[Featured image is a Buffy cross-stitch created by my friend, Elin Malmqvist, after we bonded over the series during the pandemic]
In every generation there is a chosen one. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer.
Twenty-five years ago today, viewers were welcomed to the Hellmouth in the premiere episode of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. To say that a part of me has stayed in the fictional town of Sunnydale would be an understatement. I have watched and re-watched the series too many times to count, listened to podcasts about it, read comics and novels set in the Buffyverse, and documented my love for the show and my déjà viewing experiences of it in both fan art and academic work.
Over the course of the series’ seven-season run, Buffy Summers encountered monsters representational of different aspects of the human experience and set an example for viewers to persevere in the face of adversity. I watched the entire series as it aired, through the end of my sophomore year in high school, and I return to it often in times of transition or uncertainty—after I graduated from college, when I moved to South Korea, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The series has always been a reliable source of comfort, levity, and above all, hope.
To celebrate its anniversary, I’ve decided to share the full PDF of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Zine (2020).
The project is a mixture of comics and character drawings with scenes mostly from seasons 1-3. Some of the pages feature lyrics from songs from the podcast Buffering the Vampire Slayer.
I hope you enjoy it!
nerdbove 