Whedonesque : Comments on 12209 : (SPOILER) Buffy #2 comic book cover art revealed.

That cover is amazing

Really is.

That cover is seriously freakin' cool. Times ten.

And then plot! Amy! Slayers seen as terrorist cells! Xander!

Oh man.

[ edited by gossi on 2007-01-09 14:47 ]

gossi | January 09, 16:47 CET

Wow, that cover is great. Buffy (for the first time) really looks like SMG in that. Plus Xander looks so cool in his leather jacket...

Coen | January 09, 16:47 CET

Fantastic cover. Wow, I didn't think I could be more excitied about the comics. It seems I was wrong!

ArielWillow | January 09, 16:50 CET

Oh, I am so excited. It's getting really difficult to stay calm with this waiting. And, yeah, amazing cover, both of them look great.

Garim | January 09, 17:02 CET

I love what Jo Chen has done with Buffy (better even than the first issue) but while Xander looks mean and moody it's not quite my idea of how he should look.

moley75 | January 09, 17:10 CET

moley75: "... while Xander looks mean and moody it's not quite my idea of how he should look."

Yeah, I'm seeing more Doyle with an eyepatch than Xander there. Cool cover, though.

LudditeRobot | January 09, 17:20 CET

I really love the Jo Chen cover and the story doesn't sound half bad either. ;)

Derf | January 09, 17:29 CET

The question is - why is Xander moody? The cover may reflect the story.

gossi | January 09, 17:37 CET

Jo Chen is the guy who got Joss to buy Runaways #1, so he seemed like a no brainer to do some covers.

theyarescientists | January 09, 17:44 CET

Jo is a very lovely lady :)

TaraDi | January 09, 17:47 CET

And she did the cover art for the Fable game. Which I didn't know until 15 seconds ago.

Simon | January 09, 17:49 CET

Kick the chicken! Only Fable players will understand me.

gossi | January 09, 17:51 CET

I love her Runaways covers - almost as good as the content.

As for Xander he does look like Doyle.

moley75 | January 09, 18:03 CET

Oh,man,I love that cover and the return of Amy. *claps*

Buffyfantic | January 09, 18:04 CET

I LOVE that Slayers are being considered terrorists! Plus the return of a magicked-up Amy! And Xander Harris, Agent of SHIELD!

JusticeDemon | January 09, 18:05 CET

I love this pic of Xander. He looks so dashing. All that's missing now is the parrot.

skeezycheeses | January 09, 18:10 CET

Love the cover. I'm not really seeing where others are getting Doyle from. Looks pretty Xander-like to me.

The story seems to be going exactly the way I was hoping it would go. Lots of twists and turns, continuity intense happenings and old faces making an appearance. Very glad to hear that Craterdale and Amy will be playing a part in the storyline. I look forward to this more with every new bit of information we get.

Kaine | January 09, 18:17 CET

Yep JusticeDemon, definitely a Nick Fury element to the Xand-man in that cover. Looks lovely (the cover I mean, though if I swung that way... ;).

To me the first cover looks more like Buffy, this one looks more like SMG, if that doesn't sound too bananas. They're both great but the first one says 'New Buffy Comic' to me more than this one (probably why it's appearing all over the place comics wise).

Saje | January 09, 18:20 CET

This just seems better and better the more I hear about it.

I havent said it before so here goes.

Im officially excited.

Apocalypse | January 09, 18:20 CET

When does the 1st one come out, and where/how can one get a subscription? Aside from the Serenity mini, I've never subscribed to any ongoing comics. (Usually go for trades, or borrow from friends)

AnotherFireflyfan | January 09, 18:23 CET

Finally, Xander gets teh hotness treatment! Nice! I'm totally on board with season 8...

Maeve | January 09, 18:33 CET

When does the 1st one come out, and where/how can one get a subscription?

March 7th. Can be ordered here.

Simon | January 09, 18:42 CET

Is it March yet?

batmarlowe | January 09, 18:53 CET

AMAZING..... just...... AMAZING!

The plot just seems to get better and better and the cover is brilliant. AND AMY! I was just thinking yesterday that I wanted to see her in Season 8.

hitnrun017 | January 09, 19:04 CET

The artwork is very nice, but I must be in a minority here, but I think the likenesses are pretty weak, particular with Xander, who seems to have got younger since we last saw him. *g*

Thing is though I've long ago given up on comic book artists to be able to produce strong likenesses of personalities, I suppose that in their normal line of work they don't have to.

I'm still very much looking forward to reading this though, especially now we have a wee mention of Giles!

sueworld2003 | January 09, 19:13 CET

Thanks, Simon. Do you have to order them all separately, or is there some way to get a running subscription (like with magazines)?

AnotherFireflyfan | January 09, 19:24 CET

I can see the Doyle thing but I cannot figure out why, exactly. When I really look it does not look like Doyle at all. Art is a funny thing. Of course I don't think this looks like SMG either...which is fine with me. As much as I love the actors, and am a performing arts lovin' person first and foremost, I'm kind of liking the characters looking like the characters rather than the actors. I don't know if I will feel that way for everybody, but so far so good.

Love the way this is going without even having read one yet. Ok, I am actually thinking about biting the bullet and talking to the local comic store about how I can make sure I get a copy when they come out. My friend that I converted was asking me about the same thing. Maybe if we are going to buy two copies of each one, they won't care that we don't want to buy anything else? Ugh. We're still a couple middle-aged women walking into a comic store because we want Buffy comics. I feel like Andrew in the butcher shop. "I'd like that comic, and one of that comic over there and one of those and anentiresubscriptionofBuffytheVAmpireSlayerfortherestofitsrun and now that I think of it maybe I should hold off on those first few for now."

newcj | January 09, 19:25 CET

Craterdale

Hee, Arcane! And I love hawt Xander! And there will be Giles!

dreamlogic | January 09, 19:26 CET

I will totally sign over my 401K to own that original artwork. *dies from the Xander hotness*

Saturn Girl | January 09, 19:31 CET

"Craterdale"

Yes, I enjoyed that too, Arcane.

ArielWillow | January 09, 19:33 CET

To me... Xander pretty much looks like Xander, but a lot more bad-ass. Buffy looks fantastic here, very much with the womenly features. Buffy looks very much like a women now rather than a girl, which is super cool. Quite striking and beautiful, excellent likeness (I personally think even better than Issue 1). Me like. A lot. And that's a pretty big compliment coming from someone who has absolutely no taste for comics.

I very much can't wait!

mikejer | January 09, 19:37 CET

I have never been into comic books, but I have to admit that I am soooo excited about this series. March seems too far away...

xanderharris | January 09, 19:41 CET

Yeah, my immediate reaction was "young Nick Fury." Also very much like the pic of Buffy, looking adult.

Newcj, don't worry about feeling out of place in the comic book store. Usually the kind of folks who work in those places are delighted to find a newbie to convert. I hadn't bought comics in over a decade, but when I got into Buffy, I went into a shop and said to the clerk "I want Fray, and all the X-men by Joss Whedon" and she was immediately "You should check out 'Tales of the Slayers' its got a Joss-written story...."

barboo | January 09, 19:57 CET

sueworld2003, I don't think that it's that the artists aren't *capable* of producing an exact likeness -- as I understand it, they intentionally don't *want* an exact likeness. (I'm not sure why, really. Not a comics person.)

I think the artwork is just gorgeous. But like another whedonesquer did, I do have to note that Jo Chen is drawing Buffy as about six feet tall on the first cover! She seems a little less amazonesque ;) on the second one, but still not petite.

But again, gorgeous art.

pillboxed | January 09, 20:05 CET

The cover is raw. And awesome. Or should I say, rawesome.

I can't even begin to get enough fangeek squees out prior to the release of this book.

NaughtyBoozeHound | January 09, 20:18 CET

In less capable hands, terrorist Scoobies and Amy Returns may be something I'd want to happen only in non-canon comics. But I'm sure this'll be amazing. The cover, though...I don't like being able to instantly recognize the photo references, and they still don't look too much like the actors.

CaptainB | January 09, 20:19 CET

Smoochies?!

TwisTz | January 09, 20:33 CET

Beautiful.

MandyMouse | January 09, 21:04 CET

Cover does look really cool, but the man on the cover looks very macho and in my mind Xander is anything but macho. I agree that it looks like Doyle with an eyepatch.

luvspike | January 09, 21:06 CET

I love the look of Xander and Buffy. Giles and the return of Amy! Love that too. And smoochies...interesting.

maje | January 09, 21:15 CET

Yay! Xander finally gets great hair!

I think those are gorgeous renderings, but I do not think they look like the characters - from the nose down. The artist captured their upper faces (noses, eyes) quite well in my opinion, but both B and X have very distinctive mouths, and I think the artist missed the mark there.

And doesn't Buffy look like a young Joyce?

Willowy | January 09, 21:30 CET

sueworld2003, I don't think that it's that the artists aren't *capable* of producing an exact likeness -- as I understand it, they intentionally don't *want* an exact likeness. (I'm not sure why, really. Not a comics person.)

I always find that a really odd thing to day myself. I mean I get with 'normal' comic's there's really hardly any 'real' likeness to get, as most comic characters are verging on abstract, and an individual artist can then interpret them as they will, but a well known/loved TV character, hmmmm, not so much.

A lot of people are going to be buying these comics as they were fans of the TV show, and so to only 'pay lip service' to likenesses seems a wee bit odd. I'm not so much into reading about a Xander who looks more like Doyle crossed with the Fonz.

Saying that I'm sure the majority of us will buy it whatever the characters look like.

*visions of Giles and Andrew looking like Wallace and Gromit. *g*

[ edited by sueworld2003 on 2007-01-09 19:36 ]

sueworld2003 | January 09, 21:33 CET

Do you have to order them all separately, or is there some way to get a running subscription (like with magazines)?

Vince posted a thread about that very matter back in December.

http://whedonesque.com/comments/12024

And terrorist cells? I wonder if anyone in the government would use their Initiative to take on the slayers.

Simon | January 09, 21:36 CET

Oh I love sexy Xander, and of course he is moody (still recovering from Anya's death, duh)! I am so excited, I loved seeing Amy again in BtVS S7 and I always thought she would be a continuing thorn in the scoobie's side. I also thought that Ethan would return to England one day....

embers | January 09, 21:39 CET

I am so excited, and I think this is going to sell a lot, as it will be getting people who arnt into comics to buy it aswell.

And im glad they brought Amy back, im hoping she dosnt go too evil...or atleast gets redeemed.

feigenbaum7 | January 09, 21:54 CET

I think Buffy's image has caught the tilt of her head, the upward glance really well. I would recognize it as Buffy anywhere. But Xander? Without the eyepatch, I wouldn't know it was him. Nice looking guy but not our Xander.

Lioness | January 09, 21:55 CET

Buffy looks very much like Buffy, except she still has the boob job from the last issue, yay continuity.
Xander looks like Xander might look if his life had gone a completely different way. I think a lot of that is he has never had that expression. Kinda pouty.
Still, it looks good.
I think the most important thing about this info is the fact that Amy came out of the crater. That means there is the possibility that the Hellmouth crater has some magical properties and anyone could come out. Anya, Tara, Joyce? Any bad guy from the past.
And Smoochies?
That could be anything. With the new pouty Xander maybe Andrew will develop a new crush.

Xane | January 09, 22:02 CET

I'm really not seeing any Doyle in that rendering of Xander, but maybe it's just me. Both of them don't look 'exactly' like their TV show counterparts, but they're pretty close imo. To me Buffy looks exactly like Buffy, only a little older and more womanly/mature, which makes complete sense. Xander does seem a bit young-looking, but it is definately Xander. I'm not seeing the confusion everyone else seems to be. Oh well, happy for me I guess. :)

mikejer | January 09, 22:06 CET

I agree with whoever said that Xander would like that if he went different route in life. If it's been four(?) years since we've seen him as in real time then there has been plenty of time for him to turn dark a la Wesley.

delirium_haze | January 09, 22:14 CET

Helloooo Xander! Wow, he is looking fine. Amy coming back sounds great, but I can't imagine a showdown between her and Willow would last long.

Could she be after Dawn? There was that 'old enemy' hint a while back.

I am so excited about this!

lone fashionable wolf | January 09, 22:17 CET

I see, I'm the only one who got a Nick Fury A.K.A. Wolverine-vibe from the cover!

bookworm | January 09, 22:39 CET

Sweet cover. Love it. Xander - lean, mean, depth-perception challenged, fighting man. Training potentials in Africa must have made him lose all the weight he'd gained in Season 7. Maybe that's why some think he's looking younger - extra weight can make you look older. I think he's looking tough and like he's gained a sense of confidence. That'd be nice.

However, my eyes glanced at the copy and now I've been spoiled. Stupid eyes. But very cool reveal. I think Amy will be going after Dawn - she's the most vulnerable to attack of the Scoobies and the one who if anything happened to her would hurt Buffy the most.

It just keeps getting better. Only two more months to go.

MacGuffin | January 09, 22:41 CET

No reason for Amy to go after Dawn; she's always been in competition with Willow- who I note as of issue 2 still has not yet made an appearance. What I think is going on is that Joss is setting the stage for Willow to reappear; this comic is every bit as much about her as Buffy, and IMHO probably more so. Buffy is the driver, Willow is the resonance. In response to the comment about whether the craterdale will spew up any dead folk, I don't think Amy was dead. After TKIM, we did not see her again, so she was still around, and likely was well aware of all the mystical battling going on, so also as likely took measures to make sure she was protected. Now, all they have to do is find Miss Kitty Fantastico, and all will be well.

I also thought that the cover version of Xander looked like Nick Fury, and I think it is too buff and too confident looking for my view of Xander.

I may be a dissident voice, but I keep going hot and cold on this comic. I look forward to seeing S8, for sure, but I am not intrigued by a focus on slayerettes I do not know (and feel that at least one will be set up to be loved and then to die), on bringing the real world into the story again (worked okay for the initiative, but do not wish to see Buffy et al have to deal with the US government and the army). I hold out hope that somehow Tara will be returned, though I have no reason to think she will- though Amy being present could help since that gives Willow another helpmeet with great power to bring to use on the issue. I just don't want to see a continuation of S7, I guess. Just me saying, though.

And hey, I'm 53 and go into comic stores all the time- go for it! They love seeing me since I actually have some money to buy stuff. :-)

Dana5140 | January 09, 22:55 CET

The trouble with the comics will be the lack of spoilers. Let's face it, Mutant Enemy leaked like a sieve during Buffy seasons 6 and 7 (and Angel season 5 too) and those who liked to be spoiled were in heaven as a result.

Comic books unfortunately are a different story. So pre-release discussion about the first two episodes (err issues - freudian slip) will be based on (very) slim pickings. But speculation is always fun :).

Simon | January 09, 23:08 CET

Well,I think we are getting spoilers.It's not like when the shows were on air since you don't need casting sides for a comic and access to scripts wouldn't be so easy,unless there is a mole at Dark Horse.lol

But look at what has already been officially spoiled about season 8 so far from the interviews,comic write ups and the preview pages for issue 1.

To me,it already feels like the good old days.

Buffyfantic | January 09, 23:27 CET

But that's just for the beginning, it's an advertising push. Once they start selling like hot cakes, spoilers will be hard to get.

delirium_haze | January 09, 23:34 CET

I agree with you, Dana5140, that I am running hot & cold on this comic. I'm 48 and totally hooked on comics, they love to see me coming to spend money as well, but I'm still not sure if I want to spend money to see the slayerettes. I hope the focus isn't on them too much. Also, I am still a little mad at Xander for being such a butthead to both Anya and Spike. I tend to hold grudges, so seeing him on the cover brings back all the pain he caused me. *sniffle* But in reality I know that once I see the first copy, I'll be hooked. I can't seem to help it.

luvspike | January 09, 23:39 CET

The trouble with the comics will be the lack of spoilers.

Also the advantage of comics. You can bet your bottom dollar that the last few issues of the series -- which are being written by Joss, I believe -- will be closely guarded until release. I love the idea of people not knowing how it'll end.

gossi | January 09, 23:42 CET

As I read the posts discussing the way the characters look, it reminds me of the time I got my first Star Wars comic book back in 1978. I was very disappointed that the characters didn’t look like the actors. It kind of looked like them but not really. My 7 year old brain wanted STAR WARS but instead got these cartoony looking people. Nearly 30 years (and 25,000 comics) later, I look back and understand why people are being critical about these characters not looking exactly like their real life actor counterparts. Keep in mind, these characters are in Joss’ head, not walking around on earth.

About a decade ago, Alex Ross started a trend and decided to paint all the classic DC superheroes in a photo-realistic style. Who’s to say what Superman “really” looks like? He’s been drawn by literally hundreds of artists over the last 69 years. They are all Superman but when I see the thick jaw and massive shoulders, drawn from a perspective of looking up at him, as if he were literally on a pedestal, I know this is what The Man of Steel would look like if he flew into my living room window. But at the same time, draw a stick figure with an S on its chest and anyone will tell you who it is. I imagine the closest example of this type of photo realism for Buffy is the cover to Once More With Feeling drawn in the same photo realistic style by comic favorite, Adam Hughes. I wonder if those fans that are being critical of the current Buffy artwork would prefer a more “OMWF look”. I would love to see Alex Ross draw one of the covers so we could decide for ourselves.

Frankly, this story could be written on the back of a napkin with stick figures and I’d be the first in line to buy. I’m sure you all agree that the most important part of any Joss tale is...Joss. Lets all just be happy he decided not to draw the series himself.

alexreager | January 09, 23:52 CET

Last time I got my eye poked out, I got really moody, too.

Woo-hoo! Xander as Nick Fury! What could be cooler?

And can't wait to hear from a really pissed-off Amy, which is my favourite kind of Amy...

QuoterGal | January 10, 00:19 CET

hmm.

Jo Chen's technique is marvelous, but I gotta admit that neither Xander or Buffy look like Xander or Buffy in this one. to me, a large part of what makes for a faithful rendition is capturing what lays just below, ie., the structure of the skull (or body). and both X and B here have really generic comicbooky heads, not their own unique bone structure/musculature.

this is where I'm excited about George Jeanty's art, btw...he *really* did a good job at capturing SMG's skeletivity, so far. if he eventually "gets" Dawn better than he did in the one promo piece, he's home free.

annagranfors | January 10, 00:31 CET

*squeee*

The last X-Wing Rogue Squadron Omnibus! Finally!

...

Ahem.

Yay, Buffy!

sueworld2003, I don't think that it's that the artists aren't *capable* of producing an exact likeness -- as I understand it, they intentionally don't *want* an exact likeness. (I'm not sure why, really. Not a comics person.)

(Skipped over part of the thread, so don't know if there've been a lot of answers to this already.)

The problem is, photo-realistic art tends to look very static. It's not that artists intentionally want to move away from actors' looks (unless there are likeness rights issues involved)--it's that they have to make them more comic-friendly, so that the art can tell the story as dynamically as possible.

Niels | January 10, 00:44 CET

Is Jo doing all the covers, or just the first arc? Or are there variations too? I've seen something that looked like a Jeanty's cover (unless it was weirdly abstract interior art) and I'm curious how that fits into things. I've love to keep seeing Jo's take on all the characters.

As for the likeness thing, while Jo's art does go for the pretty more often than not (in Runaways her covers featuring Gert tended to slim her down a bit) I suppose it might also be compensating for where real life differs from the fiction of the show. Nicolas Brendon is a decade older than his character if I remember correctly, so while Xander ought to be 23-ish when this takes place Brendon can't really do anything about that.

I'm really curious where this "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" logo on clothing thing ends up going though. I really hope it never gets around to those sweatpants with the text on the bottom...

orangewaxlion | January 10, 01:09 CET

Can anyone else see Xander's eye through the eye-patch?

Awesome cover! And Amy? What a nice surprise!

ChosenGuy317 | January 10, 01:18 CET

This whole series looks great especially considering this is what Joss has envisioned for Buffy S8! That being said, I will wait for the TPB to come out instead of collecting the issues seperately...

Simpleba | January 10, 01:24 CET

Who poked James Dean's eye out? And where's Xander?

willbueche | January 10, 02:42 CET

I don't read comics. Ever. I'm pretty sure my town doesn't even have a comic book store (the one that previously existed is gone or moved, but if I looked hard enough I might be able to find one). But I got more excited about this issue than I've been about any TV show for a good while. It speaks to the amazing work I'm expecting from Whedon & Co. I'll be finding a way to these books no matter what. Thank God for the internet.

The cover art looks absolutely AMAZING. I mean that's just straight up sexy! And I love the premise of the slayer legion being sought after. It adds a whole new level of tension that boggles my mind.

Can't wait, J.

Arabchick | January 10, 02:47 CET

Yes, orangewaxlion, next issue will feature Dawn's "BtVS" sweatpants, then Giles with his officially licensed tie, followed by Willow's Buffybra. Faith could probably just get a logo tattoo.

CaptainB | January 10, 02:50 CET

It's definitely all about Buffy/Xander ship this season.

Moscow Watcher | January 10, 03:06 CET

Yay, Amy! I *knew* it.

This is especially awesome because it could lead to such a great dynamic for Willow.

And the cover art? Oh my God. And Dawn called him Double-O Xander in "Lessons"? Yikes. I don't swing that way, but Xander does look pretty damn sexy.

WilliamTheB | January 10, 03:11 CET

Woah! That is very impressive, even better than the issue #1 cover! And the slightly-spoilery teasing description... yay!

crossoverman | January 10, 03:12 CET

YAY!!!! OMG!!!! I am just a little excited.

Snoogins | January 10, 03:20 CET

You'll find that the spoilers will come almost unintentionally throughout the entire run. When writing the description of issue #10, for example, #8 and 9 won't be on the stands yet. But the solicitation for #10 in Previews will read like they are already out. So unless someone monitors the solicitations, spoilers will leak out. It usually doesn't reveal anything major, but you can bet there will be plenty between the lines.

This is all just from what I've seen in the past from comic solicitations though. They may be better at not revealing spoilers now, I haven't been involved in comics enough to read Previews for years.

danregal | January 10, 04:45 CET

Yep, I would be moody and pissy if I just had my eye scooped out. I wonder what Nicky would think of this?

Harmalicious | January 10, 05:02 CET

Just when you think you can not become more excited about this comic....BOOM! Something like this comes out.
Both Buffy and Xander look amazing in this pic. I think that looks quite a bit like both of them. Damn this is exciting.
Someone should kiss that artist. Seriously.

cheryl | January 10, 05:09 CET

That picture is amazing. finally Xander looks like the badass that we all know he is.

This is now at the top of my list of things I'm looking forward to.

ssick | January 10, 05:13 CET

Xander looks fucking badass. And, yup, Nick Fury was the first thing to cross my mind when I saw it. Yes, Jo Chen's Xander looks closer to an S2 or S3 Xander than the S7 Xander, but hey, I could easily tell it was Xander even without the eyepatch. Not sure where people are getting Doyle out of that. Buffy also looks great.

Amy's coming out from under the Hellmouth, eh? Not entirely sure what I think about that, but I trust Joss; it's just in my nature that I be inherently skeptical about anything I'm ever looking forward to ever (I was extremely nervous about Serenity, and we all know how awesome that turned out).

The Scoobies as terrorists? Holy shit, that is awesome. I loves me some Joss.

I still need to give a ring to my comics shop to ask them to hold a copy for me...

UnpluggedCrazy | January 10, 06:46 CET

Anyone still looking for a local comic book store in North America, should check out the Comic Shop Locator. There might be one close by to where you live without you knowing it.

As for the cover for #2, it looks really amazing. The cover for the first issue was great, but I think Jo Chen really got SMG's likeness this time. Xander also looks good, but not quite as a likeness as SMG. Maybe later issues she will get Xander better off just as she did with Buffy.

Matt_Fabb | January 10, 07:01 CET

I'll be getting mine one way or another, you bet. I glanced at the picture and thought, Whoah, who's the stud? Then I saw the eyepatch. I'm all for SexyXander! Bring on Amy as well. I had mixed feelings about her final appearance and then decided I liked it much more than I didn't. If handled carefully, she'll add a lot. And who could handle her more carefully than The Boss himself?

April | January 10, 07:03 CET

Awesomeness. I'm really loving these covers as they come out. Buffy looks older and more mature, much more as I'd pictured her for season 8. They both look like they've been through a lot (and Xander in a leather coat is unbelievably, unspeakably hot). Maybe with the terrorist angle going on, Riley might show up in some capacity against the Scooby gang. Judging by this cover, he now has to battle Xander for the title of Nick Fury. Agent Finn has the Nora but Private Harris has the eyepatch.

Small Frye | January 10, 07:56 CET

This got me more excited than the first cover! It's the Xand-factor.

Sunnycide | January 10, 09:33 CET

Jo Chen is an amazing cover artist and I'm absolutely in love with that cover, especially Xander.

Compare Bruce Wayne as drawn by two different people, and then throw in Michael Keaton and Christian Bale. They're gonna look different. They're representations of a fictional character, so they vary by artist/actor. Remember, it's a picture of Xander, not Nicholas Brendon. As long as there is enough similarities within the representations so that the character is recognizable, try to appreciate it as the stunning piece of work it is instead of nitpicking on how it doesn't look like a different representation of the character.

dingoes8 | January 10, 09:41 CET

Looks like Season 1 Xander with an eyepatch to me. Check out 'The Pack'.

TwisTz | January 10, 09:59 CET

I'm guessing that #3 and #4 will feature Willow and Giles on the covers respectively.

Simon | January 10, 11:41 CET

I can't hardly wait, this is so exciting. It does feel like the spoilerific days of later Buffy and Angel, when snoopin' for scoops was a daily thrill. I don't like knowing too much, but these dribs and drabs are the kind of teasing I love.

With the way Xander sort of fell by the wayside in S7, almost woefully underutilized and unappreciated, it's fantastic to see he's going to be plot-essential this season. I guess I can see a ghostly Doyle-ness there if I squint (with one eye, hah!), but it's not enough to bug. I'm used to comics evoking rather than outright mimicking the TV versions of characters, and although it can be jarringly off at times, to me this is looking very much on the acceptable end of the spectrum by comparison with some other stuff that's out there.

And yeah, smoochies? Huh. And hmmm...

Wiseblood | January 10, 11:56 CET

Hottie Xander seems to be getting a few squees on LJs and blogs. And I'm assuming we'll get Buffy season 8 action figures.

Simon | January 10, 13:56 CET

Not necessarily Simon. DST have been asked about releasing toys based on the comic and they said at present they were not interested, but If the comic did 'big business' then they would consider it.

sueworld2003 | January 10, 16:36 CET

Ah well. Cheers. I think it's safe to say that the first issue will do big business but after that it's anyone's guess.

Simon | January 10, 16:43 CET

Remember, it's a picture of Xander, not Nicholas Brendon. As long as there is enough similarities within the representations so that the character is recognizable, try to appreciate it as the stunning piece of work it is instead of nitpicking on how it doesn't look like a different representation of the character.

dingoes8

Well I don't think it is 'nitpicking' and in my humble opion (being a comic art collector of 25 years) that a truly great artist could strike a better balance between creating a comic book style piece of 'art' and something that actually looks like the character. You say it's meant to be Xander rather then Nic Brendon, but Nic Brendon 'was' Xander, so to have him look like somebody else is rather odd don't you think.

What I don't want to see repeated with this comic is the whole idea that I won't know who's who until someone opens their mouth and I can read it in the speech bubbles, ie "Ah hello Giles nice to see you" etc, etc, which used to happen a lot in past Buffy mags by this company.

Hopefully with Joss on board there will be less of that.

sueworld2003 | January 10, 16:46 CET

Yes, I had that problem with Angel: Old Friends. When Wesley and Cordy turned up I didn't have a clue who they were.

Simon | January 10, 16:58 CET

Oh god same here.

The trouble is good likenesses in a TV tie in are important to the reader as you can see in cases like the one you describe.

Cliff hangers can be easily buggered up (as in one edition of the old Buffy comic when they revealed at the end who had come to rescue Buffy from the demon pit. It was supposed to Pike, but it took me ages to figure out who the hell he was!) and so can end up taking the dramatic 'edge' of what the writer is trying to do with the story.

In 'normal comic's that isn't as important as artists can play 'fast and loose' with what (for example) Reed Richards looks like and not hinder the dramatic license of the whole thing.

sueworld2003 | January 10, 17:56 CET

Well, I agree if you actually can't tell who an established character is without dialogue then that's a problem especially if a dramatic reveal depends on it (but then, that'd also be a problem for Reed Richards or Peter Parker).

I still think though that the 'feel' of the character is more important than photo-realistic likenesses and that photorealism restricts the artist's choices and really can feel stuffy and static (for my money it's a bit like saying Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers' are rubbish because they don't necessarily look exactly like sunflowers).

Or take Xander (OK, now bring him back, we're talking here ;). S7 Xander is clearly the same guy as S1 Xander but the two don't look exactly the same. Sure he looks like Nick Brendon but with an eyepatch. Spike looks like James Marsters but with dyed hair. SMG is (I think) a natural brunette so although a dark haired SMG may look exactly like herself (duh ;), she won't look like Buffy. You could carry on right into considering prosthetics (like scars, bald caps, teeth, vampiric foreheads, even lifts in shoes etc.) for examples of characters not looking exactly like the actors that portray them.

(as another example, I thought in general the Gunn one shot was flawed and Gunn, to me, didn't look much like J August Richards but the art, in combination with the writing, certainly created the impression of Gunn, stylised - I assume deliberately - as the pencils may have been)

Saje | January 10, 19:17 CET

Comics Continuum usually has crappy quality on their images. Comic Book Resources put their up at much higher quality:

http://comicbookresources.com/news/preview2.php?image=solicits/darkhorse/200704/BUFFY2-2-FC-FNL.jpg

(sorry for not linking up!)

CaptainB | January 10, 19:54 CET

Or take Xander (OK, now bring him back, we're talking here ;). S7 Xander is clearly the same guy as S1 Xander but the two don't look exactly the same. Sure he looks like Nick Brendon but with an eye patch.

Err, no. I'm afraid it's not just the eye patch. Season 7 Xander look a lot older then his season 1 counterpart, as well as lot heavier.

Comic book characters that have only ever existed in graphic form don't have the same sort of problem. There isn't a definitive version that defines the character in real life that you can easily refer back to.

You get it's Reed Richards because of the hair, costume and if nothing else it's his comic book. With artwork based on real life TV characters I think it helps to have as good a likeness as possible to the 'real deal' for if nothing else I believe it gives an authentic 'feel' to the whole proceedings somehow. That doesn't mean tracing over screencaps either, and making the artwork extrmely staic.

Years ago there was a TV comic in the UK called 'Countdown' which had various strips based on real TV shows. One was Dr Who and the artists there had the likeness of John Pertwee down to a T. They also had very good Star Trek strip running at one point too, in which the artwork was exceptional and the likeness beautifully rendered.

But that saying when it comes to all forms of art everyone has their likes and dislikes, and that's mine. *g*

[ edited by sueworld2003 on 2007-01-10 18:42 ]

sueworld2003 | January 10, 20:41 CET

[quote]Amy coming back sounds great, but I can't imagine a showdown between her and Willow would last long. [/quote]

But we really don't know what the effect of going all goddessly has had on Willow. If she is even more connected to all power, she might be fighting tapping into that for a aggressive or battle like way. In the last episode she was doing "good" magic linking all the potentials, that would be different than casting some wicked spell to battle bady Amy.

And Xander is SO hot. I am so excited for spring.

10%ofnothin | January 10, 22:31 CET

I personally think it is silly to expect the character designs to look 100% like the actors who played them. But I guess as a comic fan I've never been bothered by the fact that Batman doesn't look like Michael Keaton and Superman doesn't look like Christopher Reeve.

I appreciate that Chen and Jeanty are trying to make sure their characters are recognizable as the ones portrayed by SMG and Nick Brendon, and yet I'm also glad that they're drawing them as young characters and not photorealistic renderings of the actors as they look today. Buffy and Xander are supposed to be in their early twenties, so let them look that way.

I mean, really. In ten years, if there are still Spike comics on the stand, does anyone really want the character to look like a 50 year old James Marsters?

Saturn Girl | January 11, 01:10 CET

I mean, really. In ten years, if there are still Spike comics on the stand, does anyone really want the character to look like a 50 year old James Marsters?

Saturn Girl

That's not really the same thing is it, as Spike, like Angel is meant to be a immortal vampire, and so he wouldn't 'age' at the same rate as a human (we just about got away with that on the show I know). Xanders human, so there's no excuse there.

Superman and Batman (except when it came to the occasional film tie in) have never had to bother about getting them to look like any real life person, and so an artist has never been 'tested' to that degree. They can play around' to their hearts content and everyone excepts it.

I personally think when it comes to the crunch it's more the divide between 'old school' comic fans who are used to more stylized renditions of their favorite character and the new 'hard core' Buffy fans who don't normally buy such things, and are only doing so because of their desire to see more of the Buffyverse.

The latter (myself included) aren't so keen to see any vague likeness of their fav character, but having said that I'll still buy the thing even if they end up looking like Wallace and Gromit!

[ edited by sueworld2003 on 2007-01-10 23:24 ]

sueworld2003 | January 11, 01:21 CET

"Superman doesn't look like Christopher Reeve."

That is so funny. I have a distinct memory of seeing a magazine cover with Christopher Reeve on it just before the first Superman movie came out and thinking, "Wow, they finally found an actor who looks like Superman!"

...I'm not sure what that has to do with this discussion...

Oh, wait. Miracle of miracles I am on topic.

I think there is a different expectation of the look of comics characters that first appeared in comics. The WW debate for instance. So far I feel like this is hitting a nice balance. I've pretty much known who the characters were without it looking like a photo of the actors. (Admittedly, Buffy looked a bit young in the preview pages.)But that is just my reation...so far at least.

newcj | January 11, 01:29 CET

Well, as is usually the case, disagreeing on Whedonesque is as pleasant as agreeing anywhere else but disagree we must sueworld2003 ;).

Err, no. I'm afraid it's not just the eye patch. Season 7 Xander look a lot older then his season 1 counterpart, as well as lot heavier.

Sure, guy got a bit older and (as is often the case ;) heavier but that's kind of my point (I just used the eyepatch as a slightly more PC example). He looks different but he's still Xander, right ? Just like the comic version. Where everyone draws the line as to how different he can look and still be Xander is purely arbitrary, everyone's mileage will vary (and for me, you may be surprised to hear, Chen's Xander is right on the edge of 'a cool departure but still Xander' and teetering towards 'who hell he ?' ;).

Comic book characters that have only ever existed in graphic form don't have the same sort of problem. There isn't a definitive version that defines the character in real life that you can easily refer back to.

From your posts you sound like a comic fan so you must know that quite often people do have a 'definitive' version of their favourite character against which all comers are judged. There may not be a real person to compare to but Neal Adams fans might see his Batman as being the 'definitive' one, likewise Todd McFarlane or Frank Miller or Jim Lee fans (Alex Ross's Superman was mentioned above).

You get it's Reed Richards because of the hair, costume and if nothing else it's his comic book

Hands up anyone who didn't know it was Xander just from the patch (and context of a Buffy comic) ? I could envision (though it's massively unlikely to happen) someone like Ben Templesmith drawing an arc of Angel (he's probably not really a great match with Buffy) and, as you can see from this variant cover his version isn't necessarily that much like David Boreanaz but it still looks like Angel, just abstracted slightly.

As you say though, art's a very personal thing and there's no right or wrong just interestingly varied opinions (and i've gotta say, i'd pay folding money to see a Buffy/Wallace and Gromit crossover ;-).

Saje | January 11, 02:19 CET

Actually, (haha) I think that linked cover looks just like Boreanaz. Whatever. I'll take what I can get, and what I'm getting isn't bad at all. No more complaints.

CaptainB | January 12, 02:48 CET

January 09 2007