Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Ring of Fire
Written by Doug Petrie, Artwork by Ryan Sook

Tie-in books are hard to do. They're a bit like fan fiction (not that there's anything wrong with that) in as much that they're not always considered canon. You can't have any real development of the characters; nothing too terribly big can happen. At best, you can always treat it as a good story with your favorite characters.

And that's almost the case with Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Ring of Fire, written by Buffy television writer (Season 3's "Revelations," "Bad Girls," and "Enemies" as well as Season 4's "The Initiative" "This Year's Girl" "The Yoko Factor") Doug Petrie and drawn by Ryan Sook (who has previously worked on the Spike and Dru comics). Ring of Fire is entertaining and has a lot of neat ideas, but it lacks the overall emotional punch of a Buffy episode.

The book is set during the series' most emotionally charged moments -- the latter half of the second season, during which Angel/Angelus, the baddest vampire around, killed Giles' girlfriend, Jenny Calendar. As Giles mourns Jenny, Angelus sets his sights on the corpse of a demonic samurai, hoping to resurrect him and obtain great power -- which concerns our favorite Scooby gang, and Giles in particular, who also might be tempted to pull a resurrection number to bring Jenny back from the grave.

The fact that the story is set in the Season 2 time frame actually plays against it. This period was a great time for the show, one in which the storylines got very personal and intense for all characters involved. As such, you expect Ring of Fire to have that same impact.

But it doesn't.

Joss Whedon said that he created Buffy to be fantasy with a real emotional core; the show is not about demons or vampires, but people with real problems who happen to face those creatures in their lives. And that's the story's problem - it's about demons and neat Buffy stuff. Save for Giles' grief over Jenny Calendar (merely a sub-plot here when it should've been more important) there is no true emotional focus to the story. If I had to highlight the story's theme it would be something as simple as "Resurrection is not the way to solve your problems." But how does that relate to real life?

However, the book does have all of the other stuff that makes Buffy great. There's good, solid dialogue between the Scooby gang and the forces of evil, some cool monsters, and some characters that couldn't be done on the television show.

Providing the art for the story is Ryan Sook, who worked on the Spike and Dru comics. Some like his art and some don't. I happen to like it because Sook does things that I haven't seen other Buffy artists attempt, such as attiring the characters in realistic clothing. It looks like clothing that they wear on the show, which is an important part of their visual identity. Sook also recreates the likeness of the characters in his own particular style, which evolves with each book he does -- he still retains his Mignola influence while becoming his own artist. He does very clean layouts and represents the show's actual sets very well too. There's a nice 6-page sketchbook section at the end, which is very insightful if you're a fan of behind the scenes stuff.

In the end, this tie-in's biggest appeal lies in the fact that it's written by one of the show's writers and falls in the Season 2 time frame. However, those two factors also play against the book by raising expectations. While an entertaining read with good dialogue, ideas, and artwork, the story lacks the emotional hook at the center of the best episodes of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and prevents Ring of Fire from being in their league.

-- Yannick Belzil

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Ring Of Fire, published by Dark Horse Comics, is currently available through comic retailers and newsstand dealers.

We welcome your comments on The 11th Hour and this review. Please send letters to: letters@the11thhour.com