Season 9 news (Comic Con, etc.)

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drizzlydaze said:
Revelations on the effect of Severin's power on Spike? Willow discussing Spike with Buffy? Kinda fits in with the 'girly' theme--you know, boy talk.
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Buffy investigates her slayer dream that Robin Wood is Spike's long-lost son. 🙂

What? All Jossian traditions are respected. Father killed mother. Son tried to kill father. Son had hots for Faith.
 
Like I said, this issue is about women"¦ and this is the worst possible time in a woman's life to be alone. Not to mention"¦ well, knowing the Whedonverse, it's probably going to bring about the next apocalypse.
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Ack! Is Buffy pregnant?
 
New Rebecca Isaacs interview

SupportOGal said:
Ack! Is Buffy pregnant?
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OMG OMG, I'm worried about that too!

But seriously, say Karl Moline's name again! Karl Moline!! I'm just a tiny bit excited about that.
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OK, so a recent interview with Rebecca Isaacs at Monster Popcorn (http://themonsterpopcorn.com/2012/01/06/100th-post-my-interview-with-comic-artist-rebekah-isaacs/). I'm going to edit it, since there's some non-A&F related stuff in there and it's long. But she's a geek-girl, so cute!

Rebekah Isaacs: Hi Ben!

Monster Popcorn: Hello Rebekah!...

MP: So I had read you moved to Orlando. Are you all settled in now?

RI: Phew, yeah, FINALLY. We had to get rid of almost everything because you basically have to make a blood offering to leave NY so it took a while.

MP: Haha.

RI: But i've got a really nice set-up here, which is great. My studio was so ghetto in NYC.

MP: Well I'm glad you are able to have a nicer set up now. I'm sure that makes for better working conditions.

RI: Definitely. But on the downside (for Dark Horse at least) I have more money for .. duhn duhn duhn"¦ VIDEO GAMES.

MP: Haha.. so was the move the main reason as to Phil Noto doing the fill in issue on Angel & Faith #5?

RI: No, just general catch-up on the whole team's part"¦ I think we got started on the book a little later than they would've liked. It's inevitable.

MP: I imagine so.. about how long does it take for you to complete an issue?

RI: 5 weeks. 2.5 weeks for pencils and 2.5 for inks.

MP: Oh ok, cool, I wasn't sure if you were still doing inks or not. What issue are you currently drawing right now?

RI: Haha yeah, if you noticed a change in quality it's only me to blame. I had a few hiccups with some of my preferred tools on the more recent issues but I think I've figured them out now but I'm finishing up #9 this week.

MP: I think you've done a great job, I'm continually impressed with your work.

RI: Thanks, I really appreciate that! I'm actually inking Drusilla clawing Faith right now. Catfight!!

MP: Haha.. yes! That sounds awesome! I know that in the upcoming issues, or at least in #6, we get to see a younger Giles. Did you have any difficulty drawing the likeness of a younger Anthony Stewart Head?

RI: Giles was hands down the easiest likeness for me"¦ I don't know why though! I think he must have similar features to the "default" way I draw faces and when i think about it, the shape of his nose is kind of similar to mine (my default faces look a bit like me, for better or worse).

MP: I saw some of the preview pages and I think you got it down quite well. Who is/was the hardest to draw?

RI: Faith was hell for the first month or two. I had a tendency to make her too dainty and pretty in a light way. She has a darkness to her expressions that I wasn't quite grasping.

MP: That actually is a great segue for me.. One of the things I like about your work is how well the likenesses come through without ever feeling like you are being a slave to the original actor. It allows for your style to breathe but satisfies the die-hard fans. Part of that is not just facial similarity but expressions and body language.. is that something you pay attention to a lot?

RI: Yeah, expressions are something I really try to capture, because every person emotes differently. In DV8, for example, i could get away with using my own acting as reference for the characters' expressions but I couldn't get away with that in a book based on live-action characters. Faith expresses anger in a different way than I would and in a different way than Angel would. It was just a matter of studying stills.

MP: Exactly, and that is something I really picked up on. I felt like I was being given an impression of the character in all aspects, which helps a lot with trying to feel like it is a continuation of something that was previously live action.

RI: Thanks, I'm really happy that readers are picking up on that!

MP: I also really enjoy the way you handle action. I liked Phil Noto's work in issue #5 but felt like the action wasn't as dynamic as it's been with your issues. Each panel you draw is essentially a still frame but I definitely get a sense of motion from your work and, in my cinematic brain, I can see it play out in between the panels. I was wondering how you approach drawing action?

RI: Haha, I wish I had a better, more academic answer for this question but I don't really think about what I'm doing with action scenes, it just kinda happens. The two things that I usually am conscious of is drawing the eye to the lower-right corner of each panel, which increases the reading speed and therefore creates the illusion of a quicker pace, and the inclusion of clothing or hairstyles or props that can move easily with the action. Wait"¦ so I guess I do kinda think about it, but not to the degree that some other artists seem to. And it's weird, because action used to be one of my weakest points but I wanted to be good at it so I kept forcing projects that featured a lot of action on myself.

MP: Well it appears to have worked! I'd say the action is definitely one of your strong points in Angel & Faith, that and conveying emotion.

RI: Thanks!

MP: Are you given a lot of liberty with Christos' scripts as far as design and page layout? Is he very specific in his descriptions or does he give you a lot of room to work within?

RI: No, I'm really not given any guidelines for layout"¦ which may be a good or bad thing because that's one thing I'm often criticized on; my plain jane panel layouts. But I was always taught in school to not mess around with fancy panel designs until you've got everything else on the page down pat"¦ and I've got at least a few more years to go before I'll feel like an expert! I'm also a big admirer of what Dave Gibbons was able to do in Watchmen with such amazingly simple layouts. That was one of the first American comics I read and I will always hold it in high regard. If it's good enough for Watchmen, it's good enough for me! ....
Unfortunately I don't get much time to read comics these days but I'm so freakin' obsessed with Locke & Key, it's driving me nuts. I'll be honest, I never really read a comic monthly for a long period of time until I discovered Locke &Key. I mostly just read the first one or two issues and then trade-waited. Having gotten in so deep with this series now, though, waiting and waiting and waiting for each issue to come out, I don't know how people do this!! It's excruciating!

MP: It is excruciating, I personally like to read it all at once but with both Buffy and Angel & Faith, it's a necessity for me to read every month!

RI: Yeah, i feel for ya. With a few of these issues I've finished drawing I've thought, "˜Man, if I didn't know what was coming next I'd be tearing my hair out right now.'

MP: Haha.. I've not read Locke & Key but have been toying with buying some of the trades. I love the horror genre and I've been wanting to read a good horror comic.

RI: Oh, it's amazing. it was so completely invigorating for me, finally picking up that book. As cheesy as it sounds, I feel like it gave me new purpose as an artist and just a storyteller in general.

MP: That's how I felt about Buffy as a show. It came to me at a time where I needed a pick me up and it showed how much someone like Joss Whedon (and staff) can affect you and really invigorate you as a person.

RI: Yes, definitely.

MP: I'm sure you get asked this a lot, but do you have a favorite episode/character from Angel (and/or Buffy)?

RI: Character would be Giles (so lucky that I get to draw him, but so unlucky in that I'm the first one to draw him in flashbacks only!) Episodes"¦ I love episodes that make me cry. I'm pretty cynical when it comes to entertainment and if a show/movie/book makes me cry, I have deepest respect for those writers.

MP: Haha.. I'm the same way. My favorite episode, at least from Angel, is A Hole In the World.. it's so sad but so fricking good!

RI: Oh yeah, A Hole In the World is a knife to the heart! So The Body in Buffy, and the one where you find out that Cordy has died in her coma is one of my Angel faves (I can never remember the name!). Remember Me? I think is the name?

MP: Yea, that could be it. (Editor's note: The episode is You're Welcome) The Body is really good, definitely one of my top episodes in Buffy. A Hole In The World made me so happy at the beginning of the episode and then I was crying at the end. I was like "damn you Joss Whedon" but I love it!

RI: That's one of my favorite things about Joss. He cares enough about the characters to take huge, huge risks with them, which sounds weird when the risk may be to kill them off, but if everything always went well for them and they always managed to get out of the jam at the last moment unscathed, they'd never grow or change and we'd never really realize how much they mean to us.

MP: Yea, that's is one of the reasons why I like Whedon's work. There is such great impact. I like that he takes those risks even if it might piss people off. It's something I respect incredibly and it makes every character feel like they could be in danger. It keeps you on your toes....

MP: I dream of a Buffy or Angel [video] game that doesn't suck. I don't hold out high hopes for it, but that would be a dream game for me if done well.

RI: Oh man, that would be amazing. I'd like to see the budget that would've been for that awful movie reboot** go to that!

MP: Exactly! I'm glad that failed....
So to wrap up, do you have any projects you might be working on alongside or in between Angel & Faith? Do you have intentions of going to Comic Con?

RI: My side project is sleeping for probably the next year, but I will be going to several cons this year, just not Comic Con. I'll be hitting up MegaCon, WonderCon, Denver ComicCon, and Boston ComicCon for sure, possibly others. It's gonna be a nutso year. You're going to SDCC, I assume? I just can't do that show, it's too much.

MP: I'm going as long as I can get a ticket. But yea, the show is overwhelming but I love it. I love being around all the geeky people. It feels like home. Well, hopefully I will get the chance to attend a convention that you will be at and stop by your booth to see how things are going.

RI: I hope so too! It would be great to chat in person!

MP: Yes it would! I really do appreciate you sitting down to talk with me. It means a lot and I'm looking forward to posting my 100th post!

RI: No problem at all! I enjoyed it! And congrats on your 100th post! I hope you continue to enjoy Angel & Faith, and maybe we'll get to meet in real-life sometime this year!

MP: Thank you! If you keep up the incredible work, I will no doubt continue to enjoy it (just make sure that Gage guy keeps up his end too! haha).

RI: You got it! Take care and have a great night!

MP: You too! Have a great night!

*Scott Allie, editor of Dark Horse comics
**A movie reboot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was being pursued without Whedon's involvement but has ceased development currently.
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Moscow Watcher
Moscow Watcher
Thank you for posting! Fun interview.
Dark Horse April 2012 Solicitations

Source - Comics Continuum
http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/1201/11/darkhorseapril.htm

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER SEASON 9 #8

(I don't post covers because they're spoilery - you can go to the source page or this spoilery BBoard thread if you want to get spoiled)

Written by Andrew Chambliss, penciled by Cliff Richards, inked by Andy Owens, colored by Michelle Madsen, cover by Phil Noto, variant cover by Georges Jeanty.

There is something seriously wrong with Buffy! She and Spike discover that the one person who can help her is actually . . . Andrew? Buffy's situation becomes even more dire as she discovers that Simone, the Slayer with an enormous grudge, has been targeting her.

40 pages, $2.99, in stores on April 11.



ANGEL & FAITH VOLUME 1: LIVE THROUGH THIS TPB

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/MoscowWatcher/Comics_s9/angelfaithTPB1.jpg

Written by Christos Gage, art by Rebekah Isaacs and Phil Noto, colored by Dan Jackson, cover by Steve Morris.

Angel has made bad choices in his life. Most recently? While possessed, he killed Giles. However, he believes he's found a way to make amends, by bringing the Watcher back from the grave! Cue Faith -- rebel Slayer, and Angel's only ally -- who only supports this harebrained scheme in order to keep her friend from catatonia. New threats emerge as this unlikely duo struggles against real and personal demons alike, while hitting the dark streets of London! Collects Angel & Faith #1ࢀ“5, plus the Harmony one-shot.

136 pages, $17.99, in stores on June 20.
 
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It's all making me very nervous. I'm not sure what to think or what to expect. That's why I usually read spoilers for everything, I don't like surprises.
 
Chosen Enemy said:
It's all making me very nervous. I'm not sure what to think or what to expect. That's why I usually read spoilers for everything, I don't like surprises.
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That's funny, because for me, I think they gave away too much (spoilers, sample pages, etc). So once I get the issue it feels like there's little that I don't already know.
 
brinkster130
brinkster130
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VisionGirl said:
That's funny, because for me, I think they gave away too much (spoilers, sample pages, etc). So once I get the issue it feels like there's little that I don't already know.
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The things is, they always give misleading clues and I never know what to expect. That's what I fear most.
 
VisionGirl
VisionGirl
You're definitely right about that! I was proved wrong more than once during season 8.
Ooh, I take that back- Nikki Wood is a possibility for an upcoming issue, not this current issue. I'm getting everything confused.
 
Spoilers- new interview with Scott Allie

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=36362
Major spoilers for #5 and some future plot-points.

EXCLUSIVE: Scott Allie Talks Buffy's Big Changes

by Shaun Manning, Staff Writer |
Posted: 4 hours ago

SPOILER WARNING: This interview features extensive discussion of a major plot point from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 9" #5.

Scott Allie discusses Buffy being in a family way with CBR News
Buffy Summers, who has for years now fought back vampires and other forces of Hell, stared down an apocalypse or two, led an army of young Slayers and braved the horrors of a minimum-wage food service job, will soon confront a challenge unlike any she's faced before.

In "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 9" #5, written by Andrew Chambliss with art by Karl Moline and executive produced by Joss Whedon, the First Slayer haunts Buffy's dreams, repeatedly telling her, "You are not the Slayer," demanding that she consider the significance of her broken scythe in a world without magic. These visions lead to a new quest for one of Buffy's closest allies, but in a shocking last-page reveal, readers discover that Buffy herself is in for perhaps the most challenging journey of all.

Yes, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is pregnant.

Comic Book Resources spoke with Dark Horse editor Scott Allie for perspective on what this means for Buffy, her friends and her fans.

CBR News: Scott, something you mentioned in a recent CBR interview was the idea that the different eras of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" have been about the changes people experience at different stages of life -- high school, college/early 20s and now mid-twenties or early thirties. There's a moment in issue #5 where, after Buffy has been told a couple times, "You are not the Slayer," she's asked to think about what that means. Is there a sense in which this stage of Buffy's life -- even without the pregnancy -- is incompatible with what it has meant, at least historically, to be a Slayer?

Scott Allie: Those lines do connect with the pregnancy, yes. The big question she'll be wrestling with is how she can move forward in her life and still be the Slayer, now that everything for her and for the world has changed.

CBR News: In talking through the arc of Season 9 with Joss, what was his (and your) thought behind introducing the pregnancy into Buffy's life now?

Scott Allie: Buffy's trying to figure out how to take on the responsibilities of adulthood, of real life, in ways other than facing apocalypses and that sort of thing. She's had huge responsibilities on her shoulders before, and now she's facing different responsibilities. Mucking around serving coffee is part of the shock of facing real life, but she's wrestled with crappy, dead-end jobs before. Some readers expressed disappointment when they heard she was gonna be a waitress again, thinking that when we said we'd have her facing the challenges of adulthood, we were simply returning to old plotlines. But this has just been the set-up. She started in the coffee shop, familiar territory, and she'll push on from there. A San Francisco cafe is not the extent of what we're exploring with her new, grown-up life.

CBR News: How does the pregnancy affect how Buffy sees herself and her role?

Scott Allie: She'll be pondering that in upcoming issues. She has some great conversations with some key characters, including Spike, in "Buffy" #6. This has shifted her perspective instantly, of course. In "Buffy" #7, there's a fight that Spike insists she sit out of, and it does not sit well with her.

CBR News: Buffy, at this point in Season 9, is estranged to various degrees from her friends and allies. Is this something likely to bring them back to her side in support or cause further divisions?

Scott Allie: This will help bring her together with some of her nearest and dearest, for sure, but one of the other big developments in "Buffy" #5 was that Willow left the title for the time being. Not one or two issues. So the friendship that would probably deal best with this is on hold.

CBR News: Aside from what the pregnancy means to Buffy as a character, what sort of challenges or opportunities does it present for Joss and the other creators from a storytelling standpoint?

Scott Allie: Gotta leave that for the upcoming issues...

CBR News: I think a lot of Buffy fans grew up with these characters, in the sense that Buffy, Willow, and Xander were in high school at or around the same time, then experienced these different life events together (though, on the fans' side, hopefully without as much mayhem). Do you see Buffy's pregnancy as giving fans who are now parents another way to relate to the character?

Scott Allie: Absolutely. Fans anticipated this, which surprised us -- fans were seeing this coming from fairly early on in Season 9 -- and the reaction has not been altogether positive, shall we say. I think they need to see what we do with it, and see if it feels honest and relatable. Obviously that's our hope.

CBR News: Fans are going to be wondering who the father is, and issue #1 put forth a few candidates. Does Buffy know, at this point?

Scott Allie: Spoiler alert -- this will be one of the most upsetting aspects of the story, for some readers. Buffy doesn't know. Some readers will have a hard time with the idea that their hero could have gotten into this situation without knowing who the father is. She got black-out drunk in #1, and it turns out there are significant consequences. If the objection is that this couldn't or shouldn't happen to Buffy, it seems to me that that objection comes from the idea that there's something wrong with women to whom this does happen, that it is something beneath Buffy herself, and the fact that Joss and Sierra [Hahn, editor] and Andrew and I disagree with that is the reason why we think this is a viable storyline for Buffy.

CBR News: We know, of course, that Nikki Wood, the Slayer immediately preceding Buffy, also had a child. In light of Buffy's pregnancy, will we be learning more of Nikki's story?

Scott Allie: Next issue spends a lot of time with Nikki's son Robin, and flashing back extensively to Nikki herself. This was one of our earlier decisions about Season 9, at the writers' conference a year ago, that we'd bring Nikki and Robin into [the story] to help inform Buffy's perspective about motherhood. Having Nikki on the cover of the next issue confirmed readers' suspicion that Buffy would get pregnant, and that she would talk to Robin about it. We could have avoided putting Nikki on the cover, just like we could have avoided putting the hacked-off arm on the "Buffy" #8 cover, but we got tired of trying to keep all the most provocative stuff off covers, and decided that there were some surprises we had to keep for the insides, and some that were worth putting out there.

CBR News: Anything else you can tell us about what's coming up for our girl?

Scott Allie: She's making a career change, which I'm happy about. On Free Comic Book Day she gets out of San Francisco for a while. And Xander and Dawn's subplot will start picking up a bit before "Buffy" #10. Buffy's clearly having to redefine herself this season, and that's not an easy thing to do, but she has another twenty issues to do it. This story won't end where it began.

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 9" #5 is on sale now.
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I considered myself thick-skinned. But it looks like I have to grow thicker skin to enjoy the season. I'm working on it...

It's disturbing. Partly because it's realistic.
 
Moscow Watcher said:
I considered myself thick-skinned. But it looks like I have to grow thicker skin to enjoy the season. I'm working on it...

It's disturbing. Partly because it's realistic.
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Good point. But I can't not wonder when it will start being less realistic and more Buffyverse reality. Know what I mean? Maybe this is mystical pregnancy or things start to happen mystically. After all it's not a reality show, something different must happen. That's even scarier.
 
Hmm, I don't know. It just doesn't bother me that much. We had the partial storyline of a pregnant Slayer, but even with Robin as a part of season 7, we don't know all that much about her. To me this is just a continuation of that. It's happened so rarely simply because Slayers never really lived that long.
 
" In "Buffy" #7, there's a fight that Spike insists she sit out of, and it does not sit well with her."

I can't help but wonder how Spike manages to accomplish what just about every other character on the show, including Joyce and Giles, has been unable to do in the past, regardless of her condition.
 
white avenger said:
" In "Buffy" #7, there's a fight that Spike insists she sit out of, and it does not sit well with her."

I can't help but wonder how Spike manages to accomplish what just about every other character on the show, including Joyce and Giles, has been unable to do.
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The weird part for me is, well I have fantasized about a Spuffy family and Buffy pregnant with Spike's baby, and this is exactly how I imagined it. Spike insisting her to sit out and Buffy getting mad. So this line really seems to me very Buffy and Spike. This is exactly how I imagined it to go (about that part I mean).
 
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