First Look at BtVS Season 10

[thetopher]

I'm in two minds about this- I am a stickler for canon, and I don't believe I can realistically see Spike having a 'meaningful relationship' with anyone with Buffy during S7, the way his character acts towards Buffy is...well its been described fairly accurately as dog-like devotion, with all the positive and negative connotations that has.

On the oher hand, I have a fairly low opinion of Spike's 'fidelity' anyway, he's had other female companions other than Buffy in the comics (and really, why shouldn't he?), he jumped Harmony's bones seconds after getting his body back in Angel S5. He made some pretty out-of- line comments and done some really retched things while he's been all soulful. (Yes, I know others have also done bad stuff, but their not portrayed by writers and fans as so saint-like 🙄)
So, who knows, maybe he was blowing smoke when he told Buffy 'there could be no other woman but you' as he told her in 'Sleeper'?

Really, it depends on the quality of the story. And to be honest, for every Nimoy, there are ten Shatners, who let there ego and love for thier character blind them to the fact that their story kinda sucks.
I'm not judging until I've read the story, but playing the odds, its not looking good.

And it's not like I'm a Spuffy fanatic anyway. If it works or if it doesn't- whatever.

 

[Kean]

This period of canon is already a contentious topic, do we really need to add any more clutter to it? Not only that, isn't this the exact same story that was told in the Spike book in S9? Is this supposed to create some sort of history of Spike trying to move on from Buffy (but not actually moving on?)

 

[EVIL UU]

[MENTION=6332]Lyri[/MENTION]

Spike, during S7, insisted that he loved Buffy, that he was the only one who was truly in Buffy's corner, the only one there for her, the one who will ALWAYS be there for

As a friend. Spike is not Buffy's romantic interest in season 7, Spike/Buffy as a romantic relationship concluded in "As You Were".

That is going to send people mad, Spuffies will complain

So what? I mean, who cares? Why is this even important?

 

[Black Eye Guy]

As a friend. Spike is not Buffy's romantic interest in season 7, Spike/Buffy as a romantic relationship concluded in "As You Were".

I agree, I see no romantic relationship between the two characters. But there is a one sided romantic interest from Spike to Buffy in season 7.

He didn't think of being in Buffys corner as being her friend, he was there becasue he was in love with her.

Having him have a meaningful relationship in season 7, undermines how Spike is portrayed in season 7.

In Touched he tells Buffy she's "the one", clearly he'll have meant "you're the one! of two"

So what? I mean, who cares? Why is this even important?

Are you kidding, when they tell loudly and collectively Dark Horses bank accounts quiver, and given the state of the comics already I would rather not have them rushing to try and back pedal on something just to quell a small number of vocal fans.

 

[thetopher]

Yep, Spuffy fans sure are loud when they complain- I've seen lots of 'letters to the editors' on the comic back pages complaining about 'lack of Spike', and they don't even show half of the ones they get. 🙄

Which is why I think they need to bite the bullet and send some kind of signal to kill/sink this 'ship, because otherwise it will never go away.
Maybe JM's comic will do that, or maybe it will take Buffy moving on to someone new to do it.
Either way, I just hope it happens, the franchise will eventually be better for it.
After all its not like the Spuffy's will actually leave, their invested too much, they'll still stick around. 😛

 

[Black Eye Guy]

The images didn't load for me before, I'm not to mad on the Faith cover (though yay dead Billy!)

But that first Angel cover is fantastic! Like I'm in love with it, I hate the little pixie at the bottom, but the main cover art is so cool, I love that pencil art sketch art style, and love the juxtaposition of the dark colours on Angel and the ott highlighter colour on Pearl.

I may actually buy a printed version of that issue rather then the digital.

 

[Lyri]

Inked version of Spike and Xander as the 'Odd Couple'. Still don't like it.

http://ow.ly/i/4KwW5/original

 

[Black Eye Guy]

Ugh.

Spike carrying around a picture of Buffy, once a stalker, always a stalker.

 

[thetopher]

*Looks at picture, then clutches his head* No, no, no, no...

Jesus no, this is just the worst idea. Now I see it all inked up...this shit just got real. And I hate it. 🙁

Please let this be a one-shot sub-plot, or better yet some crappy mini-series that I don't have to buy.

The actual Buffy plots will have to set a new standard in awesome to have a hope of making up for this...

 

[Kean]

Still hoping this is just a "fun" cover that hasn't nothing to do with the actual story.

 

[Blaze]

Spike...plaid boxers... what the..

 

[Kean]

Spike...plaid boxers... what the..

He probably borrowed them from Xander.

Feck it, now I'm just encouraging this crap.

 

[thetopher]

The truth is it's all just a lame attempt at humour.
It's supposed to be fresh but it comes across as so tired... 🙁

Y'know what, its not even worth getting upset over, its that lazy. I'll stick with A&F.

 

[sosa lola]

I'm probably the only one who will enjoy this. Other than my love for anything Xander/Spike, I rather have Xander have a storyline with anyone who isn't Buffy or Dawn. I want something NEW. I don't want them recycling old storylines again.

So, yay for a change in story and a new pair of characters interacting with each other and developing for the better ( hopefully )

Giles/Faith was the highlight of these comics because they paired two characters who hadn't shared much in canon together and it worked. Relationships and characters change with time.

 

[thetopher]

Well, I like the fact that Xander's getting some more face time/stuff to do. It's the Xander/Spike stuff that seems tired.
They were pretty much the only two male characters around for S6/7, they've roomed together in Season 4 and 7. They've interacted tons both positively or negativly for about 3 seasons...and really, I can see them adding anything new.

Faith/Giles worked and was fresh precisly because they never really interacted on the show. Their S8, A&F stuff was very good because of this. Actually I think Faith needs Giles way more than Buffy does... 🙁

Character interactions/relationships that could be interesting:

Gunn/Any of the Scoobies.
Conner/Dawn. Actually Conner and any of the Scoobies.
Illyria/Spike (no way Illyria is dead- that would just be a waste...🙁)
Xander/Faith
Buffy/Faith
Spike/Dawn (follow up on the S9 stuff, which I thought they were going to focus on more)
Buffy/Willow/Dawn. Any combination of this.

All the ones listed are either fresh or speak of a dynamic character interaction. All are more interesting than Xander/Spike. (as a focal/selling point for plot developments that is)
Sorry, its just my opinion. 😉

 

[Blaze]

I agree with thetopher, Spike and Xander just don't feel fresh to me, and that's coming from someone who loved their interactions on the show. But the whole roomate thing, I think we're past that, there's no reason for them to live together. I wish they'd give Spike a good story, it's like they're doing it on purpose for people to dislike him.

 

[Kean]

I agree with thetopher, Spike and Xander just don't feel fresh to me, and that's coming from someone who loved their interactions on the show. But the whole roomate thing, I think we're past that, there's no reason for them to live together. I wish they'd give Spike a good story, it's like they're doing it on purpose for people to dislike him.

I think the writers feel like their hands are tied with Spike. He has a huge fanbase but that hasn't translated into successful solo stories away from Buffy. If comic sales and fandom discussion is a measure of what his fans want, then they don't want to see his story deter from Buffy's. The problem with this is that Buffy's story has moved on from Spike a long time ago (and in reality his story has moved on from her too) but in order to satisfy a very vocal part of the audience we keep getting these non-committal steps forward that inevitably end with him getting drunk or ending up in some other sorry state until he resolves to move on only to fall back again.

 

[Blaze]

I think the writers feel like their hands are tied with Spike. He has a huge fanbase but that hasn't translated into successful solo stories away from Buffy. If comic sales and fandom discussion is a measure of what his fans want, then they don't want to see his story deter from Buffy's. The problem with this is that Buffy's story has moved on from Spike a long time ago (and in reality his story has moved on from her too) but in order to satisfy a very vocal part of the audience we keep getting these non-committal steps forward that inevitably end with him getting drunk or ending up in some other sorry state until he resolves to move on only to fall back again.

Completely agree. And this especially suck as a Spike fan, because for the most part only the very vocal fans are heard. If I say I like Spuffy I'm put in this category of people that don't ever want to see Spike on his own, which couldn't be farther from what I actually want. Unfortunately, you are right, things will not change because the writer's think it will angry the fans too much of they move Spike to a different storyline. Maybe it's because they've had poor success with his own solo stories, but even then his storylines there were never good, never as well thought out as for example A&F or AtF, or Willow Wonderland. I miss when Joss would just go ahead and do the story he wanted to tell, without doing any, or very few fan service (which actually Spike has always sort of been an exception to that rule, even though I liked his storyline on the show's run). Combine poor sales with Joss being a very small part of the comics, I don't think we'll ever have a good Spike story again. I hope to be proven wrong.

 

[Kean]

Completely agree. And this especially suck as a Spike fan, because for the most part only the very vocal fans are heard. If I say I like Spuffy I'm put in this category of people that don't ever want to see Spike on his own, which couldn't be farther from what I actually want. Unfortunately, you are right, things will not change because the writer's think it will angry the fans too much of they move Spike to a different storyline. Maybe it's because they've had poor success with his own solo stories, but even then his storylines there were never good, never as well thought out as for example A&F or AtF, or Willow Wonderland. I miss when Joss would just go ahead and do the story he wanted to tell, without doing any, or very few fan service (which actually Spike has always sort of been an exception to that rule, even though I liked his storyline on the show's run). Combine poor sales with Joss being a very small part of the comics, I don't think we'll ever have a good Spike story again. I hope to be proven wrong.

I think the poor quality of Spike's storylines have everything to do with him being tethered to how he is "supposed" to feel and act in regards Buffy. Factor in that Buffy does not reciprocate Spike's feelings and it makes for an incredibly underwhelming, if not pathetic, character and story.

I've never been a fan of the character, ensouled or otherwise, and I don't know if freeing him up to tell whatever story his character needs would change that, but I can't help but think it wouldn't hurt.

 

[Blaze]

I think the poor quality of Spike's storylines have everything to do with him being tethered to how he is "supposed" to feel and act in regards Buffy. Factor in that Buffy does not reciprocate Spike's feelings and it makes for an incredibly underwhelming, if not pathetic, character and story.

I've never been a fan of the character, ensouled or otherwise, and I don't know if freeing him up to tell whatever story his character needs would change that, but I can't help but think it wouldn't hurt.

I definitely think it would help, or like you said, wouldn't hurt. At worst, the fans of Spike like me would be happy with his story, and the people that don't like him would not have a reason to hate him even more. Its not even that I want the character to do a 180, it's okay to show that he's in love and Buffy, but dam he can still do his own thing. They don't have to remind us every two seconds that Angel loves Buffy, so I don't know why they are doing that with Spike. Especially that Spike showed a lot of potential in early seasons, he has an interesting past, why not explore that. They could give him a story with Dru, make something interesting there (since a lot of fans also like that pairing). Just anything but the roomate story, that just sounds awful.