Buffy the Vampire Slayer #39

Buffy Summers looks seriously outnumbered on this Dark Horse cover, stake in hand and surrounded by a writhing horde of snarling, glowing-eyed vampires closing in from every direction — and that title, "Night of a Thousand Vampires," promises things are only going to get more crowded. Jeff Matsuda's pencils and Jon Sibal's inks give the scene a kinetic energy that captures Buffy mid-fight, her expression somewhere between fierce determination and "this is a lot, even for me." Issue #39 is a solid entry in the 2001 run, with a creative team including writers Tom Fassbender and Jim Pascoe and artist Cliff Richards delivering the kind of Slayer action that kept fans coming back month after month.