[comic fan]

Joss talks about the abortion subject in Buffy in this video interview for Cabin in The Woods.

Joss Whedon on The Cabin in the Woods: 'It's a classic horror until it explodes in your face' - video | Film | guardian.co.uk

The Buffy talk starts at 2.25 seconds.

I think it adds insight into the reveal of the robot at the end of # 7.Basically Joss is saying it isn't the act of having the abortion but the fact that Buffy diecided on that and said it out loud..My take is that Joss is saying here,it isn't important if in the end the abortion is unnecessay(because it was the robot and Buffy actually wasn't pregnant) but the fact that Buffy came to this decison before finding out in the end it wasn't necessary.

ETA

Dark Horse Jully 2012 Solicitations and covers.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?p...ticle&id=38004

EXCLUSIVE: Dark Horse Advance Solicitations for July, 2012

Dark Horse has provided CBR News with an exclusive first look at their July titles including the latest from "Buffy Season 9," "Dark Horse Presents" and more.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER SEASON 9 #11

Andrew Chambliss (W), Georges Jeanty (P/Variant cover), Nathan Massengill (I), Dexter Vines (I), Michelle Madsen (C), and Phil Noto (Cover)

On sale July 11
FC, 32 pages
$2.99
Ongoing

Buffy is trying something new—not Slaying. WHAT?! Enter Kennedy. Slayer. Ex-girlfriend of magicless Willow. Bossy. She’s joined a company that hires Slayers to act as bodyguards for high-profile clients, and Buffy is her most recent recruit. But Buffy is having a little trouble letting go of Slaying. Things that go bump in the night are kinda her forte. Luckily . . . her first client is having some woeful demon trouble that Buffy can’t wait to sink her stake into.

• Executive produced by Joss Whedon!
• Buffy the bodyguard!
• Kennedy returns!





ANGEL & FAITH #12

Christos Gage (W), Rebekah Isaacs (A/Variant cover), Dan Jackson (C), and Steve Morris (Cover)

On sale July 25
FC, 32 pages
$2.99
Ongoing

Using remnants of magic, Angel, Faith, Willow, and Connor have entered the hell dimension where no one should—or really, could—dare go: Quor-Toth! Willow’s quest to restore magic to Earth was her objective in attempting the impossible; Angel’s objective was . . . something else. And Faith? She’s along to make sure that everyone’s feet stay on the ground, and out of anything they might regret.

• Executive produced by Joss Whedon!
• Follows the events of Buffy Season 8!
• Willow joins the crew!





The title of the Angel & Faith arc is "Family Reunion." according to Slayalive

Angel & Faith # 12 is "Family Reunion Part II of IV."

[comic fan]

The title of the next Buffy arc starting in Buffy # 11 is,"Guarded" according to Scott Allie on twitter.

Twitter

SlayAlive‏@SlayAliveForum

@ScottAllie Could you tell us what the title of the Buffy arc after "Apart (of Me)" is?

Scott Allie‏@ScottAllie

@SlayAliveForum Guarded.

[comic fan]

Fourth advanced review for Buffy S9 # 8.

Buffy Season 9 #8 – Comic Review

Buffy Season 9 #8 – Comic Review

The major comic companies put out enough comics that sometimes it can leave your head spinning and eyes bleeding as you search the new titles each week for something worth reading. To aid in your Geeky endeavors, Speak Geeky To Me on occasion reviews new titles from the major companies to spotlight the best and worst of what’s available at your local comic shop. So sit back, relax, and enjoy a new Comic Review.



Info Bit

Title: Buffy Season 9 #8

Genre/s: Vampire/Comedy/Dram

Writers: Andrew Chambliss (Dollhouse) & Scott Allie (Star Wars: Jedi-The Dark Side)

Penciler: Cliff Richards (Dollhouse, Flashpoint: Hal Jordan)

Inker: Andy Owens (Green Arrow, Trinity)

Colorist: Michelle Madsen (Batman: Gotham After Midnight)

Publisher: Dark Horse

Page Count: 22

Price: $2.99

The Review Bit

After the surprising conclusion to Buffy #7, that left our protagonist armless and a little more cyborg-y than we’re used to, issue #8 was bound to be interesting. Of course, the part that makes this issue truly interesting is that it is Andrew heavy issue. Andrew Wells, for those of you Buffy readers that are a little less familiar, is the fun loving gay Geek who first appeared in season 6 of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series (a little before that lovely musical episode). Being a true Geek, the scenes involving Andrew are packed to death with awesome little Geek references and a whole ton of Star Trek jokes. There is even a great nod to the comic series’ executive producer, Joss Whedon, as at one point Andrew blatantly holds up an Avengers T-shirt in this Dark Horse comic book.

As we might expect with any robo-Buffy moment, Andrew is of course involved. Spike and Buffy interrogate him and we finally get the background of what Buffy did that drunken night back in issue #1 of season 9. Surprisingly this issue is packed with a lot of implied female nudity, which is both ironic and hilarious in an issue focusing so heavily on an obviously (but as of yet un-closeted) gay character. So any fans dying to see what the naked back of Buffy or a few other females in this comic series might look like…this is $3 you simply must spend.

As always with Dark Horse’s Buffy comics, the spirit of the show continues on here to perfection, as editor Scott Allie runs a tight ship with high standards for the loving, if not obsessive, fans of the show and characters. Most of this team actually worked together on Dark Horse’s Dollhouse comic series in fact. And though Georges Jeanty is not handling the pencils on this storyline, Cliff Richards (who will be the penciler for the upcoming Drusilla mini-series) does a brilliant job making the change over very smooth. I might go so far as to say that Cliff Richards is doing a better job that Jeanty did. Buffy #8 is just part 1 of the new C:\>apart (of_me) storyline, but it’s certainly a brilliant start.

The Rating Bit

Pandering so beautifully to the Geek fnas of the series, with its countless little references and jokes, as well as really returning the supporting cast to the series, Buffy #8 is a truly fun read. Throw in a little bit of implied nudity, funny jokes, and good art, you create an issue of Buffy that even non-Buffy fans might want to pick up. Buffy season 9 #8 is a great read, well deserving of the 8 out of 10 we are giving it. Sure the interior art could be a little more like its regularly lovely covers from Noto (and Jo Chen in the past), but the writing is positively hilarious. Make sure to pick up a copy when it goes on sale this Wednesday.


ETA

Fifth advanced review for Buffy S9 # 9.

http://horrorhavenreviews.wordpress....uffy-ios-10-1/

Review by Shaun Daniels and Edited by Sharon Wong

Buffy Season 9: Apart (of Me) – Part One Issue 8

Written by Andrew Chambliss & Scott Allie, Penciled by Cliff Richards, Inked by Andy Owens, Colored by Michelle Madsen, Covers by Phil Noto & Georges Jeanty and Published by Dark Horse Comics. Retail Price $2.99



(SORT OF A) WARNING: This review of issue 8 is void of all but one spoiler so if you haven’t read issue 6, stop here and do just that. When we last saw Buffy, she was having a bit of an identity crisis. Issue 8 clears this up and sheds light on her bun in the oven. The issue also features yet another art team for the series as well as a co-writer to boot.

Part one of the three-issue arc, Apart (of Me), opens with Buffy and Spike paying a visit to an old friend who may have info on Buffy. Meanwhile, Detective Dowling must face the consequences of the raid on the Zompire nest of the previous issue in the form of his partner (we advise you to read this part of the story carefully as it sets up some very bad things to come for the detective). Also, the cause of Buffy’s current state is revealed, which honestly falls a little short. It was obvious that the change in her status was temporary but this type of troupe is overused. There are, however, two parts of the troupe that at least sell it as a story device with the first being the character that is responsible for the change in Buffy’s life. It fits perfectly that the character (who shall remain nameless here as it would spoil the story) would go to that extreme to, as he puts it, “protect” Buffy. The second is that the reason for Buffy going through the change does make sense but in a very warped sense of duty way. With Buffy and Spike figuring out the skinny on her new state of being, they’re off to fix the situation. The one thing that stands in their way is the return of an old slayer friend, who inadvertently turns the situation from very bad to Whedonverse bad.

Andrew Chambliss continues to capture the rapid fire, witty banter that the TV series was known for. Co-writing the script is longtime Dark Horse editor extraordinaire, Scott Allie, who blends well with Chambliss to form a writing team. One of the big writing standouts of the issue is the line of dialogue where Buffy discusses her “pregnancy” with Spike. Buffy says, “I thought for once I was facing something normal, something a person deals with.” This sums up where Buffy is as a person in Season 9; she would rather be handling this situation instead of gallivanting around in a steampunk airship piloted by alien bugs and fighting Zompires. The art duo of penciler Cliff Richards and inker Andy Owens are a great fit for the book, matching the art styles of Georges Jeanty, Karl Moline and others from the series. Phil Noto turns in another amazing cover that will undoubtly make Whedonverse fans drool.

[comic fan]

Sixth advanced review for Buffy S9 # 8.

the Realm Cast | Recap: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER SEASON 9 #8

Recap: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER SEASON 9 #8

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Dawn Cordero



Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Buffy’s not pregnant… because she’s a robot! Millions of fans said WTF!? This month on Buffy the Vampire Slayer [SPOILER ALERT]As if you couldn’t tell by the cover — Andrew’s back! and he’s got some ‘splaining to do to BuffyBot and Spike. Andrew tells them that he switched Buffy with the Bot while she was passed out at the party and put Buffy’s brain in the Bot in order to protect her from whomever it is that’s after her. He’s hiding the real Buffy in some suburban hell. Buffy Bot is sad because she thought she was a real little girl and making a mature decision but it was just more Slayer WTFery. Andrew, Spike, Buffy Bot and the Cockroach Crew all head down to retrieve the real slayer but someone gets to her first!

Side note: I love all of the Captain America and Avengers stuff in Andrew’s room. But there is something that really bugged me during the Buffy-gets-roofied flashback…



Why does this pig/bear thing have penis feet? WHY??? All the other times this pig/bear thing is shown — normal feet. WHY IS IT LIKE THIS IN THIS PANEL??!! I see your initials Cliff Richards. I know this is your fault.

Detective Dowling is all upset because his partner’s been devoured by the zompires so he goes to visit Dawn and Xander:

She’s back…



Alt cover by Georges Jeanty.

And here’s a note: I don’t tell you everything that happens in the book because I want you to go out and read it yourself because these comics are awesome. So no more complaining that it’s not really a review, mmmkay?

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 9 Issue #8 “A Part of Me Part One” is available this Wednesday, 4/11/12.


ETA

7th review of Buffy S9 # 8 from Buffyfest.

http://buffyfest.blogspot.com/2012/0...-spoilers.html

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Buffy Season 9 #8 Review (SPOILERS)



Moving on from the pregnancy plot (and yes it is really and truly over so far as I can tell), Buffy Season 9 begins on the path of a new and very different story arc with issue #8 called “Apart (of me).” I have just one word for you to sum up the surprising direction things are headed, but not just yet. Let’s talk about a few other sundries first.

First, the good news. If you’re smart and you figured out how the whole “Buffy is a robot” thing works, then you already know that some of the emotional stuff from last issue still holds. That’s my way of saying that Buffy and Spike’s relationship is still growing and evolving in a way that I find emotionally satisfying.

There’s also a solid B plot surrounding the death of Cheung and the emotional fallout from that with a special guest appearance from Xander and Dawn. I’m relieved that the other members of the cast aren’t getting lost in the shuffle. One of the good things about the actual show was that there were always multiple threads coming together all the time and I feel like Season 9 is doing a much better job of that than Season 8 did.

That’s the good. The less good news, and I can’t imagine anyone will be surprised if they’ve read the solicits for later issues, is Andrew. Oh, Andrew. Never my favorite, but boy did I not anticipate he’d regress into the sort of dude who could justify taking a woman’s agency away completely. DON’T WORRY, THOUGH BECAUSE HE WAS DOING IT FOR BUFFY’S OWN GOOD.

Right. Here’s the narrative flaw for me. I need to believe Andrew would do what he did (and, yes, it’s a little complicated so I’ll leave some of the details for when you read it.) My beef is that I don’t buy that Andrew would take the actions that he has and, furthermore, that Buffy or Spike would allow him to continue, you know, BREATHING after they figured it out. I suppose you could argue he is a necessary evil in this moment but, BOY, am I not loving where his story has gone.

Buffy Season 9 #8 is a good but mixed bag, basically. On the one hand, there’s exciting stuff on the horizon and it feels like we’ll be getting interesting character development for more than just Buffy. On the other, I felt like I had to swallow some bitter pills and accept some stuff I didn’t want to in order to focus on the things that are good. Then again, I’ve felt that way since long before the show became a comic so, hand on heart, maybe I’m just that guy, you know?

Alright. Back to that one word that is going to describe the rest of “Apart (of me).” Did you work it out while reading reviews on the interwebs? If not, then here it is – Dollhouse. Soak it in because, baby, you don’t know the half of it.

Let me know what you thought of this issue in the comments.

See you next month!


ETA 2

8th Buffy S9 # 8 review.

http://thequarterbin.com/2012/04/10/...er-season-9-8/

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 9 #8

Posted by Sarah LeBoeuf On April - 10 - 2012



Another story arc begins in the eighth issue of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 9. Check out our review of part one of “Apart (of Me)”. Season 9 spoilers ahead!



Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 9 #8
Writer: Andrew Chambliss
Penciller: Cliff Richards
Inker: Andy Owens
Colorist: Michelle Madsen
Cover Artist: Georges Jeanty

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I was… confused. I wasn’t crazy about the way the last issue ended, for a couple of reasons: it seemed like a cop-out to the unintended pregnancy storyline, and it kind of came out of nowhere. Now that the issue has been out for a few weeks, I can safely discuss the fact that Buffy is, apparently, a robot. And therefore not pregnant. Also, missing an arm. Yeah, issue #7 was a bit befuddling.

The mystery of robot Buffy is cleared up pretty quickly in this issue, though that by no means solves the problem. I’m glad that the story has once again taken a turn for the interesting by veering through totally unexpected territory, despite my complaints in my last review. Fan favorite Andrew makes a return in this issue, which shouldn’t be much of a surprise–where there are Buffybots, there’s Andrew.

I’m glad Season 9‘s plot is back on track, but I’m a little unsatisfied by the elimination of the pregnancy storyline. Sure, I’ve never seen another storyline get rid of an unexpected pregnancy with a surprise robot, but it’s not that much better than the old “has a miscarriage right before the abortion” or “pregnancy test turned out to be wrong” trope (indeed, the pregnancy test was wrong, though I suppose that was a programming error, not a biological indicator).

I’m also missing the rest of the Scooby gang, though we do get a quick look at Dawn and Xander in this issue. Something has been brewing with those lovebirds for several issues; though it’s presented subtly, there’s some tension in that relationship, and I have a feeling it’s going to explode at some point. Dawn’s more independent now than ever before, but she’s gone from being Buffy’s kid sister to Xander’s college-aged girlfriend. Maybe if she spent some time on her own it would really allow the character to grow.

Penciller Cliff Richards does a great job of conveying a lot of emotion without the need for many words in this issue, which is a sign of a great partnership with writer Andrew Chambliss. However, we’re once again left with a cliffhanger at the end of this issue. I understand the need to leave readers wanting more (and I always do!), but I’d like see the resolution of one or two of these open threads.

In just a few weeks Buffy’s focus has gone from getting an abortion to not being a robot, which I guess isn’t even that unusual in the life of a Slayer. I know she’s the star of the show, but I hope we get more time with what’s left of the gang next month.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 9 #8 will be in comic shops on Wednesday, April 11.

[comic fan]

Maggie's Summary of Buffy S9 # 8.

http://www.buffyforums.net/forums/sh...199#post616199

Huh, I'm the first to react (though someone may beat me to it by the time I post).

Very little of this hasn't already been telegraphed.

1. It was a mind transfer, not a brain transfer. For the sake of argument I'm going to assume it's more a Faith-Buffy switch than a DH imprinting deal. I think that's right anyway, but even if it's not, it's the solution I can live with, so let me have it.

2. Spike gets impressively mad on Buffy's account.

3. Buffy even gets a bit mad on Buffy's account which is a good thing. It's really nice to have her *finally* say she should be consulted before people do these things on her behalf. It'd have been nicer to get a sly connect to last season, but good in any case that for once Buffy doesn't roll with it.

4. The night of the party, Spike escorted the roofied, but not yet passed out Buffy to bed. He wasn't trying to take advantage or anything -- quite the gentleman. But that's the "after last night" remark from #1.

5. The pregnancy symptoms were all bot-related. The test was due to the Ph factor in the Trueblood (bot blood, I presume). The barfiness was because the digestive system of the bot hasn't been perfected.

6. Of course they don't remotely begin to address the fact that Buffy would have had to be brain dead to not notice it wasn't her body. Suspend disbelief and move on. At least Andrew wasn't doing brain surgery in her bedroom.

7. Buffy has a nice moment with Spike on the way to retrieve her body. She's upset about how the first normal problem she thought she had to deal with turned out to be fake. Just a little more pro-abortion PSA-ery. But then she says the one thing that was real was Spike showing up when she needed someone. She thanks him. They share a moment.

(I don't like switching artists. It's hard enough to read emotion as it is. One would say the Spike reaction shot as Buffy turns away is shifty, but maybe it's him getting hopeful.)

8. On arriving at Buffy's very nice suburban house, Buffy gets all wistful looking at a life she's never dreamed of for herself.

9. As they are about to arrive, Simone breaks in and knocks out Buffy's body and throws her in a van. She talks about the mighty having fallen and her role as a liberator (from this Betty Crocker bull ***).

10. All the Andrew geekery a geek fan could want. yawn. oh, I mean co-o-ol.

11. And the BIG NEWS (saving the best for last). Before the scene we got, we have Xander in the shower asking Dawn to grab his eye patch for him. She doesn't answer immediately and he kind of freaks out. Dawn comes in and says "Coming,! wow, relax" And Xander replies "Sorry, I just didn't know where you ---"

They're interrupted by Dowling at the door. But that little exchange tells me that Xander is on edge about Dawn just up and disappearing. I do think that Dawn's keyness is an issue and that with the fading magic, she might fade too. It's my best guess. But hey, guys. There's some Dawn/Xander stuff to speculate on!


ETA

http://www.buffyforums.net/forums/sh...216#post616216

The Buffy-Spike conversation:

Buffy is looking out the window with a tear running down her cheek.

Spike comes in: "Hey Buffy"
Buffy wipes away a tear: "Spike. I don't need you coming in here walking on eggshells. Do me a favor."

She looks out the window again: "Say something stupid. Or needy. Or creepy. Anything to make me forget...
He has a weird expression on his face, eyes rolled up. Annoyed?

Buffy turns back to him: "...That none of what I went through was real.
Spike: Well, it's not over yet, slayer, not until the little man ---

Buffy talks while Spike reaches out to touch her: "I thought for once I *was* facing something normal -- something a *person* deals with. And I was handling it like an adult, Spike. Right? I was realistic, responsible, making the hard choices."

Buffy turns away looking sad, Spike lets go of her: "But turns out it's just more bizarre slayer crap -- I'm a robot with one arm. A walking, talking slot machine. But fake as my problems were, you know what was real?

She turns back to him and puts her hand on his shoulder: "*You* showing up when I needed someone. Thanks."

He takes her hand in his and they look at each other.

She turns back to the window and he's got that weird expression that looks shifty, but which doesn't make sense in the context of that scene. Or does it? Who knows.

Before I do Buffy-Spike at the party, let me add that the missed period is because Andrew didn't program the bot to do that. So the bot that doesn't even have her periods is otherwise so perfect that Buffy doesn't notice she's not in her body. Any of you have the same experience I do after some dental work is done? It doesn't feel like my mouth and it takes time to get used to it. Buffy's whole body is dental work and she didn't notice.

Anyway, here's Buffy and Spike at the party:

Spike has his arm around Buffy's waist and she's clinging to his shoulder: "Everywhere I step, sploosh, sploosh, sploosh!
Spike: "'s what you get for playing horsey in the pool with your flatmate and Andrew."
Buffy: He gave me a drink!"

Buffy is tickling Spike's chin, and Spike says "Don't think he was the only one, love.
Buffy: "Love"...?
Spike: Figure of speech.

They're in her room and she's trying to take her shirt off: "Figure out this.. why isn't the button in the fronnnnnt...."

She passes out.

He looks at her shirtless, but face down on the bed

He covers her with a blanket: "You're a god-awful mess, slayer, in more ways than one -- but may you feel no pain til morn. What you get *then*

Andrew quotes him as we return to the present day:" .. you've no one to blame but yourself"

Spike: "Sure, when you say it like that it sounds downright cruel!"


ETA 2

Full Summary of Buffy S9 # 8 from Zianna.

http://www.buffyforums.net/forums/sh...230#post616230

OK, here is the detailed summary.

The issue begins in Andrew's room. He's sleeping when suddenly he see two figures coming into from his window. He thinks they are aliens coming for him and he seems happy about it. But it's just a very pissed Buffy and Spike and Andrew seems disappointed about it. Buffy gets right to the point, asking him what did he do with her body, while Andrew tries to act surprised like he doesn't know anything about it which drives Buffy mad and she's ready to hit him.

The scene changes and we see detective Downling in the morgue. He sees the dead body of his partner and he confirms it's her. To make a long story short, the forensic coroner tells him that her injuries are consistent with the recent zompires' attacks, and that he has to perform an autopsy to determine whether her death was because of exsanguination or neck trauma.

Back to Buffy. They're talking about the pregnancy, and Andrew says that probably it was a problem in the Ph balance of the trueblood inside the robotic body. And he asks Buffy to "forgive" him for not programming the robot about her period, which made Buffy take the pregnancy test. And the reason that Buffy was feeling sick and she was vomiting, was because he didn't program well the robotic body on how to process food eating. But Andrew is glad to help Buffy, so he offers her a new arm, the only problem is that it's a left one, if she doesn't mind having two lefts. Buffy again very angry, wants to know why she's a robot though. So Andrew tells her that Spike asked him to help, which makes Buffy really angry at Spike and she turns at him ready to hit him. Spike in defense says that he had no idea and no intention of going back that road again with a Buffybot as a sex slave. So Andrew explains better saying that he was asked to find information about the threat and who was after Buffy, but he's not good at that.

So we get the flashbacks from the party. Andrew and Buffy are talking. He gives her a drink, he has spiked her drink. (In #1 we also see Andrew giving that drink to Buffy, @Veiriti had posted those panels some weeks ago predicting it, the same panels I posted here yesterday since nobody noticed them but Veiriti). Here now we also see Buffy drinking it and Andrew looking satisfied. He roofied her, that's how she ended up in her bedroom with Spike. More flashbacks about it. Spike helps Buffy getting into her bedroom, after the pool/partying thing. Buffy is very "drunk" but still talking and openly flirts with Spike. So "drunk" that she takes of her blouse in front of him, half naked, and she passes out on her bed. Spike looks at her, and like a gentleman, he covers her with a bed-sheet. All that time Andrew was watching Buffy and Spike from across the hall. When Spike left, he went to Buffy's room with the robot. They had with them a plunger kind of device. The robot was able to talk and move. It takes off its clothes and gets naked like Buffy. And Andrew uses the device to transfer Buffy's mind into the robot, and whatever the robot had in Buffy's body.

Back in the present. So Buffy believes that she's not real, but Andrew explains that only her body isn't real, but she's Buffy in a robotic body. And her says even more, that all that technology was Warren's that he found it in his lab and he stole the tech. But Buffy should feel lucky that the only problem she had was that she thought she was pregnant, since that mind swap thing could have left her permanently drunk, for example. And that last comment makes Spike furious ready to attack Andrew for what he's put Buffy through. Andrew tries to explain that he was only trying to help, which makes Buffy now angry telling him that if that was his intention then he should have talked to her about it and not act on his own. Again with Andrew's stupid justification, he says that in witness protection people can't know anything, that's why he didn't say anything. He had done a lot of bad things in S6 with the trio, but now he's changed and he uses all that knowledge to help, that's why he's now a part of the scoobie gang. And Buffy angrily replies, "No, Andrew, this is how you screw it up!" Spike steps in, saying that the threat was gone, Siphon was stopped, so enough of this, why is Buffy still a robot and not knowing anything? So Buffy again asks the question where the hell is her body.

We go to the suburbias. A very well dressed Buffy is getting out of a car, driver's place. She goes inside, changes her clothes, goes out for some gardening, uses the washing machine, starts cooking. Living the perfect life of the perfect housewife.

Back in the spaceship now. Buffy is looking out of the window and she's crying. Spike comes and Buffy asks him to say something stupid, needy or creepy to make her forget. Forget about the fact that for the first time in her life she was facing a real life decision and she was being responsible about it making the hard decisions. But she was wrong, again it was a slayer's thing, nothing more. All her problems were fake, but the only thing that was real for her it was Spike himself, showing up when she needed him. She touches Spike's left shoulder and thanks him. Spike takes her hand inside his and they just look into each other's eyes smiling at each other. And Spike leaves her alone, looking happy about it.

We go to Andrew and the bugs. Andrew wants the bugs to turn on the cloaking device so that nobody can follow them to Buffy's body, but the bugs have no idea what he's talking about. Spike comes, he puts on his game face and attacks Andrew. "If I wasn't possessed of such a rational nature, I could succumb to a fit of rage. Pitch you off this ant trap for the baby scare if nothing else. Any idea what that was like for her? If you don't fix this, you and I will have problems...with one decisive solution!" Finally somebody threatens Andrew, although he wasn't punched in the face.

We go to Xander and Dawn. Xander does what he does best in S9. He takes a shower, what else (does he work in construction or in the city dump?) He asks Dawn to get him his eye patch that he left on the nightstand but Dawn doesn't reply. Xander gets angry, hits the wall tile and breaks it. "Coming. Wow, relax" says Dawn when she comes and sees it, and Xander replies "Sorry, I just didn't know where you..." only to get interrupted by the door bell. It's detective Dowling. Dawn tells him that they still haven't heard anything from Buffy but the detective tells her that he knows the truth, he's just seen Buffy, and that she's a robot now and he just wants to talk about it. There was a zompire attack, dead officers everywhere, and his partner was killed. they drained her. He is shocked and surprised that a girl in Dawn's age can deal with that so easily. Back to the morgue, where we see his partner's dead body, rising from the dead and becoming a zompire, attacking and killing the coroner.

Back in the spaceship. Spike, Buffy, Andrew and the bugs are heading to Mill Valley, a town near San Francisco. Andrew just talks and talks, not even the bugs understand what he says. There are cameras inside the safe house where Buffy's body is, and Andrew uses them to see how's Buffy's body doing. Buffy and Spike look at it. A very nice house, and Buffy's body is cooking in a very awesome kitchen. Not only the kitchen, the living room as well, as Andrew shows them. "This what you had in mind if we were gonna run away, slayer?" Spike asks. "It wasn't..." Buffy says, unable to say more. But something goes wrong, the silent alarm starts, there is something going on in the safe house. Somebody wearing a mask wit ha gun attacks Buffy's body, telling her that she's going to liberate her from this Betty crocker bull****. And hits her on the head with the gun knocking her unconscious. Last panel, a van is outside the suburban house. It leaves us with the impression that Buffy's body was kidnapped (again...) and placed inside the van. The person takes off the mask, and we see Simone.

To be continued..


ETA 3

Zianna has posted many panels from the new issue at Slayalive.It's the last post on this page.

http://slayalive.com/showthread.php/...ot-Pt.-1/page4

ETA 4

Buffyfest interviews Scott Allie about Buffy S9 # 8 plus teases C2E2 announcments.

http://buffyfest.blogspot.com/2012/0...28Buffyfest%29

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Buffyfest Talks 'Buffy' #8 with Scott Allie (Part 2)

Last week we spoke to Scott Allie about all things horror and scotched in an interview about Buffy #8 "A(part) of Me", which is in stores and available for digital download today. Scott is currently on his way to Chicago's C2E2 Expo and if you're in the Chicago area, you should definitely check it out as Dark Horse is making some exciting announcements! Ok, on with the show...



Buffyfest: Hey Scott! So what Andrew has done to Buffy's mind closely resembles early Dollhouse technology, was that the intention?

Scott Allie: Sort of. The Dollhouse angle wasn't in the original plan from Joss, but as we started figuring out how to make the details work with the robot and the mind transference, Dollhouse came to mind. Riffing on Dollhouse seemed to make sense, gave us a short hand, especially with Andrew Chambliss working on the comic, and Cliff drawing it, after he'd drawn the Dollhouse comic. I was able to reference the device from Dollhouse in the script and Cliff already knew what it was.

Buffyfest: It’s made clear that homemaker Buffy is not what robot Buffy had planned. Did Andrew create that personality or…?

SA: Mm, yeah. More to come on that, but yes. Andrew programmed something to take the place of Buffy's personality.

Buffyfest: In the opening pages, there’s a lot of pop culture references littered throughout Andrew’s room (Star Wars, Tranformers, Lady Gaga, Glee.) With Cliff Richard’s penciling, did you leave it to him to come up with what Andrew’s room would look like, or did you and Andrew Chambliss come up with those details?

SA: I threw a lot of specifics in there, but Cliff added a lot too. I think I suggested Gaga, and he came up with Glee. I think, anyway.

Buffyfest: The zompires have been creeping into the story more and more throughout the season, now especially with Detective Miranda Cheung becoming one. Will they continue to play a major part in the narrative as the story progresses?

SA: They'll continue to be important, and involved in some of the turning points of the story, but they're not the whole story. And they're not ultimately the Big Bad. They're relatively minor presence in the next arc, "Guarded", which has Andrew Chambliss and Georges back. They grow more important again in Buffy #14 & 15, where we have guest writers digging a bit more into what's going on with zompires.

Buffyfest: Hand on your heart – someone you love is killed and gets sired. What’s harder to deal with emotionally – a vampire or a zompire?

SA: I suspect a vampire. A zompire can't manipulate you, it's just a monster. If you knew your child were a monster, and you had to kill it, or even just flee it, that would be unimaginably bad. But if it was talking to you while you were fighting for your life ... worse, I think.

Buffyfest: It's nice to see Dawn and Xander again but why is Xander raging so much? He pretty much Hulk-Smashed that tile.

SA: He is indeed grumpy. Things have not entirely gone Xander's way. More to come on that. That story comes to a head right before the final arc.

Buffyfest: By the way, Buffy losing an arm… Star Wars reference? Is Darth Vader her father? Be honest…

SA: This was Joss's idea, and he is a bit of a Star Wars fan, so ...

Buffyfest: We've noticed a big divide within Buffy fandom where many fans are downright angry at the reveal of Buffy being a robot and never having been pregnant vs. a new legion of fans (mostly on Tumblr) who have responded very positively to the story. What do you think of this anomaly?

SA: We expected it. We liked the idea, and felt that others would—but we also knew there'd be some backlash. I've seen criticisms from people thinking that we ruined our own story about abortion by saying she was never pregnant. And that would be true if the abortion, or the pregnancy, were the most important thing about Season 9. I hope that when it's all said and done most people will think it all added up. I have no delusions that everyone would think that.

Buffyfest: Why did Dark Horse decided to change the cover of #8?

SA: I want to show exciting things on covers. I don't want to ruin stories, but I want to strike a balance. We're not doing our jobs if the covers are boring. So for every cover of Spike and Buffy sipping wine on a couch, there needs to be one where she's getting part of her body chopped off. Every time Georges does cover sketches, he literally does 10 or 12, compared to the 2 or 2.5 that other artists do. When Georges did this sketch, we loved it, and wanted to use it, but you'll notice we actually put it on the issue AFTER the arm gets hacked off. So it was out there, people knew it was coming, but when it happened in issue #7 hopefully it was still somewhat of a surprise. When Georges drew the robot arm being hacked off, we went back and forth about how to show that it was a fake arm. I think the initial sketch had blood. Georges tried a few different ways of drawing the sparks. Then Michelle colored it, and it didn't look right, so Georges tried another way of doing the shoulder. She colored it again, and it looked great. In all that mucking around, we talked a lot about the cover, and came up with the idea to conceal the fact that she was a robot by going back to the bloody shoulder version. So Georges drew a patch, Michelle colored it yet again, and we decided to spoil the arm being torn off, but mislead a little bit by concealing the fact that the arm is mechanical.

Buffyfest: The Drusilla mini-series has been shelved but we know you've been planning other minis for Season 9. Do you know who you'll be focusing on having their own mini-series next?

SA: I do. We'll be announcing at Chicago, C2E2. I think word will get out on Thursday, at the retailer presentation, and then in more detail on the Dark Horse panel on Friday. I wish you guys were gonna be there.

Buffyfest: Us too! Will that mini-series be moved up now?

SA: Actually, yes and no. And I'll tell you guys this. It's two series. One is being moved up slightly, one is not. For a couple reasons—in part because of the scheduling change on Drusilla, and in part because of where and when we need that character doing other stuff in the two main books. While we started with a detailed outline, a lot changed over time. Things changed for the characters in ways we didn't initially predict or understand, and so where each character is, what they're doing, has changed as the story has gone on.

Buffyfest: We're definitely looking forward to it! Thanks, Scott.

Look out for some extra tidbits about that C2E2 announcement here on Buffyfest this Friday!


So the Dollhouse comparisons out there seems apt.It was intentional but wasn't in the original plans.As is the season 9 miniseries situations.Sounds like things are really in flux.So two miniseries will be announced for C2E2 but we'll probably hear about them tomorrow.One is being moved up most likely due to the Dru miniseries being shelved.The other isn't.I still think one of them is Willow since he mentions one of them features a character is doing stuff in both season 9 monthlies.

[comic fan]

I got to start a new post for this.

Buffy S9 # 9 has LEAKED!!!! The whole issue.Dark Horse is having some bad luck lately.The Dru Miniseries shelved and now the entire next issue leaked a month in advanced on the same day as issue 8.

I haven't read it myself.A lot of people have read it.Like I said,I haven't downloaded and the files might of been pulled(Dark Horse could of found out and pulled them) but I did see a panel from the issue that was posted.It was the real Buffy body with the programmed mind tied to a chair by Simone.Simone was goading her and asking if Severine has sucked the slayer out of her and real Buffy body with fake mind asks her,what a slayer is.

I didn't read the issue but I am fully spoiled.Here is all the summeries and spoilers for issue 9.

BuffyForums

-I've just read it (issue 9) and I have to say I quite enjoyed it really. The art isn't fantastic but at least all the characters look like grown adults. Like the whole scene with Xander and the cop and the depiction of Spike crouched on that rock.

and

- actually thought It was a step up from whats gone before. Xander's anger and actions seem to hark back to earlier seasons of the characetr which makes me think the boys still got real 'issues' going on about something thats really tearing into him for some reason.

-Jesse was mentioned!!! OMG, Xander finally mentioned Jesse!!!!! I love you S9!!!! I love you!!!

-It was weird reading #9 before #8 I was able to follow the Dowling, Xander, Dawn story easily because they had a very short scene in #8, but the Buffy/Spike/Andrew stuff were weird without me reading the earlier issue.

I'd write a short summary, but I need to go at the moment. I'll see if I can get back to the net as fast as possible.

Here's a short summary.

Buffy, Spike and Andrew look for real Buffy. Andrew installs a new arm onto Robo-Buffy. Real Buffy has no clue what Simone is talking about. Robo-Buffy eventually meets up with Real Buffy who hits her with some wooden stick and tells her she had been liberated. Cliffhanger!

Oh, and Buffy angsts about how Andrew managed to achieve "normal life" for Suburban Buffy better than she did. Obsessed much, Buffy?

Dowling and Xander go to investigate. They leave Dawn with some injured cop. Dawn conveniently misplaces her phone, so she can't hear Buffy's calls. Xander actually tells Dowling about Jesse. Hell just froze over. They find Cheung who has slaughtered some random bunch of red shirts. She almost kills Xander but Dowling stakes her in the end.


and

-Spoiler:

1. Xander fans are going to be happy. And they sure have reasons to.

2. Scott Allie co-writes his first issue, and surprise, surprise, immediately gets to throw a certain portion of fans one of those silly little bones that may or may not mean anything, but you gotta keep' em' happy, right?

3. And speaking of Allie - the letter column and his reply is going to bring back an old controversy. And I'm going to admit that I gave him too much credit re: sensitivity to consent issues.

4... Speaking of which... After having read those two issues, I'm really not sure if people at Dark Horse realize how horrific what Andrew did is... but I doubt it. Let's hope that #10 deals with the whole thing better, because, right now, I'm really not enjoying this story.


Another summary

My short summary


Spoiler:
Buffy, Spike and Andrew are at Fake with Real Buffy's Body's house -man, it sounds stupid! - Spike snaps at Andrew - I love you, Spike! Buffy is worried about her body and the girl taking over it as she asks Andrew if she knows how to fight, but Andrew says it's important that she doesn't know she's the Slayer -is she a decoy Buffy kinda girl? I need to read #8! Buffy wonders how Andrew could get this Buffy a great normal life.

Andrew had put a tracking device on Fake Buffy's necklace and he got a signal. Simone got Fake Buffy and she has her tied to a chair and thinks she's Buffy. Poor Fake Buffy doesn't know what the hell is going on.

Xander, Dawn and Dowling are at the streets finding dead bodies everywhere except for an injured woman they thought was dead. Xander asks Dawn to wait in the truck and snaps at her. Dawn tells Xander she's a much better fighter by his side than the "Drunk Detective" and Xander tells her that he knows she can take care of herself, but someone needs to stay with the injured woman and tells her he's sorry for snapping at her. He takes an ax and gives it to Dowling who is so scared about the idea of killing his partner. Xander smacks him against the wall and tells him about Jesse.

Buffy tries calling Dawn, but Dawn lost her cell phone. Spike asks if Dawn knows that she won't be an aunt.

Sorry, I need to go now! Hopefully someone will write the full details.


zianna has posted her full summary of the issue.

Spoilers Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 #9: "Apart (of Me)" Pt. 2 - Page 2

SUMMARY Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 #9: "Apart (of Me)" Pt. 2

The issue has leaked, so I post the summary. Whoever wants to read it next month, it's a warning, it's the whole plot of #9, so avoid it if you don't want to be spoiled!!!!

Buffy, Spike, Andrew and the bugs have arrived in the safe house. Buffy is very impressed with the house and the furniture, and as Andrew explains, it has 2 bedrooms, all the furniture were carefully chosen from IKEA, because he wanted to add personality to the illusion. Andrew then finds a broken glass and red liquid on the floor, thinking that it may be blood, but it's not as Spike informs him and Buffy understands that her body fought back. But as Andrew says probably her body didn't fight back well, since she was programmed not to find out that she was the slayer. Spike gets angry and attacks Andrew again, but Buffy's voice stops him. Only because she has gone to the next room and she's taking a visit in the house.

"How the hell could Andrew do this?" she wonders and Spike is ready to snap his neck, all he needs is her word, but that's not what Buffy means. Andrew was able to give her the life that she couldn't give herself. Her body has a bedroom, an office in the second room, and probably she plans to make it a nursery someday. Spike tries to remind her that it's not the life of a real person, but Buffy says that it has to be real for her to create it. Their conversation gets interfered by Andrew, he has found Buffy's body using a tracking device placed in her jewelry.

We go to Simone and Buffy's body (how am I supposed to call her for the sake of this summary? I'll call her Buffake). Simone has no idea that Buffake is not Buffy, she thinks that she didn't fight back because of Severin. And she actually thinks that the WTFuffy is the fake one, and that Buffy is living the suburban life. Simone is very angry at her, Buffy used to lead an army only to watch her slayers die, and now to live a life in the suburbs. Buffake is so scared, that she begs Simone to set her free, also telling her that she sucks in slaying which is what makes Simone suspicious that there is something going on.

We go to Xander, Dawn and Dowling. They are outside. The place is full of dead police officers. Dowiling suspects that zompires are after the cops, it would be the most logically thing to do, but Xander disagrees because zompires aren't clever. The place is full of dead police officers, Xander and Dowling decide to go inside the building, Dawn wants to go as well, but Xander furious tells her not to and to stay outside. They find an injured police woman, who informs them about what happened, so Xander goes to his car to grab some weapons and asks Dawn to keep an eye at the injured woman. While they do that, Dawn's phone falls off her pocket and then Xander apologizes for yelling at her. He says that he knows Dawn can do a better job than the detective, but Dowling won't agree to stay outside waiting and somebody has to stay there to take care of the police woman. Dowling looks scared, watching Spike doing it seemed so easily, he himself killed one the previous night, but now they are after his ex-partner. Xander tries to put him back to earth, telling him that his first time was when he was 16 years old and he had to kill his friend. Everytime he remembers it he can't see a vampire but the face of his friends, he understands how it feels like, but Dowling's ex-partner has to be killed or else she'll hurt more people. So they go inside the police station.

In the meantime, Buffy is calling Dawn, but Dawn can't heat the phone ringing. They are all back on Spike's spaceship. Buffy leaves a voicemail and she goes to Spike. He wonders if she has informed Dawn that she's not going to be an aunt yet (foreshadowing maybe?) but Buffy says that she just can't leave a voicemail informing her sister about it like that. A bug comes saying that Master Andrew wants something, but before it finishes the sentence Spike gets angry. How dares Andrew giving orders to his bugs? Buffy tries to calm him down reminding him that she'll probably need Andrew's help. They go to Andrew and he informs them that Buffake is on an island near San Fransisco called Angel. Which makes Spike very suspicious about who is responsible for the kidnap (he's thinking of Angel, but we know that it's why in #5 Buffy was wearing a blouse with Angel's wings, she was visioning about the island). Buffy is awkward about that, which makes Spike angry and leaves the room.

Next we see Andrew performing a surgery on Buffy's with the help of a bug. He apologizes about his plan, he understands now that it was a bad plan and that he should have told her but if he had told her, she wouldn't have agreed. Buffy gets mad telling him that of course she wouldn't, not because she lost an arm, but because of what she's been through thinking that she's pregnant. Even now he still tries to impress Warren, although he's dead. But she can't understand why he put all that effort to create such a nice house for her body. Andrew just wanted to give her the life that she would have had, if she hadn't spent all those years slaying. Which kind of softens Buffy on him, and then they hear: "Approaching Angel island, humans and androids please report to the airlock!" Poor Buffy, even the bugs make fun of her (or maybe it was Spike, I don't know).

Back to Xander and Dowling. Xander tries to teach him some lessons on how to hold the axe. Dowling apologizes for showing up at his place drunk. Xander keeps on with the lessons while Dowling seems annoyed about it. They go inside a bar, and they see everyone dead there and the zompire feeding on someone. Dowling instead of keeping quit so they can kill it, he informs the police about the multiple murders but that makes his zompire partner notice them. She attacks Xander, he tries to fight back, but Cheung easily throws his at the other side of the room. She then attacks Dowling, Xander grabs the ax, but Cheung easily again takes it away from him and tries to bite Xander. Downling shoots her, she grabs him and throws him on Xander. Again Cheugg attacks Xander, Dowling grabs a stake and finally dusts the threat and saves Xander's life.

Back to Buffy, Spike and Andrew. They are on the island. And as they don't know what they are dealing with, Spike suggests that Buffy should hang back. But as Buffy says, she's not pregnant anymore, she's not even human. Buffy wants to know more about the Buffake, what's she like. Andrew says how he programmed her, but he also adds that she started developing a personality, making friends, inviting people. Spike interrupts, and Buffy suggests that they should separate in order to search the island and get over with that before the night is over. So, Spike finds the van, Andrew is terrified alone in the forest mumbling nonsense, and Buffy finds some wooden housesm warehouses, corn bins, I don't know what those are. She goes inside and she finds the necklace with the tracking device. Buffy wonders what happened to Buffake but suddenly something hit her on her head. It was Buffyfake and she did it because she has been liberated (and got some purple extensions on her hair).

TO BE CONTINUED.

ETA

I have my copy of Buffy S9 # 8,"Apart (Of Me) Part I of III"Plus I'm spoiled fully for the leaked Buffy S8 # 9,"Apart (Of Me) Part II of III."

I didn't read Buffy # 9,but I did read many of the summaries and spoilers posted for it.My thought here are only on issue 8 and will not touch on what's known about issue 9.

The only thing I'll say is that I do think being spoiled for issue 9 a month ahead while reading this issue made me appreciate issue 8 probably more.

To start with,I've never been a fan of Andrew.I've never thought he was a cute or funny character.But he really screwed up this time and still seems to be a little kid who is way too smart for his own good.He's lucky Buffy and Spike didn't tear his head off.

The resolution of the pregnancy plot and the abortion issue really does feel like Batsu last season and probably needs some suspension of disbelief but I can role with it.It's not different than the shows in that regard.

I actually like the robot development.I'm one of the ones who really liked season 8 but has been disappointed overall in the Buffy side of season 9.There are things I like of course but overall I've been meh to it so far.I get what they're trying to do by making it more like the show and smaller and less outlandish than season 8.But I just don't think that works as well as a comic book.

Comics and T.V. are very different mediums and at least for me what works in one isn't working for me as well in the other.I think you need some of that larger outlandish stuff to work in comics and that's part of what worked so well for me in season 8 and is working in Angel & Faith.I think it adds energy and I think the robot developments have started to add it.

I most definitely see the Dollhouse comparison,something Scott Allie confirmed in his Buffyfest interview.And now Simone kidnapping fake Buffy(real Buffy body,fake Buffy mind) has given season 9 a bit of a shot in the arm I think it needed.

And the scene with Xander has me really intrigued.Why was he so angry and snapped at Dawn.Also liked seeing Dowling interact with him and Dawn.

Ship factors aside,I'm glad Buffy had Spike watching her back during this whole ordeal and I feel bad that Buffy feels bad that she wasn't really pregnant and her feeling like this takes away from her dealing with a normal issue.

So I think this is a fair start to the arc and I'm looking forward to actually reading next issue. *wink*

[comic fan]

Scott Allie interview about Buffy # 8 plus a new cover.

Interview With Buffy Editor and Writer Scott Allie: Part Two | Persephone Magazine

Interview With Buffy Editor and Writer Scott Allie: Part Two

On April 11, 2012 in Pop Culture


uffy discovers that Andrew spiked her drink and switched her body with a robot in issue #8.

Dark Horse editor Scott Allie chats with Persephone Magazine about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season Nine’s big moments and fans’ burning questions on the release of the latest issue. This is part two of two in a series of interviews with the Buffy comic editor and writer. Warning: major spoilers for issues #1-8 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season Nine.

Last month, Persephone Magazine caught up with Allie to talk about what’s been going on with our favorite slayer. In addition to discussing the recent pregnancy storyline, we touched on a certain mind-boggling revelation that took place in issue #7—you know, the one where Buffy is a robot? As it turns out, the story is a little more complicated than we originally may have thought. On the release of the aptly titled, “Apart (of Me) Part One,” we once again get to pick the brain of the editor and co-writer himself, Mr. Allie.

Persephone Magazine: Okay, so maybe you can help us wrap our heads around this new development. How could a robot Buffy believe that she was pregnant?

Scott: Through the various imperfections of Andrew’s Buffybot, Buffy’s consciousness, which is in the ’bot, mistakenly came to believe that she was pregnant.

A lot of people (myself included) feel very uncomfortable with what Andrew did to Buffy, without her consent, and feel that it crosses into some icky territory.

Oh yeah, it’s very bad territory. Andrew will have a lot to make up for. Andrew has certain considerable moral blind spots. He faces a lot of anger from Buffy and Spike in my arc, but they need him, so they don’t toss him.

There seems to be a lot of political satire at play in issue #8—especially when it comes to Andrew’s decision to “protect” Buffy without her consent. This is extraordinarily paternalistic. Was there a conscious effort on your part to draw a parallel to the current political climate surrounding women’s reproductive rights? Or am I reaching for a connection here because of the recent abortion storyline?

No, it’s intentional. Or a lot of it is, but then some of it just naturally rises out of the situation. Andrew hijacked her body. Andrew made decisions about her body—why? For her own good, of course. Obviously Andrew is an imperfect stand-in for our paternalistic society, but that’s where the art comes in, so to speak. That is, if Riley were behind this, or if the Watcher Council had reformed somehow, it would be sort of on the nose. Even though the pregnancy is revealed to be fake, the themes that we brought up in these issues will reverberate through the season. Buffy will be dealing with the decision she made, even if she doesn’t deal with the act itself. This season is not about abortion, but even more than other stories, it’s about choices we make, and about the things that this young woman, who was Chosen, is going to choose to do with her life now.

So, in a way, the abortion storyline was a more literal manifestation of the themes of this arc as a whole?

Yeah. The abortion storyline was one aspect of Buffy’s story of determining her own future as an adult. That’s always what this season was meant to be about, and this arc explores it in a particular way. The next arc tackles in in another way.

Will Buffy be able to forgive Andrew for what he did?

Being Buffy, she’ll want to. As I said, she believes she needs his help right now. But it’s not going to be easy.

Was anyone else was in on Andrew’s plot?

No. He thought he’d be more of a hero if he acted alone. He got the tech he needed from Warren’s place at the end of Season 8, and that’s where he got the idea to try this.

Okay, so I have to ask this one—how could Spike have been fooled by the Buffybot? Can’t he smell the real Buffy a mile away?

That’s not a bad point, he has some experience with the Buffybot, so he should have detected this. There was a line about that in at one point, but we got rid of it. I’m foggy on a vampire’s ability to smell. I recently had a question for Juliet Landau about one of her scripts, relating to that.

This question is cross-overish with Angel, the television series, so forgive me, but the suburban setting that Buffy’s body was being kept in reminded me a lot of the suburban hell dimension from the episode “Underneath.” Coincidence?

I don’t know, you’d have to ask Joss. Maybe this is him returning to that well, in some sense. But in writing the scripts, I’ve been thinking a lot more about Dollhouse than Angel.

That’s very interesting. Why the Dollhouse connection?


Well, it was all Joss’s idea to put the consciousness of Buffy in a Buffybot, who wouldn’t realize she was not Buffy, and also to put a Stepford Buffy consciousness in the actual Buffy. It seemed very Dollhouse to me, and then we had Andrew [Chambliss] working on it, so it just seemed natural, unavoidable. Even Cliff, the artist on this arc, was the artist on our Dollhouse series. It got to where, in writing the scripts, I felt like I had to reference Dollhouse a little bit, because it was an elephant in the room. Dollhouse has a lot to do with free will, self-determination, and so it’s a natural touchstone for this whole season.

While Buffy’s pregnancy/robot plot has gotten a lot of attention, Xander and Dawn have sort of faded to the background. Xander slamming his hand into the wall out of anger was a bit startling. What is going on with them?

They’re in trouble. Their plot will start coming forward, but you need to wait a bit longer. I get into it a little more in #9, but then in #10 things get too complicated with Buffy to really deal with them, unfortunately. It will be quite a while yet before their story really takes off, but it’s been percolating nice and quietly on the side for a while. There have been clues …

Like when Xander was flirting with Buffy at the party a couple issues back?

He wasn’t flirting. That scene was widely misread. You were meant to misread it, so, good Joss, but there was a lot going on in that interaction that will make more sense later.

At the end the issue we see Buffy the housewife being thrown into the back of a van by Simone, who declares that she is going to liberate Buffy from “this Betty Crocker bull&%$@.” Can you any teasers about what’s to come?

Simone’s still mad about the end of magic, the end of the Slayer army, the fact that Buffy wouldn’t go militant in quite the way Simone wanted her to. I think she’s mostly mad about never having a shot at being number one. So she has plans for Buffy, and she found out that the girl running around the wharfs in San Francisco wasn’t really her, and that the real Buffy was in hiding. She didn’t know the true nature of Buffy’s suburban arrangements, but she was intent on showing Buffy who the best Slayer was.

Well, there you have it, Persephoneers! I hope you’ve enjoyed my two part interview series with Scott Allie! Maybe we can convince him to come back for more.

In the meantime—for those of you who’ve been following the comics—what do you think of the recent plot developments?


Cover Art for an Upcoming Issue

ETA

Bleeding Cool talks about the Buffy # 9 leak.There is a scan from the issue there.

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/04/12/buffy/

Next Month’s Buffy The Vampire Slayer Has Already Been Pirated

Written on April 12, 2012 by Rich Johnston

Where do pirates get their digital scans from?

Almost all pirated and illegally uploaded comic books appear on the Wednesday the comic is on sale, sometime mere minutes after the books could have legally been bought off the shelf in a New York store. Iron Muslim, for example, went up at around 10.15am ET yesterday.

The conventional wisdom is that the culprits are comic book clerks who receive comics on Tuesday for Wednesday sale, and are able to scan them in, waiting till the next day to upload them, covering their tracks.

Recently however, David Brothers was able to confirm that the source of a number of Marvel illegally uploaded comics was from an open door directly into Marvel’s ready-for-print files. That the pirated copies prepared well in advance, and as a result missed out some amended errors before the book went print. I understand Marvel closed the security breach. The books are still going up, just from a different source.

But yesterday, something else went awry. And, instead of Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season Nine #8 being uploaded, and made available on a number of hosting sites, issue #9 went up instead. The comic expected to come out next month. Issue 8 is still unavailable illegally.

What does this mean? That somehow the pirates have a way to access Dark Horse comics files. Are preparing them for digital upload well in advance. And somehow one person slipped up. The scan is tagged as being uploaded by “D.T. Rocafella” from the Minutemen group of pirates.


ETA 2

http://fandomania.com/buffy-the-vamp...-comic-review/

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine #8 Comic Review

Posted by Kimberly Lynn Workman



Issue: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Nine #8
Release Date: April 2012
Writers: Andrew Chambliss and Scott Allie
Pencils: Cliff Richards
Inks: Andy Owens
Colors: Michelle Madsen
Letters: Richard Starkings and COMICRAFT’S Jimmy Betancourt
Cover A: Phil Noto
Cover B: Georges Jeanty with Dexter Vines and Michelle Madsen
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

A BuffyBot, a fake reality, and an old acquaintance are all up for a visit in this issue of the Buffy comic. When last we left the storyline, Buffy found out that not only was she not pregnant, but also her entire existence was a lie. She was a BuffyBot, but how long had she been switched with the real Slayer? That’s what she and Spike were determined to figure out. First stop, the one who knows BuffyBots better than anyone — Andrew.

Oh, Andrew, I’ve missed you. When we meet up with him again, he’s just waking up, convinced that aliens have come to abduct him. He’s been expecting this for a while, going by the fact he had his clothes packed in an emergency stash. Unfortunately, it’s only Spike and the BuffyBot, come to find out what part Andrew’s played in the Buffy-swap. As an aside, I like the subtle shout-out to Joss in this scene. Andrew’s seen holding an Avengers shirt, a nod to the fact that Joss Whedon is directing the upcoming Avengers movie.

Turns out that Andrew, in his own twisted way, was trying to help. Spike wanted to figure out whoever was coming after Buffy, so instead of stepping in and tracking down the threat, Andrew simply switched Buffys. He transferred her mind to the BuffyBot when the whole “drunk at the party” incident happened. Instead of getting pregnant, as she thought, she had her body replaced with a metal one. The real Buffy is off in suburbia somewhere, seemingly with amnesia going by the wordless actions she was going through.



Meanwhile, Detective Dowling is in the morgue identifying the remains of Detective Cheung after the zompire attack. He’s gone through a lot of losses because of his interactions with Buffy, and it’s only getting worse. Dowling heads over to Dawn and Xander’s place, in grief and depressed, because not only have countless cops died, but now he finds out Buffy’s actually a robot. It’s a little bit too much to take in. And then, on top of it, he’s yet to find out that Cheung isn’t all dead. She was actually turned and is now attacking the medical examiner back at the morgue. Like I said, the situation is growing more complicated.

As we leave this issue, Andrew, BuffyBot, and Spike are speeding their way towards Amnesia!Buffy’s safe house, putting their approach on overdrive when they see her house is being broken into. Sadly, they couldn’t get there in time to keep her safe and instead she was hit over the head, thrown in the back of a van, and kidnapped. Now it’s going to be a race against time to find her and reunite Buffy’s brain with her body. The adventure continues!

Rating: 4 / 5 Stars


ETA 3

Preview pages for Angel & Faith # 9

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?p...eview&id=12059

Still reeling from her father’s unexpected appearance, Faith goes rogue, taking on Drusilla and her pet demon. It’s time to burn off some anger. Angel is hot on her tail, but he may be too late to save her from Dru, and ultimately herself.

[comic fan]

Season 9 Spike and Willow series announced.

'Buffy' comic spin-offs starring Spike and Willow get release dates | Shelf Life | EW.com

'Buffy' comic spin-offs starring Spike and Willow get story details, release dates, cover art -- EXCLUSIVE

by Adam B. Vary



Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan favorite characters Spike and Willow will officially be getting their own respective five-issue spin-off comic book mini-series from Dark Horse Comics, and EW has all the exclusive details about what their storylines will be about. If we had to sum it up in one word: Magic.

Fans of the ongoing Buffy comic series know that the current “season” finds us in a world without magic. Buffy destroyed the “seed” for all hocus-pocus on our planet at the end of season 8, and Spike’s spin-off finds him running afoul of some demons attempting to find the shards of that seed to mine residual magic from it. “That doesn’t exactly work out for the demons,” says series author Victor Gischler, who’s scripted Punisher, Wolverine, and X-Men comics for Marvel, along with his hard-boiled crime novels (and the occasional pulpy genre novel like Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse). Check out an exclusive shot from the cover below:



Gischler stresses that while the engine of the plot focuses on what happens as Spike gets embroiled with these seed-extracting demons, the thrust of the story is on Spike dealing with the fallout of the most recent arc of the Buffy Season 9 comic, concluding with issue #10 on June 13. In that arc — which also deals with Buffy actually being a robot – Buffy confronts the fact that if she ever wants anything close to a “normal” life, having a boyfriend who’s a vampire probably isn’t the best thing for her. Gischler says the Spike spin-off starts “an hour” after the end of issue #10, with Spike leaving town in his spaceship manned by giant bugs. (Just go with it.) “The focus is on Spike and his coming to terms with some things, sort of getting right in the head,” says Gischler. “He loves Buffy, but can’t be with her. What does that mean to a vampire with a soul?”



The repercussions from the destruction of the seed, meanwhile, had a far more profound impact on Buffy’s best friend, Willow. Stripped of the magical mojo that had made her a powerful witch, she amscrayed a few issues back with Buffy’s mystical slayer scythe, and the new comic miniseries finds her meeting up with Angel (from the parallel Angel and Faith comic series) to try to bring magic back to Earth. Or, at least, that’s what Willow says her plan is.

“She mainly just wants magic back for herself, whether she realizes it or not,” says miniseries scribe Jeff Parker, a comic writer and artist who’s scripted issues for X-Men: First Class, Agents of Atlas, Hulk, and Thunderbolts. “She really misses just being a witch and just doing what she used to do. She doesn’t really know what she’s looking for or how she’s going to do it. Her ego is pretty big at this point, and she thinks she can just figure it out for herself. So she goes charging into a chaotic universe where magic is all that matters, really.”

The Spike spin-off will launch Aug. 22, and the Willow spin-off starts Nov. 21.


The Spike cover is from Buffy S8 # 36.

ETA

Brief words from Scott Allie about the Spike and Willow miniseries and the Buffy line as a whole.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?p...ticle&id=38129

C2E212: Announcements and Info Hit Diamond Retailer Summit

Kiel Phegley, News Editor

Allie spoke about the "Buffy" line of comics, calling the multiple series "probably our strongest line right now." While the announced "Drusilla" series was recently put on hold, the Editor announced that Jeff Parker and Brian Ching will team for a "Willow" series with covers by David Mack and "Buffy" fan favorite Megan Lara. Also in store is a "Spike" series by Victor Gischler and Paul Lee with covers by former IDW "Angel" cover artist Jenny Frison and Steve Morris launching in August. For three months at the end of the summer, Dark Horse will ship a Buffy book every week with hopes that it will draw the faithful fans into stores each and every Wednesday. Allie also said that the future issues of the main "Buffy" title will focus on the villains and feature pages by the legendary Russ Heath.

ETA 2

Dark Horse C2E2 panel report from Newsarama.

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/c2e2...rse-panel.html

C2E2 2012: DARK HORSE COMICS Spring Fever Panel LIVE!

By Lucas Siegel, Newsarama Editor
posted: 13 April 2012

Dark Horse Spring Fever!
Date: Friday, April 13 
3:45 PM - 4:45 PM
Location: N427bc
Speaker: Jeremy Atkins
Description:
Join Dark Horse Director of Public Relations, Jeremy Atkins, for a look at all that the publisher has on tap for the coming year. Show up for exclusive news on all of the fresh spring titles like The Massive, B.P.R.D.- Hell On Earth, and Alabaster, as well as a sneak peek at the publisher’s hot new summer line!

3:51

Allie talks about the series he edits, Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 9

3:51

and Angel and Faith.

3:51

Whistler is coming into the Angel and Faith series which they're having a lot of fun with.

3:52

Two new spinoffs are coming from that world, as well. Willow with covers by David Mack, Jeff Parker is writing it, Brian Shane is drawing.

3:52

All-New Spike Series is coming this fall as well "He needed to take off and do his own thing"

3:52

Victor Gischler is writing it, "he really understands the character." Paul Lee is drawing.

4:04

Q: Status of the Drusilla series?

4:05

Allie: Had to put it on hold for a variety of reasons, not sure if it's going to go forward or not.

4:14

Q: Any plans to resurrect Giles?

4:15

Allie: "No... Um I don't know, did I just answer that out right? That's something you'll see as we go along the series, in Angel and Faith"

4:15

Joss Whedon is executive producing the Willow and Spike books

4:16

Those are the only other books that they plan to do during "Season 9" in the buffyverse



Buffyfest interview with Scott Allie about the Spike and Willow miniseries.

http://buffyfest.blogspot.com/2012/0...llow-mini.html

Friday, April 13, 2012

Exclusive Juicy News: 'Spike' & 'Willow' Mini-Series Q&A

We spoke to Dark Horse editor Scott Allie just before C2E2 and got the scoop about some new projects that have now been announced at the expo. Not only is a Spike 5-issue Mini-Series launching August 22nd, but Willow's Mini has also been given a release date of November 21. On top of all of that, Dark Horse has a new book titled Ex Sanguine coming out in October that'll vibe with our favorite type of story, those oh-so-romantic vampires. Check out all the deets below, straight from the (dark) horse's mouth:

Spike mini-series:

Buffyfest: Writer/Artist/Cover Artist?
Scott Allie: We've got Victor Gischler, Paul Lee, Jenny Frison and Steve Morris. This marks Jenny's return to the character, and her debut on the Dark Horse Whedon books. We're excited about that. Also our first time working with Victor, who's really throwing himself into things.

Buffyfest: Was this mini planned since the writer's summit? Did Joss always want Spike a story?
SA: It was not. The only one to emerge for sure from the Summit was Willow. The Drusilla one came later, though not much later, and Spike came together last, based on the direction of the Buffy series.

Buffyfest: Is this an arm of the central Buffy story or a one-shot separate from the main book?
SA: It is an arm of the main story for Season 9, not just Buffy, but Angel & Faith. All of these books support the main story of the two monthlies, though I guess some more than others.

Buffyfest: Will it bring Spike out of the Buffy book for a while?
SA: Yeah. He'll be leaving the Buffy book soon, not to return for quite some time.

Buffyfest: Any hints as to what Spike's story will be about?
SA: Well, the working title is A Dark Place, although that may change still. So I suppose that hints a bit ...

Buffyfest: Will anyone from the series be tagging along with him?
SA: Yeah, quite a few familiar faces. Multiple, nearly identical faces, if you follow me.

Willow mini-series:


Cover by David Mack

Buffyfest: Writer/Artist/Cover Artist?

SA: Jeff Parker, Brian Ching, David Mack and Megan Lara, al making their Whedonverse debut, although Megan is known to fandom for her Serenity Mucha pieces. Jeff has done very little for Dark Horse, is mainly busy on Marvel books and the occasional creator-owned thing for other publishers. Brian has done a lot of Star Wars stuff, and it was our assistant editor, Freddye, who pulled him in for this. I've been wanting to do something with David Mack for ages. Megan was Sierra's idea. David and Megan both stylistically get us to that mystical place that we want for the series. These covers will look a lot different from any other Whedonverse covers.

Buffyfest: Is this the story of her journey with the scythe?
SA: Yep!

Buffyfest: Timeline-wise, will this mini take place after Willow makes her appearance on Angel & Faith?
SA: Indeed. Yeah, picks up right out of the last panels of her arc in Angel & Faith.

Ex Sanguine
Buffyfest: You described the Tim Seeley book Ex Sanguine as a story about a serial killer and vampire who fall in love…Buffy and Angel if they were Natural Born Killers. Can you elaborate?

SA: It's a pretty dark story, a bit of a detective story, and it does feature a relationship between a vampire and a serial killer. The darkness of it, and the darkness of the protagonists makes the comparison to Natural Born Killers make sense. Tim made the Buffy, Angel, Natural Born Killer reference in the pitch, and I immediately got it, but those sorts of elevator pitches don't mean a lot to me. The intricacy of the mystery story is a big part of what attracted me, and just my love of Tim's work. I wanted to do more real horror comics, and we have a bunch of them cooking, like the Colder miniseries we announced with Paul Tobin and Juan Ferreyra a couple weeks ago. More to be announced shortly ...

Buffyfest: Thanks as always, Scott!

You can find even more info about the mini-series over at EW. Warning, it's all a bit spoilery for Buffy Season 9.

[comic fan]

Buffy's Spike & Willow To Get Their Own Series

Buffy’s Spike & Willow To Get Their Own Series

Posted by Michael Wirth

Long after the hit television series has left the airwaves, Buffy The Vampire Slayer stills has a boatload of rabid fans looking for more of the characters. Luckily, Dark Horse Comics was willing to help appease those fans’ appetites by bringing the series to life in comic book form. Since its debut in 2010, Buffy has been one of Dark Horse’s most popular titles. And with the way things are heating up in this current “season”, it’s likely to remain at the top for some time. So it comes as no surprise that Dark Horse has announced two new spin-off series from the book starring two of the more popular characters, Spike and Willow.

Each character will get their own five-issue series, with their own creative team, but both of them will touch on very similar topics. Readers of Season 8 of the series are aware of the impact Buffy has had on the universe; her destruction of a mystical seed growing under Sunnydale has sapped all of the magic out of the world. Willow, being the resident witch of the group, has been left powerless. Her series will see Willow doing what she can to bring back the magic, even if that means manipulating an old friend, and Buffy’s old boyfriend, Angel in the process. The series will be written by Jeff Parker of Marvel’s Thunderbolts and X-Men: First Class, and illustrated by Brian Ching, best known for his work on Dark Horse’s Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and will begin November 21. It was also feature covers from Kabuki creator David Mack and fan-favorite Buffy artist Megan Lara.

But before Willow goes on her quest for magic, Spike will be having a crisis of conscience of his own. Once a ruthless killer, he has since been tamed, coming to terms with his love for Buffy, a match that doesn’t quite work. In an attempt to lead a normal life, Buffy walks away from a relationship with Spike, which sends him into something of a tizzy. Series writer Victor Gischler, who recently finished a run on Marvel’s X-Men, states that this separation is what drives Spike into his own misadventures, running across a few demons searching for the shards of the destroyed seed in hopes of extracting some of the leftover magic. Spike’s series will hit stores August 22 and will be illustrated by Buffy and Angel penciller Paul Lee with covers by Jenny Frison and Steve Morris.

It’s fantastic to see Dark Horse Comics give Buffy and her crew a proper home, treating the characters with respect. The ending of the television show left a lot of fans in the lurch, but thankfully there are creators out there who felt the same sense of loss that fans did. It will be interesting to see where these two series go and what sort of development they bring to the characters.


Scott Allie Talks Spike and Willow miniseries with CBR.

C2E2: Scott Allie Opens Up on "Spike" & "Willow" - Comic Book Resources

C2E2: Scott Allie Opens Up on "Spike" & "Willow"

Two new tie-ins for Dark Horse's "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" are on their way and Scott Allie discusses how Victor Gischler, Jeff Parker and more brought "Spike" and "Willow" to solo series

Kiel Phegley, News Editor


"Spike" goes solo in Dark Horse's "Buffy" universe this August

When Dark Horse Comics announced earlier this month that the planned "Drusilla" miniseries -- a tie-in to the popular "Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 9" ongoing -- would be delayed from release indefinitely, many followers of Joss Whedon's universe of horror adventure felt the pain. But someone else felt the gap strongly too: "Buffy" editor Scott Allie.

To help keep the world of "Season 9" growing strong, Allie and the Dark Horse team announced on Thursday's pre-C2E2 Diamond Retailer summit that two more tie-in series would launch before year's end: the five-issue "Spike" story by Victor Gischler and Paul Lee with covers by former IDW "Angel" cover artist Jenny Frison and Steve Morris launching in August and a "Willow" series by Jeff Parker and Brian Ching with covers by David Mack and "Buffy" fan-favorite Megan Lara to follow. CBR News caught up with Allie in advance of the Chicago show for insight into what fans can expect when "Buffy" books go weekly late in the summer.

"We've been working on these, and we moved up the announcement a bit to deal with the fact that Dru is gone for now. We felt we needed to do something positive for the fans after we had to do something that I've never done before -- pull a title after the first issue has been solicited," he said. "This will be the extent of 'Season 9' -- a total of five titles."

Spike, of course, only recently rejoined Buffy and the Scooby Gang after a run on his own at IDW Publishing. Though Allie said he'd be spinning off solo again for reasons people might not understand until they read the upcoming tenth issue of "Buffy Season 9," which he is writing. "In issue #10, Buffy and Spike say goodbye for a little while. The miniseries picks up shortly thereafter. It fits neatly into the flow of the season, and it's not a flashback," the editor said of how his last Buffy writing gig for a while leads in. "In my issue #10, there's a moment I'm really happy with where Spike's dialogue to Buffy when they're saying goodbye reflects my current understanding of the character. He's sort of revising his attitude towards Buffy a little bit right now.

"It's interesting because some of the real diehard Spike fans feel like we're behind the times on this -- that Spike got over Buffy. I don't know if he's really over Buffy, but I feel like there's an opportunity for Spike's feelings about Buffy to evolve a little bit. It's not for him to create this huge distance between them, but just for him to take a new swipe at it. I think in the past his love for Buffy hasn't always been the most positive thing for him. That can really drag a guy down."

From there, the question of who to take the vampire over the next part of his journey came about, and Allie said Gischler had a serendipitous start. "Victor and I have been talking for a little while about doing some books and talking about some creator-owned stuff we could do. But he also had expressed that he was a fan of the Whedon-verse. I've read a bunch of his stuff now, but in particular it was the 'Punisher On The Bayou' trade that I read, and similar to ['Angel & Faith' writer] Chris Gage, it just took one really good book to make an impression on me and make me say, 'Okay, I've got to work with this guy.' The Punisher book made me think he could bring a fresh perspective to Whedon's stuff. [Gischler] has a great voice and a really good understanding of story, and we knew roughly what we wanted to do with Spike, and he felt like the guy for it. He's been really fun to work with so far."

Allie added that he was excited to bring on Frison as a cover artist for this series as "I think this is the first time we've had somebody who worked on the IDW books come to work on the Dark Horse books. We at Dark Horse are all big fans of Jenny, and we liked her IDW 'Angel' covers quite a bit."

Overall, creative synergy was a big piece of the puzzle for Allie in making "Spike" work the way it had to. "We've had a great round of phone calls with the new writers to the line and the established writers," he said. "It was kind of like a mobile summit like the one we had from before 'Season 9' started with Joss and Andrew [Chambliss]. Now occasionally we all get together on the phone to refresh and touch base. So starting these new books, we had a chance to get the new people on the phone and throw ideas around. In small ways, there are things Victor is doing in this story that come from Joss or Chris or Andrew or Sierra [Hahn, my assistant] or me. We all talked about where we felt like Spike was at."


"Willow" also gets the solo treatment following an arc in "Angel & Faith"

On the "Willow" front, the editor promised that the series will pay off many unanswered questions about where the character has been since the destruction of The Seed which removed magic from the world. "Willow was the only character where we knew we were going to do a 'Willow' series ever since we started 'Season 9,'" Allie said. "Willow's got a particular journey she's got to take that we couldn't do in 'Buffy' because it would detract from Buddy's story too much. As it turned out, Chris [Gage] had a great idea for how part of that story can be placed in 'Angel & Faith' and so that story will start in issue #11 through #14."

Creatively, this is actually a return to the Buffy-verse for Jeff Parker who drew a story for 2003's "Tales of the Vampires" anthology series. But, as Allie noted, "He's never done a big thing for us. We recently announced that we're doing a print collection of his webcomic 'Bucko,' but Jeff hasn't done enough for Dark Horse yet -- it's great to have him writing a pretty significant series for us at the same time he has a webcomic graphic novel coming out. I've been buddies with Jeff for a long time, and our kids go to school together [here in Portland] so I see him at birthday parties and stuff. To work with him, it's an interesting extension."

On the art side for "Willow," Brian Ching moves over from Dark Horse's "Star Wars" line of comics. "We felt like he would bring something a little different to the Whedon line. And for him, it's the first time he's dealing with likenesses in a major way, which I'm sure can not be fun," Allie said. "One of the super cool things about 'Willow' is that we have some liberty in how we present her basically because Allison Hannigan is super cool."

Overall, Allie said the goal for tie-in series like "Spike" and "Willow" is to fit seamlessly into the fabric of "Season 9" on the whole. "We want these books to tie significantly to what's going on in the season. There's no reason to do them unless they do," he said. "So Victor and Andrew need to be at an understanding as to where the characters are at, or similarly, Willow will show up in 'Angel & Faith' for a little while so Chris had to be on the same page with where Andrew Chambliss had her, and we've got to make sure that remains smooth [into the 'Willow' series]. That can be difficult because a lot is in flux."

The editor also noted that the large collaboration has also brought in a few familiar faces from Buffy's past. "Jane Espenson and Drew Greenberg are coming on to write a 'Buffy' story arc soon, and we had to make sure they were really caught up on where Buffy is at and where the Scoobies are at -- which is sort of nowhere -- in order to make their issues synch up properly with where they fall in the series. They had a very specific story they wanted to tell, and we had to alter it to fit it into 'Season 9.' That involved input from Andrew and from me and Sierra, and it makes it fun. It's a fun, collaborative process.

"There was a lot of conversation," Allie concluded. "It's fun to try and work out the logistics of how this stuff works -- particularly with characters who move from one title to another. With Willow, she's in 'Buffy' until issue #5 where she disappears, then she's missing until she pops back up in 'Angel & Faith' and then after a few months, Andrew needs her back in a particular issue of 'Buffy' so we had to make sure we fit the 'Willow' series in at the right moment. I'm sure this is what Marvel editors' days are full of, but not me."

"Spike" #1 by Victor Gischler and Paul Lee debuts in August, and "Willow" #1 by Jeff Parker and Brian Ching bows in November.


ETA

Angel & Faith # 9 First advanced review.

http://www.bamfas.com/2012/04/review...issues-part-4/

Review – Angel & Faith #9 – Daddy Issues Part 4

By Jenny – April 14, 2012



Script: Christos Gage
Art: Rebekah Isaacs
Colors: Dan Jackson
Cover: Steve Morris
Alternate Cover: Rebekah Isaacs with Dan Jackson
Executive Producer: Joss Whedon
Published By: Dark Horse

This issue begins with Faith meeting with Dru and the Lorophage demon. After a fallout with her dad she no longer wants to feel the pain so she hopes to undergo some serious trauma sucking at the very sharp, pointy hands of the demon. Drusilla is more than happy to oblige. Angel has figured out where Faith has run off to and arrives to stop Dru before Faith makes what Angel sees as a huge mistake. Very soon after his arrival though, all hell breaks loose! Angel and Dru are at odds (surprise, surprise) and come to blows and while all of this is going on, Angel is pleading with Faith to change her mind. Angel quickly finds himself in a tight spot and needs help, but is Faith too far gone to jump into action?

I love this issue, it has a lot of heart and really solidifies the special bond that Angel and Faith share. The dialog is awesome and really shows what a great team they are and just how far they have come. There is one panel in particular that I thought was really great, it does a wonderful job showing how they really have each other’s backs in every situation. The art in general is great, I love Rebekah Isaac’s style and she does an amazing job capturing emotion. These last two issues really have a richness and depth that have me super excited each month and have me anxiously waiting for the next issue. I have no idea where Angel & Faith are going but I do know that I can’t wait to go there with them!

Release Date: April 25th, 2012

[comic fan]

Review: Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season Nine #8 - Comic Book Resources

Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season Nine #8

by Greg McElhatton, Reviewer

"Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season 9" has had its fair share of strong cliffhangers; first Buffy discovering she's pregnant, then deciding to go through having an abortion and finally realizing that actually she's not pregnant but merely a robot. With that level of "surprise!" moments for the past few months, it was just a matter of time until writer Andrew Chambliss had to bring in a massive amount of exposition. With that arrival, "Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season 9" loses all of that steam.

Chambliss (along with editor Scott Allie, stepping in this month) does his best to explain how, when, and why Buffy was replaced with yet another BuffyBot, but the reasoning never feels quite that strong. It's a little hard to believe that the person behind the swap would have actually done so (especially considering the use of the character in previous comic stories), and the telling of the events comes across as extremely flat. It doesn't help that we've got more of Spike's alien bug friends (whose arrival in "Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season 8" was one of the low points of the series) and all in all we end up with a limp, subpar story.

Cliff Richards steps in to pencil this month's issue and it's a little uneven. Some characters are still strongly on model (most notably Buffy), but others are unrecognizable save for the dialogue pointing them out (most notably the person behind the BuffyBot swap) and in general everything feels a little unenergetic and blocky. Even when a new vampire rises up in the morgue, it comes across as something uninteresting from a visual sense. Richards has done a better job on past "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" comics, but this is not one of his stronger efforts.

The frustrating thing is that there are good ideas behind "Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season 9" #8 and the series in general. Unfortunately, an unenergetic script paired with average art has muted the ideas that did work and help emphasize the ones that are being thrown away (most notably Buffy trying to live the life of an average person). "Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season 9" has overall been an improvement over the last year or so of "Season 8" comics, but this is a reversion to those earlier issues. Here's hoping it's just a temporary blip.

[comic fan]

Georges Jeanty Full Slayalive Q/A for Buffy # 6-7.

Spoilers Q&A with Georges Jeanty for Buffy Season 9 #7

Q&A with Georges Jeanty for Buffy Season 9 #7

Hey all!

Rules are simple: Post up to THREE (3) questions per member until I submit your questions to Georges. I will post a note to let you know when I send off questions to reopen the floor.

Keep it clean, keep it civil. Simple right? Entries are welcome until I post a closing post.

This is a whole new era so be creative with your questions. Within reason, of course. No questions that are meant to simply further your agenda (especially in shipping!). Everything else is fair game, but be respectful of each other AND the artist who's gracious enough to take your questions. Please also remember that Georges is the artist and not the writer; he may not be the best person to ask editorial or writerly questions.

Anyone who's reading this and not a member, I'm accepting questions at wenxina[AT]slayalive.com. Feel free to send me your questions and I'll add them to the queue with credit to you.

Alright... GO!

1. Bamph: I've been curious since Buffy # 5 which had Karl Moline as guest artist and had the pregnancy reveal. For the issues or arc you don't draw like issue 5 or the upcoming arc in issues 8-10, do you still go over the scripts for those issues even though you aren't doing them? And do you speak to the guest artist?

Georges: Not as much. I'm not consulted on the stories, but I do have a say on the way they're visualized. I read a script once it's been written and make some suggestions from time to time, but I don't have a say in the plotting. That's done between Joss and the writers. What I'm responsible for is the storytelling. To take the script and visually interpret the script.

2. Bamph: We know you and Juliet Landau are good friends. You are doing cover art for the Drusilla miniseries but was there ever any temptation for you to take a break from Buffy and do the interior art on the miniseries?

Georges: Yes. I would have loved to have done some interior work on Juliet's book! For a while there, it did look like I might get the chance to do some interiors, but scheduling just didn't allow for it. It has been a joy to do the covers with her. Juliet and I are friends and we've been talking about doing something together for years, so when it came to covers we would talk at length about it. i'm glad we got the chance to do that.

3. Bamph: Welcome back. In the past you've talked about how Scott Allie and Joss sometimes keep things from you until the last minute because you're such a fan and get upset when major things happen to the characters.So when did you find out the robot reveal in today's issue and what was your first reaction?For that matter when did you find out the pregnancy news in Buffy # 5 and the abortion topic in # 6 and how did you react to those?

Georges: I think I read the plot up through Issue 12, so I knew about the Buffy-bot and the pregnancy early on. This was a case where I thought we might have rushed through things a bit. I would have kept the pregnancy running for a couple of issues before we got to the robot. But since this season is only 25 issues long, we have to move pretty fast to fit in all the things we want to for Season 9. It's always something. Sometimes the season is too long, and it looks this time around that it might prove too short.

4. Morphia: Hi Georges. Great issue. My questions:
There's some debate about Spike's reaction to learning that Buffy is stuck inside a robot body (am assuming that's what's happening, not asking for you to confirm or deny). To me, he doesn't seem to react much at all, whereas other people think he looks quite shocked. Or maybe he's just numb? What were you going for when you drew the panel?

Georges: Well, he's surprised as much as anyone can be, but I think the idea that he's been duped settles in pretty fast. Next issue will explore that a little further. I drew him with the idea that if this isn't Buffy, then the Buffy-bot would know how to get to the real Buffy. Wherever she is...

5. Morphia: Spike's face when he tells Buffy he doesn't want to be her dark place any more is so well done. Lovely panel. Are his eyes welling up? I wasn't quite sure.

Georges: I didn't necessarily draw it that way but by the time it got to the coloring I think that's where it was headed. I like the emotion that scene brings out and if it seems that Spike is welling up to you, all the better. I like that it's strong and revealing image.

6. Morphia: The cabin on the bug ship looks a lot dingier than it did in Season 8. Is that deliberate to show that maybe Spike is neglecting the place?

Georges: I saw the bug ship as being a derelict. It was a used ship when Spike got to it, and it's been slowly going downhill for years. The bugs were charged only with keeping it functional for the last dozen years or so, not pretty. Dark Horse gave IDW the opportunity to establish some of the back story for the ship. If you're interested, go look up the issues, I think it's in the last Spike series that IDW put out. You'll see the ship in the next few issues of Buffy.

7. ThatEvilLawFirm: Hi Georges, thank you for doing this again! Beautiful art as always! So obviously there is some crazy stuff going on in the comic right now! My question for you (and I promise I'm not looking for spoilers) is whether or not you had the opportunity to draw any flashbacks in upcoming issues, particularly as pertains to this issue.

Georges: Aside from the Nikki Wood stuff, which I loved, I don't do anymore flashbacks. Once Spike and Buffy go looking for answers I had to bow out. Really. I had to jump a few issues ahead to get caught up on deadlines. You will get answers, but I don't know about any flashbacks, sorry.

8. ThatEvilLawFirm: The story and scope of Season 8 and Season 9 differ greatly, and I think you've really nailed the artwork this season as well as last. Are there things you like more about Season 8 (both drawing them and overall story) than you do about Season 9, and vice versa?

Georges: I love the growth in Season 9. I loved doing Season 8 but that now felt like I was getting to know the characters. Now I know them and draw with a lot more confidence toward this universe. I miss drawing Faith and Angel, and it seems this season has been very singular. Not all the Scoobies are together a whole lot this season which makes Buffy on her own a lot.

9. ThatEvilLawFirm: Is there anything you are particularly proud of to look for in the upcoming issues?

Georges: Well, this is nothing I can go into detail about, but I'm looking forward to the climax. It's going to be a doozie!

10. Moscow Watcher: Congrats with another great issue. Buffy/Spike panels are awesome, especially the almost-kiss. When Spike says he doesn't want to be a "dark place", there are tears in his eyes. Was it written in the script or it's your interpretation of the character's reaction?

Georges: I don't remember it being written in the script about Spike's eyes tearing up. I did put in the extra panel where it looks like Spike and Buffy are going to kiss. I thought the scene needed a beat before the arm gets torn. I like the idea that it created a little more tension before the big reveal.

11. Moscow Watcher: When Buffy and Spike almost kiss, was it your idea to depict them as black silhouettes, an iconic romantic image of a couple in love?

Georges: My idea was to have a strong compositional sense. Both these characters have distinctive outlines and I knew I could get across what I wanted with just their silhouette, and it breaks up needing to fully draw them on the page. As a story teller you don't want to hit the reader over the head again and again with the same images. If i were to draw Buffy or someone on the page every time the same size with the same perspective, it gets boring and you're likely to lose interest. Keeping the reader entertained, you have to engage in variation. Mind you, there are times when keeping the same angle works for what you want to get across, but you use it as an effect not as a rule.

12. Moscow Watcher: How Spike's reaction to Buffy's artificial arm was described in the script? I ask the question because there are debates about his possible involvement in the conspiracy against Buffy. To me, he looks stunned, dazed and disappointed that he talked about his love to a robot. But I'd like to know what script says.

Georges: I read it as Spike being surprised. Again, next issue you'll learn a whole lot more about it.

13. Skytteflickan88: There's sometimes debates over certain moments/panels among fans, when a drawing leaves room for interpretation. For example, the situation Morphia just mentioned, how some people think Spike was shocked, and some don't. So what is the process when you and the writers decide "How will this panel look, how will the character react, does he look suprised enough" etc etc? I know artists sometimes get detailed scripts, panel by panel, and sometimes they get to decide more. So let's say you get a script describing a moment, but not panel by panel. You get to decide some on your own. Do you go through with with the writer afterwards so that you're on the same page about what that panel want to show? For example

ARTIST:I drew him suprised in this panel and angry in the next.
WRITER: Really? He looks angry in both.

I guess what I'm asking is, how far do the writers/editors and artists go to make sure that they're not interpreting the same panel differently and that everyone are agreeing on what the character is feeling? Is there a possibility for misunderstanding?

Btw, I hope you realize that I wouldn't blame anyone if there was a possibility for misunderstandings and you guys can't sit down and discuss every panel. I mean, rarely anything in this world is ever made perfect. Especially if there's a deadline for it.

Georges: I can't speak for all artists, but the way I like to work is to get the script, read through it, and then talk to the writer about what was written. I'll jot down notes and such when I read and when talking to the writer I'll ask what he was thinking here and there, when he was writing to make sure (forgive the pun) that we're all on the same page.

14. Composite question from Maggie, Dorotea, and KingofCretins: Hi Georges. Your art this season has been great -- especially with the attention to emotional nuance. A couple of questions: We aren't given to know just when it is that Buffy became a bot. How does that affect your ability to draw her? Is the idea that Buffy and the Buffy bot are seamlessly interchangeable such that there's no way of telling (until the arm comes off)? Or did you have to cut corners a bit to keep it so that there was no way of telling from your drawings that anything at all was amiss?

Georges: The Buffy-bot had the memories of Buffy implanted so the robot thinks she's the real Buffy.

Did you decide/was told to just go on and draw the face as if it was human - to both preserve the mystery and to go on more metaphorical level than simple - ah she is a robot with metallic skin and synthetic muscles, etc.

Georges: Again, everything should seem like we're dealing with the real Buffy so all the art is done from the point of view that she's the real thing.

Did the writers spring Buffybot 2.0 on you, or did you know? If you knew, did you use or did you deliberately avoid any sort of artistic affectation about how you drew her that you wouldn't have done if she were herself?

Georges: No. Everything was treated as if Buffy-bot were Buffy and no one's the wiser. It's the effect we wanted to create not the illusion.

15. Maggie: It seems like Joss and his writers are extremely loathe for Buffy to be anything other than opaque when it comes to the question of how she feels about Spike. In this issue, we get a pretty full exposition about Spike's feelings, and very little from Buffy (with whatever response she might have had cut off with the WTF-ery that ends the comic). Do you aim to keep her reactions ambiguous, or do you feel like readers should be able to infer Buffy's feelings from the way you draw her?

Georges: I can only speak for myself and what I think is going on between Buffy and Spike, but I feel Buffy has deep deep feelings for Spike, not all of them good, but in her own way she loves him, but she won't allow herself to take it an further. I personally feel she's not ready for the type of relationship Spike could offer. In a weird way I don't think she feels she deserves it. I'm sure you hear all those stories about girls being in relationships that are not healthy for them and more often than not, they'll say when asked how could you be in such a relationship, they don't think they deserve any better. I think that's where Buffy is.

16. Maggie: Spike's black nail polish is back! Whose idea was that?

Georges: Mine I wanted to give him some color, and he's such a rebel...

17. Reddygirl: Hello Georges, I really enjoyed the art for this issue.
Silly question, but do you at DH ever discuss Spike's wardrobe? (loved the closet dialogue between Buffy and Spike).

Georges: Not that I wouldn't, but no one has mentioned anything special about what Spike wears. I put him in what I think looks good. Let you in on a little secret; I've been drawing him in the pants and boots James Marsters wears from his appearances in Torchwood as Captain John.

18. Reddygirl: I loved that when Dets Cheung and Dowling went off to face the nest of zompires that they opened up the glove compartment to reveal....a stake. Was that in the text or did you insert that panel?

Thanks for taking the time to participate in these Q&As.

Georges: That was in the script.

19. tigerfan: This might be too spoiler-y, but I certainly miss Xander this season. Can you give me any hopes or something to look forward to in the coming issues?

Georges: I think you'll get a little more on the future of Xander and Dawn's relationship...

20. tigerfan: I know one of the statemenst for this season was wanting to get back to the basics and I've seen some talk of people not really feeling that so far for the season with everyone so separated and all of the outlandish crazy things happening, even for BtVS, so how do you feel about it so far?

Georges: I agree, I would like to see more of the Scoobies. But don't lose heart. Because Season 9 is a little more structured than 8, taking Buffy away like this was planned so that when the season winds up you'll start to see the Scoobies coming back. In what shape they'll be coming back remains to be seen...

21. tigerfan: This also probably falls along the lines of my first question but is there any Scooby action you've drawn recently or going to draw coming up that you're excited about?

Georges: I'm not sure about that question. i enjoy drawing in general, so most scenes are great to draw.

22. cheryl: Hi Georges,
Thank you for the taking the time to converse with us and answer questions. As usual, the art remains stellar.
The reveal at the end of this issue was one of those moments that you just can't see coming, are there clues in the story up to this point, that would hint to an exact time Buffy left the story and the Bot entered? Should we be able to figure it out yet?

Georges: Yes. And you no doubt already know how that story goes.

23. cheryl: Does this bot more resemble a cylon in make up or is she more nuts and bolts?

Georges: I'm going off of the Buffyverse-bots. The ones Warren would make when he was alive.

24. zamolxis: Hi Georges. Great job on your last two issues. There was some great emotional stuff there. I was wondering if you're skipping the next 3 issues to work on more good stuff with the Real!Buffy?

Georges: Yes!

25. zamolxis: I think I got the European/alien joke (are we Europeans like aliens to US?) but what was Buffy going to plug in that socket?
Thanks so much for talking to us.

Georges: I think it was supposed to be a hair dryer. It was never really discussed in the script, it was just a gag.

26. AndrewCrossett: Way back in issue #1, Buffy woke up in bed the morning after the party. In bed with her were what appeared to be a man's belt and pair of pants. Were those items called out in the script? It seems like they'd be a pretty major clue as to the identity of Buffy's bed mate that night, and therefore the father of the baby (assuming the real Buffy is actually pregnant).

Georges: No, that wasn't in the script. Joss just wanted her room to look like the aftermath of the party of the century, so I just threw stuff in there.

27. bonnaleah: Hi Georges. To me the Buffybot seemed a little sad..maybe even a little disappointed, as she realized that she probably wasn't pregnant...was there anything in the script describing her mood when she was coming to this realization?
As usual, fantastic artwork.

Georges: No. It was a straight deception with the Buffy-bot, but I agree, now that it's been revealed that she's not real, it diminishes the idea of Buffy being pregnant which I thought was a great character arc. Now it's rendered irrelevant. I would personally love to know how Buffy would have handled all that.

28. KingofCretins: I'm very curious what both the script or you on your own were going for with how Dowling reacted to the zompires. Do you feel like he was genuinely panicking and sort of flinching from the moment, almost like Jeremy Davies in Saving Private Ryan? His reaction didn't seem to conform to how composed he was in "Freefall", so I'd love more insight. Also, nitpick that Cheung wasn't mentioned after she was grabbed, hope she wasn't "girl in fridged".

Georges: I played Dowling totally freaking out. He's a detective with the San Francisco PD, he's used to robbery, or gun shots. Vampires are not in the police hand book, so he's ****tin' bricks.

29. KingofCretins: Visually, you don't seem to detail the zompires faces quite as much as you do human characters/original recipe vampires like Spike. Is that sort of representative of their lack of higher reasoning/sentience? Or does it relate to how you actually see them looking in your mind's eye?

Georges: I did do the zompires with a more feral state of mind. So their forehead is a little bigger than regular vamps and their mouths are more exaggerated on purpose. I wanted them to look like hyper vampires.

30. Stoney: Hi Georges. I got the impression that the speed of the zompire attack on Cheung alarmed Dowling greatly, probably safe to say terrified him. Is it difficult to convey pace in your work? Are there any particular areas/issues where you often have to redraft to feel that you have conveyed something so difficult to make perceptible like this?

Georges: This is the one place where we in comics are at a disadvantafe from film or TV; Movies move, comics don't. This is where comics have to pick a certain set of images to imply an action. If I can make you feel that there is movement on the page then I'm doing my job. My job is to be able to pick that one image to make you feel there is movement. It's a constant struggle but when it pays off, it's magic!

31. Stoney: Obviously the free comic book day issue of Buffy is going to have some Alien referencing, had you already based any of interior visuals for Spike's ship on the Nostromo or did you specifically rewatch the film for inspiration for the free issue?

Georges: I'm one for the classics. Shamelessly I did a lot of... let's say homage-ing.

32. Stoney: I was really engaged in issue 7 in the emotions of both the scenes on top of the spaceship between Buffy and Spike discussing her plans and their conversation before Buffy was attacked. Can we expect any more emotion packed interactions in the upcoming issues between these two?
Thanks for taking the time again.

Georges: Of course. This is Joss Whedon we're talking about after all...

33. spuffyspangellover: I'm not trying to spoil anything or fish for spoilers, but what do YOU personally as a fan think that Buffy is feeling at the very end of issue #7, after these two realizations, 1) that Spike is still in love with her and 2) that she's a robot?

Georges: As a fan I think she is living out the true meaning of WTF. The robot has Buffy's memories so she is feeling what Buffy would have felt if it was really her. I think Buffy is a lot more clued in about Spike's feelings than people give her credit for. She knows where Spike stands. She knows what he wants, she's just so hung up on all the other things in her life that the issue of Spike just keeps getting pushed to the back.

34. spuffyspangellover: I'm very glad Dowling is still around, for the moment at least. Out of all of the new characters that have arrived in the comics through Season 8 to Season 9, Dowling is definitely my favorite. Are we ever going to get even a glimpse of his backstory?

Georges: Yes... and more of his front story...

35. spuffyspangellover: I'm obviously a huge fan of Andrew Chambliss' writing and think he's done a fantastic job so far. With his scripts, is he extremely informative on how certain panels should look like or is it vague and you create the picture, or is it a mixture of both? A great example of this is when Spike is walking away from Buffy's room and Buffy is smacking her forehead in disdain.... I could read the script and think of something completely different visually, but you nailed it by adding action and having Spike walking away with Buffy realizing she said something wrong.

Georges: Andrew is new to comics and I think if he wanted it, he has a great future in it. It's no secret that he's done some TV writing, so I think the guy's doing pretty good. I love what Andrew has brought to the table. Joss obviously saw something in him from the Dollhouse series and I would agree that Andrew was a great choice to bring in as lead writer for Season 9. I've been very pleased with his work.

36. Bamph: Can you let us know what issue you're currently penciling and where you are at on covers?

Georges: I am starting Issue 16 and I'm doing the covers for Issues 14 and 15 right now.

37. cheryl: Are the fairies from the Angel & Faith series connected to the fairies on the Buffy book?

Georges: That's a good question....

38. Moscow Watcher: On the variant cover of issue 10, Buffy's shirt has flowery pattern. Is it supposed to be a symbol of fertility, or it was just a random choice?

Georges: Wow. I didn't think about the fertility angle, but that would be a great way to explain it! I just thought the shirt looked nice. No hidden meaning.

39. FangedFourLover: Georges, thank you for your continued great work. Much appreciated!!!
My question is about the Drusilla miniseries. I am such a huge Juliet Landau fan, and Drusilla's in my top 3 favorite characters in the Buffyverse. What was your involvement in the start of it, and what inspiration did you use for that first cover?

Georges: Juliet and I have been wanting to work together for years and it was sure that when she got her limited series, I would be working on it in some way. I talked with Juliet extensively on the covers and it was a great opportunity. I love working with her. She is a passionate woman and when she works on a project she gives it 100 percent. She is very protective of Drusilla. The cover was one she chose from several that I sent her. I tried to model all the covers with the theme being tragically beautiful.

40. Wenxina: Hey Georges. Other than your cover gigs for the Drusilla miniseries and the occasional cover for The Guild and the odd short project (e.g. FCBD) do you have other projects coming up, or is Buffy being ever the demanding mistress?

Georges: More on the demanding mistress part. I can't really do too many things in a given month and Buffy pretty much takes up all of my time. Buffy is my full time gig for the next year or so.

41. Vampire in Rug: Hi Georges. I find the zompires to be pretty scary looking. Do you have anything specific in mind when you draw them? Were there any specific instructions from Joss? I've noticed that their eyes are redder than regular vamps and their fangs are bigger and scarier. I think you've done a good job of making them menacing and inhuman. Is there anything else you try to get across when you draw them?

Georges: Just what you said. Bigger. Badder. And scarier. It was written that they be just that. When I started I looked at some other books that were done on vampires and I really like the way a European artist by the name of Springer, on a book called Volunteer, did his vamps. It's a great series, you should look it up. Unfortunately I don't think it's been translated to English, great art, though.

42. Vampire in Rug: So apparently Illyria is going to show up in season 9. You must be looking forward to drawing her. In the IDW miniseries "Illyria: Haunted", she took on a slightly different look after some stuff happened to her. It was a pretty great book. Her hair turned completely blue as opposed to brown with blue highlights and her eyes turned green. Any chance you would keep this newer look for her? Or do you think Joss and Scott would prefer her classic, "Angel Season 5" look?

Georges: From my understanding Illyria will look like she looked in Angel Season 5. I don't know how the IDW continuity fits in, if it even does. As to what she's been doing since the IDW books that's up to the writers. I do look forward to drawing her!


It's interesting reading this Q/A having already read issue 8 and been fully spoiled for issue 9.

[comic fan]

Little more details on the two season 9 miniseries.

Dark Horse Announces Willow Series

Dark Horse Announces Willow Series

By shabbir – April 18, 2012Posted in: News

DARK HORSE ANNOUNCES WILLOW SERIES!

JOSS WHEDON’S FAN FAVORITE RETURNS!



Dark Horse Comics announces another exciting addition to the Buffyverse:

Willow gets her own miniseries!

Written by Jeff Parker (Thunderbolts, Agents of Atlas) and drawn by Brian Ching (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Witchblade), Willow tells the story of the witch’s obsessive journey to recover her magic.

Willow is on a quest to bring magic back to the world, and she’ll do anything to make it happen, including forming some unhealthy alliances after cracking the code to travel to other dimensions—something thought impossible since the destruction of the Seed.

Willow #1 is on sale November 21, 2012.

Dark Horse Announces Spike Series

Dark Horse Announces Spike Series

By shabbir – April 18, 2012Posted in: News

DARK HORSE ANNOUNCES SPIKE SERIES!

JOSS WHEDON’S ANTIHERO VAMPIRE RETURNS!



Dark Horse Comics announces a brand-new Spike miniseries slated for release this summer!

Written by Victor Gischler (X-Men, Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth) and drawn by Paul Lee (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Devil’s Footprints), Spike promises to be the series all Joss Whedon fans will be talking about.

Spike ventures off world in his bug ship in order to get away from some personal frustration on terra firma, and winds up sucked into a demonic plot to take advantage of the absence of magic on earth.

“What I love about working with Dark Horse on Buffy-related material is that they take great care to capture the feel of the characters and stories from the television show, of which I was a huge fan. Getting my hands on the characters I’ve loved so much over the years is a dream come true,” said Gischler.

Spike #1 will be on sale August 22, 2012!

25 Great Superheroine Covers of the Past Year � SteveMorrisArt //

Steve Morris

04/14/2012 at 7:18 pm

Thanks again! Buffy #3 is one of my faves, I think bc it’s very straight forward…which I don’t often do

The style of Spike covers will be a bit different than my normal covers, they’ll be more traditional…in a comic book sense, to contrast the main cover art. So far, I’ve been pleased with the results, hopefully the readership will be too


ETA

2nd and 3rd advanced reviews for ANgel & Faith # 9.

ANGEL AND FAITH #9 Review |

April 18, 2012

ANGEL AND FAITH #9 Review



The final chapter to Daddy Issues gives us a close look at Faith during a break down. Will she safely come out of it? Will Angel fall with her? Drusilla holds the cards. Well, given that this is the final issue of the current arc, will are bound to get some resolution one way or another. Yeah, we still have an Angel and Faith in the game at the end. What is interesting to consider is what Drusilla and her Lorophage Demons have wrought. Is there a message here? You betcha.

It's a pretty obvious message we're playing with but it's also, for the most part, an artful effort. What Drusilla is selling is something akin to Prozac albeit in quite an exotic and extreme form. She is selling a way for someone to erase the bad feelings from whatever trauma they've experienced but lose part of their soul in the process. It's quiet a hot button topic to tackle but fair game for Whedon and his writers, in this case Christos Gage. Just consider the recent stepping up to the plate on the issue of abortion in the pages of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. The message here: Anti-depressants do have their place but they've become too heavily relied upon and exploited by the drug industry. Any way you look at it, it's a bit preachy. It does give an ironic quality to Rebekah Isaac's variant cover, don't you think? Thank goodness for such awesome art because that gives such a lift to a heavy story. I won't say it's a totally heavy-handed story, but it's pretty heavy.

And then there's Angel's rad nipple piercing! If you weren't sure of what you were looking at in the last issue, Issue 9 gives us clarity on this. It is indeed an ancient Egyptian relic that allows Angel to capture remnants of Giles's soul as they become available. In the Whedon universe, this nipple gizmo is known as a phlebotinum, a close relation to a MacGuffin, basically a plot device that you are far better off accepting and moving right along with. But I can't help but think of The Flight of the Conchord's song, Bowie's in Space and the line, receiving transmission from David Bowie's nipple antennae. It sure isn't an easy thing to draw and make sure it reads well but Rebekah Isascs is up to the task. She can draw anything!

Issue 9 comes out April 25. Visit Dark Horse Comics.

Angel & Faith #9 – Sneak Review | Three If By Space

Angel & Faith #9 Sneak Review

Posted on 18 April 2012 by Nicci

** The following review while careful not to reveal any actual spoilers from this issue, it does tease the reader with hints as well as spoilers from issues past. Please feel free to purchase this issue on 04/25/2012 **

The Daddy Issues arc comes to a head this issue as Faith gives into Drucilla's own path and strives to end all pain in a shocking display that dismays Angel. Pain has always been a very important issue and theme of Angel's life. The pain, the guilt, the constant torture of one's dirty soul reminding you to redeem yourself with every chance you get. Forcing you to own it.

As Faith attempts to forfeit this pain in Issue #9 it is up to Angel to try and help her remember this, and more importantly to try and help her remember herself.

This issue has an almost all around family type feel to it. Obviously there are the issues of both daughters and the influences of their fathers, but with Angel and Faith there also seems to be an almost older brother and younger sister type relationship displayed. Particularly so towards the end of the issue as they chat with one another. Like with siblings this thus makes the potential for each of them to go on learning from each other endlessly promising. Which is good, because after this current encounter with each of their own tragic pasts, looking to the future is the only way to go.

Good thing they have a plan.

On a final note I really enjoyed Drucilla's happy, lofty little speech to Angel at the end of all of this. Obviously this arc is very much about humanity and psychology and Gage handled these sentiments perfectly, right through Issue #9's perfect final line.

N


ETA 2

First review of the Buffy FCBD issue.

http://www.clivebanks.co.uk/Buffy/BuffyS9FreeComic.htm



'In Space no One can Hear You Slay'
(Part 1)

by Andrew Chambliss

Buffy accepts Spike’s suggestion of a holiday in space aboard the bug-ship – but as usual things don’t go according to plan. One of the bugs, Irene, was killed by a vampire whilst on shore leave, and after her corpse was brought back aboard the ship she has since become a blood-thirtsy space-bug-zombire-thing. Now it’s up to Buffy to search the dark and spooky corridors of the ‘S.S. Infestation’, and slay the alien menace before it can claim more victims…

Penciled by Georges jeanty
Inked by Dexter Vines
Coloured by Michelle Madsen
Lettered by Richard Starkins and Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt
Executive Producer Joss Whedon

Notes:

*Featuring Buffy and Spike

*Published by Dark Horse Comics, April 2012

*This comic was given away free as part of 'Free Comic Book Day'; it also included the strips 'Alabaster' Part 2 and 'The Guild: Beach'd'

*The zombire Irene bears an uncanny resemblance to something from the alien worlds of H.R. Geiger and Ridley Scott – could this be how such creatures really came to be?

*Time-placing: Buffy doesn’t refer to her pregnancy, so I’m choosing to place this between ‘Freefall’ part four and ‘Slayer Interrupted’

[comic fan]

CBR's C2E2 Dark Horse Panel report.The Buffyverse bits.

C2E2: Dark Horse Has More Goon, New Buffy Spinoffs - Comic Book Resources

C2E2: Dark Horse Has More Goon, New Buffy Spinoffs

Brigid Alverson, Contributing Writer

Scott Allie, who is the editor (together with Sierra Hahn) of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and the other Joss Whedon books, talked about the two new Buffy spinoffs announced last week, one featuring Willow and the other featuring Spike. Allie said the Willow comic will be written by "Agents of Atlas" and "Hulk" writer Jeff Parker with art by Brian Ching. The first issue has a cover by David Mack, and Megan Lara, who has done some "Whedon-related online artwork," as Allie described it, will also do covers for the series.

"Punisher" writer Victor Gishler and artist Paul Lee are the creative team on "Spike," with covers by Jenny Frison and Steve Morris. "We had previously announced that we wouldn't do a Spike series, because he was going to be too busy in the Buffy series," said Allie. "We wanted to have him playing off Buffy, but the way the stories evolved, he kind of needed to take off and do his own thing."

Another Buffy-related series, "Drusilla," will not be happening in the near future. However; in response to a question, Allie said that the series, which was to have been written by actress Juliet Landau, had been put on hold "for a variety of reasons." " Right now we don't know what is going to happen with it," he said. "We have got a bunch of work on it done, but we are not sure if it is going to go forward or not."


ETA

Maggie emailed Scott about the season 9 changes and the Spike miniseries. She posted a summary of his email on Buffyforums.

http://www.buffyforums.net/forums/sh...250#post618250

I just had a good long email from Scott Allie about what was going on with this change. He's given me permission to summarize what he said.

1. They originally wanted Spike in a stand alone series, but decided they liked Spike with Buffy and the other characters -- pretty much the sort of thing we saw in the first ten issues.

2. As they were breaking down the details for the next ten issues, they realized as they hit the big plot points, Spike wasn't showing up in them. It'd be Buffy does this, Xander does that, and Xander, Koh and Spike do that. Nothing specific for Spike. They didn't think it would be doing a service to his character just to have him around doing good dialogue. And there were Spike-specific issues that were interesting to them to explore but they couldn't do it in the main book. Ergo miniseries.

3. All the pieces of season 9 work together in complicated ways. It's not one big story, but all the pieces are important. That means A&F and season 9 are NOT running on separate tracks -- though the way they fit together is not what fans might think. This is true of the mini series as well. We won't see the big picture until it's all done.

4. They have never adjusted the story to manage sales. That's true of the pregnancy, the abortion, the non abortion, Spike's presence and Spike's absence. They feel like the best they can do is bring in good talent to tell a story true to Joss's vision. If they were pandering to fans to juice sales, it would be in the other direction -- Spike is very popular. I'll add that Scott's pretty excited about how the story works, and he writes about it in a way that is 100% consistent with the thought that they write the story as best they can and hope the sales will follow.

5. This was a big change, but they thought it was best for the character and best for the books, and probably best for Spuffies.

My take away... this is about the plotting of the midsection of the season. It's not a big shift in whatever they were planning for Spike and/or Spuffy. It was the dead zone for Spike that got them to change things, not them changing away from something that was well-thought out. They hadn't realized until they broke it down that there was nothing substantive enough for Spike. I like that their interest in the character caused them to think about how they could get more of Spike's story out there when it wasn't going to fit in the book.

ETA: Scott adds that he's sorry he hasn't had a chance to reply to everybody -- he's been really busy.

[comic fan]

Kairos belated summary and review of Buffy S9 # 8.

perpetual: Buffy Season 9 #8, Summary and Review

Buffy Season 9 #8, Summary and Review

You know what I like most about doing these summaries? I'm always one of the first ones to get mine up. New Comic Day comes and I run right off to the store and have my post written by that afternoon. It just makes me feel good to be punctual, that's all. Well, I know you're all waiting eagerly to see what this issue was about, since you haven't been able to get your own copy yet, so I'll get on with it!

(Seriously, I know there's a bit of silly in doing the summary thing at this point, but I didn't want to leave a gap in my archives, and I figure I'm at least getting this one in before the next issue comes out tomorrow. Just pretend I was never gone. Moving along...)

Andrew's sleeping when his window lights up, a gust of air blows into his room, and he sees two silhouetted figures. Assuming he's being abducted by aliens, Andrew begins to pack, chattering about how excited he is, while the figures enter and are revealed as Spike and one-armed robot Buffy. Andrew greets them, resigned, but Buffy wastes no time in grabbing him and demanding answers.

The next page shows Dowling identifying the remains of his partner, Cheung. He listens to the pre-autopsy analysis of her injuries without comment.

Back at Andrew's place, Spike is trying not to step on something that looks like a rawhide bone while Buffy listens to Andrew speculate on what gave Buffy a positive pregnancy test - "Maybe something in the PH balance of the Trueblood". She tells him about her late period and stomach sickness, and he has robotic reasons behind those, too. He opens up a cabinet of robot parts to find her a new arm, but only has a left one. Buffy declines, again demanding to know why she's a robot. He flinches away from her and says that Spike asked him to help, and Buffy whirls around to Spike, who says, "I bloody well didn't!"

Andrew clarifies that Spike simply asked him to track down whatever was after Buffy, and leads us into a flashback to the party in the first issue. He explicitly states that he roofied her, and that's how she ended up in the bedroom with Spike - we see how he led her to her room after she got out of the pool. She's clearly affected (there are even pink bubbles floating around her head, but her dialogue and movements are indicator enough), and falls off the bed, unconscious, while trying to take off her shirt. Spike lays her down and covers up her bare chest, putting her to bed. He assumes that she's simply drunk and the hangover she'll have the next day is her own fault, and back in the present-day panels, Andrew quotes him on that.

Spike defends himself against the lack of context, but Buffy shushes him and asks if Andrew was watching all this. He was, and the next pages show how he brought her robot body in after Spike left and switched its mind with hers, using a compact device that looks like two cups attached by a telephone cable. Back in the present, Buffy in her broken robot body says she's not real, not Buffy, and Andrew says she is, because Buffy's mind is in there. "Are you less real than your memories?" he asks, and then backs it up with some geek references, causing Buffy to turn away from him, saying "Oh God."

Andrew babbles on about how he got the tech from Warren's lab (a reasonable explanation, considering what we've seen Warren do in canon versus what we've seen Andrew do), and how there had been a risk that the transfer would leave Buffy permanently drunk. Spike interrupts by grabbing his lapels and shouting in his face, "You have any idea what you put her through?" Andrew claims it was all about protecting Buffy, keeping her body safe, and counters Buffy's interjection that he should have told her by saying that witness protection doesn't work if anyone knows about it. He reiterates that it's her mind in the robot, and says he's using the Trio's evil know-how to good. He even points to his acceptance into the Scooby Gang, which Buffy instantly revokes by saying that this is how he screws that up.

Spike points out that the danger, the Siphon, is now gone. Buffy asks again, brandishing her solitary fist, where her body is.

For the next page and a half, we see firsthand where her body is. First she gets out of a nice car in a nice car in a nice neighborhood, wearing a nice suit. Then she goes through a series of domestic chores in a nice house and yard. There's no dialogue, but she seems to be handling everything well until she's stirring some batter and breaks her thick wooden spoon, saying, "Oops."

The bug ship is in flight, the bridge visible below. Buffy's peeking out the window, crying, when Spike comes in and greets her. She says she doesn't want him walking on eggshells, and asks him to say something that will make her forget that none of what she went through was real. He wants to talk about how it's not over yet, but she interrupts to express her frustrations over her choices about "something normal" being irrelevant, as the supposed pregnancy turned out to be "more bizarre Slayer crap". She then thanks him for giving her one real thing by being there when she needed someone. They clasp hands and Spike leaves, smiling, while Buffy goes back to the window.

Andrew's in the control room, badgering one of the bugs about turning on the cloaking device that he's sure they've got, though the bug says it doesn't know what he's talking about. Spike walks in and confronts Andrew again, this time in vampface. He says he could throw him off the ship for the baby scare alone, and threatens him with "one decisive solution" if he doesn't fix this.

We cut to Xander and Dawn's apartment. Xander's calling from the bathroom for Dawn to get his eye patch. She doesn't answer, and he calls louder, slamming his fist into the wall and cracking a tile. She enters and sees it and tells him to relax, and he apologizes, interrupted by the doorbell. It repeats until Dawn opens the door to see Dowling, incapacitated and leaning on the wall. Confused, she says she doesn't have anything to report about Buffy, and asks if he smells gas. In slurred language he says no, that he saw Buffy, and that he and his partner hit a zompire swarm, and asks if he can come in to talk to her and the guy with the patch. "Jesus. Dead officers everywhere..." he goes on. Dawn asks if Buffy's okay, and he replies, "Sure, aside from being a robot, she's fine."

The next pages are from the preview; Dowling describing the attack to Xander and Dawn, and Cheung rising as a zompire. Next we go back to the bug ship, still cruising as the sun sets. Andrew is narrating the situation with his usual dramatization, excusing his own part in it by calling his plan "perhaps flawed". He's not bothered by the bugs, although they're getting irritated by him. Spike and Buffy enter, and Andrew shows them Buffy's body in its safe house on camera. Buffy peers at it with an unreadable expression, then says, "My kitchen is awesome." Andrew points out the entertainment center, and Spike asks if this is what Buffy had in mind if the two of them were going to run away. Buffy says, "It wasn't..."

The screen goes red and an alarm beeps. Andrew says that the Buffy stand-in doesn't hear it, but he doesn't know what set it off. Spike orders the ship to advance at full speed, and we cut to suburbia. Buffybodybot is taking a sip from a glass of wine (?!), and suddenly finds herself at gunpoint. It's a woman in a ski mask, who says "How the mighty have fallen," and then claims she's going to liberate her from "this Betty Crocker bull$%*". She appears to pistol-whip her before throwing her unconscious form into the back of a van. Before she gets in herself, she takes off the mask (don't know what kind of sense that makes, either). It's Simone.

*

It's an understatement to say that I'm not happy with where this issue brought us and what it's doing, but time has passed since I read it and I'm prepared to say so without ranting and raving. When the series concludes, I hope and to some extent expect that we're all going to look at this issue and the ones right before and after it as the low point. It's more bad luck than anything - the weakest character from TV canon took the spotlight just as a promising plot was severed and replaced by an unwelcome one, hoisted on the shoulders of the shakiest moral message in the Buffyverse, and the whole thing wrapped up with an appearance by the least interesting villain. The characters' relationships were treading water, I didn't find an occasion to laugh, and only one panel made me feel any real sentiment.

That one panel (it actually took two to make the point, but you know what I mean) was Buffy gazing wistfully at "her" kitchen. Over-identify much? Sometimes you see a beautiful home, or even a picture of a beautiful home, and you can't help associating it with a beautiful life. Does anything symbolize domestic bliss like a fully equipped, clean, pleasant kitchen? I could fully believe Buffy's longing for that environment, and I feel a little dense for not getting her next line, when Spike asks if that's what she had in mind. Why would it not be? Is it him? Did she not have a clear picture at all? Am I missing her tone?

Second place for almost-making-me-have-an-emotion was Xander's violent reaction to losing track of Dawn for five seconds. I have no idea what this is about, but we're clearly meant to see that it's about something, and I'm looking forward to finding out what (finally).

Alright, but the real matter at hand here, yeah. If this is all there is to the pregnancy plot, and that's certainly how it appears right now, it really was pointless and I am deeply disappointed. I refuse to feel sheepish about all the speculating that we put into it, all the talk of fathers, and all the feelings we expressed about it. Falling for a bait-and-switch doesn't make the suspense worth it; it just makes the payoff a failure.

I have theories, of course. There are two ways that I could see this dead end being (somewhat) redeemed. First, Buffy's body is, in fact, pregnant. Andrew engineered his "Trueblood" using a sample of Buffy's blood that he got post-Twilight and pre-switch, so it showed up on the pregnancy test. (I mean, his answer for that was pretty flimsy.) The obvious hole in this is that we just saw Buffy's body and there's no sign of anything of the sort, but we shippers did come up with a few workable ideas for how and why the pregnancy could be paused if it happened during Twilight, so we might as well recycle those. Hey. Has anyone come up with any new thoughts on Heinrich and his role during the party?

My second theory is a bit more meta. Basically, Buffy was put in a position where she had to think about what it meant to be a mother, how it would affect her life, whether she was ready, and who she could or couldn't trust to raise the child with her. Why? Well, because she's going to get pregnant for real at the end of the season. By then, things will be different - she'll have learned Valuable Lessons about herself, she'll be independently stable, and the conception will have happened while she was sober and passionate.

I'd like this one a whole lot better if I could say that it will turn the pregnant-robot scare from a bad joke into a foreshadowing. If it does happen, though, all I'm going to be able to see is Joss looking at an outline for the season and realizing that he's allowing Buffy to be happy in motherhood before he made use of her to display his pro-choice colors. All in all, though, it would still give the first third of Season 9 a bit more of a long-term purpose, and it seems more of a possibility than my first theory, so I'm for it. Not greatly optimistic, though. The whole thing might very well have an ending that has nothing to do with the beginning.

The other major complaint that I/everyone have/has about this issue is Andrew, and the utterly contemptible thing that he did to Buffy. He doesn't get it; of course he doesn't get it. No other character would be allowed to exhibit that kind of crudeness and have it played as humor, but here's Andrew, practically invincible. It's nice to see Spike give him the good-and-angry talk, but we know it'll come to nothing. (We've been promised several times that Andrew's getting a boyfriend this season. OH I HOPE THEY'RE HAPPY TOGETHER.) A man with a child's sense of responsibility doesn't necessarily need to be locked up...until he makes friends with rapists and murderers and starts to participate in their activities. Anyone remember when that happened?

Sorry, this did turn into ranting and raving, didn't it? Well, it's late and I'm...out of practice? Now I can't make that excuse tomorrow!

Buffybodybot's kitchen really is awesome, though.

ETA

Zianna's full summary for Angel & Faith # 9.

http://www.buffyforums.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=18714

The issue begins right where we left our heroes in the last one. An Angel with his shirt unbuttoned, rushes into the church to save Faith who is willingly at the mercy of the Lorophage demon. He attacks the demon and starts talking to her to get her back to her senses.

"You are not this person anymore. You don't run away from things. Don't let your father do that to you. I know you're hurting. I know it feels like too much to bear. But you can. You have to."

But unfortunately, as Drusilla tells him, it's too late. The Lorophage demon has already done his job and has removed all of Faith's trauma. She remembers everything but she doesn't care anymore. The little voice inside her that was reminding her that she deserved every little thing has now gone. But everything has gone. Faith feels "five by five" even for the innocent professor she killed some years ago. So Angel tries to make her understand her mistake by telling her.

"The memories of what I've done are agony. The weight's like a physical thing crushing me...and keeping me from doing it again. If there is some part of Angelus in me, this is what keeps him locked away. It's what pushes me to do whatever I can to atone. That kind of pain's not a traffic ticket, something you try to get out of. It's what you fight through so you can come out stronger. This shortcut you took didn't make you better. It made you less. The woman who came to L.A. and tortured Wesley...who tried to get me to kill her...that desperate, broken girl...that's who I'd expect to give up like this. Not you."

But Angel is missing the point. One, not everyone has his capacity for self-flagellation and two, even if Faith regrets it, it's too late. So maybe the demon can undo what he's done and give back what he took. And Angel attacks him. But Drusilla defends the demon and starts fighting Angel. She won't be again a shattered helpless thing like he is. Neither she nor the rest of the people that are worshiping her at that church. But what she can't see is that they are already broken but in different ways that they used to be as Angel tells her. But none seems to agree, so all of them, Drusilla, the Lorophage demon and the people attack Angel and capture him. Faith worried tells them not to kill him, but death's not what Drusilla has in mind for Angel. She's going to fix him. She had given him the choice to choose last time they met, but since he seems to have taken the wrong one, Drusilla plans to make the right decision for him.

And Angel is in a bad situation. He can't fight all of them alone. He's asking for Faith's help but she seems not to listen. Drusilla assures her that it's the best thing, that it is what will make Angel right and fix him. So Angel is at their mercy, until....Faith finally comes to her senses and understands that Drusilla has actually used her, just like her dad used her, just like everyone. Well, almost everyone but Angel. And she helps him and attacks Drusilla while Angel fights the Lorophage demon.

Dru can't seem to understand, or doesn't want to.

"I made you better! I made everyone here better! Angel saved me from a meaningless life. A meaningless death. I would have ended up a withered old nun , locked away from the world. Instead, it's my oyster, a banquet with me the guest of honor...for all eternity. Angel made me something beautiful. I owe him this. I won't give up. Not until I've saved him the way he saved me."

But Angel can't let that happen anymore. He asks for Drusilla's forgiveness, and attacks the demon. He grabs his hand and his huge fingernails and place them on its own forehead, turning his claws against itself. And something starts happening. The demon starts drawing its own trauma instead, together with all the trauma he's taken from other people. Which seems to return to the people again. Drusilla starts feeling the pain again, grabs Angel and begs him to do something to stop it. Begs him not to let her get damaged again with tears in her eyes.

"You don't know what it's like. Thoughts writhing like eels...my whole world so...so...LOVELY!" And Drusilla is crazy again.
And starts talking like one.

"Oh, Angel. I knew you'd saved me. It was dreadful. The world was like metal. So firm and cold. All the possibilities locked away, weeping and the keys made of maths."

Angel turns to Faith to see if she's OK. A mad Faith tells him not to touch her. Angel tries to apologize for what he did to Drusilla and to Faith, but it was the only way. Part of them was stolen and he had to return it back. And Faith knows is, but she just wants to be left alone sometimes. And this is one of those times. But she won't have that luxury, because there is still a crowd in the church. And their trauma has come back as well. They understand that Faith and Angel are the ones responsible for it, and they attack them. Angel tells Faith not to hurt them, but actually it's the other way around. Faith and Angel need help right now. Angel asks Drusilla to help them, telling her that he can still help her as well later, but it's too late.

"Help me? Poor thing. The pieces come together in your heart, too many voices. All the broken children cutting each other like shards of glass. Oh, oh, oh, the places you'll go. The ghosts of past come to visit you again. And me as well. All those king's horses and all the king's men together in the bath...the drake in the field and the white coach. ..It's time to go Angel. I am gone. I can't help you now. It's all torn apart. We're torn apart. In the end, we are alone". And she opens the door, and goes out leaving Angel and Faith alone to fight the angry crowd.

So Angel and Faith escape as well from the roof, because they don't want to fight and hurt anyone. And while Angel feels sorry for them, Faith describes them as pathetic. And while watching from the rooftop all the crowd still looking for them, Angel feels worried for Drusilla. He didn't want to leave her alone out there, in a crazy state fo mind.

Faith wonders..
"You worried for who she might meet? Or for her? She's never gonna be, y'know...or even spike. Some people you gotta write off. "

And Angel just reminds her that some times, when you meet again people from your past, they drug you into it again. Just like Faith's dad and what he did to her daughter. What he almost made her do. Like nothing has changed. But nobody can take away what one has accomplished. Unless we let them. And Faith realizes that making a deal with a demon was a bad thing. And she tries to change the conversation...

"So, what piece of Giles' soul you get this time? The traumatized teenager?"
Leaving Angel totally surprised! But Faith is not stupid. She's seen Angel's piercing and the way it glows sometimes. Like the time they killed the octopus thing in the nurse's house. So Angel admits the truth, that the ancient Egyptians believed that the soul had nine parts. He's not sure about the number, but he's trying to collect Giles' soul. And he hasn't told her anything because he wasn't sure that she would have agreed because she doesn't believe that he can bring Giles back.

Faith isn't sure what she believes right now, but she knows that it's wrong to give up on people. And she tells him that she'll help collect all the nine pieces and asks him if there is something else he's hiding. Angel says no. And Faith adds that yes, she realized that it's wrong to give up on people, but she can't handle Drusilla. She is soulless and she's insane too. Drusilla is a total mess.

"Yes. She is. But before she met me she was beautiful."
And Faith with Angel walk back home, with Angel remembering Drusilla and how she was back when she was a human and still sane, beautiful and happy.

THE END.


ETA 2

New Scott Allie interview.The Buffy parts.

http://www.multiversitycomics.com/20...-team-up.html?

Mignolaversity/Buffyversity Presents: Scott Allie [Interview]

- Posted by Brian Salvatore on Wednesday, April 25, 2012



David: On the BPRD books you co-write with Mike and on the Buffy books you co-write with Andrew Chambliss. How exactly does that process work, and do you have a specific breakdown of operations with each of those writers, or do you develop the plot and script together?

Scott: It’s always different. It’s always different.[...]And with Andrew, on the Buffy arc we co-wrote, that was one where his schedule just sort of got in the way. There was no plan for me to co-write any of season 9. I wrote the end of season 8 with Joss, but there were no plans for me to write any of season 9. |

But Andrew just got so jammed up on the TV show he was working on, he was having a tough time with the schedule. He had plotted a five issue arc with Georges drawing 2 and Cliff drawing 3, he plotted the arc and scripted the first two, but as he got into scripting of those, his schedule was looking rough and I was just like “why don’t I just jump in and I’ll script off your outlines.” The stories are ever changing and evolving, so I think the scripts I wound up writing were fairly different than the outlines that he wrote, but the outlines were definitely the bones of the thing. With that, the basic shape of that is mostly what the script is. Is mostly mine. But there are a lot of different ways of co-writing. I used to be baffled by the idea of co-writing a comic, but now I feel there are so many different ways to make it work.

Brian: Moving over to the Buffy books, what can you tell us about the arc you’re co-writing?

Scott: Buffy Season 9 #8-10 is an arc that I did with Andrew [Chambliss] from his outline, where I did most of the writing. Buffy recently had a pregnancy scare, but it turns out she’s not pregnant, she’s a robot. In issue 8, she figured out that it was Andrew Wells, one of her sidekicks that she’s not very fond of, decided that to protect her, her put her real body in hiding in suburbia and has a robot walking around. Buffy’s not too happy about that.

So Buffy, Spike, and Andrew have to go find out what happened to her real body, which has gone missing, and they trace it to this abandoned warehouse on Angel Island, south of San Francisco. They encounter one of the disgruntled slayers.


At the end of Season 8, Buffy destroys the seed that connects the Earth to all the magical realms, and when she destroyed that, she pretty much bans all magic from the Earth, and everybody is mad at her for it, no one more so than Willow. But also all the slayers, who used to be a part of her army, are really angry with her, especially one named Simone. Simone has hatched a plan that will continue to spread out across Season 9, but we get our first real glance at it in these issues.

My favorite part of the issues is that there is some pretty great interaction between Buffy and Spike. Buffy has just gone through this insanely personal thing, and now she has to run around dealing with robot bodies and all sorts of genre contrivances, while her mind is completely screwed up because of the personal experience she just went through. And so, the thing I liked most writing this, was putting her with a character with whom she has a really complex relationship with, Spike, and having her really not on her A game. And I like that idea of characters existing in genre fiction doing action/adventure kind of crap, but have their actions deeply affected by the personal stuff going on in their lives.


Brian: With both Buffy and BPRD, you have a very dedicated audience that loves your books, without the overbearing DC or Marvel “you need to have an X character book out every month” mandate, so your story structure isn’t so strictly tied in to the monthly release cycle. That said, because of that freedom, have you guys discussed an end game for either of these properties?

Scott: Well, in different ways, yes. With Hell on Earth, we know how things are going to be at the end of the road, and we know the path to get there, but we don’t know exactly when we’re going to get there, because things are in flux and evolving, but we do have an end game we are working towards. We don’t think too much about what life is going to be like after that, because we feel like it will be a lot different.

With the Buffy-verse, Season 9 will be 25 issues long, which wraps up in June of 2013, after which we will take a break, and then start Season 10. So, we do know pretty much how Season 9 ends for all of our characters (with details still to be work out), but the endpoint was handed to us, pretty much, by Joss. It’s a smaller end point, since it is just ending a season, and then we start up again 6 months or a year later.

With Hell on Earth, the end is much bigger and what don’t know what, if anything, happens next, but this will keep us going for a while. With Buffy, it is a little different, because we have to be very mindful of where it leaves us, because we have to be thinking about how we pick it up next. We haven’t had a lot of talk about Season 10 yet, but we know how to leave everything at the end of this season, to have enough threads to pick up again.

David: Gil, our resident Buffyologist, gave us some more specific questions that look into the Buffyverse. Simone has become a very important villain; is there someone pulling her strings, or is she the sole shooter on the grassy knoll, so to speak?

Scott: She is calling her own shots – Simone is highly motivated and is much more puppet master than puppet, that’s for sure.

David: His other question was about Xander and Dawn. They have turned into the stable couple in the book, and knowing the way that Joss and his books have worked in the past, does that mean that one of them is going to die soon?

Scott: (Long pause) You know, that would be entirely consistent with the way Joss does business. (Laughs) But, Joss dearly loves any of his characters and would NEVER kill any of them off, right? Oh wait, I was thinking someone else.

Things have been relatively stable and hanging out in the background, and Xander fans in particular have been frustrated that he hasn’t had more to do, but so far, Xander hanging out in the background, being relatively happy, has been his story. Xander isn’t the star of Season 9, but he does have a distinct arc that he is on, and in issue #8 we start to see his path a little more.

Brian: Does the extreme popularity and intense relationships readers have with the Buffy characters come into play when you’re editing the books? Do you feel added pressure due to the fandom?

Scott: Yeah, it definitely comes into play. Since we announced the Spike miniseries for later this summer, I’ve been getting a ton of emails about it, and the irony is that a lot of Spike fans are mad that there is a Spike series, because that means he won’t be with Buffy. And I get that; they are more interested in seeing the Buffy/Spike relationship than they are in just seeing what they fear might be the frivolous adventures of Spike. But I can assure you, it isn’t frivolous, it is a crucial Spike story. I wanted to write it myself, but we have this great guy, Victor Kishler, who really gets the character and is doing some great stuff.

I get that the fans are passionate, but sometimes I will get an email that will say “All the fans want this – this is what you have to do to make the fans happy.” And then, ten minutes later I will get an email saying the exact opposite thing. We tend to think that they are more monolithic than they are – there are a million different strong opinions.


ETA 3

I have my copy of Angel & Faith # 9,"Daddy Issues Part IV of IV."

This issue was good as was the arc as a whole.First,the art by Rebekah Isaacs was great as usual.

The Ange/Faith stuff is golden.I especially love the flashback to the episode,"Five By Five."I thought this issue was classic Angel and Faith.Also loved how she revealed she knows Angel is collecting Giles soul.I'm surprised she's now fully on board though.

The Dru stuff was great but truth to be told,I'm a little disappointed she didn't stay sane.I really didn't expect she would though but I was hoping it would last a little longer into the Dru miniseries anyway(which would be moot now).Making her insane again feels like a step back and revert to status quo although i sort of get why they did it.Part of what makes Dru who she is is her insanity but still.

I'm disappointed Dru miniseries is on hold and might be dead because I was interested seeing where they went there and seeing more of her this season.

Her visions though have me very intrigued with her,"It's Coming!"

I'm also surprised we didn't see Faith's father one more time in this arc.That feels a little anti climatic.I guess I was expecting a little capper there but in retrospect,I guess it wasn't really necessary after last issue.

Overall, though,I really enjoyed this arc.

ETA 4

Here's Kairos summary and review of Angel & Faith # 9.

http://perpetual.livejournal.com/105133.html

A&F #9, Summary and Review

Angel bursts in as the Lorophage is penetrating Faith's skull. He kicks it away from her, telling her not to do this. She's not someone who runs away from things, he says, and she has to bear the pain even though it feels like too much.

Drusilla cuts in here, saying that Faith doesn't have to - Angel's the one who enjoys torturing himself, not Faith. She asks Faith, whose face is still bloody and soaked with tears, how she feels, and she replies, "I feel great. I mean, I remember it all. My dad, the Mayor, everything they did to me...but I don't care." She goes on to talk about her need for a family and the little voice that told her she deserved to suffer, and how they're gone.

Angel, looking shocked and defeated, asks, "What else is gone?" He reminds her of the innocent man she killed a few years ago, and asks how she feels about that. His own memories of what he's done are agonizing for him, but they're what keep him from releasing Angelus and doing the same things again, and what pushes him to atone. The pain is something to fight through and come out shorter - taking the Lorophage shortcut made Faith less. He remembers (with a flashback panel) when she came to LA, tortured Wesley, and tried to get Angel to kill her, and says, "That's who I'd expect to give up like this. Not you."

Drusilla comes between them before Faith can reply. She says that Angel likes pain and suffering because he thinks it strengthens the soul, and compares it to S&M. "But you miss two key points, Angel. One - not everyone has your capacity for self-flagellation. And two -"

Faith finishes for her. It's too late; she can't undo it. Angel points at the Lorophage and asks if he could, and Dru stands in front of the demon protectively and says it's ridiculous to expect him to give trauma back. Angel asks again if he could, if Drusilla wanted him to, and he's answered only by her hard glare. Then she attacks, first with her bare hands and then with a heavy floor sconce (I'm sorry, really not wanting to look up a better word for it; it's big and it holds candles), yelling at him for wanting everyone to be shattered and helpless like he is. He starts out with his sword in hand, but she knocks it away. She drops the sconce and slashes across his chest with her fingernails, saying that none of "us" will ever be that again. We see the crowd of Lorobotomized humans and vampires (now with added Faith) behind him as he replies, "They already are. You just broke them in different ways."

Finally the Lorophage punches him, and Drusilla and her cronies successfully restrain him. Faith tells them to get off, but Dru assures her that she doesn't mean to hurt him, just fix him like she did Faith. As the demon's claws near his forehead, Angel says he thought that she was going to give him a choice, and she says yes, but he made the wrong one. Angel asks Faith for help; she's clearly torn, and Dru takes advantage and tells her not to listen to him, as he's not right in the head. She's going to make him feel better and freer, like Faith does. Faith turns away, Dru says, "There's a good girl," and Angel screams, off-panel.

Dru shushes Angel, imploring him to let go of the trauma, but she's interrupted just as the tips of the demon's claws get into Angel's skin. Faith kicks her in the head and she vamps out, shouting that Faith is an ungrateful wretch, as Angel breaks free of his captors. Faith accuses Drusilla of using her, like her dad, like everyone. "Almost everyone," she adds as she passes Angel his sword over her shoulder.

Angel fights the Lorophage and Faith gets slapped by Dru, who's ranting about the meaningless life that Angel saved her from. She's the eternal guest of honor at the banquet of life - he made her something beautiful, and she owes him. She's going to save him the way he saved her. As she says this, we see the Lorophage with one hand around Angel's throat and the other poised again to suck out his trauma.

Angel grabs that hand, turns it around, and plunges the claws into the demon's own forehead. "Drusilla," he says, "I'm so sorry." The demon drops, its eyes go milky, and tendrils of yellow smoke start rising from it. Dru, distraught, asks what's happening, and Angel explains that he took a shot and turned the demon's claws on himself, that he would draw out his own trauma. All he has comes from others - we see the faces of the cultists. Dru begs Angel not to do this to her again, asking if he can't see that something is creeping its way into both of them. She clutches his jacket as the smoke reaches her nostrils.

She falls to her knees, tears streaming down her face, saying he doesn't know what it's like. "Thoughts writing like eels...my whole world so...so...lovely." She smiles and gets back to her feet and throws her arms around him. "Oh, Angel. I knew you'd save me. It was dreadful. The world was like metal. So firm and cold. All the possibilities locked away, weeping, and the keys made of maths..."

As she carries on, Angel goes to faith and touches her shoulder, but she recoils from him. He apologizes, saying he wouldn't have done it if there was any other way. She cuts in, saying she knows and she just needs to be left alone. Angel can see how angry she is, and he falls silent.

The cultists are receiving their old trauma again too. One shouts for it to stop, one asks who did this, and soon they're all looking at Angel and Faith. They attack as a mob, and Angel and Faith try to fend them off without hurting them. Angel asks Drusilla to call them off, saying he can still help her. She's headed for the door, but stops to say there's not enough help for him. She's getting visions now that her madness is back, and "It's coming, you see...for both of us." She talks about pieces coming together, too many voices, broken children, the places you'll go, the ghosts of the past, all the king's horses, the drake in the field and the white coach, and finally that it's time to go. She can't help him now; in the end, we are alone.

"Glad we cleared that up," says Faith as she runs up the stairs to a broken stained-glass window. Angel grabs a torch from the wall as he follows, saying they won't stop and this is the only way to avoid hurting someone. He waves the torch to hold them off as Faith looks back at them in disgust and they both get out onto the roof. The mob is still searching the streets for them, Faith notes, and Angel adds that he didn't want to leave Drusilla out there.

Faith says they can put out feelers to find her, and asks if he's worried for others, or Drusilla herself. Dru's never going to be like Angel, or even Spike, says Faith. "Some people you gotta write off." Angel brings up Faith's father, and how seeing him made Faith slip into old patterns and thus go to Drusilla, even though that kind of action is no longer her. He tells her that people from her past can't take away what she's accomplished unless she lets them, and she gets agitated again and says she knows, she gets it, and let's drop it.

Next she smirks and asks what pieces of Giles's soul he got this time. He's shocked, but she says she's not stupid. She noticed the pierced nipple and how it glowed when the demon died, the same kind of glow that she saw when they killed the demon in the first issue. Angel fesses up, telling her about the ancient Egyptian belief about the nine parts of the soul, and how he's collecting them, and how he wasn't sure what she'd think. He knows she doesn't believe he can bring him back.

She says she's not sure what she believes anymore, but she knows he doesn't give up on people, and neither does she. She's on board with his plan now and wants to help resurrect Giles, but adds that Drusilla is an exception to not giving up on people. Drusilla is crazy and soulless; too much of a mess. "Yeah. She is," Angel agrees. "But before she met me, she was beautiful." As he and Faith leave the alley they're in, we see an image of Drusilla as she was before Angel turned her, wearing a bonnet and smiling as she pets a cat.

*

I...liked this issue? I feel a little weird, like something is leaving me unsatisfied but it has more to do with my mood than the actual comic. I think I'm just impatient for Connor and Willow, or I'm waiting for a game-changer that was implicitly promised...is this what happens when comic readers get spoiled?

The part that I know for sure I'll return to is Dru going off about her visions right after she regained her madness. There are definitely truffles in there but we don't have the pig to find them yet. Ghosts of the past? Yes please.

Drusilla's overall development is important, of course, but I'm not entirely sure what to make of it. She was sane and now she's not, but isn't that just a reset? Can't say I'm displeased - I'd be lost in a Buffyverse without its roving madwoman villain - but has she gained or lost anything from her arc here? I stared at the final panel for a long time, wondering if there was something magic going on there, but I'm pretty sure it was just a memory. "She was beautiful before I met her" was a good ending thought, especially with Drusilla's earlier declaration that Angel/us made her beautiful. It could be read as a look at Angel's hopeless situation, knowing that he destroyed a good person and nothing he does now can reverse that, but I like to see it from the other perspective: she didn't start out evil or crazy, and she certainly didn't start out powerful. She was beautiful for her own sake, and nothing that happened to her improved on that - not visions, not suffering, not immortality.

But holy crap, how Angel must have felt when she begged him not to let the trauma back in. All the points for most effective use of the word again. It didn't really occur to me until then that what Angel was really doing when he sabotaged the Lorophage was torturing his original victim all over again. I don't think that he was wrong, but I wonder if he'll ever get to any kind of closure with Drusilla, especially if she never dies.

Angel and Faith's relationship probably gave me the most surprise of anything in this issue. There's been a lot of repetition in this book so far, which I actually kind of hate to admit because there are many ways in which I like repetition (not to mention that I don't really like saying anything negative about this book), but we've heard the two characters cycling through the same topic in their dialogue and thoughts a few times now, and it's getting easy to predict where it'll go. But twice in this issue, Faith pulls out a new card: "Leave me alone."

And cripe, Angel really does need to hear that, doesn't he? If he were my own crime-fighting BFF, I would want him around at all times and in every way (riiiight there, yessss), so I didn't quite key into what Faith would need from him. He's got a lot of wisdom, he loves her, and he wants so desperately to help, of course he's going to go overboard sometimes with his support. I didn't at all feel like Faith was retreating into herself or punishing herself by pushing him away - she just wanted to be able to consider things on her own. I think Angel's going to learn from that, and it's going to make them a stronger team.

Oooh, and Faith mentioned Spike for the second time. See, he's always on her mind! They are so bound by destiny.

Is this the end of the "Daddy Issues" arc? I hope so, although I've enjoyed it. I want to see some resolution and a new project for Angel and Faith (and Connor and Willow for Angel and Faith), and the shirtless-under-a-coat thing is really getting old. Pity we won't get any more of Isaacs drawing Drusilla in that dress, though.

Oh, one more thing - Faith wanting to help Angel resurrect Giles? How are we supposed to feel about this?

ETA 5

http://fandomania.com/angel-and-faith-9-comic-review/

Angel and Faith #9 Comic Review

Posted by Kimberly Lynn Workman[



Issue: Angel and Faith #9
Release Date: April 2012
Writer: Christos Gage
Art: Rebekah Isaacs
Colors: Dan Jackson
Letters: Richard Starkings and COMICRAFT’S Jimmy Betancourt
Cover: Steve Morris
Alternate Cover: Rebekah Isaacs and Dan Jackson
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

With the promise of no more trauma, Faith has sought out Dru for her release. That is where we last left our Slayer and where we pick up this issue. Is this her golden ticket or is she condemning herself to yet another round of abuse? Whatever Faith’s reason, Angel has decided that he cannot stand idly by. He has decided that he must save Faith from getting her pain sucked away, or maybe doom her to suffering as much as he does. It’s an interesting dynamic that plays out with enlightening details this month.

Alas, Angel was too late to prevent the Lorophage demon from finishing what he started. Instead, Faith is on the apathy train. While she remembers all the pain of her past, she’s not crippled by it anymore. As Dru points out, isn’t this preferable to the life of misery that Angel has chosen all these years? Angel’s not about to let Faith let go of the past. He brings up all her painful memories, one by one, forcing her to live through them all again and reconnect with all the scars that have made her who she is today. It somehow makes a difference.

Finally Faith gets to the point where she might consider getting her trauma back, but there’s one problem. The Lorophage demon took it and he’s not about to give it back. Or will he? Angel wants to press the issue, which prompts a battle between Angel and Dru over the situation. I was so happy to see Dru have her power back, especially when she gets to take on Daddy!Angel and actually stand up to him as the dangerous creature she is. No longer is she a broken thing. She’s once again sane and ten times as dangerous.



And her ideal would be to no longer have Angel be a broken, tortured thing either. Dru sets the Lorophage demon on him to remove all his pain, all his trauma. It made me pause to consider just what Angel would be like without those restraints on his conscience. Would he be Angelus again? Or a softer version of Angel? It looked like we might get an answer to that when Faith doesn’t make a move to help, frozen by the current mental state she’s in. Finally she breaks free of that spell and rushes to Angel’s aid when she realizes that she’s just replaced one trauma for another. People have used her all her life and Dru’s just doing the same, except in a different way. She will not be a victim any longer. And, with Faith’s help, Angel can get the upper-hand on the Lorophage demon and turn the trauma removal in on itself. All the trauma escapes the demon and returns to the rightful owners. That means Dru is right back to where she was before, a broken insane thing that speaks in riddles. Oh, Sane!Dru, we knew you only briefly, but loved you always.

Faith isn’t any better off. In fact, she’s so enraged over being jerked around between pain and release that she doesn’t even want to be near Angel. The other victims are feeling their own horrors, so angry over their returned pain that they are on the attack. Angel and Faith have to fight their way through the onslaught while Dru runs off into the night proclaiming them all doomed.

We end with a revelation from Faith that she’s more in the know than Angel gave her credit for. She knows Angel has been taking on pieces of Giles and, instead of condemning him for it, she’s decided to get on board. While I’m sad to see Dru leave, I’m anxious to see where we’re going with Giles and his resurrection. Is this all going to end badly? Angel doesn’t have a good track record for improving people’s lives, as evidenced by the last glance of Dru we get as we end the issue. Before she was broken, she was beautiful.

Rating: 3 / 5 Stars

[comic fan]

Preview pages for Buffy S9 # 9.Of course this issue leaked with issue 8 this month so many have either read it or are fully spoiled for it.

Preview: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 #9 - Comic Book Resources

Preview: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 #9



Andrew doesn’t always make the best choices (see Season 6). And now Buffy finds herself and the very course of her life profoundly affected by one of Andrew’s over-the-top, idiotic . . . hair-brained . . . schemes. Together with Andrew and Spike, the worried Slayer will have to confront herself and her comrades, as well as a long-standing annoyance, the number-one Buffy hater of all Buffy haters: Simone, the gun-toting Slayer.











CBR's Behind Buffy S9 for Angel & Faith "Daddy issues" Arc with Christos Gage.

BEHIND BUFFY SEASON 9: Unpacking "Angel & Faith's" Daddy Issues - Comic Book Resources

BEHIND BUFFY SEASON 9: Unpacking "Angel & Faith's" Daddy Issues

Writer Christos Gage digs into the revelations from the conclusion of "Angel & Faith's" second arc with word on Drusilla's return, Angel's son, Faith's father and more secrets set to impact Joss Whedon's Buffy-verse

Kiel Phegley, News Editor

SPOILER WARNING: Spoilers for this week's issue of "Angel & Faith" lie below.]

In the world of Dark Horse and Joss Whedon's Buffy The Vampire Slayer, emotions often run high. But the most recent arc of "Buffy Season 9" series "Angel & Faith" explores what would happen if the titular characters could see their defining emotions -- guilt and regret -- taken away in the blink of an eye.

Wrapping this week with issue #9, the "Daddy Issues" arc brought with it the return of demented vampire Drusilla who, with the help of an emotion-sucking Lorophage demon, offered both of the book's heroes a chance to scrub the emotional baggage that came with their past sins and live life in the now. Combine that with Angel's ongoing attempts to piece together the late Rupert Giles' soul and Faith's dealing with the return of her alcoholic father, and the story holds a lot at stake within the larger fabric of Season 9.

To unpack the drama and the danger of the stories at hand, CBR News is back with a new installment of BEHIND BUFFY SEASON 9. This week, writer Christos Gage takes us on a tour of the "Daddy Issues" arc, revealing his full plans for Drusilla's Dark Horse debut, the inspiration for Faith's father Pat, the whereabouts of Angel's son Connor and the secrets both leads are hiding from each other -- and themselves.




Since we last spoke, we've seen a lot of twists in the story of Dru's return, and I wanted to start by talking a bit about the origin recap we got at the beginning of #7. We've talked before about finding that right balance between explaining for people who haven't seen every bit of the "Buffy" and "Angel" series what the background of these characters is while also giving nods to the die hard fans. What did you most want to get across in the scenes of Angel's siring of Dru, and how did that exposition impact Angel as a character throughout the arc?

Christos Gage: As you mentioned, I think it's important to sometimes recap certain things for the benefit of new readers, but I try to do it in such a way that hopefully looks at the familiar events in a new light, so longtime fans feel like they're getting something out of it too. In this case, I wanted to show a bit of Angel's reasoning when he (or rather, Angelus) chose Dru -- why he picked her, in particular, to be the first vampire he sired: The fact that she was good in all the ways Angel's human self, Liam, was bad; her second sight and the potential for good it gave her, which would now be corrupted; and her general beauty, both inner and outer, which he wanted to despoil. Basically, I wanted to show that Angel has a tremendous amount of guilt about Drusilla -- as we saw when he apologized to her in issue #7 -- which both impacts how he relates to her, and perhaps gives some insight on how he feels about others he's hurt, including Giles.

Not just this arc, but this whole book is a balancing act between your two leads. Early on in the story, the focus is very much on Angel as Dru tries to lure him into using the Lorophage demon's abilities. Did the messenger here make the prospect a little more tempting to Angel, do you think?

No, I think Angel likes to flagellate himself too much to ever consider removing the pain he feels over what he's done. He'd also wonder what would make him different from Angelus if he didn't feel bad about doing bad things. In a deeper sense, I'm not sure Angel would know what to do with himself if he didn't feel constant guilt -- and use it to motivate himself.



The other major side of the coin is Faith's reconnecting with her dad and what that does to her. We'll get to the latter actions in a moment, but I know that part of this back story was originally established in one of the Buffy novels, which are a segment of the show's media output we don't hear about often. How did you work to build up a character we'd never "seen" before in Faith's father, and what were the most important considerations you had in regards to what had been previously established on that front?

Actually, I discussed this with Joss back at the Buffyverse writers summit, and he said that aside from establishing Faith's last name as Lehane -- which he contributed -- the novel wasn't canon and I shouldn't worry about it; I should depict Faith's Dad in whatever way I felt was best. So I didn't read it, though I also didn't go out of my way to contradict it either. My approach to her father, Pat, was based on what kind of man I thought would turn Faith into the damaged person we met in the Buffy show, as well as my knowledge of a certain type of person you meet in Massachusetts -- the kind of guy epitomized in popular media by Jeremy Renner's character in the movie "The Town" -- a manipulator who plays on loyalty, friendship and family ties to get people he supposedly cares about to do things that are really, really bad for them. I don't mean to suggest those kinds of people only exist in Massachusetts, they're everywhere -- but the ones you find in my home state have their own particular characteristics, and Pat Lehane has them in spades.

On the other hand, I didn't want him to be an evil, mustache-twirling bad guy. He's genuinely trying to stay sober. He genuinely wants to have a relationship with Faith. But he's weak, and selfish, and he also sees Faith's power as a quick and easy way to get out from under the problems he's created for himself -- never mind what that does to her. You could hook him up to a lie detector and he'd swear he was doing all this for the benefit of his little girl, and he'd pass with flying colors, because he's such a con artist, he's even conned himself into believing it. But being around him doesn't benefit her at all. It's bad for her -- very bad.

One other small element from issue #7 I can't ignore is a reference to Angel's son Connor. At this point, what can you tell us about where he's ended up and whether or not we'll see him -- or any other cast members from Angel's show -- in the future of this comic?

SPOILER ALERT! (Although nothing that hasn't been revealed in solicits.) Connor is showing up in our next big arc, "Family Reunion," which runs from #11 to #14. We'll learn all about what he's up to now. And there will indeed be another character from the "Angel" TV series showing up, in addition to Willow, whose quest to restore magic brings her to our heroes -- and takes them all to Quor-Toth, the helliest of all hell dimensions, where Connor grew up! Now how, I ask, could you miss that?



Issue #8 gets us into the thick of the Faith/Dad relationship, but before we do that, we also catch up with Nadira and the Slayers who are looking to settle the score with Pearl and Nash. Obviously, part of what we're looking at here is the long term plot for the series, but in what other ways, was it important to let Faith bounce off of Nadira before her dad's troubles came home to roost?

It was important because Nadira is another character, like Angel, who is driven by her pain, and clings to it as a motivating force in her life. And it's clearly really bad for her -- it's causing her to lash out at her friends, get violent towards innocent people, and generally be miserable. One of the reasons Faith goes to Dru and agrees to take the Lorophage demon's "cure," aside from the devastating pain her father caused her, is the fact that she sees these people around her who can't let go of their pain -- in fact adamantly refuse to -- and it's totally screwing up their lives. She doesn't want to end up like them, and at that precise low point, she's willing to grasp at a solution part of her has to know comes with strings attached.



Faith's father is a hard character to pin down. In some ways, his predicament and his point of view are extremely sympathetic. On the other hand, the way he treats Faith is strongly, if unwittingly, abusive. What did you find was the best way to split that difference on the page? What does having a character we want to succeed do to change the impact of the story on Faith?

I read somewhere that mental/emotional abuse is harder for kids to get over than physical abuse. Because if their parent is hitting them, beating them up, once they get help, it's easier to identify that as wrong. I didn't want Pat to be the cliched angry drunk who hit his kid, as horrible as that is. I don't think that would have produced the Faith we met back in the "Buffy" series. So I looked at the Mayor, and worked back from there. If Faith was so drawn to this man, he probably seemed on the surface to be very different from her real Dad, everything Pat wasn't -- conventional, fatherly, the proverbial "Father Knows Best" figure who loves his daughter and wants what's best for her. But at his core, he'd probably be just like her real Dad -- using Faith, getting her to do things that are harmful to both her and others, but benefit him. It doesn't mean he doesn't care about her -- it'd probably be easier if that was the case. He genuinely loves her. He just loves himself more. Yes, Pat is in a predicament that's unfortunate, and he wants something that's worthwhile. But unlike Faith -- who asked Angel for help and served time in prison -- he's not willing to do the hard work necessary to get there. He wants a quick and easy solution, regardless of what that does to Faith. And at the end of issue #8, damaged again by him, she goes looking for the exact same thing.



This week's issue #9 wraps everything up on both character fronts when Faith is (temporarily) relieved of her emotional trauma. And it seems great! However, when Angel points out that the trauma has its benefits as well as its curses, the thing I kept wondering was whether he really felt this way all along or whether he discovered that benefit as he articulated it to Faith?

I think he knew it all along -- but for me, the real question is what isn't he telling her. He's articulating a good and noble justification for holding on to his guilt, but the genius of Joss' characters is that they are multilayered. Much like the way Willow keeps talking about how important it is for the good of Earth to bring magic back, while brushing past the fact that she, herself, really, really wants the power again, there could be something Angel's not admitting to himself about why he holds so tightly to the trauma. Does it give him reassurance that he and Angelus are completely different people? "Well, I feel bad about it, so I'm not like him." Does it give him an identity -- the tortured soul seeking redemption -- while allowing him to not look too closely at himself, at some of the things he might not want to acknowledge? That's the subtext I find interesting.



With the defeat of the Lorophage demon, we also get your final word on Dru for the time being -- namely that she's back to being crazy but significantly different in how she views her relationships with Angel. Obviously, these are threads that will impact the "Drusilla" miniseries whenever that gets to hit the stands, but are you interested in picking up on this thread at some point as well?

I can't promise Dru will return this season in the pages of "Angel & Faith," but the aftermath of this encounter will certainly continue to impact Angel -- and Faith.



Faith's line of "Cry me a river" at the thought of their pursuers being in pain seemed to be a defining moment for her in this arc -- really indicative of who she is now in relation to who she's been. To you, what defines Faith today as opposed to the character she was for so long on the original "Buffy" series?

I think that line was a dig at herself as much as Drusilla's followers -- sort of chastising them, and herself, for getting so crushed by their pain they'd try for such an easy way out. But you're right, it also embodies who she's become versus who she used to be. Back in the day, she was consumed by her pain, denied it, and instead lashed out at others -- Buffy, Angel, whoever was at hand. She let herself be used by people like the Mayor. She was always running -- mostly from herself -- and lying, again, to herself as much as anyone. But she hit bottom, picked herself up -- with Angel's help -- and did the hard work, and now she's faced up to both what she's done and who she is.

That's why the incident with her Dad shook her up so much -- she felt like she went right back to

the broken person she used to be. But she got past that, as hard as it was, and reclaimed herself, which Drusilla's followers are unable or unwilling to do. Of course, one doesn't go through something like that and just brush it aside. Faith is not the person she once was -- as I've said before, she's come further than anyone else in the Buffyverse. But she's also far from perfect. Keep an eye on her in the next storyline and see if you can tell when she's still feeling the effects of "Daddy Issues."

We wrap the arc with Angel and Faith on the same page about his plan to resurrect Giles...or did we? Faith seems confident that she's put together Angel's whole scheme, but I can't quite get a read on whether or not he's still hiding something from her. What's the next step in that journey?

Well, Angel chose not to mention what Dru referred to in one of the earlier issues -- that Giles' persona is taking shape inside Angel, and that two minds in one body -- three, if you count Angelus -- is too many. Did he leave it out because Angel is confident it's not going to be a problem -- or is he downplaying the risks? Faith has definitely made a decision to support Angel in his quest. But that doesn't mean it's smooth sailing from here on out.





Next up, we'll get to see your latest collaboration with Chris Samnee in another stand-alone issue. Now that you're far along in the process of seeing his pages come in, what is it about that issue that you think will make it stand out not just as a part of the ongoing series but in comparison to the last big one-off?

Well, anyone who's seen Chris' work knows he's one of the great talents of the current generation of comics artists. (Not to sell our regular artist, Rebekah Isaacs, short -- I definitely think she's another of the brightest stars. I'm a very lucky writer!) You look at the excitement with which fans greeted the news of Chris drawing "Daredevil," and it's clear he has an ardent fan base. What I think will be fun for them about "Angel & Faith" #10 is that they will get to see Chris go nuts drawing monster/horror material, which is something he doesn't ordinarily get to do. I've said before that Rebekah is an amazingly brilliant designer of demons and monsters, and I knew Chris would be too, so I continued my tradition on this book of providing just very basic guidelines -- "a giant living pile of mucus" or "a huge, fat, gross dude" -- and letting the artist work their magic. Chris delivered beyond expectations. You can see how much fun he's having on the pages full of flailing axes and claws and giant snakes.

But what's less obvious, though potentially more important, is Chris' character work. In this story, like the last one-off, there's a lot of humor. But this time around, there's some poignancy too, as we look back to Giles' childhood and see the moment when his connection to magic revealed itself, and his life changed forever. I knew it would take a skilled artist to pull off that tonal dance, and Chris did it beautifully. As you know, Chris and I worked together early in his career on the Vertigo Crime graphic novel "Area 10," and I knew then he was something special. From the time I started on this book, I lobbied to Scott to bring him in for a guest spot, so we could put the band back together. I think this was the perfect issue to do it, and I hope the readers agree. I also have to mention that this issue introduces some new regular characters, ones that weren't created by me -- they were originally going to be part of Joss' "Ripper" TV show. He very generously told me to feel free to use them, and this turned out to be the ideal place to bring them in. They have a connection to Giles that you'll learn about in the issue. Also, in flashback, we'll see Giles' Dad again, as well as his grandmother Edna, who we previously saw in the Whedon-written "Tales of The Vampires" as a young girl. Here you'll meet her as a mature, but still totally badass, woman. Oh yes, all that in one issue -- at no extra charge! Is that service, or what?


This caught my eye.

SPOILER ALERT! (Although nothing that hasn't been revealed in solicits.) Connor is showing up in our next big arc, "Family Reunion," which runs from #11 to #14. We'll learn all about what he's up to now. And there will indeed be another character from the "Angel" TV series showing up, in addition to Willow, whose quest to restore magic brings her to our heroes -- and takes them all to Quor-Toth, the helliest of all hell dimensions, where Connor grew up! Now how, I ask, could you miss that?

Maybe Gunn then?Or if they are finding ways to cross dimensions,could it be a dead character making a brief return?

I'm hoping for Gunn myself though.