comic fan

SDCC16:Report from yesterday's Whedonverse panel.

Dark Horse previews 'Buffy' season 11,' new 'Serenity' comics

Dark Horse previews ‘Buffy’ season 11, new ‘Serenity’ comic at SDCC
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, July 21, 2016

At San Diego Comic-Con 2016, Dark Horse writers previewed upcoming Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly comic books, teasing big developments ahead.

Fans of Joss Whedon’s popular TV series Buffy and Firefly may or may not be following along with the Dark Horse comic book series providing canon continuations for both shows.

If you’re into Dark Horse’s Whedonverse, read on for some key developments revealed at San Diego Comic-Con 2016!

‘Buffy’ and ‘Angel’

Buffy is heading into season 11, and writer Christos Gage was on hand at SDCC’s “Welcome to the Whedonverse” panel to provide some tantalizing updates:

Buffy and Spike are together for real. After a rocky season 10, Joss Whedon and the team decided to let the pair pursue a real relationship in season 11. According to Gage, the decision was mainly made because Joss Whedon realized the relationship would be uncomfortable for Buffy — so, he said, “let’s do it.”

Season 11 will start with “a catastrophe right off the bat” that’ll shape the characters’ arcs in the season. Unlike previous seasons, season 11 will be less all over the place, “bigger in scale,” but shortened to an over-arching 12-issue story.

There’s more Angel coming! Although nothing re. Angel and Faith will be officially announced until NYCC, Gage could promise that, “there is news about Angel coming – Angel’s coming back!”

On the Buffy: The High School Years series, writer Kel McDonald could reveal that one of the stories takes place in between two season 1 episodes, while Principal Flutie was still alive. And we’ll see important students like Jonathan pop up in the background!



‘Firefly’ and ‘Serenity’

The new Serenity miniseries comic “No Power in the ‘Verse” is coming out in the fall, and writer Chris Roberson was on hand to share some secrets!

Some relationships will change. The story takes place after the events of “Leaves on the Wind,” and as such we’ll see the relationships between the characters change from what we know — there are “significant changes” coming, and “some things don’t work out.”

One character has a secret coming out they’d rather not reveal; we learn a new piece of untold backstory.

There’s a “hilarious subplot” involving Jayne that started as a gag; Roberson discovered that Jayne was his favorite character to write although he assumed it’d be Zoë.
One of the villains in “No Power in the ‘Verse” is the Operative Kalista, whom we met in “Leaves on the Wind.”

“River’s arc is pretty central to what happens” in the comic, says Roberson, but assures us that “it’s not just the River show.”

Buffy season 11 and Serenity: No Power in the ‘Verse are both debuting in the fall of 2016.