Buffy the Vampire Slayer has been off the air for some time now, but the characters and universe brought to such vivid life by Joss Whedon, Marti Noxon, David Fury and many others lives on - not in the ill-conceived reboot film in the works by Fran and Rebel Kuzui, but in the spectacular "Buffy Season Eight" comics spearheaded by Joss himself, published by Buffy's longtime comics home, Dark Horse.

Dark Horse has always been a progressive publisher, and this year saw them take a huge initiative into the world of digital comics, something we'll be seeing a lot of from them in 2011, as well as the burgeoning genre of motion comics.

Die-hard Buffy fans such as myself have been subscribing to the Buffy Season Eight motion comics, available from iTunes and Amazon Video on Demand, and have been collected on a Blu-ray/DVD combo which sees release on January 4.

One week before Season Eight draws to a close, get boned up on all things Buffy with whe Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Tales hardcover on January 12. This book should serve as a bridge between the final events of the TV series, and the first page of BTVS season eight #1.

Here's what you'll get, as per Dark Horse's description:

Before Season Eight, Joss Whedon brought generations of Slayers and vampires to comics with the help of his acclaimed TV writing team and some of the best artists to ever grace the comics page. Now all those stories, plus selected stories from Season Eight, are collected in one deluxe hardcover with a new cover by Jo Chen.

Joss writes multiple tales: a somber vamp tale, drawn by Cameron Stewart; the story of the first Slayer, drawn by Leinil Yu; and more.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Tales also reprints for the first time new Season Eight stories written by novelist Jackie Kessler (Hell's Belles) and award-winning cartoonist Becky Cloonan (Demo), featuring vampires living in the public eye, killing Slayers and killing each other.

* This hardcover collects stories from MySpace Dark Horse Presents #31 and #32; Tales of the Vampires: Carpe Noctem parts 1 and 2; Buffy: Tales of the Vampires one-shot; Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Tales of the Vampires #1--#5; Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Tales of the Slayers #1--"Broken Bottle of Djinn"; Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Tales of the Slayers TPB.

As for the ongoing comic, the turbulent season eight finally comes to its climactic conclusion, breaking hearts, closing plot threads and opening up brand new ones, setting the stage for the upcoming season nine and Angel's highly anticipated return to Dark Horse with Buffy the Vampire Season Eight #40. 

This is it - the big one.  The season finale. It all comes down January 19.

Bring your sharpest stake, and - knowing Joss - a hanky - these things never end well for everyone, you know - and prepare to ring out the old with a bang.