"Buffy" #1 picks up about a year after the events of Season Seven and addresses how the U.S. government explained away the destruction of Sunnydale, California and hints that those in power and in the know about the supernatural might not be too pleased with the fact that there's now thousands of Slayers wandering around. "I'll just go ahead and say they might not be totally thrilled," Whedon said. "Strong women make some people nervous, don't ask me why."
In future issues readers can also expect to see the demon and vampire communities' reaction to the dramatic increase in the number of Slayers. "That isn't something that I've dealt with that much upfront," Whedon explained. "They're still going about their business, but it becomes an issue later on. They're not pleased."
With the number of Slayers now in the thousands, Buffy and her friends find themselves in a new situation when issue #1 begins. Instead of being able to rely on only a few trusted confidants, Buffy and the Scoobies now have the might of an entire organization backing them up in their fight against supernatural evil. "They're divided into units, all of which are pretty big," Whedon explained. "They're still trying to figure out how to run this thing. They had all these girls from college and gradually we get to see more of how they built their organizations and the ways in which they're working and the ways in which they're really not. They're a ragtag team of misfits. It always sounds good when you say it. They're a bit like the A-Team. They do pity fools. [Laughs]"
When readers are re-introduced to Buffy and her allies in issue #1, their immediate goals are fairly simple. "They're just fighting demons and trying to, you know, make sure all the Slayers are accounted for," Whedon said. "Then right away they start seeing things that mean something funky is going on. Some old friends show up, not necessarily in the friend way.
"The first story really sets up the world, where Buffy's at and what they're going to be facing over this storyarc," Whedon continued. "It kind of puts the pieces in place and allows me to have a tremendous amount of fun with my guys again. The first four are just like a straight up comic where, you know, I'm playing with the world and seeing our characters and riffing on it and having an intense adventure.
The second story in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," which is penned by writer Brian K Vaughan, puts the spotlight on a character who began as an ally of Buffy and the Scoobies, then fought against them, and by the TV series end was fighting along side them again "“ Faith the Vampire Slayer. "When Brian and I sat down, it was more like doing the show in terms of 'what do we learn about faith?" Whedon said. "Why is she different at the end of this than she was at the beginning? What are we saying about her? What are we saying about Buffy?' It was like breaking the show."
As "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" progresses, readers will get reacquainted with more of the Scoobies. "Those are characters that we roll out," Whedon stated. "We see a few of them in the upcoming issues. We see most of the hard scoobies, but there are plenty of people we need to find out about. But everybody's still themselves. Nobody's gone really loopy. They're not all around each other, and there are some questions about where some of them have been. But when they are around each other, it's like old times."
It's not just Buffy's regular supporting cast that Whedon has plans for in "Buffy." He also hopes to check in with loads of other characters like Buffy's ex-boyfriend, government monster slayer, Riley Finn. "I have plans for everybody," Whedon said. "I cannot tell you if these plans will come to fruition because somebody might have a better idea. Or we might run out of steam. Or people might reject the comic wholesale. Although I'm hoping they don't "“ I'm hoping they reject it retail. [Laughs] But I've thought about how everybody could fit in."
Later on in the book's run, Whedon says there's a possibility readers will see a few of the characters from the Buffy spin-off show, "Angel." "IDW has the 'Angel' license and although I can use those characters in 'Buffy,' it makes sense to keep the two separate and let them be their own separate worlds. That's not to say that Angel and Spike aren't on Buffy's mind, that's not to say that they won't show up, but it'll be sparingly and in no way interfere with what they're doing at IDW."
Buffy's organization has grown quite large in the "Buffy" comic, but Whedon currently has no plans for them to confront another large villainous organization, the law firm of Wolfram and Hart, which was a reoccurring menace on "Angel." "Anything that's truly an 'Angel' thing, unless I was doing some big crossover, I would keep on 'Angel,'" Whedon stated.
As readers of the five page preview of "Buffy" #1 might have noticed, Whedon does touch on a plot thread introduced in one of the episodes from the final season of "Angel," Buffy's alleged romance with a being known as the Immortal. "When I started writing the comic I had Buffy dating the Immortal," Whedon said. "I liked it, but I didn't love it. I realized, 'No, I think we need to start with classic Buffy and classic Buffy is alone.' And then I thought, 'Well everybody said how obvious it was that that wasn't Sara Michelle Gellar in the episode, wouldn't it be hilarious [laughs] especially since Andrew sort of said, "˜Oh gentlemen, yes she's dating the Immortal, it's so wonderful.' If Andrew had just been messing with the guys, I found that to be such a delight and perfectly in character. So, it was a retcon, but it was kind of a beautiful one. I don't think retcons are necessariy pejorative. It's not Gwen Stacy bones the Green Goblin, okay?"
