nerd4hire
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This one needs its own thread, I think. It's an interview with the Georges Jeanty, the artist for the upcoming Buffy Season 8 comic series.
http://hellmouthcentral.com/Site_Files/articles/comics/jeanty.html
7: Well, let’s talk a little bit about the story for Buffy. Obviously that’s what a lot of fans are looking for. I can understand you can only go so far with the questions…
GJ: Yes.
7: Go as far you can and maybe a little farther…
GJ: Bear with me. (laughs)
7: We have a few questions from the internet in this first section here. The first and probably the most expected question from both the internet and myself is “what can you tell us about the plot?” Can you reveal anything about it at all?
GJ: No. That’s one of those questions that is very tight-lipped. But I can tell you, and I’ve been told this actually by certain fans, that there was a mention of Buffy in the later Angel episodes of where she might be. And I will say that where they say isn’t so far off.
7: OK. It was Rome at the time.
GJ: Was it in Rome?
7: Yes.
GJ: I don’t know if that’s necessarily the place but they’re somewhere.
7: Understood.
GJ: And she is still active. It’s not going to be a story where you’re coming to her going her life is totally different in the sense that “I thought you were a slayer. I thought you were, you know, still slaying.” She is continuing with her activities. Beyond that, I actually don’t know much of the main plot so I couldn’t tell you if I wanted to.
7: OK.
GJ: Joss is very good; the guy is such a mastermind, I’m sure. He’s got this whole quote-unquote eighth season planned out in his head. And he knows where it’s going to end. He knows what the denouement is going to be with this. And here I am just trying to get through the first issue. So, this gentlemen knows his business and I would be a fool to presume on what he does know.
7: Has he given you any indication of, as this internet question says, the “humdinger” of an finale the ending is going to be?
GF: I am told that if they can get it done, it will be a humdinger of a finale. And beyond that, I can not say.
7: Do you know if there is going to be a finite number of issues with this series or is there going to be…?
GJ: I have heard the number 20 and 24. So around there. And I’ve heard that it will be a series of limited series. So while the series is coming out, it will be on monthly basis. Then they might take a break and then take up from there.
[NOTE: Scott Allie, editor for Dark Horse comics, sent me the following clarification to this question: “An exact number hasn't been determined yet, but it'll be over twenty.”]
7: Got ya. Characters? Can you give us an idea of which characters have been put (in the series)?
GJ: I don’t know for a fact. I’ve only gotten through the first issue. And I know that this is a book that builds. People who we are familiar with will be coming in; they just might not necessarily be in the first issue.
7: Got ya.
GJ: Buffy, of course. Xander is still with her. And I honestly, this is more, and I think that this is to Joss’ credit that this is very cool, he used the first issue so that you sort of reacquaint yourself with Buffy. He didn’t cloud it so much with other players. And I’m assuming that as the series progresses, we’ll learn more and more. It’s sort of like introducing your cast and then as they come together, the cast itself gets bigger. But it’s starting with Buffy and going on from there.
7: Any new characters that you’re aware of?
GJ: Um, yeah. New in the sense they’re just slayers. Now then, there were potentially, I don’t know how many, potentailly, there were a couple thousand there. We are introduced to some other slayers. We follow them as they follow Buffy. So we get to know them in that way
[NOTE: At this point, we took a break as the waiter took our orders. Georges offered very kindly to purchase a drink for me.]
7: One of the questions that came from the internet, and you may not know this, are there any dead Buffy characters coming back?
GJ: Wow. I’m not as familiar with the series to actually answer that question to be honest with you. And I think if I was, I couldn’t really say cause that would spoil any surprise.
7: And are they allowing any of the Angel characters over at IDW to make an appearance?
GJ: You know, interestingly enough, that is a contractual thing, and that is publicly known that IDW owns the Angel, and I think therefore Spike and whatever other characters they use, as Dark Horse, well not owns, but they are licensed to publish these characters and they can not publish those characters under contract, so I am told.
7: Right.
GJ: Yeah. I want to say that all the Buffy stuff stays on the Buffy side, which is Dark Horse, and all the Angel stuff stays on the IDW side.
7: Another internet question. If the [comic book] is successful, do you think they could bring it back to the air? Has Joss given you any indication of that?
GJ: Umm, I know for a fact, because we actually talked about this, he and I, that this is a world that is very close to his heart. He is very personal about it and very passionate about the Buffy universe. It’s almost…I actually think I told somebody this…it’s almost when he’s writing Buffy, and especially with this series because he’s actually writing it as opposed to screen writers and/or other types or writers, it really reads like it’s a love letter. The guy really does love this character, these characters I should say. He loves Buffy in particular, but he does love this character and this universe. He very much…I don’t know if it’s a form of escapism, but he loves to be in this world, I know that.
7: That’s very good insight.
GJ: Yeah. I don’t know if that really gives you as much, but it isn’t written by somebody whose just saying “well, I needed money and here, here, this is a continuation of this series.” He really does take it personally, and I totally admire that.
7: Another question from the internet. Are these books going to be canon? Are they going to be canon within the Buffyverse? Since Joss is writing them, is this what “really” happens to the…?
GJ: Well, yeah, that’s the whole point. That’s why they’re making it such a big deal to say it’s the eighth season. Because it is. While you won’t have any more TV episodes hypothetically, what you now will have as a sort follow-through are the comics. So, yes, in terms of canon law, yes, this definitely will be. I know in the first issue they are still dealing with the hellmouth and the conclave that was Sunnydale.
7: Ah! That’s another question I was going to ask you. Is there a new hellmouth?
GJ: I know it’s in it. I don’t know to what extent it’s there. But I think it’s there mostly to show the reader, hey, look, we do acknowledge the last episode or the last season. Here, we just want to show you that. We haven’t just said, ok, it’s comics and we’re going off somewhere else, and that’s it. You never find out what happens or…
7: It’s truly a continuation?
GJ: Yes, it is truly a continuation.
7: Will you be doing any artwork, understanding that Joss is going to be doing the first four issues, is that correct?
GJ: Yes, to my knowledge. This would probably be a better question for Dark Horse’s Scott Allie. He knows; he’s the editor therefore, he would know a whole lot more than I do. But, to my knowledge, the first four are his, are Joss’s, and then they will go from there.
[NOTE: I asked Scott Allie about the number of issue that Joss himself will be writing and his response was “Right now the plan is that he writes the first four and last four, supervising the rest.”]
7: And how many will you be working on total?
GJ: Total, I’m not sure. I know it will be the first four with the possibility of coming back for more? …with the possibility of coming back for more…
On the Process of Creating the Buffy Season 8 Comic Book
7: Let’s talk about process. Give us a little bit of an idea of what you receive from Joss and how do you two work together?
GJ: Well, our relationship right now is in its infancy. So I think that we’re still trying to get to know each other. Me moreso maybe than him, because I’m trying to see…again as I said, this is his universe, and I don’t presume to walk around in it like I know everything that’s going on. So anything in particular I will usually defer to him because again this is his way of looking at something he’s made a career about. Our relationship, actually, he just writes the script and then I illustrate it. And I got to tell you the best part of this process is when I send him pages over the internet, and he just writes back and says “Wow. Beautiful. Oh, I love this.” And I got to tell you that makes my whole day. I’m out for a whole day. I’m on cloud nine.
7: I guess you’ve met him?
GJ: Not physically. I’ve talked with him on the phone and we’ve e-mailed each other. No. He’s a busy guy. All these Hollywood types are very busy guys.
7: I bet with the number of things he’s working on right now…
GJ: Oh, yeah. That whole Wonder Woman thing, I am sure it’s keeping him busy. (laughs)
7: When you’re drawing, what do you work from, headshots, magazines
GJ: I’ve actually got a great program on my computer where it’s a motion capture, or image capture, and it captures the image. I can play the DVDs and it captures their faces. And that’s not to say I trace at all. I take the face, and I put them in a catalog. And, I ask myself, well, if it’s a three-quarters…I actually draw the whole thing out and then look at the areas where Buffy, or the character, whatever character I am dealing with – Buffy as an example – if she is there and maybe I’ve drawn a three-quarter face of that. I will then go look in my catalog of images to see if I have a three-quarters face that I can reference from. And most people go around it the other way – they’ll look for the pictures and then try to create the story around that. I do the story and then try to find the picture that might help me in using that as reference.
7: Very insightful to see that part of the process. That’s a fascinating part of the process to me.
GJ: Ah, thank you.
7: Another fascination of mine (with this process) is to get a sense from the actors to see what they think about the artwork. I asked Eric Powell about the characters that he did on the Angel series for Dark Horse, and I spoke with Ron Glass about the Tim Bradstreet painting. So, my question is, and you may not have worked on the series enough yet, but have you gotten any feedback from the actors?
GJ: I know for a fact that when I got this gig, I had to do some submissions of the actors’ faces. And as far as I know from there, they were like “yeah, everything is fine.” So it’s one of things I guess if you don’t hear anything, you’re doing good, but if you do hear something, it’s like “oh, you need to change this, you need to change this.” I will say that the editor, Scott Allie, has been doing Buffy books for so long that he has an eye. He’ll go “I know what legal…” And I think it’s more 20th Century Fox that has to do all of the approval. He’ll be able to go “well, 20th Century will like this, they won’t like this.” He knows what they’ll go for, and he knows how to, I guess, make that red tape a lot shorter.
7: And you said he’s here as well, right?
GJ: Yes. He’s here, and it would behoove you. They are in the Marriott upstairs where the gaming stuff is. Dark Horse is there. I am sure he would love to speak with you.
7: I would love to follow up with this.
GJ: All of mine is more opinion and hearsay. If you want anything official, you have to act Scott, because he’s the guy that is dealing with Joss, dealing with me and dealing with 20th Century Fox, which is very important.
[NOTE: Due to several great panels and my bad timing, I did not have a chance to speak with Scott Allie at Dragon*Con 2006; however, he did follow up with me via e-mail on a number of questions that arose during this interview. Those answers are included in braces throughout this interview!]
7: We had spoken earlier about Nicholas Brendon being here. Are you planning on maybe showing him a little headshot of what you’re going to make him look like?
GJ: Yeah, I was thinking about that, but I hate to meet someone for the first time and make it seem like I’m this dorky fanboy by saying “here’s a picture of you. Do you like it?” I think I’d like to meet him and just say “hey, this is what I’m doing and we have an association.” And if he’s interested maybe going back and getting a picture and saying “here, dude, have this because I drew you and I think it’s cool.”
7: This is from Crystal, specifically, on the internet.
GJ: Well, we have a to give a big shout-out to Crystal, apparently.
7: She had asked “do you plan on changing the image of any of the characters?”
GJ: No, no, unless they are specifically said. Whereas if you were to say, do I plan on drawing Xander without an eye patch? No, I don’t, obviously. So, I wouldn’t think so unless there is something that Joss has written in particular like, I don’t know, any hypothetical something happens…
7: Someone got a scar or something like that…
GJ: Exactly, exactly…
How I Met Your Buffy
7: We had spoken about this earlier, but could you reiterate what your relationship with the show had been?
GJ: Ah, yeah, my relationship was nothing. I had no… I actually, this is sad, the only Buffy I ever saw was the movie originally. And, while I liked the movie, it was just that. I was actually more into Kristy Swanson at the time.
7: Right, right…well, yeah… [NOTE: Me, too!]
GJ: But I thought it was great. I actually told Joss this, I was like “you know, for whatever the movie was, I was actually very proud of somebody who could get Rutger Hauer, Donald Sutherland and Paul Reubens in the same film together and throw in Luke Perry just for flavor, you know.” But, no, I never had any association…I had seen it peripherally as everyone has, but I never watched an episode. I take that back. I watched the one episode, and I assume that he was in one, that John Ritter was in.
7: Yes.
GJ: And that oddly enough was only because I was a very big John Ritter fan that I watched that episode. When I got this gig, Dark Horse was very nice to send me season 6 and 7 on DVD. And from there, it was great. It was like a little party night every night for me of watching an hour or two hours of Buffy and acquainting myself. And, as a result, feeling very bitter that I never got into this, because this is great stuff. And I don’t say that because I’ve got this project. I say that as somebody who loves this medium – the science fiction, fantasy, horror, all of that. And this falls right into it. It’s really great. It does get hokey. It maybe gets schlocky. It maybe gets sappy, but what television doesn’t do that?
7: I told you earlier that I came into it a little bit late, too, and it’s one of those things where you feel like you’re cheated out of the full effect.
GJ: And I’m fully prepared to get the past seasons. I don’t know if I should go season 5, season 4, season 3 or just go season 1, 2, 3, and 4, and try to catch up that way. It’s been a little dilemma of mine.
7: I think you’ll find, and this is a just a little thought from me to you, that continuity that Joss builds on is the …
GJ: That’s what I’m told, so that’s why I’m thinking maybe starting at 1 and working up will help me on continuity. As I watching in season six, there are characters, well and in then in season 7, I know Faith… I had no idea who or what Faith was, and somebody had to explain that to me, saying “oh, well, she’s a Slayer.” And I was like “well, wait a minute. As I’m watching it, I thought there was only one Slayer. And, the Slayer had to die in order for another Slayer to come back.” And then they said “well, yeah, but Buffy was dead.” And I was like “well, yeah, she was dead at the end of season 5 and the beginning of season 6, right? But I didn’t see a Faith.” And they were like “oh, no, no, no, she was dead for a while before…” And it’s this whole thing, and I’m think that I got to get those episodes.
7: And that’s really one of the most fascinating things to think of for you is that you’re going to be one of the first people in the world to see how that continuity continues…
GJ: True, how it plays out. And I have to admit, as I’m reading it nowadays, I’m reading it as a professional artist, but I’m also reading it as a fan, going “so THAT’S what happened to so and so. Look at that. OK. That’s cool.”
7: What’s been the most fun about doing this series so far?
GJ: Joss’s little, and he doesn’t send long e-mails, but he sends little bits of “beautiful, love the work, love the page.” That has been…it’s been really nice when you can satisfy that person whose vision you are trying to complement. And that has been the most gratifying part of all this.
7: The most challenging piece?
GJ: The most challenging piece is keeping the likenesses, and not feeling, I swear to you, there have been times there was like “if I would just trace this, I won’t even have to worry about it.” And Joss was very, we actually had a conversation about that, he was very adamant, saying “Look. I want you to do this, but I like your art. I want you to draw it the way you draw it. Don’t feel you have to do photo reference just to get their accuracy. I want it to be the flavor. If it doesn’t look exactly like them, I’m not as worried about that as you telling this story. If we are doing this story correctly, they’re going to know who’s who.” And I thought “yeah, you’re right”. So I haven’t worried about likeness so much, but certainly in close-ups, I do keep it there.
7: We talked about this earlier, but any idea when the movie [a little hopeful there, huh?], the books I mean, are going to be out?
GJ: I believe, and you can again talk to Scott about this, March is the projected date. But, I don’t know that for a fact.
[NOTE: Scott Allie confirmed this information with “First issue in March.”]
7: 2007 or 2008? (laughs)
GJ: I hope 2007.
7: We lived through Fray, and it took several months between the fifth and sixth issues.
GJ: Oh, really? I didn’t know that. Oh really? No, this is good. When you talk to Scott, bring that up to him. He is making very sure that Joss is getting in scripts on a timely fashion, but because he’s said to Joss that when we do this, this is going to be monthly. We’ll take breaks in between, but the actual four issues have to come out every month. So, hopefully, you won’t have to wait.
7: It was more of a joke, but comic fans who went through that…it was fine when we got them, but we all wondered.
GJ: Very cool.
[NOTE: I couldn’t resist the joke with Fray’s timeline. Georges handled my poking fun with grace, and I was able to confirm with Scott Allie about the release schedule of the new Buffy comics. I asked Scott “Finally, will there be a gap in between story arcs to give each writer enough time to finish their arc before the next one begins? His answer was “Yes.” So, we will have periods where the story potentially can take a hiatus while the next arc is readied. Thanks, Georges, for playing along and to Scott for confirming the more serious question.]
So, what else do you do?
7: Let me ask you a couple of questions about your other work, so everyone can know about the projects you are doing and introduce themselves to you.
GJ: Sure, please do. If you could mention the web site at some point…
7: Let’s mention it right now.
Georges Jeanty’s WebSite: http://www.kabalounge.com/
GJ: It’s www.kabalounge.com. And it’s a web site, and it will be updated with Buffy stuff. I have a Buffy page there that will be updated at least once a month. When everything does start to get rolling a little quicker, maybe there will be more updates. I will have reviews, opinions, and anybody cares to send me their opinion, if they are well-written and free of any profanity, I can definitely be posting them on my site.
http://hellmouthcentral.com/Site_Files/articles/comics/jeanty.html
