Welcome Back to the Hellmouth, Part One

The subject of this article is of alternative canonicity.
While created as part of licensed material, it is not part of the original Buffyverse, but its own developed story.

Welcome Back to the Hellmouth

Publication

January 23, 2019

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2019) #1

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First issue in the series.	Buffy the Vampire Slayer #2

Cover artist(s)

Matthew Taylor (main)
Kevin Wada (spotlight)
Royal Dunlap (chosen one)
Becca Carey (episode)
Jen Bartel (incentives)
Miguel Mercado (sides)
Kaiti Infante (Willow)
Dan Panosian (secret sides)
George Schall (exclusive)
Jonathan Case (exclusive)
Amelia Vidal (2nd/3rd prints)

Colorist(s)

Raúl Angulo

Letterer(s)

Ed Dukeshire

Welcome Back to the Hellmouth is the first issue of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2019) comic book series. Written by Jordie Bellaire and illustrated by Dan Mora, it was published on January 23, 2019 by Boom! Studios.

Synopsis

Go back to the beginning as the critically acclaimed pop culture phenomenon Buffy the Vampire Slayer is reimagined under the guidance of series creator Joss Whedon. This is the Buffy Summers you know, who wants what every average teenager wants: friends at her new school, decent grades, and to escape her imposed destiny as the next in a long line of vampire slayers tasked with defeating the forces of evil.

But her world looks a lot more like the one outside your window, as Eisner Award-Nominated writer Jordie Bellaire (Redlands) and Russ Manning Award-Winner Dan Mora (Saban's Go Go Power Rangers) bring Buffy into a new era with new challenges, new friends… and a few enemies you might already recognize. But the more things change, the more they stay the same, as the Gang faces brand new Big Bads, and the threat lurking beneath the perfectly manicured exterior of Sunnydale High confirms what every teenager has always known: high school truly is hell.

WELCOME BACK TO THE HELLMOUTH, FOR THE FIRST TIME!^[1]

Continuity

This story is an alternative version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, with no sense of continuity with previous materials. Some notable comparisons are:

This story takes place in 2019, as opposed to the debut of the TV series in 1997.
Buffy begins working in customer service as soon as she moves to Sunnydale, while her original counterpart would do so only years later, at Helen's Kitchen ("Anne"), Doublemeat Palace ("Doublemeat Palace"), and Pick Me Up (Last Gleaming, Part Five).
Buffy saves Willow and Xander from a vampire, revealing the reality of the supernatural to them, similarly to "Welcome to the Hellmouth".
Before she befriends Willow and Xander, Buffy has already began training with Giles. Originally, her encounter with them that motivates her to accept her role as the Slayer ("Welcome to the Hellmouth").
Anya works at a magic shop, as her original counterpart would do so years after meeting the Scooby Gang ("No Place Like Home").
Willow is a confident teenager, an effect of her having already came out while in high school, as opposed to only in college ("New Moon Rising").
Xander has @theXeppo as his username, a reference to when he is called “the Zeppo” of the Scooby Gang in episode "The Zeppo".
Drusilla arrives in Sunnydale within the first month after Buffy moves in, displaying no weakness from torture her original counterpart did ("School Hard").

Appearances

Individuals

Antonio (Only mentioned)
Rupert Giles
Alexander Harris
Anya Jenkins
Drusilla
Willow Rosenberg
Buffy Summers
Hank Summers (Only mentioned)
Joyce Summers
Unidentified vampire I
Unidentified vampire II

Organizations and titles

Slayer
Watcher
Witch (Only mentioned)
Wolfram & Hart (Only mentioned)

Species

Demon (Only mentioned)
Ghost (Only mentioned)
Human
- Werewolf (Only mentioned)
Vampire

Locations

Los Angeles (Only mentioned)
Sunnydale
- 1630 Revello Drive
- Cemetery
- Magic shop
- Sunnydale High School
  - Sunnydale High School library
- Tunaverse

Weapons and objects

Unidentified magic jewelry set
Stake
Witch Killer 3 (Only mentioned)

Death count

Unidentified first vampire, staked by Buffy Summers.
Unidentified second vampire, melted by Anya Jenkins.

Behind the scenes

Production

The title references the television series’ episode debut, "Welcome to the Hellmouth".
The Slayer prophecy included in the issue has been altered from the television series, replacing female pronouns for gender neutral “they”.
Xander’s groan “Grr, argh!” is a homage to the Mutant Enemy Productions logo, present after each episode of the series.
The new letters to the editor section debuts, titled “Sunnydale High Sentinel” in reference to the school newspaper of same name.
The back of the single issues includes a quote from episode "Becoming, Part Two".

Distribution

Two secret covers, limited to only 100 copies each, were randomly inserted into the print runs of the “Choose your side” variants. 198 out of the total 200 covers are signed by the artist Dan Panosian, while two are signed by Joss Whedon.^[2]
In January 17, Boom! Studios announced a second printing for this issue, as it had sold out still at the distributor level, a week before it had even started to go on sale in stores.^[3]
This issue was the 12nd best selling comic in its debut week at ComiXology digital platform.^[4]

Collections

“Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Volume 1”

Pop culture references

Xander jokes about the existence of the Batboy, a fictional creature from supermarket tabloids.
Buffy, Willow, and Xander watch the film Nosferatu (1922).
Anya watches the Firefly television series, notably directed by Joss Whedon.
Xander’s username @theXeppo references actor Zeppo Marx.