Question: why was my post about BtVS' pilot airing on the WB on it's last airdate removed? It wasn't offensive, it was relevant...?

Thomas | July 05, 12:41 CET

It was a dupe. The info was posted a couple days ago.

GaveUp | July 05, 12:43 CET

How reliable is this source, Simon? It sounds just...a little too good to be true.

Thomas, you have to check the archives before you post - this has already been and gone on the front page.

dreamlogic | July 05, 12:44 CET

Well, this is very exciting. Twenty issues with some ex-Buffy writers on board - and Whedon possibly writing the season finale. Incredible.

crossoverman | July 05, 12:46 CET

So, when we consider that Whedon also said that season 8 would start with Buffy in Italy with The Immortal, is it possible that she is on a secret covert mission with/to take down/to help out others with regards to The Immortal? Or is that just me thinking too much?

Ahh gotcha, Ill be quiet now.

jerryst3161 | July 05, 13:03 CET

All The Rage is reliable, it's published Buffy/Angel/Serenity comic book rumours before and they've come through. There were reports about the season 8 comic books consisting of several mini-series early this year so that news isn't much of a surprise to me.

And the WB thing was linked to about a week ago. We'll be having a special thread on Sept 17th to mark the event.

Simon | July 05, 13:16 CET

True Simon, but the 'former Buffy writers' is a (very pleasant) surprise to me (even if it seemed at least possible given that some of the best writers have also done comic stories for the 'Tales of the Slayers' and '... Vampires' runs it's nice to have it confirmed-ish). Really looking forward to this.

Also, slightly OT, the preview of Will Conrad's stuff for Freshmen II looks very nice, maybe slightly more traditionally super-heroic than the original artist but still cool. Just hope doing that doesn't interfere with his Serenity work.

Saje | July 05, 13:34 CET

Yes the former Buffy writers thing seems like a dream come true. Doug Petrie, David Fury and Jane Espenson would be at the top of my list.

Simon | July 05, 13:41 CET

Well, David Fury, Jane Espenson, Doug Petrie, Ben Edlund, Rebecca Rand-Kishner and Drew Goddard have I'll written to the previous run of the comics is a few occasions. Heck, even James Marsters and Amber Benson were given shots at it.

I'm not that much surprised about them including other show writers in this new run, that seems to be more closely watched by Joss. It just give so much a nostalgic feeling from those years when we still got the shows, and always got into those speculation about who were writing which episodes. It just like we had the Mutant Enemy writing crew back again, breaking stories for a whole season.

Maybe Joss should consider a mega blaster "Annual" season finale, like he'll be doing for the conclusion of his current run of Astonishing X-Men.

For people who actually accessed the link will notice that the rumour above Buffy's concerns the second volume of Seth Green's The Freshmen, which might be pencilled by Will Conrad, which might affect if he becomes or not the artist for the second Firefly / Serenity mini series.



[ edited by Numfar PTB on 2006-07-05 12:08 ]

Numfar PTB | July 05, 14:05 CET

Yeah i'd probably add Ben Edlund to my 'wants' list too since his 'Taking Care of Business' in TotV was just off-kilter enough to be brilliant even if i'm not entirely sure he could sustain his 'thing' over a mini-series rather than just a one-off.

Espenson, Petrie, Fury are definitely on there though. Wouldn't be the same without those guys.

Saje | July 05, 14:29 CET

Am I really awake or is this just a wonderful dream.

Derf | July 05, 15:11 CET

ANyone got a probable release date for the first issue of the S8 series? I. Must. Have. (And could there be a Tara in there? One can hope!). :-)

Dana5140 | July 05, 15:37 CET

I wonder if there are other Whedonverse writers who never wrote a comic but wanted to? I'd like to see some of them as well. But the list that Numfar PTB came up with will do me nicely. And Joss. Much Joss!

Lioness | July 05, 15:37 CET

That some of the Buffy writers will be involved and it should be spread over 20 issues i've heard before. Still it's great to hear more about S8 and I hope there is much more to come.

Freckles | July 05, 15:43 CET

I can't wait to see what Joss's vision of season 8 would have been. This just sounds awesome.

cheryl | July 05, 15:44 CET

This is so fantastic.

I've always known he would bring other writers onboard with him, but still, so exciting. I want Jane Espenson...please, let her work on it...

20 issues? Fantastic. This is so wonderful, almost like Buffy is back on the air. The fact that comics aren't as expansive as TV and the lack of the actors doesn't really bother me...I mean, we're getting the stories. This is so amazing.

I finished my screenplay AND got this great news this morning! What more could a guy ask for?!

UnpluggedCrazy | July 05, 15:54 CET

Congratulations unpluggedcrazy!

This does sound like good news. In that there was not really a chance of a live action BtVS S8, this sounds great. I am still an actors live or on screen kind of girl, or, failing that, long involved books, but I'll gladly go with comic books if that is the only Whedon sponsored choice.

newcj | July 05, 16:08 CET

It was being rumored for late 2006, probably November, but then later articles pointed to a 2007 release.
I might be getting Dark Horse Press Release for November late this week or early next week. So we'll know if there is some truth into those early November 2006 ramblings, or if it's really shuffled to 2007.

I wonder if they'll use the same numbering for the whole series or they'll break it down per arc. The latter option is used on IDW, although there is no clear lingering thread between the mini series, just some unclear chronological sequence.

The same numbering makes more sense for me, since they're breaking the stories as a whole season. Joss would not call it "Season 8 Comics" for nothing. And they did that on the later half of the previous series, where the arc breaks were very clear, but they were still followed the same numbering.



I didn't really came up with the list, I just recalled the list with the people who actually worked in Dark Horse Buffy comics before.
David Fury wrote for Tales of the Slayer. Don't remember if he was in Tales of the Vampires.
Doug Petrie wrote for BtVS#20, wrote a story in 1999 annual, the Ring of Fire GN and Tales of the Slayers. Don't remember if he was in Tales of the Vampires.
Jane Espenson wrote for Tales of the Slayer, Tales of the Vampires, Buffy/Angel: Reunion One-Shot, the Jonathan One-Shot and the Haunted mini series.
Ben Edlund wrote fro Tales of the Vampires.
Rebecca Rand-Kishner wrote for Tales of the Slayers.
And Drew Goddard was in Tales of the Vampires.

And since I decided to give a rundown, James Marsters paired with Chris Golden for the first "Spike and Dru" One-Shot and Amber Benson paired with Chris Golden for the "Willow and Tara" One Shot and Mini Series and went solo for a story in "Tales of the Slayers".

Joss Buffyverse related work in Dark Horse included "Fray", "Tales of the Slayers", "Tales of the Vampires" and an Angel mini series which he wrote with Brett Matthews.

Numfar PTB | July 05, 17:00 CET

The artist of the first 4 comics, the ones Joss is doing, said he had yet to even get the comic. He said he would not start for a few weeks/months to even draw. He was doing research into the show and who each actor/ess was of the characters he had to draw so he could get them right. He did say Xander was one of the first characters he was doing, but that he did not know the storyline or characters other then that involved. Go to his website, it was posted here last month.

I know there had been earlier reports that the Joss run was six issues and that it was going to come out this fall, but given that it has not even got the artist and he said he was doing Joss's four, I would say all reports unless done by DH or Joss might be subject to rumor alert?

I bet first issue does not hit till Dec/Jan and then depending on how DH decides to do it(if a monthly or bi-monthly title) the first 4 could last well into next year.

Donna Troy | July 05, 17:12 CET

A very (very) OT comment:

And I thought that I was the only "Donna" obssessed fan in here.

Numfar PTB | July 05, 17:24 CET

I'm really looking forward to this.Jerryst3161,my first thought was also that this secret covert mission is somehow connected to The Immortal.

Buffyfantic | July 05, 17:26 CET

Oh, bliss...something to look forward to in the Buffyverse! If I buy comics, I usually just get the TPB's, but I'm not sure I'll be able to wait in this case.

greentara | July 05, 17:31 CET

Nice to see another one and know I am not alone! LOL!

Donna Troy | July 05, 17:33 CET

I am so excited about this series, everything I hear just sounds better and better: in twenty issues they can really cover a whole seasonal arc and still have room for a couple of 'stand alone' episodes issues. This is REALLY going to be a 'must have'!

embers | July 05, 19:04 CET

Oh I hope it's November 06!!

eta: okay, I didn't have the time to post more earlier. I wonder how involved the cast will be...I mean, whether it'll be just main characters (scoobies, faith, etc.) or if it'll involve some of the slayers who survived. I really wonder...ooooooh, this has me all excited.

[ edited by Browncoat on 2006-07-05 18:11 ]

the ninja report | July 05, 19:18 CET

Oh, man, I'm glad to see this is for real! I was afraid it was just another wishful rumor. I love comic books, so I'm totally happy.

zencat | July 05, 20:23 CET

This news made my intire summer vacation! I thought it would be like 10 issues at the most but I didn't think 20. The Covert Ops Mission sounds pretty cool. I wonder if Joss will kill any of the characters off.

hitnrun017 | July 05, 21:00 CET

I hope they bump it up to 22 issues, just so we can have the full feel of a season. It always bothered me that earlier reports indicated it'd be a four or six-issue miniseries. How could you cover a whole season in so few issues?

I'd be shocked if they did a season eight without new slayers. That seems like what the Scoobies would be focused on. Hopefully there will be lots and lots of Vi in the series.

alpha5099 | July 05, 21:18 CET

yes it's difficult to cover an entire season in so few issues -- but the timetable means you're going to have to wait a month between every issue, or 2 weeks between each issue. it's going to take a lot of ingenuity to keep interest up for the casual fan who hasn't memorized everything there is to know already.

the ninja report | July 05, 21:37 CET

"and he is also laying out the story for the rest of the season."
I'm so happy to read that. That was one of my worst nightmares regarding this new series.

Angel TheVampire | July 05, 21:48 CET

With writers from BtVS, we're that much closer to 100% canon S8. Joss once again finds a way to defeat cancellation! ;-)

And giant big props, my twin, UnpluggedCrazy! Also big props for getting your story "Dead Leaves" (on fanfiction.net, you have to search a bit) praised on the latest Firefly Talk podcast (which I just got around to yesterday, and I'll be reading Dead Leaves today, BBQ & fireworks yesterday, yo). Yay writing! ;-)

billz | July 05, 21:51 CET

*sigh* Buffy wasn't canceled.

eddy | July 05, 22:54 CET

"...it's going to take a lot of ingenuity to keep interest up for the casual fan who hasn't memorized everything there is to know already."

Hmmm. 1.) I did not know such fans existed. 2.) Would they buy the comics in the first place?

Just a couple random thoughts...

newcj | July 05, 23:50 CET

billz...my story was mentioned on the latest Firefly Talk podcast?! Holy crap!!!

Thanks for telling me, and I hope you like it!

ETA: Just listened to the podcast, and I am so blushing. This has been such a shiny day.

[ edited by UnpluggedCrazy on 2006-07-05 22:35 ]

UnpluggedCrazy | July 05, 23:56 CET

*grins* I can think of one or two such people...and I bet that they would be totally into the Season 8 comics (which *are* canon, btw, 'cos Joss says so :-)

gorramit | July 06, 00:28 CET

I still know newbies who haven't seen much of the show and if they're willing to give the show a try, I know they'd be willing to sit for 15 minutes and flip through a comic book.

the ninja report | July 06, 01:37 CET

There will be those who liked Joss' Astonishing X-Men but haven't watched Buffy. Plus there will bo doubt be some sort of media hype event which will get non Buffy fans/casual punters interested in it as well.

Simon | July 06, 02:22 CET

I wonder if he'll bring any back

Immortus45 | July 06, 02:23 CET

Like maybe that Tara storyline...

hitnrun017 | July 06, 02:31 CET

Oz would be cool to see....

Donna Troy | July 06, 02:50 CET

You got to have Oz come back.

SpikeBad | July 06, 04:02 CET

my story was mentioned on the latest Firefly Talk podcast?! Holy crap!!!

Snap, UnpluggedCrazy! I can't believe no one had told you yet. Well, let me bask in your reflected shininess for letting you know! *basks* ;-)

And, damn, Unplugged. Dead Leaves is a hell of a story (that's on fanfiction.net, y'all). It wouldn't be manly to cry, so I'll say I absolutely did NOT; I just sniffled and rubbed my eyes because of those damn allergies, I tells ya. Well done, my twin! :-D

billz | July 06, 05:52 CET

I'm not complaining but it'll be a short season. 20 issues may feel something like 6 episodes. Kind of like a Brit TV series.

batmarlowe | July 06, 06:59 CET

Just adding my own personal "squee" over the thought of finally having new Buffy stories!

Zannadoo | July 06, 09:12 CET

Batmarlowe, thinking that too. It should be an 88-issue season, with a 4-issue mini for each ep. :-D

Niels van Eekelen | July 06, 14:42 CET

Thanks so much, billz!

Pretty much every comment I've received for it tells me it made the reader cry...so, hey, I'm sure your secure enough in your masculinity... ;-)

UnpluggedCrazy | July 06, 14:58 CET

Has it been said in press releases what the page count for each issue will be? Maybe we'll be getting double-sizers, or at least 32-pagers, with every issue. That'd be pretty sweet.

On the one hand I kinda wanna wait for the trades this time. The only other time I've done that with the Buffy comics was Tales of the Vampires, which I still have yet to buy, and IDW's line of Angel comics, which I probably won't bother with. Hanging around here though, even with proper red-fonted warnings, people might let spoilers slip...and I'll wanna discuss while the series is fresh along with everyone else...Yeah, think I'll be going with the issues.

If the series is real good though, I'll want the trade collection to prop up on my DVD shelf along with the Chosen DVD collection I'll some day get, so I'll probably get the TPB(s) anyway. Maybe I'll be able to sell the issues...I've tried on eBay to unload other single-issue comic book series though, it's not easy. No one wants 'em, or when they do, they wanna pay so cheaply that it barely covers the sellers' shipping.

I'm glad this is a finite series with a more-or-less planned beginning and conclusion.

Kris | July 06, 21:33 CET