The Thrill

Template:BuffyComicBooks Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Tales of the Vampires is a spin off/one-shot issue of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight series of comic books, a continuation from the television series of the same name. The story itself is entitled The Thrill.

Plot

My name is Jacob, welcome to my life.

The comic is a stand-alone/spin off issue picking up some time after the Predators and Prey arc. The premise of this issue is to show how the world has changed following the vampires acceptance in mainstream society, and with it, the plight faced by Slayers. This issue begins on a Tuesday night in a small town called Nashua, New Hampshire. Jacob, the narrator, is spending another night endlessly playing video games at the local arcade, he tells us of how he had a bad day at school and how living in this town is nothing but the same old repetitive numbness that keeps consuming him day by day. He exits the arcade and is approached by a sultry blonde girl named May, a college student, who is drawn to Jacob and they spark up a conversation. Soon, Jacob’s best friend, Alexia arrives and tries to talk to Jacob, but Jacob leaves. As he walks, he comes upon a car and knocks on the window, the driver is a vampire named Sebastian who feeds on Jacob, who in turn gets off on the high of the bloodletting. Sebastian is ready to turn him away, as he is already full from feeding earlier. Jacob pleads, and Sebastian takes him into the car to a couple of his other friends, who were more than willing to feed on him. Jacob returns home to his frantic mother who assumes Jacob was out smoking marijuana, to which Jacob denies before going to bed. Still high from his visit with the vampires, Jacob begins to have a sexual hallucination about a vampiric Alexia. The next day at school, Jacob and Alexia talk about making plans to see each other. That same night, after spending another evening at the arcade, Jacob is approached by three vampires: Sebastian and his two friends, all who are in the mood to feed. Jacob tells them no, to which they respond to by beating him severely. The next thing we see is another hallucination, only this time, Jacob is bloody and it is May who is with him, not Alexia. He wakes up in May’s dorm room, where it is revealed that she had found him near death outside the arcade a few nights before and decided to sire him, so he waits out the sun while May gives him the rules about being a vampire. That night, May and Jacob go to the arcade, where Jacob feeds for the first time. Later, a frantic Alexia finds Jacob and asks him where he has been for the past few days, and he tells her about the attack and Alexia crazily tries to get him to see that vampires are not as cool as everyone thinks they are. As they walk, Sebastian congratulates Jacob on becoming a vampire and takes him to his mom’s house, where his mother, after hearing about what had happened to Jacob, accepts it and helps him move to the basement, where he contemplates how his life has changed. That night, Jacob’s mother warns him about vampires being killed around town and that even though he is now a vampire; she still loves him and wants him to be cautious at night. At the arcade, Alexia presses Jacob about his strange behavior and soon they are approached by May, and upon realizing that May is a vampire, the two fight and Alexia stakes May, which angers Jacob and reveals her status as a Slayer to both Jacob and the crowd of onlookers from the arcade, one of whom curses Alexia for killing May. Jacob finally reveals he is a vampire and while professing that vampires don’t hurt people like Slayers believe they do, he wonders if Alexia will slay him too, to which she replies that she only wanted a normal life and never wanted to be a Slayer. So, in anger, Jacob bites Alexia and as she nears death, he gives her the choice to be like him, a vampire. The issue ends without revealing Alexia’s choice.

Canonical issues

See also: Canon

This series has been described as 'canon' by both Whedon and various commentators. As the creator of Buffy, Joss Whedon's association with Buffyverse story is often linked to how canonical the various stories are. Since Whedon is writing this story, it will be seen as a continuation of the official continuity established by Buffy and Angel.

This may mean it contradicts information given in the previously released non-canonical Queen of the Slayers, and it could potentially contradict the novel Dark Congress.

Covers

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External Links

• Buffy Comic Book Reviews