Warning! Spoilers for Buffy: The Last Vampire Slayer #1!Classic 1990s show Buffy the Vampire Slayer is currently enjoying a comic book renaissance courtesy of Boom! Studios, whose Buffy: The Last Vampire Slayer miniseries showcases new characters and news takes on Buffyverse lore, while utilizing iconic characters and dangling plot threads from the TV series in exciting new ways. For example: Watcher Anya.
Buffy: The Last Vampire Slayer #1 – written by Casey Gilly, with art by Oriol Roig, and lettering by Boom! Studios mainstay Ed Dukeshire – follows 2021's Buffy the Last Vampire Slayer miniseries, depicting Willow and Tara's daughter Thessaly as the new Slayer, guided by original Buffy characters. The issue features Anya as Thessaly's "temporary" Watcher, even letting her vent about how Buffy really makes her feel.
Anya And Buffy Still Aren't Exactly Besties In The Last Vampire Slayer
The future Buffyverse of The Last Vampire Slayer was first introduced in the four-issue miniseries Buffy the Last Vampire Slayer, released from December 2021 to March 2022. A subsequent one-shot from March 2023, Buffy the Last Vampire Slayer Special, set the stage for the new series, which will run five issues. In this continuity, a grey-haired Buffy Summers continues to fight evil, alongside Spike, and another notable return from the original Buffy TV run, Anya. The most notable casualty of Buffy's series finale, Anya is alive and remains Buffy's ally, if not friend. As Anya says, "Buffy has always overlooked my contributions and frankly made me feel inferior, which I am not."
Anya Is Surprisingly One Of The Few Scoobies Left Standing
Issue #1 of the first Last Vampire Slayer miniseries introduced Thessaly, the late Willow and Tara's daughter. The current series features Thessaly in its central role, acting as the Slayer. Anya appears in Buffy: The Last Vampire Slayer #1 in a ing role, but she gets the issue's most memorable scenes, one that provides a strong tether to the franchise's origins. "When Buffy asked me to be your temporary Watcher I was...well, I couldn't believe it," Anya says. "Of course, I know I'm an excellent choice." Anya has always been at her best when nervously speaking her mind, and the dialogue in The Last Vampire Slayer #1 captures the character's spirit.
First introduced as an antagonist in Buffy Season Three episode "The Wish", Anya's character arc is one of the most beloved by fans of the franchise, and The Last Vampire Slayer keenly builds on that by not only reverting the character's on-screen death, but giving her a major role of responsibility, being Thessaly's Watcher. With most of the other original Scooby Gang dead as part of the timeline's dark backstory, Anya provides a welcome achor to the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and it is clear the book's creators care for the character deeply – which of course, usually means grave danger in the Buffyverse.
Buffy: The Last Vampire Slayer #1 is available now from Boom! Studios.
