Buffy the Vampire Slayer lives again -- in a comic book -- and she's creating lots of new graphic novel fans. The Buffy series was launched this year and thus far it was been one of the biggest efforts in bringing new readers to the comic book genre. What's the key to its success?

According to Publisher's Weekly, it's the fact that Joss Whedon, who created the wildly successful TV show, has been writing the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics series. And he's continues the series where the TV show left off -- an irresistible enticement to Buffy's legions of fans.

Comic book stores are saying that customers of the Buffy comic series are buying additional titles while they're in the store, and that includes other works by Whedon (such as his Runaways superhero series).

PW mentions that another success story at bringing in new comic book readers is Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born, a series adapted from the bestselling novels by Stephen King. It hasn't hurt that King is not only a prolific writer, but told his fans about the new comic book series on his Web site and in his e-mail newsletter.