Although the media of comic books and television receive similar amounts of credit for artistic merit (i.e., not very much), few have so far looked at connections between them (although perhaps this will change with Joss Whedon's recent work on the comic Fray. However, Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer shares many central themes with recent comics series, in particular Garth Ennis' and Steve Dillon's Preacher. Both concern centuries-long religious wars, and attempt to come to terms with the place of ancient religion in modern life. In both series, the "white hats" are represented by an ancient, tradition-bound order that, in its centuries-long fight against darkness, has shed whatever humanity they may once have had. In Buffy, this order is known as the Watchers' Council; in Preacher, it takes the form of the Grail, a secret Christian society charged with guarding the bloodline of Jesus Christ, and for triggering Armageddon when the time comes. And if the "good" side is no longer quite so good, neither is the "evil" side as evil as it may once have been. In particular, both series feature central vampire characters who are, if not wholly good, at least pragmatic. Neither Buffy's Spike nor Preacher Cassidy have much patience for the gothic Anne Rice vampire mythos. Both enjoy their "eternal" life, scorning those who see themselves as dark, tortured souls. The English Spike models himself after the punk idols of the 1970s, while Cassidy is the very personification of the Irish punk group The Pogues. And both, in the end, sacrifice themselves valiantly.

At the same time, Preacher and Buffy diverge sharply on many counts. While Whedon's creation seems to integrate many different religious (and demonological) systems, Preacher's theology is strictly Judeo-Christian of the fundamentalist sort. And while Buffy seems to show reverence for a wide range of traditions, Garth Ennis' work is aggressively sacrilegious. And while Buffy manages to defeat the First Evil, Preacher's final villain to go down is the Good Lord himself. Still, both series attempt to come to grips with the place of ancient religion in modern life, and a modern world in which good and evil are not as simple as they may seem.