A Stake to the Heart, Part One

The subject of this article is non-canonical.
While created as part of licensed material, it has not been confirmed as part of the "real" Buffyverse continuity.

A Stake to the Heart, Part One

Publication

August 27, 2003

Length

22 pages

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Classic #60

← Previous	Next →
Slayer, Interrupted, Part Four	A Stake to the Heart, Part Two

A Stake to the Heart, Act One: Deceit is the sixtieth issue of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Classic comic book series. It was written by Fabian Nicieza and illustrated by Cliff Richards, with painted pages by Brian Horton. It was originally published on August 27, 2003, by Dark Horse Comics.

Synopsis[]

Buffy Summers has faced vampires, demons and monsters but now she must face the scariest thing of all: the divorce of her parents! But with divorce comes all the bad feelings attached to it, for all the members of the family, and those bad feelings take on physical shapes. No vampire is safe as the tortured young Slayer takes her anger and frustrations to the streets of L.A. All the while she is being closely watched by the mysterious vampire with a soul, Angel.^[1]

Summary[]

This article needs a plot summary.

Continuity[]

This story includes the false memories around Dawn, before she was created in "Buffy vs. Dracula."
Buffy, Dawn, and Joyce are yet to move to Sunnydale, making this story previous to the series' debut episode "Welcome to the Hellmouth."
Angel recalls siring Garner Sidle, from The Big Fold.
Dawn mentions reading Buffy's diary (Slayer, Interrupted, Part One), but only now she discovers her sister really is the Slayer.
Giles complains about Sunnydale's bright weather, as he would do again in "Teacher's Pet."
The taxi driver says the mayor of Sunnydale is related to its founder; in "Enemies," the Scooby Gang" will discover that Richard Wilkins and Richard Wilkins III are the same person.
Buffy asks her father if the divorce was because of her; in "Nightmares," her fear will manifest as Hank saying it was indeed because of her.

Appearances[]

Individuals[]

Angel
Francesca
Rupert Giles
Alexander Harris
Jesse McNally
Willow Rosenberg
Garner Sidle (Only in flashbacks)
Buffy Summers
Dawn Summers
Hank Summers
Joyce Summers
Whistler
Richard Wilkins (Only mentioned)
Malignancy demon of deceit
Malignancy demon of guilt

Organizations and titles[]

Powers That Be (Only mentioned)
Slayer
Summers family
Watcher
Wolfram & Hart (Only mentioned)

Species[]

Demon
- Malignancy demon
Half-demon
Human
Vampire

Locations[]

Las Vegas (Only in flashbacks)
Los Angeles
- Le Park
- Summers residence
Sunnydale
- Sunnydale Airport
- Sunnydale High School (Only mentioned)
- University of California, Sunnydale (Only mentioned)

Objects[]

Blood
Cross
Holy water
Mister Gordo
Orb of Alhambra
Stake

Death count[]

Two vampires, staked by Buffy.

Behind the scenes[]

Production[]

The photo cover has a promotional picture for Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 1.
After Viva Las Buffy! and Slayer, Interrupted, this story is part of the third book of the "Buffy: Year One" trilogy, the last stories of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Classic, about Buffy as a Slayer before her arrival in Sunnydale.^[2]
Editor Scott Allie declared about this title: "We entered into [the final part of the 'Year One' storyline] knowing it was going to be the end of the monthly series. The TV show was ending, we'd just done a series in a mental institution [in the arc 'Slayer, Interrupted'], and we all felt we were doing the best work the monthly had seen. Our disappointment with having the book end was reflected in the extremely dark storyline."^[2]

Distribution[]

A Stake to the Heart, Part One was the 141st best selling comic issue in its publishing month, with 14,580 sales in August 2003 at comic specialty stores.^[3]

Collections[]

A Stake to the Heart
Omnibus, Volume 2
Classic 7: A Stake to the Heart
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Legacy Edition, Book 6

Pop culture references[]

Whistler says he is not Encyclopedia Brown, referring to the boy detective from the adventure book series Encyclopedia Brown.
An unidentified man plays the computer game Microsoft Solitaire.