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Btvs 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.
Angelwings

Wu-Tang Fang is the first issue of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Classic comic book series. Written by Andi Watson and illustrated by Joe Bennett, it was originally published on September 23, 1998 by Dark Horse Comics.

Synopsis[]

Buffy Summers is not like other girls. She's been chosen to save the world from the vampire plague, and balancing saving the world with high school is no easy task.[1]

Summary[]

After getting beaten up by some vampires and watching Blood Fist Warriors of the Harvest Moon, Xander decides to take up martial arts. He joins a local Kung Fu school, but the sensei is disdainful, calls him "candy-boy," and regularly roughs him up. Meanwhile, Lloyd Modano, the Sunnydale High karate champion, is found murdered.

Research by the Scoobies points to a legendary vampire Kung Fu master named San Sui, who travels the globe looking to challenge other martial artists in duels to the death. During one of Xander's Kung Fu classes, San Sui attacks his sensei, who begs to not be killed. Fortunately, Buffy appears on the scene just in time and holds San Sui off long enough for Xander to plunge a stake in the vampire's back. Buffy and Xander agree that, in the future, she'll do the fighting and he'll do the punning.

Continuity[]

Appearances[]

Individuals[]

Organizations and titles[]

Species[]

Locations[]

Objects[]

Death count[]

  • Lloyd Modano, bitten by San Sui (only mentioned).
  • San Sui, staked by Xander.

Behind the scenes[]

Production[]

  • Despite this being the first Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic issue, the series debuted a month earlier with the short story "MacGuffins."
  • The main cover was also available with a golden foil logo, while the photo cover had a second printing. Two other variant photo covers were exceptionally available for this issue, one of them exclusive for Another Universe.
  • The photo covers feature promotional pictures taken for Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 2, in montage by Dave Stewart.
  • The title refers to Wu-Tang, one of the two major styles of Chinese martial arts, along with a play on the name of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan.
  • Differently from other representations, at this point the comic issues had vampires also able to transform into green creatures with red eyes, pointy ears, a wide mouth, and long teeth. Although, this seems more like an artistic choice, not having direct consequence to the stories.
  • The Bronze differs in this appearance as well in the comics at this point; as the "Bronze Club," it has a consistent façade of two large statues.
  • Wu-Tang Fang was reprinted in 2010 in Dark Horse Comics "one for one" series, with classic first issues for a dollar.[2]

Distribution[]

  • Wu-Tang Fang was the 28th best selling comic issue in its publishing month, with 61,383 sales in September 1998 at comic specialty stores.[3]

Collections[]

Pop culture references[]

Goofs[]

  • The name of comedienne Janeane Garofalo is incorrectly spelled as "Jeneane Garafalo."

International titles[]

  • Russian: Гость из Китая (Guest from China)

Gallery[]

Covers[]

Cover artwork[]

Preview[]

References[]

  1. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer #1". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved on January 3, 2018.
  2. "1 for $1: Buffy the Vampire Slayer". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved on January 3, 2018.
  3. "September 1998 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops". Comichron. Retrieved on August 24, 2018.
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