 Year One | Season One - Three | Season Four - Five
Joyce Summers was the wife of Hank Summers and a
typical, somewhat overprotective parent over their
daughter, Buffy. After Buffy burnt down the gym at
her high school (really to burn down a nest of
vampires trapped inside the building), Joyce and
Hank began to experience trouble in their marriage,
and troubles were only made worse when Buffy ran
away to Las Vegan to escape her domestic problems.
By the time Buffy returned back to her home in Los
Angeles, Joyce and Hank had already drawn the
divorce papers. Hank got the life and the women,
while Joyce was left to raise a child on her own.
When Malignancy Spirits were accidentally released
upon the Summers' household by Buffy's secret
admirer, all the palpable emotions running Joyce's
head became corporeal, and allowed her grief and
guilt over the divorce and her family falling apart
to swallow her whole (literally). When Buffy
defeated the Malignancy spirits, Joyce was released
from her guilt, and was ready to start over in a
new town: Sunnydale. (BtVs:
A Stake to the
Heart)
Unbeknownst to Joyce, Sunnydale was actually a
"manhole" sitting on top of a Hellmouth, a center
for mystical convergence. Her decision to move
there was in part influenced by the Powers That Be,
so that Buffy could battle the forces of darkness
there. Joyce did not take kindly to Buffy's
adventures when she eventually discovered her
daughter was the Slayer, but learned to accept
Buffy's extracurricular activities.
(BtVs:
The Remaining
Sunlight) As Buffy's social circle began to grow in Sunnydale, Joyce struggled to get back into the dating scene, but found that her looks weren't a winning ace up her sleeve. Setting up an appointment with a renowned plastic surgeon, Dr. Flitter, she was talked out of it by Buffy, as a vampire ate Flitter's patients. (BtVs: Bad Blood) 
With Buffy off at college, Joyce felt alone again
and became overly concerned that her daughter was
taking proper care of herself, bombarding Buffy
with questions whenever she came home to visit her.
It took a trip to the 'City of Despair,' where the
best fighters are abducted by a race of aliens to
compete for their entertainment, to help Buffy
realize that she had grown apart from her mother
and promised to start spending more time with her.
(BtVs/Angel:
City of Despair) The following year, Joyce found a new daughter in Dawn. Dawn wasn't really human, but instead the Key, a mystical ball of energy that can open a portal to all dimensions. To protect the Key from forces of darkness, a group of monks shaped the key into the form of the sister Buffy never had, building false memories to justify existence so that Buffy would love her unconditionally and protect her no matter what. (BtVs: False Memories) As Buffy further unearthed the origins of Dawn's existence, while dealing with a vampire slayer turned vampire, Joyce became sick with what seemed to be a benign brain tumor, but died soon afterward of a brain aneurysm caused by the disease. Buffy tried to bury her feelings over her mother's death, but on a night following her mother's funeral, Buffy faced a thousand vampires that were all raised to kill her, by the mother of a girl Buffy failed to save from a demon. The mother's plan backfired, as the vampires she had raised to kill Buffy were unstable and killed her instead. Witnessing the woman's death caused Buffy's grief to rise to the surface. (BtVs: Night of a Thousand Vampires) |
|
All
Characters & Images are registered ® trademarks and
© copyright of DARK HORSE COMICS