Season 9 news #2
- Thread starter wickedtiger86
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VisionGirl
Newly Human
Preview pages from the Buffy/Guild flip book for Free Comic Book Day are up.
Direct link to the preview: http://www.freecomicbookday.com/catalogimages/STK_IMAGES_PDF/STK440001-460000/STK459375.pdf
Buffy vacationing on Spike's bug ship? Yes please! 🙂
Direct link to the preview: http://www.freecomicbookday.com/catalogimages/STK_IMAGES_PDF/STK440001-460000/STK459375.pdf
Buffy vacationing on Spike's bug ship? Yes please! 🙂
Moscow Watcher
Scooby
[MENTION=10354]VisionGirl[/MENTION] - thank you for posting!
Joss mocking "Alien"? Priceless! 🙂
Joss mocking "Alien"? Priceless! 🙂
VisionGirl
[No message]
Tyger tyger
Betty Louise Plotnick
Apart (of me) pt. 3 covers are out and it looks like Jeanty and Noto are sticking with what they do best... cryptic and DC homage covers. Crisis of Infinite Earths/Death of Supergirl seems pretty tongue and cheek post gift but I like it and paired with the Noto cover seems to beg the question "Whole lotta body swappin' going on?"
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Moscow Watcher
Scooby
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=37215
Cover of "Buffy #9
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/MoscowWatcher/Comics_s9/Buffycover10.jpg
ANGEL AND FAITH #7 Review by Comicsgrinder
http://comicsgrinder.com/2012/02/28/angel-and-faith-7-review/
An excerpt (spoilers):
Cover of "Buffy #9
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/MoscowWatcher/Comics_s9/Buffycover10.jpg
ANGEL AND FAITH #7 Review by Comicsgrinder
http://comicsgrinder.com/2012/02/28/angel-and-faith-7-review/
An excerpt (spoilers):
In this issue, given the title, we further explore the relationship between Faith and her ne’re-do-well father. Now, Drusilla has her daddy issues being the sire of Angel but Faith has her own issues too. Her dad has tracked her down to London and looks mighty repentant. A drunkard all his life, he swears up and down that he’s changed, this time for good. Faith is NOT buying that. But, then for some strange reason, Angel urges her to give the old guy a break and she turns around and runs after her dad full of forgiveness. Where’s that headed? Well, you may be right to suspect this is not going to work out.
Now, for the bonus item, and you fans will have to help me. There is one panel which makes a reference to something that is a bit unclear me. Drusilla and Angel have their big confrontation. She has put him on the defensive and, in this scene, tears his shirt off. She then appears to point at his right nipple and it looks like he’s looking right down at it too. And she says, and I quote, “The tooth of Ammut, devourer of ancient Egyptian souls!” She is pleased that he has “merged it” to his flesh. Jeesh, so does Angel wear a spooky relic on his right nipple? Well, stranger things have happened. It doesn’t look bad on him, if that’s what it is.
Now, for the bonus item, and you fans will have to help me. There is one panel which makes a reference to something that is a bit unclear me. Drusilla and Angel have their big confrontation. She has put him on the defensive and, in this scene, tears his shirt off. She then appears to point at his right nipple and it looks like he’s looking right down at it too. And she says, and I quote, “The tooth of Ammut, devourer of ancient Egyptian souls!” She is pleased that he has “merged it” to his flesh. Jeesh, so does Angel wear a spooky relic on his right nipple? Well, stranger things have happened. It doesn’t look bad on him, if that’s what it is.
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VisionGirl
Wow! That cover is amazing, and very sad.
white avenger
white avenger
"Buffy needs to get herself back together and home to SF quick, but facing Slayer Simone and her unexpected ally is going to make it a rough job!"
Does anybody else get the suspicion that Simone's "unexpected ally" is going to be a red haired ex-she witch? It would really be the kind of thing that Joss would wrap his twisted little mind around, just to shock the fans. That and/or Willow slipping Buffy some kind of drug while she was asleep that would give a fake pregnancy indication on one of those home do it yourself kits. Her using Buffy's shower on just that specific morning, then skipping town on some mysterious quest, and leaving no way to be contacted, just HAS to have some sort of significance.
Does anybody else get the suspicion that Simone's "unexpected ally" is going to be a red haired ex-she witch? It would really be the kind of thing that Joss would wrap his twisted little mind around, just to shock the fans. That and/or Willow slipping Buffy some kind of drug while she was asleep that would give a fake pregnancy indication on one of those home do it yourself kits. Her using Buffy's shower on just that specific morning, then skipping town on some mysterious quest, and leaving no way to be contacted, just HAS to have some sort of significance.
Moscow Watcher
Scooby
[MENTION=6758]white avenger[/MENTION] - I don't think so. This scenario goes against everything I know about Willow. (Then again Twilight scenario went against everything I knew about Angel, so... I don't know). I think Willow has left to London and Simone's unexpected ally could be a girl from Buffy's squad - Lea, Rowena.
white avenger
white avenger
I have only two words in answer:
Dark. Willow.
Just like Angel and Angelus occupy the same body, Willow and Dark Willow could have the same sort of co-existence (D W wasn't destroyed when Xander used the yellow crayon analogy, she was just shoved back into the dark recesses of Willow's subconscious the same way that Angelus still lurks inside Angel) If D W was somehow released when all of the magic was removed from Buffy's world, becoming a separate, independent being, she could have been the one in Buffy's shower and causing all of this problem. Assume that Willow left town the night before, or even was leaving while D W was there with Buffy, and you have opportunity and motivation (something to do with restoring magic, or just plain revenge for fouling up her plans) What more would someone Dark by name and evil by persuasion need to want to foul up Buffy's life?
(And, yes, I do know that I'm probably totally wrong on all counts, but the story COULD work that way. Maybe Joss will read this and become so impressed with my imagination and fresh ideas that he will hire me to be his creative consultant, the same way that Gene Roddenberry did with D C Fontana. And just for the record, Joss, if you actually are reading this, I can work cheap)
Moscow Watcher
Scooby
[MENTION=7585]Kean[/MENTION] - I like your idea about Buffybot, but I can't see how the robot would end up in Simone's hands, reprogrammed against Buffy. But, of course, Joss can always find a way! 🙂
[MENTION=6758]white avenger[/MENTION] - I'm not sure that the Analogy to Angel-Angelus works here. Dark Willow didn't lose her soul. She was a souled Willow, completely desperate and self-destructive. I'm not sure that Joss could do something to her to make her that desperate off-screen. Not his style.
[MENTION=6758]white avenger[/MENTION] - I'm not sure that the Analogy to Angel-Angelus works here. Dark Willow didn't lose her soul. She was a souled Willow, completely desperate and self-destructive. I'm not sure that Joss could do something to her to make her that desperate off-screen. Not his style.
Hey, Joss I will work for free as White Avenger's assistant! 🙂
white avenger
Maybe I should have used Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde as an example rather than Angelus/Angel. And I'm sure that Joss would be just as happy to have a creative consultant TEAM as he would to have one old beat down exSailor. Maybe even happier.
brinkster130
Riley's BFF
Maybe Andrew is working with (possibly against his will) Simone and has helped her get a hold of Buffybot?
Moscow Watcher
Scooby
I think it's quite possible. I have the impression that Joss hasn't used all the ideas he had for Faith and Wesley. Dushku/Denisoff's scene in Dollhouse, where they cut out tracking devices echoes Faith-Wesley very clearly. So I wonder if Joss wants to re-imagine his unrealised ideas on Simone-Andrew. It could be a very interesting arc.
brinkster130
[No message]
Moscow Watcher
Scooby
When it rains, it pours... Another announcement related to season 9, about the first season 9 mini
Source:
http://shelf-life.ew.com/2012/02/28/juliet-landau-drusilla-spin-off-comic/
#10 variant cover
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/MoscowWatcher/Comics_s9/BUFFY-S9-10-VARIANT.jpg
Oh, Joss, what are you doing!!!???
---------- Post added at 01:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:00 AM ----------
The variant cover is the homage to DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/MoscowWatcher/Comics_s9/Crisis7.jpg
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=37249
Behind Buffy Season 9: "Angel & Faith" Welcome Drusilla
Kiel Phegley, News Editor
One of the Buffyverse's biggest draws is back in more ways than one. Earlier today, news broke that Dark Horse Comics will be welcoming actress Juliet Landau to write a new series starring Drusilla – the twisted vampire she played for years on "Buffy The Vampire Slayer."
Meanwhile, Dru just made her – somehow sane – return to the world of the comics in last month's issue of "Angel & Faith" which opens new questions as to how the breaking of the Seed has impacted her, what her plans are for her former sire and how her return will throw a wrench in Angel's plans to resurrect Giles.
Before issue #7 hits this week, CBR News invited "Angel & Faith" writer Christos Gage and editor Scott Allie for a new installment of our regular BEHIND BUFFY SEASON 9 column to look behind where the series has been so far and what lies ahead from the secret past of Giles to Drusilla's plan to the chilling effects of the Lorophage demon and more.
And be sure to check out our exclusive cover to May's issue #10 while you wait for a full interview with Landau later this week on CBR!
CBR News: To start, let's talk about the feel of the book as a whole. "Angel & Faith" has grown to remind me of the "Angel" TV show in some ways as it deals with the demon underground of London and other kinds of street-level stuff. Did you want to add a bit of that flavor into the proceedings since this was the first time you were doing an ongoing that wasn't a direct continuation of a show with the whole cast and everything?
Christos Gage: Speaking for myself, I think Joss had mentioned having a noir-ish feel to the book, which is where I think what you're talking about comes from. I've always liked that sort of feel. The book that Scott read that made him feel like I'd be a good fit for this was "Area 10" – a Vertigo graphic novel I did with Chris Samnee. That had elements to it similar to this.
Scott Allie: The "Angel" TV show evolved in a different way than "Buffy" did. "Buffy evolved in a straight line where as I think "Angel" jumped around a bit more and was a different show every year in a different way of "Buffy." I think it was all about finding a noir-type world with Angel and building that world around him. So the idea here would that this would be another iteration of that. You take the same character, you put him in London, and you give him a new supporting cast. There was definitely an attempt for this to be a sensible evolution out of the TV show while still contrasting what's going on in the "Buffy Season 9" series. Looking at this in a kind of post-modern way, putting him back in that detective role felt right.
When Joss and I were scripting the last few issues of "Season 8," we were talking a lot about how we would launch "Season 9," and he had a particular way he wanted the Angel book to work. But he didn't know exactly how he wanted to execute it. He said, "We've got to find somebody who can some up with the right approach." And after reading "Area 10," I though Chris was the right guy.
Chris, once you got started how did the fact that the book has two main characters impact how you approached this?
Gage: Well, everyone felt from the start that we didn't want this to be "Angel and Faith as Batman and Robin." We didn't want Faith to be the sidekick always reacting to Angel. We wanted her to be a co-lead as it were. That's something we talked about in terms of her continuing her work with the Slayers. That works particularly well since Buffy has had a falling out with the remaining Slayers, and they tend to resent her for destroying the Seed and making it so no new Slayers would be called. I talked a lot about how Faith was the one character in the Buffyverse who has grown the most since her first appearance. Xander has grown a lot, but to me, Faith started further back with more baggage and problems. Now we're at a time when in one of these issues, a girl looks at Faith and says, "What do we do? You're supposed to be the grown-up." [Laughs] It's like, "Are you kidding me?" But she really is in a lot of ways.
In many ways she's grown up in this relationship with Angel. She's the one saying, "We need to be careful with how we think about bringing Giles back from the dead." That was something that was almost impossible when there was magic in this world, and he's just rushing in headlong. So it wasn't a challenge for me to make Faith a strong character. She already was a strong character. The biggest challenge for me was in keeping Angel a bit of an unreliable narrator, as it were. I want fans to root for him, but I want them to be as uncomfortable with his plan to resurrect Giles as some of the others are. But I still don't want to make him unlikable or someone you root against. That's been a real tightrope walk. No one seems to hate him so far.
Allie: It depends on what message board you look on.
Gage: Well, they hate you for what you did, Scott.
Allie: [Laughs] I wrote that issue! One of the things that Joss weighed in on is what Chris is talking about. He was worried that we might make Angel irredeemable again. And I think one of the things that works about the setup of this series is that right from issue #1, we set up the premise that Angel's goal is to bring Giles back. With that as such a big scheme and a crazy idea, it did set up a dynamic where it felt like Faith would just be reacting to his terrible idea. That was one of the things that got a lot of early conversation early on so Chris would give Faith a strong enough reason to exist all her own.
Issue #6 started a brand new arc, so what's most important for each of them in this story? We know we're going to meet Faith's father, but we also get a lot about Giles' father and the Council of Watchers. How does that all come together?
Gage: I know for me, I always said from the start that I want Giles to be the third most important character in this book, even though he's dead. We know he kept Watcher diaries, and now they're using those diaries to find menaces that need to be dealt with – and Angel's using it to find a way to bring him back. But one of the ways I'm really enjoying the book as a device is that it allows us to look into Giles' past. One thing I'd love about the show as when they'd flash to Angel's past. They never did that with Giles!
So with this particular arc, it's called "Daddy Issues" because you've got Faith's father coming into the picture. You've got Drusilla coming in with Angel who was her sire. And then you've got the flashback to Giles' relationship with his father, and it's the first time that character's been shown. I have to admit, at first I had him as much of a colder character like Wesley's dad, but Joss stepped in after reading the outline and said, "I don't want him to be like Wesley's father. We've had a lot of cold fathers in the Buffyverse. Can we find a different way to play him?" And then I thought of him being from that World War II generation. He's very loving, but at the same time, he's got that attitude of "Keep Calm And Carry On." Duty comes first for him. He loves his son, but there's a duty that has to be fulfilled and a legacy to be fulfilled. So he says, "This is our birthright, son" and in a very Baby Boomer sort of way, we get this scene in #6 where Giles says, "I reject you and everything you stand for." To me, that's a lot more poignant if the father is a sympathetic character rather than a dick.
Allie: We knew that Giles rebelled. The premise of his whole character was that he had a rebellion. But to have a have a better father to rebel against shows a lot more about Giles than if he was just mad at his father for being a jerk.
Gage: And Giles' father will be seen again in issue #10 where we'll spend even more time with him.
At the end of the issue, we get a hint that there's more of Giles' story to follow from this event. Will that be something we'll see in issue #10?
Gage: Actually in issue #10 you get little boy Giles. I think he's about ten years old in that one. We're not going to do a linear thing. What was interesting about this issue was that people went, "Oh, is this where we see Giles become Ripper?" No. It wasn't a sudden, abrupt thing. I don't think I'm letting the cat out of the bag when I say that we do want to show Giles as Ripper. How could you not when you're doing flashbacks? But that was the beginning of his journey. We know from the show that he did go to Oxford and then dropped out. So in our first issue of the series, we saw Giles at the age he was right before he died. Now we've seen him as a teenager, and next is him as a little boy. We'll also see him as an early 20s punk magic dude and beyond, so hopefully you'll get a complete picture of Giles before he came into "Buffy." But it's not a biography. It's more that we'll see pieces of it that relate to the present day story we're telling.
The Lorophage demon is that thread that connects past and present here, and he's a creepy looking dude. What's his significance for the story with Dru moving forward?
Gage: There are some plot-related reasons for him, but what I wanted to do was explore past traumas. One of the great things that Joss did and does in his storytelling is that he finds threats that are somehow related to the journey the characters are going through. So for example, if Buffy is feeling like people are ignoring her, she'll get cursed and start to disappear. It's always something like that. So I wanted to create a character like that – a demon who feeds off trauma and brings it to the 'fore. As far as the visual, this is where Rebekah Isaacs is our secret weapon. I've gotten to the point where I don't need to say anything to her to design these. I think for this one I just said, "Needle fingers and a proboscis. Go nuts." And she went and designed this creepy ass character. It's something that send shivers up your spine. I'm writing an arc right now with a lot of demons in it, and I've been saying, "Do whatever you do." The name here is because the suffix "phage" is Greek for "to eat" and "Loro" stands for pain. So it's a pain-eating demon.
We also get a flashback here to a very specific moment in Faith's past on the show. How do you decide where and when to do these callouts, and how do you make them worthwhile for all the readers?
Allie: This is all Chris. Everybody on a project like this knows that a good way to reconnect with the readers is to remind them where it all came from. Everyone is motivated to keep rewatching and keeping those shows alive. Rebekah is like a diehard Joss fan, and so I know for her it's fun whenever Chris calls something out.
Gage: I watched 12 years of "Angel" and "Buffy" within the space of a year, and I'm a continuity nerd. So whenever an opportunity comes up to do this stuff, I see no reason not to put it in. But for the new reader – and this is something I picked up working with Tom Brevoort at Marvel – you've got to make sure to remember that every issue could be somebody's first. We do a little flashback panel here that makes the people who love the show go, "Cool! I remember that." But new readers will go, "I get it. She killed somebody thinking they were a vampire when they weren't." And that gives Rebekah a chance to draw Buffy too. It's a win-win all around, so you'll see more of it in issue #7 with the moment where Angelus first lays eyes on Drusilla when she was a normal person.
So Drusilla. We know that she's significantly different here from what she's been in the past, and I know that could be part of the changes in the world. But Dru is a character with a very specific voice and feeling. How do you work to keep her authentic to the original even in this new state?
Gage: For me, the point was "Let's not just bring Drusilla back to bring her back." One of the things we've been exploring with Angel is not a madness per se, but when he becomes Angelus it's the dark side coming out and a loss of control. With Faith, she's got that temper that overtakes her. The fun part is messing with that. Now Angel is the one where people are saying, "Is this guy crazy?" and Drusilla is the sane one. She's got these followers, and she's not siring or killing people. She's following Harmony's rules. So it's a matter of "Let's take this familiar character and view them in a new light to see what that reveals about all our characters." And again, I try to follow Joss' example there. He did that a lot in the shows.
What does Drusilla represent for both Angel and Faith in their place in the book right now?
Gage: For him, she represents a sin already committed – taking this girl who in many ways was the opposite of what he was as a human being since she was a good and devout person, and then destroying that. She represents that sin, so it's always difficult for him to deal with her. And what he's trying to do in resurrecting Giles is another way of him making up for his past. So him dealing with past sins will continue to be an issue for him.
With Faith, I'm trying to think of what I can say since we're waiting for her father to come back. Since I'm wary of spoilers, I'll just say that the past coming back to haunt them is going to be a major issue for everyone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Angel and Faith cover # 11. Apparently, it's Willow who left San-Francisco and took the Scythe.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/MoscowWatcher/Comics_s9/AF10.jpg
Source:
http://shelf-life.ew.com/2012/02/28/juliet-landau-drusilla-spin-off-comic/
#10 variant cover
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/MoscowWatcher/Comics_s9/BUFFY-S9-10-VARIANT.jpg
Oh, Joss, what are you doing!!!???
---------- Post added at 01:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:00 AM ----------
The variant cover is the homage to DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/MoscowWatcher/Comics_s9/Crisis7.jpg
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=37249
Behind Buffy Season 9: "Angel & Faith" Welcome Drusilla
Kiel Phegley, News Editor
One of the Buffyverse's biggest draws is back in more ways than one. Earlier today, news broke that Dark Horse Comics will be welcoming actress Juliet Landau to write a new series starring Drusilla – the twisted vampire she played for years on "Buffy The Vampire Slayer."
Meanwhile, Dru just made her – somehow sane – return to the world of the comics in last month's issue of "Angel & Faith" which opens new questions as to how the breaking of the Seed has impacted her, what her plans are for her former sire and how her return will throw a wrench in Angel's plans to resurrect Giles.
Before issue #7 hits this week, CBR News invited "Angel & Faith" writer Christos Gage and editor Scott Allie for a new installment of our regular BEHIND BUFFY SEASON 9 column to look behind where the series has been so far and what lies ahead from the secret past of Giles to Drusilla's plan to the chilling effects of the Lorophage demon and more.
And be sure to check out our exclusive cover to May's issue #10 while you wait for a full interview with Landau later this week on CBR!
CBR News: To start, let's talk about the feel of the book as a whole. "Angel & Faith" has grown to remind me of the "Angel" TV show in some ways as it deals with the demon underground of London and other kinds of street-level stuff. Did you want to add a bit of that flavor into the proceedings since this was the first time you were doing an ongoing that wasn't a direct continuation of a show with the whole cast and everything?
Christos Gage: Speaking for myself, I think Joss had mentioned having a noir-ish feel to the book, which is where I think what you're talking about comes from. I've always liked that sort of feel. The book that Scott read that made him feel like I'd be a good fit for this was "Area 10" – a Vertigo graphic novel I did with Chris Samnee. That had elements to it similar to this.
Scott Allie: The "Angel" TV show evolved in a different way than "Buffy" did. "Buffy evolved in a straight line where as I think "Angel" jumped around a bit more and was a different show every year in a different way of "Buffy." I think it was all about finding a noir-type world with Angel and building that world around him. So the idea here would that this would be another iteration of that. You take the same character, you put him in London, and you give him a new supporting cast. There was definitely an attempt for this to be a sensible evolution out of the TV show while still contrasting what's going on in the "Buffy Season 9" series. Looking at this in a kind of post-modern way, putting him back in that detective role felt right.
When Joss and I were scripting the last few issues of "Season 8," we were talking a lot about how we would launch "Season 9," and he had a particular way he wanted the Angel book to work. But he didn't know exactly how he wanted to execute it. He said, "We've got to find somebody who can some up with the right approach." And after reading "Area 10," I though Chris was the right guy.
Chris, once you got started how did the fact that the book has two main characters impact how you approached this?
Gage: Well, everyone felt from the start that we didn't want this to be "Angel and Faith as Batman and Robin." We didn't want Faith to be the sidekick always reacting to Angel. We wanted her to be a co-lead as it were. That's something we talked about in terms of her continuing her work with the Slayers. That works particularly well since Buffy has had a falling out with the remaining Slayers, and they tend to resent her for destroying the Seed and making it so no new Slayers would be called. I talked a lot about how Faith was the one character in the Buffyverse who has grown the most since her first appearance. Xander has grown a lot, but to me, Faith started further back with more baggage and problems. Now we're at a time when in one of these issues, a girl looks at Faith and says, "What do we do? You're supposed to be the grown-up." [Laughs] It's like, "Are you kidding me?" But she really is in a lot of ways.
In many ways she's grown up in this relationship with Angel. She's the one saying, "We need to be careful with how we think about bringing Giles back from the dead." That was something that was almost impossible when there was magic in this world, and he's just rushing in headlong. So it wasn't a challenge for me to make Faith a strong character. She already was a strong character. The biggest challenge for me was in keeping Angel a bit of an unreliable narrator, as it were. I want fans to root for him, but I want them to be as uncomfortable with his plan to resurrect Giles as some of the others are. But I still don't want to make him unlikable or someone you root against. That's been a real tightrope walk. No one seems to hate him so far.
Allie: It depends on what message board you look on.
Gage: Well, they hate you for what you did, Scott.
Allie: [Laughs] I wrote that issue! One of the things that Joss weighed in on is what Chris is talking about. He was worried that we might make Angel irredeemable again. And I think one of the things that works about the setup of this series is that right from issue #1, we set up the premise that Angel's goal is to bring Giles back. With that as such a big scheme and a crazy idea, it did set up a dynamic where it felt like Faith would just be reacting to his terrible idea. That was one of the things that got a lot of early conversation early on so Chris would give Faith a strong enough reason to exist all her own.
Issue #6 started a brand new arc, so what's most important for each of them in this story? We know we're going to meet Faith's father, but we also get a lot about Giles' father and the Council of Watchers. How does that all come together?
Gage: I know for me, I always said from the start that I want Giles to be the third most important character in this book, even though he's dead. We know he kept Watcher diaries, and now they're using those diaries to find menaces that need to be dealt with – and Angel's using it to find a way to bring him back. But one of the ways I'm really enjoying the book as a device is that it allows us to look into Giles' past. One thing I'd love about the show as when they'd flash to Angel's past. They never did that with Giles!
So with this particular arc, it's called "Daddy Issues" because you've got Faith's father coming into the picture. You've got Drusilla coming in with Angel who was her sire. And then you've got the flashback to Giles' relationship with his father, and it's the first time that character's been shown. I have to admit, at first I had him as much of a colder character like Wesley's dad, but Joss stepped in after reading the outline and said, "I don't want him to be like Wesley's father. We've had a lot of cold fathers in the Buffyverse. Can we find a different way to play him?" And then I thought of him being from that World War II generation. He's very loving, but at the same time, he's got that attitude of "Keep Calm And Carry On." Duty comes first for him. He loves his son, but there's a duty that has to be fulfilled and a legacy to be fulfilled. So he says, "This is our birthright, son" and in a very Baby Boomer sort of way, we get this scene in #6 where Giles says, "I reject you and everything you stand for." To me, that's a lot more poignant if the father is a sympathetic character rather than a dick.
Allie: We knew that Giles rebelled. The premise of his whole character was that he had a rebellion. But to have a have a better father to rebel against shows a lot more about Giles than if he was just mad at his father for being a jerk.
Gage: And Giles' father will be seen again in issue #10 where we'll spend even more time with him.
At the end of the issue, we get a hint that there's more of Giles' story to follow from this event. Will that be something we'll see in issue #10?
Gage: Actually in issue #10 you get little boy Giles. I think he's about ten years old in that one. We're not going to do a linear thing. What was interesting about this issue was that people went, "Oh, is this where we see Giles become Ripper?" No. It wasn't a sudden, abrupt thing. I don't think I'm letting the cat out of the bag when I say that we do want to show Giles as Ripper. How could you not when you're doing flashbacks? But that was the beginning of his journey. We know from the show that he did go to Oxford and then dropped out. So in our first issue of the series, we saw Giles at the age he was right before he died. Now we've seen him as a teenager, and next is him as a little boy. We'll also see him as an early 20s punk magic dude and beyond, so hopefully you'll get a complete picture of Giles before he came into "Buffy." But it's not a biography. It's more that we'll see pieces of it that relate to the present day story we're telling.
The Lorophage demon is that thread that connects past and present here, and he's a creepy looking dude. What's his significance for the story with Dru moving forward?
Gage: There are some plot-related reasons for him, but what I wanted to do was explore past traumas. One of the great things that Joss did and does in his storytelling is that he finds threats that are somehow related to the journey the characters are going through. So for example, if Buffy is feeling like people are ignoring her, she'll get cursed and start to disappear. It's always something like that. So I wanted to create a character like that – a demon who feeds off trauma and brings it to the 'fore. As far as the visual, this is where Rebekah Isaacs is our secret weapon. I've gotten to the point where I don't need to say anything to her to design these. I think for this one I just said, "Needle fingers and a proboscis. Go nuts." And she went and designed this creepy ass character. It's something that send shivers up your spine. I'm writing an arc right now with a lot of demons in it, and I've been saying, "Do whatever you do." The name here is because the suffix "phage" is Greek for "to eat" and "Loro" stands for pain. So it's a pain-eating demon.
We also get a flashback here to a very specific moment in Faith's past on the show. How do you decide where and when to do these callouts, and how do you make them worthwhile for all the readers?
Allie: This is all Chris. Everybody on a project like this knows that a good way to reconnect with the readers is to remind them where it all came from. Everyone is motivated to keep rewatching and keeping those shows alive. Rebekah is like a diehard Joss fan, and so I know for her it's fun whenever Chris calls something out.
Gage: I watched 12 years of "Angel" and "Buffy" within the space of a year, and I'm a continuity nerd. So whenever an opportunity comes up to do this stuff, I see no reason not to put it in. But for the new reader – and this is something I picked up working with Tom Brevoort at Marvel – you've got to make sure to remember that every issue could be somebody's first. We do a little flashback panel here that makes the people who love the show go, "Cool! I remember that." But new readers will go, "I get it. She killed somebody thinking they were a vampire when they weren't." And that gives Rebekah a chance to draw Buffy too. It's a win-win all around, so you'll see more of it in issue #7 with the moment where Angelus first lays eyes on Drusilla when she was a normal person.
So Drusilla. We know that she's significantly different here from what she's been in the past, and I know that could be part of the changes in the world. But Dru is a character with a very specific voice and feeling. How do you work to keep her authentic to the original even in this new state?
Gage: For me, the point was "Let's not just bring Drusilla back to bring her back." One of the things we've been exploring with Angel is not a madness per se, but when he becomes Angelus it's the dark side coming out and a loss of control. With Faith, she's got that temper that overtakes her. The fun part is messing with that. Now Angel is the one where people are saying, "Is this guy crazy?" and Drusilla is the sane one. She's got these followers, and she's not siring or killing people. She's following Harmony's rules. So it's a matter of "Let's take this familiar character and view them in a new light to see what that reveals about all our characters." And again, I try to follow Joss' example there. He did that a lot in the shows.
What does Drusilla represent for both Angel and Faith in their place in the book right now?
Gage: For him, she represents a sin already committed – taking this girl who in many ways was the opposite of what he was as a human being since she was a good and devout person, and then destroying that. She represents that sin, so it's always difficult for him to deal with her. And what he's trying to do in resurrecting Giles is another way of him making up for his past. So him dealing with past sins will continue to be an issue for him.
With Faith, I'm trying to think of what I can say since we're waiting for her father to come back. Since I'm wary of spoilers, I'll just say that the past coming back to haunt them is going to be a major issue for everyone.
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Angel and Faith cover # 11. Apparently, it's Willow who left San-Francisco and took the Scythe.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/MoscowWatcher/Comics_s9/AF10.jpg
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Joan the Vampire Slayer
Carpe Spuffy!
Oh wow.
Is that Spike holding a dead Dawn?
And why is Buffy running around in her underwear in Spike's ship?
She certainly isn't pregnant...
Is that Spike holding a dead Dawn?
And why is Buffy running around in her underwear in Spike's ship?
She certainly isn't pregnant...
That's probably Buffy, not Dawn. Dawn is in the background, crying and hugging Xander.
Maybe!Willow looks rather buff on the other cover, that's probably to make us whether it might not be Buffy instead. 🙂
brinkster130
[No message]
Joan the Vampire Slayer
"Maybe!Willow" lol
Tyger tyger
Betty Louise Plotnick
I doubt they kill Buffy... sort of old hat for this series. Probably has more to do with the other covers statement "Only you could lose your own body."
that and the Tomb of Dracula/Blade homage wasn't that tied into the issue 6 plot... probably more for the Iconic value than plot spoilage... maybe it is a parallel verse thing... that was the plot of the Crisis of Infinite Earths comic... or maybe it is a red herring
Yeah, pregnancy seems a no go at this point... and I think the nudity is a call back to the Alien franchise (Joss did write Alien: Resurrection) ... She is probably Ripley-tastic to go with the sorta silly steak eating crew and Zompire-Roach-mite-Irene. But hey as free stuff goes... I'm pleased as punch. Sidebar... Jeanty... really bringing his A game on this one. In fact everything this season has been pretty amazing.
I once again have no idea where they are going and the point of the baby plot... but hey I'm excited again. Not to mention Willow and Drusilla getting more development... beyond happy.
Zompires... Bugpires... post seed wonkiness... they need to make with the splainy in the next few issues.
that and the Tomb of Dracula/Blade homage wasn't that tied into the issue 6 plot... probably more for the Iconic value than plot spoilage... maybe it is a parallel verse thing... that was the plot of the Crisis of Infinite Earths comic... or maybe it is a red herring
Yeah, pregnancy seems a no go at this point... and I think the nudity is a call back to the Alien franchise (Joss did write Alien: Resurrection) ... She is probably Ripley-tastic to go with the sorta silly steak eating crew and Zompire-Roach-mite-Irene. But hey as free stuff goes... I'm pleased as punch. Sidebar... Jeanty... really bringing his A game on this one. In fact everything this season has been pretty amazing.
I once again have no idea where they are going and the point of the baby plot... but hey I'm excited again. Not to mention Willow and Drusilla getting more development... beyond happy.
Zompires... Bugpires... post seed wonkiness... they need to make with the splainy in the next few issues.
Moscow Watcher
Scooby
[MENTION=11818]Tyger tyger[/MENTION] - I agree, the third time would be ridiculous. I guess it's a "homage" cover that has little to do with the content of the issue. Back in season 8 there was a cover with dead Willow and Xander in the old classroom from season 1. I remember a lot of speculations about it. Turned out it was nothing.
ETA: Could it be Spike's nightmare? Drusilla-induced nightmare?
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http://www.newsarama.com/php/multimedia/album_view.php?gid=4067&page=2
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/MoscowWatcher/Comics_s9/ANGEL-FAITH-11-VARIANT.jpg
ETA: Could it be Spike's nightmare? Drusilla-induced nightmare?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.newsarama.com/php/multimedia/album_view.php?gid=4067&page=2
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/MoscowWatcher/Comics_s9/ANGEL-FAITH-11-VARIANT.jpg
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T
Tyger tyger
Oooh I like the Drusilla dream theory
Moscow Watcher
Scooby
Angel & Faith # 7 review by Maggie. (I think it's her letter that's published on the lettercol)
---------- Post added at 09:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:07 PM ----------
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 #7 preview
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/MoscowWatcher/Comics_s9/prv11613_pg2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/MoscowWatcher/Comics_s9/prv11613_pg3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/MoscowWatcher/Comics_s9/prv11613_pg4.jpg
(this page wasn't in the official preview, but it's clearly part of the same scene)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/MoscowWatcher/Comics_s9/Buffy07page.jpg
Really good issue.
Drusilla's sanity is a result of the Lorophage demon eating away all her pain. (It's not related to Mosaic, so those of us who want to keep treating IDW as non-canon may do so).
What's excellent is that Dru has set herself up with the job of helping the helpless. She has the demon eat on the pain of people who have been damaged by life. They get rid of their pain, she gets people willing to share a spot of blood from time to time, everybody wins. It's such a great mirror for Angel! The quick fix that doesn't really address the problem. Angel sees right away that just ripping away pain robs people of their full humanity -- but that's what Angel himself does. Most notably with Connor.
Who finally gets a lengthy mention. Connor's been trying to get in touch with Angel, who won't take the call. He says it's for Connor's own good, cause all he ever does is get Connor hurt.
I just so love it that Angel can see what's wrong with Drusilla's mode of helping the helpless, while doing pretty much the same thing. His horrified reaction that Dru can't be doing good because she's soulless is perfect. Like I said, she's a mirror for the way Angel tries to do good with a soul, so Dru's present crusade just barrels into his wheelhouse o' denial.
Drusilla sets the lorophage on Angel, but calls him off (with her hypnosis thingie) before the demon can rip out Angel's pain. She tells Angel that she's going to wait for him to ask for it. She also reveals that Angel's got some phlebotinim device attached to his nipple that basically causes any piece of Giles' soul that is floating around to land in him. Angel's already picked up a few pieces. Drusilla says this can't work -- since Angel already has Angelus in there. Three's a crowd.
Dru's parting lines are great: "I can take the guilt away. Fix it so you can live with killing that poncy librarian. Let me help you, Angel. Before this goes too far. I know what it's like to have voices in your head. Three is too many. The day will come when you can't keep them quiet any longer. And oh what a bad day that will be. When you want me.. you know where to find me."
Along the way Dru says that she knows perfectly well that Angelus is in there all the time, whispering to Angel, sometimes slipping out. It's a neat little solution. The two-entity people can probably role with it. But it works for folks like me who see Angelus as just a dark side to Angel. Anyway, the message here is that Angelus is lurking and could well manifest, even if Angel keeps his soul.
Faith's Dad stuff is less interesting. He's an alcoholic who arrives saying he's now sober. We get some moments from Faith that strike me as authentic. (She's PO'd at the guy). But deep down she wants love from her Dad and so she goes with the possibility that this time maybe he is for real there for her. Of course, it's revealed on the last page that he's just looking for a way to get into Giles' house to retrieve a mysterious object for some mysterious person. That's a betrayal that was 100% not surprising, though it could work out into something interesting.
But mostly this issue rocks for the exploration of Angel's darkness, and especially for shining a light on just how un-self-aware Angel really is. It's the first A&F issue that really moved me. Angel is in a heap o' trouble, and it's going to get worse before it gets better. But that's the basic message. Humans need to go through their pain, through their dark, to get to what's real. It's the first time I really feel some hope for the guy.
Drusilla's sanity is a result of the Lorophage demon eating away all her pain. (It's not related to Mosaic, so those of us who want to keep treating IDW as non-canon may do so).
What's excellent is that Dru has set herself up with the job of helping the helpless. She has the demon eat on the pain of people who have been damaged by life. They get rid of their pain, she gets people willing to share a spot of blood from time to time, everybody wins. It's such a great mirror for Angel! The quick fix that doesn't really address the problem. Angel sees right away that just ripping away pain robs people of their full humanity -- but that's what Angel himself does. Most notably with Connor.
Who finally gets a lengthy mention. Connor's been trying to get in touch with Angel, who won't take the call. He says it's for Connor's own good, cause all he ever does is get Connor hurt.
I just so love it that Angel can see what's wrong with Drusilla's mode of helping the helpless, while doing pretty much the same thing. His horrified reaction that Dru can't be doing good because she's soulless is perfect. Like I said, she's a mirror for the way Angel tries to do good with a soul, so Dru's present crusade just barrels into his wheelhouse o' denial.
Drusilla sets the lorophage on Angel, but calls him off (with her hypnosis thingie) before the demon can rip out Angel's pain. She tells Angel that she's going to wait for him to ask for it. She also reveals that Angel's got some phlebotinim device attached to his nipple that basically causes any piece of Giles' soul that is floating around to land in him. Angel's already picked up a few pieces. Drusilla says this can't work -- since Angel already has Angelus in there. Three's a crowd.
Dru's parting lines are great: "I can take the guilt away. Fix it so you can live with killing that poncy librarian. Let me help you, Angel. Before this goes too far. I know what it's like to have voices in your head. Three is too many. The day will come when you can't keep them quiet any longer. And oh what a bad day that will be. When you want me.. you know where to find me."
Along the way Dru says that she knows perfectly well that Angelus is in there all the time, whispering to Angel, sometimes slipping out. It's a neat little solution. The two-entity people can probably role with it. But it works for folks like me who see Angelus as just a dark side to Angel. Anyway, the message here is that Angelus is lurking and could well manifest, even if Angel keeps his soul.
Faith's Dad stuff is less interesting. He's an alcoholic who arrives saying he's now sober. We get some moments from Faith that strike me as authentic. (She's PO'd at the guy). But deep down she wants love from her Dad and so she goes with the possibility that this time maybe he is for real there for her. Of course, it's revealed on the last page that he's just looking for a way to get into Giles' house to retrieve a mysterious object for some mysterious person. That's a betrayal that was 100% not surprising, though it could work out into something interesting.
But mostly this issue rocks for the exploration of Angel's darkness, and especially for shining a light on just how un-self-aware Angel really is. It's the first A&F issue that really moved me. Angel is in a heap o' trouble, and it's going to get worse before it gets better. But that's the basic message. Humans need to go through their pain, through their dark, to get to what's real. It's the first time I really feel some hope for the guy.
---------- Post added at 09:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:07 PM ----------
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 #7 preview
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/MoscowWatcher/Comics_s9/prv11613_pg2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/MoscowWatcher/Comics_s9/prv11613_pg3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/MoscowWatcher/Comics_s9/prv11613_pg4.jpg
(this page wasn't in the official preview, but it's clearly part of the same scene)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/MoscowWatcher/Comics_s9/Buffy07page.jpg
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Moscow Watcher
Scooby
Hmmm, Spike needs to replace the headboard with his "B+S" carving first. Because it's quite embarrassing.😀
I have the impression that Buffy will be back at her apartment by the end of the issue. Otherwise, the first pages don't make sense. Anaheed and Tumble are written very sympathetically, and their scene leads nowhere if Buffy doesn't get back.
But in any case I'm looking forward to Buffy's stay at the ship. She needs a chance to look at her situation from above. To get the right perspective.
I have the impression that Buffy will be back at her apartment by the end of the issue. Otherwise, the first pages don't make sense. Anaheed and Tumble are written very sympathetically, and their scene leads nowhere if Buffy doesn't get back.
But in any case I'm looking forward to Buffy's stay at the ship. She needs a chance to look at her situation from above. To get the right perspective.
- Status