alone").

This graphic novel was followed by the one-shot comic book Tales of the Slayers: Broken Bottle of Djinn that followed the same concept. Tales of the Slayers and Tales of the Vampires have been collected with "Broken Bottle of Djinn" in a 2011 Hardback collection titled 'Tales'.

Publication

Title	Writer	Artist	Image
Description
"Prologue"	Joss Whedon	Leinil Francis Yu & Dexter Vines
Follows the prehistoric First Slayer, as she is rejected by her African village and instructed to fight alone.
"Righteous"	Joss Whedon	Tim Sale
A Slayer operating within a walled medieval town during a period of witch-hunts. The Slayer heroically fends off a large-scale attack of vampires, but is burned at the stake afterwards by the very people she saved. Her Watcher, a friar, can do nothing but watch. The story ends as the Watcher lets the vampires into the town, which has no one left to save it.
"The Innocent"	Amber Benson	Ted Naifeh
Claudine the Slayer is used by her Watcher lover to kill a Parisian aristocrat during the French Revolution of 1789.
"Presumption"	Jane Espenson	P. Craig Russell
Elizabeth Weston encounters a vampire at an aristocratic ball in Somersetshire, England 1813.
"The Glittering World"	David Fury	Steve Lieber
Navajo Slayer Naayeeneizghani travels across the American West in a tale told to Richard Wilkins, who plans on buying the land where it happened (and naming it Happydale or Sunny Acres).
"Sonnenblume"	Rebecca Rand Kirshner	Mira Friedman
Anni, a member of the League of German Girls in 1938 Nuremberg, contemplates the true nature of evil as Kristallnacht dawns for her Jewish neighbours.
"Nikki Goes Down!"	Doug Petrie	Gene Colan
Nikki Wood sets out to avenge the death of her cop boyfriend on the mean streets of 1970s New York City.
"Tales"	Joss Whedon	Karl Moline & Andy Owens
Fray discovers a former Watcher’s sanctuary and records of her Slayer forebears in 23rd century New York, realizing that while she is the only one in the world, she is not alone. When Fray is next seen in "Time of Your Life" (Season Eight), the Sanctuary is depicted as Fray's main base of operations.

See also

• Tales of the Slayers: Broken Bottle of Djinn one-shot comic book
• Tales of the Vampires comic book limited series

References

1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Tales of the Slayers TPB :: Profile :: Dark Horse Comics, Retrieved on 2012-07-18.

External links

• Tales of the Slayers at Dark Horse Comics