Written by Joss Whedon.. need I say more? ( )

I'm a huge Joss Whedon fan and I've seen all of Angel and Buffy, so I may have a different experience of this graphic novel than someone who is unfamiliar with Whedon's version of vampires or his sense of humor. Those who are will, I think, enjoy this version of it. Buffy and Angel make appearances, but the focus is on new vampire stories. Some are better than other, and I particularly enjoyed the one called "Dames." Recommended. ( )

This is a graphic novel with twelve unique vampire stories that fit into the buffyverse continuity. Each tale is framed by one continuous story by Joss Whedon. The stories are by different authors and illustrated by different artists. Some work better than others. My favorites are “Father," "The Problem with Vampires," "Numb" and the story that weaves in and out of the collection, “Tales of the Vampires.”

A group of young watcher trainees listen to a vampire tell the tales gathered in this anthology. The first story, “Father,” is a son remembering his father. I enjoyed “The Problem with Vampires” because two of my favorite vampires are featured, Dru and Spike. “Numb” shows how Angel struggles to keep control of Angelus. The dialog in “Antique” was funny, but I didn’t like how Xander was portrayed ( )

This anthology collection brings together many of the writers of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show to tell new stories in that universe. Instead of focusing on the soi-disant "good guys," however, as in the graphic novel Tales of the Slayers, here we get to experience the stories of the vampires themselves. These aren't as dark as they could be, though; almost all of the vampires gain our sympathy to some degree or another, and some are just plain whacky.

The quality of the stories, probably unsurprising, is uneven, with some being better than others. They span a significant (but still relatively small) amount of time, with stories about the Wild West and Victorian England next to Angel facing the First Evil and Buffy reconfronting Dracula (a plotline that has now been continued even further in the "Season Eight" comic).

The real treat, for me, is Whedon's frame story, focusing on a young Victorian girl, Edna, who as part of her Watcher Academy training is brought face to face with a vampire for the first time. It is she who learns what is necessary from the tales she hears, and by the end of the book she has put even the adults to shame, and we find out she has a destiny which will end up affecting the Scoobies' lives in an unexpected but profound way. ( )