Hmmm. In terms of likenesses, Xander and Willow are the best. He has SMG's parts (the nose and the eyes especially) about right, but they don't quite add up properly. Dawn misses by a lot, in my opinion. But I won't be reading the comics for the drawings. They could be abstract blots of color, for all I care. Just give me Whedon's words and stories.

1starbuckstown | October 23, 23:21 CET

Me likee!

And what I like is that the drawings are reminiscent, not carbon copies of the actors.

Tonya J | October 23, 23:29 CET

Just so you guys know, these pieces of art they're posting are nifty, but they don't come close to what Georges is actually doing on the book. I've seen most of issue one and it's dynamic and exciting and the likenesses are great -- but not so slavishly accurate that it stops being a comic. Georges really gets the spirit of the piece (his nerd-cred is apparent to me) and walks the line between what was and what needs to follow really well. I'm having a blast writing this. And eventually I'll get to announce the writers who are working with me on this project... It gives me a happy. Just wait. Just you wait.

I forgot to be wacky, so, uh, platypus. Go nuts.

joss | October 23, 23:39 CET

Nice work! Xander looks te best in my opinion. He isn't just a guy with a eye-patch, he really looks like Nick. Only Dawn, I don't know, she kind of looks like Cordy to me . . .

Koos | October 23, 23:42 CET

I trust it'll be a regular series rather than a series of minis... I like me some momentum!

daylight | October 23, 23:43 CET

I raise your platypus and give you an otter. Because, dude - otters rock almost as much as beavers.

Also, looking forward to this, like, a lot.

Kevin. Waiting.

gossi | October 23, 23:43 CET

I'm glad he gets into the spirit of the piece. But I wanna know who the other writers are going to be :pout:

Koos | October 23, 23:46 CET

Koos - I can confirm one of them is not going to be me.

You know, I was almost hoping Willow would sport Alyson Hannigan's new How I Met Your Mother hair. (Because obviously it's not her own hair, the show totally owns the hair). Oh, brunch, what have you done to me?

gossi | October 23, 23:51 CET

Platypus!

Craig Oxbrow | October 23, 23:52 CET

Thanks Joss for making this even more suspenseful.

hitnrun017 | October 23, 23:53 CET

I dunno, Joss. I think our heads might explode from the anticipation before the first issue is released next Spring. And you know, messy, messy clean up job.

Tonya J | October 23, 23:53 CET

Lurve Willow's art the most. And Platypus you say?

Kinkajou. Seriously.

Charmuse | October 23, 23:57 CET

That's too bad, Gossi :)

I like Aly's hair in most kind of shapes, as long as it isn't too short. I love women with long red hair!

Koos | October 23, 23:58 CET

Marmoset!

batmarlowe | October 24, 00:07 CET

I love women with any length hair. And I haven't even seen Borat yet so I've no excuse for this post.

gossi | October 24, 00:08 CET

can I just say that I'm looking forward to this EVEN MORE than I did Serenity? and that I'm totally loving Georges' art so far?

and can I further say, loudly, "mahna mahna"?

annagranfors | October 24, 00:17 CET

Joss, should I just sign up to some subscription service, have $100 deducted from my account per month for you, and have whatever it is you're involved in shipped to me? Aside from the platypus, which would have some import restrictions.

Ocular | October 24, 00:19 CET

Happiness is good writers, for sure. Specifics could kick it up to joy.

dreamlogic | October 24, 00:25 CET

Oh, I can't flippin' WAIT! I don't think I'm looking for photo-realistic artwork... bring on this Georges Jeanty's own funkabilities. If I recognize the characters, and they're drawn with much kewlness, than yippee. Season 8! This so badass, so fun! Plus, a natural-born cynic throwing around the dreaded exclamation points? Creepy.

Now that Joss (and, to be fair, zeitgeist, moving in with a giant collection) has a girl like me (a girl like ME!)reading comics, I resolve to once and for all stop caveating the hell out of all of my 'verse loves. You know, like:

"Vampires, silly title, and all that; I know, I know. I was skeptical too, but you have to trust me. I don't usually like stuff like that. But this isn't 'like that.' You know what a TV-snob I am. I'm telling you -- it's brilliant!"

"I know it has spaceships and it's sci-fi and all that... but I don't like that stuff either, I swear, and I LOVE this! The characters, the stories; it's not about (air quotes)lasers(air quotes) and special effects. It's an incredible ensemble character drama, or comedy, well, thrillerish. But it's not about spaceships! Trust me..."

"Where did i meet my guy? Um, online, on this really interesting blog in a very compelling discussion of pop-culturally stuff. Okay, fine. Whedonesque, it's called. For the love of all things Joss Whedon. You know, the Buffy guy? I know, I don't normally go to those kind of sites either, and no, I don't 'post' anywhere else. I'm not typically fannish about stuff, but seriously... it's so smart, and interesting and full of the lurveliest peeps..."

Quit the excuse making already. The caveats are self-serving and insecure and border on disrespectful. I love this stuff, and I'm game to give just about any format, style, endeaver the Purple One puts his mind/pen/keystrokes to a go, because I've been nothing but thrilled thus far. Sign me up for the comics, and my brand-spanking "we've enjoyed spanking" geek-cred card. And i'm not ashamed to say it. /squee

Aardvark.

barest_smidgen | October 24, 00:29 CET

I've enjoyed spanking, too. Also, barest_smidgen, you don't post? I think I saw a barest_smidgen. I did, I did, I did.

gossi | October 24, 00:34 CET

Buffy's nose looks like Squidward's.

Willow is brilliant! She looks flawless. You can tell it's the Xan-man, but Dawn is way off.

Leoplurodon.

Willowy | October 24, 00:41 CET

Just a couple comments:

1. Joss, you don't need resort to the wacky "platitudes." (couldn't resist)

2. Didn't you love The American Way? (I didn't love the ending but its the journey not he destination)

3. Can we please, please, please have an Alex Ross cover for one of the issues? One of those exaulted, iconic shots of Buffy and/or the Scoobies where we are actually looking up at her. (for those who can picture it, like those Alex Ross posters he did for the DC universe) How cool would that be? I've also thought Alex Ross' style would work well with a Mal or River close-up.

Hell, while we're at it, why not an iconic painting of Joss in all his glory. He'd be wearing a cape and a shield across his chest with a fountain pen! I can see it now.

alexreager | October 24, 00:48 CET

Looking very, very nice. I agree with 1starbuckstown that Dawn isn't quite Dawn in this pic yet, but the other characters inspire faith.

I do wonder about the coloring--there's very few black lines here, all of them having been digipainted over. Curious to see if the actual interior art will keep that look.

And Joss--BKV is one of those writers, right? I bet you made him promise to participate in return for your takeover of Runaways. (Other guesses of mine would include Espenson, Edlund, maybe Petrie, and Jeph Loeb may be exclusive to Marvel, but that didn't exactly stop the artists on the Serenity covers.)

(Also: I really miss Willow. Seeing Alyson in HIMYM is fun, but it doesn't quite compare.)

Niels | October 24, 00:50 CET

"platitudipus", n, a rare mammal known for making both wacky yet lofty, inspiring statements.

Just thought you should know...

malformed | October 24, 00:53 CET

Oh I thought 'platitudipus' was the trite meaningless and yet wacky (from the French: flat) rather than the inspirations from the philospher Plato, with a duck bill. However I am definitely inspired by these glimpses of BtVS season 8! Right now Astonishing X-men is blowing my mind, and I am loving getting caught up on Runaways. So the prospect of also getting Buffy back, and eventually Serenity returning to the comic book, is just almost too much excitement.
Of course I'll admit to wanting to know what is happening with regards to Wonder Woman too....

embers | October 24, 01:11 CET

Echidna.

Very much looking forward to this -- and the announcement of who else will be involved in the future. Yay!

RambleOn623 | October 24, 01:11 CET

Ocular: "Joss, should I just sign up to some subscription service, have $100 deducted from my account per month for you, and have whatever it is you're involved in shipped to me?..."

See, Ocular, this leads us back to that patronage idea from a recent Nebula1400 post. We should really, really think about this. It could be, you know, unconditional patronage -- wow, it's kinda catchy...

Joss: "I forgot to be wacky, so, uh, platypus. Go nuts."

This just made me happy. Forgetting to be wacky occasionally is, in a way, the greatest compliment you can pay someone, and it does us the honor of assuming we don't need Joss to be just one way using one mode of expression only. Though I do love the Joss-silly, don't get me wrong. I just like the other stuff, too.

Looking forward to this comic...

Herds of platypus-like !kittens! or kitten-like platypuses.

QuoterGal | October 24, 01:46 CET

Damnit, QuoterGal. I went looking for kitten-like platypuses earlier, but couldn't find them. And I'm not kidding.

I was going to say non-Joss-silly has a calming effect, but I've clearly blown that out the window.

gossi | October 24, 02:14 CET

How many platypusses does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

electricspacegirl | October 24, 02:18 CET

Buffy has a very 1940s a la Bladerunner look about her, I like a lot.

Simon | October 24, 02:23 CET

gossi, I know you're not kidding, it's just that you have to have a soppy brain to do a proper soppy search.

And I am that brain...

Gawd help me.

ETA: ElectricSpaceGirl, I dunno.

[ edited by QuoterGal on 2006-10-24 00:44 ]

QuoterGal | October 24, 02:42 CET

Bejebus, baby Platypi (yes, I just made that up) look like Cenobites.

gossi | October 24, 02:49 CET

QG: all my programmer co-workers are geting a list of the relevant light bulb jokes...
thanks for the chuckles

redfern | October 24, 02:52 CET

Euwww!!

Please, somebody, get Joss to promise not to show any Cenobites in anything or I shall be very ill. Like Reavers minus any trace of humanity -- although maybe the humanity in the Reavers makes them more gross. Hmmm.

But then there's this from Wikipedia:"The term 'cenobite' is an archaic Latin word meaning simply 'a member of a communal religious order.' "

Is that the kind you mean? Platypus-like Monks? The mind reels...

QuoterGal | October 24, 03:00 CET

I love Joss! I mean, the way he just throws out platypus all willy-nilly...makes my day. Joss "you so craaazy".

debrjean123 | October 24, 03:05 CET

I wanna see his Giles.

(If only Captain Jack were a little older, he could fill the Giles hole in my life.)

Caroline | October 24, 03:08 CET

barest, your post made me laugh out loud. So funny, cuz I'm that girl, too :)

Salamander - Oh, I went there.

Harmalicious | October 24, 03:18 CET

I'm diggin' the take on the Buffster in this iteration. I can't wait to see the final product.

jlp | October 24, 03:21 CET

On behalf of platypuses? - platypi? - more than one platypus, there is nothing wacky about an animal that lays eggs but suckles its young, has the feet and beak of a duck and has poisonous spurs on its back legs - oh wait, it's the spurs thing isn't it?

Oh yeah - and the pictures look good. I am more excited about this than for Fray 2 (ummm, about that Fray 2 thing .....).

catalyst2 | October 24, 03:49 CET

I dont even care what the characters look like (though I'm sure they will look great!) I JUST WANT TO READ ME SOME BUFFY SEASON 8!! Is it spring yet???

kballgetlost | October 24, 03:50 CET

I think the art looks great.Really looking forward to the series.Also,I echo Caroline,can't wait to see a shot of Giles as well.

Buffyfantic | October 24, 03:50 CET

Okapi.

And my favorite light bulb jokes didn't even make the list.

MissKittysMom | October 24, 04:15 CET

Oh, the "I toldja so!"s to come! Back in July, we were begging the admin over at The-Cortex.net to let us have a 'Platypus' rank and he refused. Said it didn't have anything to do with our reason for being, which is Joss of course. I am feeling so smugly self-righteous now.

cabri | October 24, 05:01 CET

Embers - actually, in French its "waquiche" and refers to making a quiche out of whatever happens to be left in the refrigerator

malformed | October 24, 05:03 CET

And Joss - how does it feel to know the slightest utterance from you will result in a calvacade of small, furry mammal references and clever word repurposing? Mighty? Terrified? Mighty terrified?

Please, do tell...

malformed | October 24, 05:05 CET

Yes, I agree with him that his Dawnie is not quite right yet. But that is ok. I haven't fully learned yet to read the pictures as I read the words. I'm still new to the whole comic thing.
And Barest, I'm with you! Time to stand up proud and stop apologizing. I am a Whedonista!

Lioness | October 24, 05:27 CET

It's better then I could draw.I can only do stick figures.lol

Buffyfantic | October 24, 05:30 CET

Here is my deeply moving graphic artist rendering of Anya & Andrew playing gladiator in the hospital in "End of Days.".

Evocative, no?

QuoterGal | October 24, 05:52 CET

Quoter, get help. Love ya.

Charmuse | October 24, 06:57 CET

Char, ?, ?, or ?

QuoterGal | October 24, 07:35 CET

QG,

I'd say the try the third, dressed like the 2nd.

malformed | October 24, 07:46 CET

QG: try Door #2. Though personally, I think Door #3 might be more fun. Cheers.

SangChaud | October 24, 08:34 CET

More fun with Joss later on today.

Simon | October 24, 10:25 CET

Don't listen to the philistine critics, QG, it's brilliant. I can almost hear A and A mewling and cackling.

Simon, you're a big tease, like Joss. First there's him holding out a big wad of geeknip and saying "No, you can't have it quite yet, my cenobites." And then there's you, saying more Joss fun later. What kind of fun are we talking about?

dreamlogic | October 24, 10:48 CET

God, I cannot wait for this.

Nor Simon's promised Joss fun.

UnpluggedCrazy | October 24, 10:52 CET

Well I hope I delivered with the six word thing above.

Simon | October 24, 12:19 CET

Ah, yes, very cool was that.

(Damn if I didn't come up with six words on this thread and not that one.)

UnpluggedCrazy | October 24, 12:29 CET

Duodecahedron ! What ? Animals you say ? Err, dog ! (but a wacky one - honestly, my dog used to run headfirst into the sides of cars, surely that qualifies ?).

Dunno, reckon platypi are more zany. Though the egg thing has an element of wack.

Lioness: But that is ok. I haven't fully learned yet to read the pictures as I read the words. I'm still new to the whole comic thing.

Pointful. Reading comics can take a bit of getting used to. Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud is a fantastic book, IMO, which really shows how the medium works, can't recommend it enough. I learned loads and i've been reading them for donkey's years.

1940s a la Bladerunner look about her, I like a lot.

Yep Simon, first comparison that occurred was Sean Young as Rachel.

Dawn isn't quite there yet but the others are close enough to convey the feel of the characters which is what, IMO, a comic likeness should do and composition and framing will make a huge difference to how we see the drawings anyway (and obviously the writing's also not entirely unrelated ;).

Looking forward, big style.

Saje | October 24, 12:40 CET

Yes, Simon, you came through, though I think the six word thing might haunt us all for a while.

dreamlogic | October 24, 12:56 CET

Me, too, Lioness. Whedonista, Whedonesquer or Whedonite, I'm there! I actually have a T-shirt that reads "Whedon's Bitch and Proud of It" and then behind that are words that say things like "watched the TV shows, bought the DVDs, read all the books, saw the movie" etc. I do restrict where I wear it, but I just loved the sentiment :D.

samatwitch | October 25, 00:11 CET