Rating: 
Summary: Comic book revision of the movie given the television series
Review: In the beginning there was the movie script of Buffy the Vampire Slayer written by Joss Whedon, that was turned into a rather campy movie version. Miraculously given a second chance, Whedon created a Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series that was more true to his original conception. Both the original movie and the two-part television pilot were novelized by Richie Tankersley Cusick. Now we have this collection of a three-part comic book mini-series that essentially revisits Whedon's original script in light of the current television series, which is truer to the original conception of Buffy that is in the original script upon which this graphic novel is based. Follow all that okay? This stuff gets a bit confusing after a while. You have to appreciate the idea of revising the movie so that it is more compatible with the television series in terms of the overall Buffy mythos. Writers Daniel Brereton and Christopher Golden do a nice job of making the parts fit. The artwork by penciller Joe Bennett and inker Rick Ketcham is more than adequate, although certainly not as stylized as I would really like to see in a gothic horror/high school comedy comic book. If you have only seen the original Buffy movie, you are not going to appreciate the revisions contained herein. These are for the fans of the current television show. We are legion.
Rating: 
Summary: The Movie You Didn't See
Review: It reads entirely differently than it performed in the movie - but it's exactly the same script. This graphic novel version is fabulous. It's the script for the movie that started it all, done the way Joss Whedon obviously intended it. It's still got its good comedic bits, but the drama plays much better. The illustrators have depicted Buffy in her now most famous guise, as Sarah Michelle Gellar, though - oddly - they've opted to utilize the rendition of her first Watcher, Merrick, from his one cameo appearance in a flashback on the T.V. series instead of depicting Donald Sutherland from the film, where everything else is faithful to the movie. "The Origin" is true to its advertisement: it's Buffy from the beginning, where she came to her calling at Hemery High, trained for her reluctant future role in life, first tested herself against a superior opponent, and prematurely outgrew her frivolous pre-teen youth to adopt a responsible persona. There are only minor changes from the film version, the most notable being that of the demise of Merrick, which makes more sense here than it did on screen, presumably because the movie altered Whedon's vision. The best thing about this piece is simply the artwork. It's worth the cost for that, alone. Enjoy the Buffy you never really knew, but only thought you did.
Rating:
Summary: The Movie You Didn't See
Review: It reads entirely differently than it performed in the movie - but it's exactly the same script. This graphic novel version is fabulous. It's the script for the movie that started it all, done the way Joss Whedon obviously intended it. It's still got its good comedic bits, but the drama plays much better. The illustrators have depicted Buffy in her now most famous guise, as Sarah Michelle Gellar, though - oddly - they've opted to utilize the rendition of her first Watcher, Merrick, from his one cameo appearance in a flashback on the T.V. series instead of depicting Donald Sutherland from the film, where everything else is faithful to the movie. "The Origin" is true to its advertisement: it's Buffy from the beginning, where she came to her calling at Hemery High, trained for her reluctant future role in life, first tested herself against a superior opponent, and prematurely outgrew her frivolous pre-teen youth to adopt a responsible persona. There are only minor changes from the film version, the most notable being that of the demise of Merrick, which makes more sense here than it did on screen, presumably because the movie altered Whedon's vision. The best thing about this piece is simply the artwork. It's worth the cost for that, alone. Enjoy the Buffy you never really knew, but only thought you did.
Rating:
Summary: Neatly done
Review: Its a great blend of lifting the history from the...1992 film and blend it with the mythos of the TV series. A must for any true Buffy fan!
Rating:
Summary: The immediate pre-Sunnydale Buffy Summers.
Review: Just like the title says, here's the Whedon-and-most-respected-company tweaking of the BTVS film into what would be now considered the true Buffy-verse.
It comes not in a TV episode, nor a film, nor a novel...but in the comic book, and somehow it feels like that's where it should have started. It fits this format perfectly.
A synopsis is pretty much unnecessary, as there are many noted above and below, yet the great thing about this little story is that it fleshes out the Buffy Summers character nicely.
In quick, deft images and dialogue, much of Buffy's pre-Slayer history is vividly portrayed. Family relationships, educational priorities, social ideologies...you get a fuller picture of the immediate pre-Sunnydale Buffy that dovetails precisely with the TV show.
I am finding that this universe created by Joss Whedon is one that can be entered in a variety of ways (TV, comics, novels...) yet maintain depth and integrity. I cannot think of too many other concepts that can manage that.
The absolute WORST thing about reading this tome is that now I have obligated myself to get ALL of them...quite a bummer, no?
Rating:
Summary: Buffy's beginnings as a slayer told as intended
Review: There are two reasons that this graphic comic retelling of Buffy's beginnings as a Slayer: 1) it is based pretty strictly on Joss Whedon's original screenplay that the Buffy movie was based on, and 2) it is one of a number of superb Buffy graphic tales from Dark Horse Comics. For those who have exhausted all the Buffy and Angel episodes, and desirous of new sources of Buffyverse adventures, one can't do better than these comics. Many of them are scripted by Buffy screenwriters such as Jane Espenson. They aren't cynical and cheap attempts to rip off unsuspecting fans, but excellent stories in their own right. Some people read THE ORIGIN and see a story remarkably similar to the movie, and others see enormous divergence. I see less difference in story than in tone, though there are a couple of hugely important differences. The two best known are the death of Merrick and the burning of the school gym, the latter referred to in the TV show and which appeared in Whedon's original script, but which was cut out for the shooting script. The one difference in plot--and it is important one--that is more subtle is the frequent dreams that Buffy has of previous Slayers. In this story, Merrick has some trouble convincing Buffy that she is the Slayer until he mentions her dreams. Dreams play a gigantic role in the Buffy television series. In fact, the first time we ever see Buffy is in a dream she is having. Very nearly every episode has at least one dream sequence, and sometimes more than one, and the final episode of Season Four is almost all dreams. The brilliant thing about the dreams in THE ORIGIN is that it both contrasts Buffy with her predecessors and ties her into a long decision. She may be the Slayer, but she is not the only Slayer there has ever been. Also, by stressing the brute fact of being a Slayer--that you only become her as the result of another's death, and you will be the Slayer until your own--a sense of doom and foreboding permeates the story. Interestingly, we are not shown the moment when Buffy becomes the Slayer. I have always wanted Whedon to address that, explaining who the Slayer immediately before Buffy was. Also, I'd like to know why Buffy, who obviously was a potential for many years, had not been located before she had actually become the Slayer, and in fact was the Slayer before she was contacted. The greatest difference between THE ORIGIN and the Buffy movie is tone and atmosphere. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, the movie, was a summer teen comedy. It overstressed the silliness of having a vampire slayer named Buffy, and focused entirely on the comic aspects of the story. The TV series was the genre-buster extraordinaire, being comedy, drama, horror, action, and soap opera all at once. The movie, however, is all comedy against a backdrop of horror. The graphic comic hints at the multilayered product the movie might have been had the studio and producers signed onto Whedon's vision. Instead of something unique and original, it was just another teen comedy with the quirk that the heroine was a bimbo cheerleader. Fortunately, Whedon was given the opportunity to correct a series of wrongs, with spectacular results for seven years.
Rating:
Summary: Buffy's beginnings as a slayer told as intended
Review: There are two reasons that this graphic comic retelling of Buffy's beginnings as a Slayer: 1) it is based pretty strictly on Joss Whedon's original screenplay that the Buffy movie was based on, and 2) it is one of a number of superb Buffy graphic tales from Dark Horse Comics. For those who have exhausted all the Buffy and Angel episodes, and desirous of new sources of Buffyverse adventures, one can't do better than these comics. Many of them are scripted by Buffy screenwriters such as Jane Espenson. They aren't cynical and cheap attempts to rip off unsuspecting fans, but excellent stories in their own right. Some people read THE ORIGIN and see a story remarkably similar to the movie, and others see enormous divergence. I see less difference in story than in tone, though there are a couple of hugely important differences. The two best known are the death of Merrick and the burning of the school gym, the latter referred to in the TV show and which appeared in Whedon's original script, but which was cut out for the shooting script. The one difference in plot--and it is important one--that is more subtle is the frequent dreams that Buffy has of previous Slayers. In this story, Merrick has some trouble convincing Buffy that she is the Slayer until he mentions her dreams. Dreams play a gigantic role in the Buffy television series. In fact, the first time we ever see Buffy is in a dream she is having. Very nearly every episode has at least one dream sequence, and sometimes more than one, and the final episode of Season Four is almost all dreams. The brilliant thing about the dreams in THE ORIGIN is that it both contrasts Buffy with her predecessors and ties her into a long decision. She may be the Slayer, but she is not the only Slayer there has ever been. Also, by stressing the brute fact of being a Slayer--that you only become her as the result of another's death, and you will be the Slayer until your own--a sense of doom and foreboding permeates the story. Interestingly, we are not shown the moment when Buffy becomes the Slayer. I have always wanted Whedon to address that, explaining who the Slayer immediately before Buffy was. Also, I'd like to know why Buffy, who obviously was a potential for many years, had not been located before she had actually become the Slayer, and in fact was the Slayer before she was contacted. The greatest difference between THE ORIGIN and the Buffy movie is tone and atmosphere. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, the movie, was a summer teen comedy. It overstressed the silliness of having a vampire slayer named Buffy, and focused entirely on the comic aspects of the story. The TV series was the genre-buster extraordinaire, being comedy, drama, horror, action, and soap opera all at once. The movie, however, is all comedy against a backdrop of horror. The graphic comic hints at the multilayered product the movie might have been had the studio and producers signed onto Whedon's vision. Instead of something unique and original, it was just another teen comedy with the quirk that the heroine was a bimbo cheerleader. Fortunately, Whedon was given the opportunity to correct a series of wrongs, with spectacular results for seven years.
Rating: 
Summary: Not what I hoped
Review: This book was described as the pre-series beginning story of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the story of the movie, but with the tone (and characters) of the series. Not so! My first problem with this book was when I read further and found that it is a comic. (OK so honestly I didn't even see that part until after I checked out this book in person, so I'm warning other people who may not notice.) I would have loved a good novel about this, but it's not. This Buffy character, and her friends, are hate-able. She was somewhat immature and that California-90s-ditzy, but she wasn't as bad as in this book. I could only stand reading it for a short while, because of it being a comic, and all the things I found annoying. One other thing is that her parents were together, they got divorced in a short time. There may be a lot of things I would find irritating in it like that. To sum up; if you're a huge fan of the series (and you want to find good reads to soothe your addiction), this may not be for you. If you don't mind the movie (and, certainly, if you like comics), then go for it. Most other people liked it. If you're still interested, read the other reviews!
Rating:
Summary: Short version of the film, but with a new ending.
Review: This comic is basically just a short version of the movie, but still very good. Plus it leads you into the new Buffy book, 'Sins of the father'. I think it's worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Based on the MOVIE
Review: This comic is good, because it is based on the movie "Buffy the vampire slayer" and it also refures to the LOS VAGAS comics that were just released a few months back (issue 50-something). This also makes the movie weave better into the show, like ending with her distroying the gym.
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