BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: TALES OF THE SLAYERS #1

Cover shows sharp corners and clean, unworn edges with no visible creasing or spine stress in this image; colors appear vibrant with no fading. The book is in a protective sleeve which is showing minor edge wrinkling on the left side, not indicative of the comic itself. No tears, stains, or writing are visible on the front cover. Interior pages and back cover were not assessed, so the grade reflects front-cover condition only.

Tales of the Slayers #1 is a 2002 one-shot anthology from Dark Horse Comics set in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe, collecting short prose-style comic stories about Slayers across different eras rather than continuing the ongoing television-tie-in narrative. The issue is most notable in retrospect for including "The Core," a short story written by series creator Joss Whedon and illustrated by Cameron Stewart, marking Whedon's first work as a comic book writer years before his higher-profile runs on Astonishing X-Men and Buffy Season Eight. The book also features contributions from other writers associated with the Buffyverse, including Amber Benson and Christopher Golden, reflecting Dark Horse's broader strategy of expanding the license through short-form anthology one-shots.

As a one-shot anthology rather than a numbered ongoing issue with a first appearance or landmark event, the book has never generated strong collector demand on its own merits, and it trades at levels typical of Dark Horse's secondary Buffy output from the early 2000s. Interest that does exist centers almost entirely on the Whedon writing credit rather than on any character milestone, cover artist, or storyline; absent that footnote, the issue would draw little attention beyond completists of the license. Raw copies are plentiful in back-issue bins and online lots, and certified examples are uncommon simply because the title was never treated as chase material at the time of release.

This is a book for Buffyverse completists and for the smaller pool of collectors specifically assembling Joss Whedon's bibliography across film, television, and comics; general superhero or horror-comic buyers are unlikely to seek it out. It moves steadily but modestly in low and mid grades as a reading or reference copy, while high-grade certified examples remain scarce mainly because demand for slabbing this title has historically been thin rather than because of any true condition rarity.