Whedonesque : Comments on 12401 : (SPOILER) Dark Horse release info for Buffy #3.

AWEsome.

Damn, that is a lovely cover. With the comic's quality at this kind of level I'm soon going to be forgetting that Buffy ever was a television series.

Okay, maybe not, but you can't deny that this comic seems to be exceeding expectations in all areas. I'm very impressed indeed.

D-Monik | February 05, 22:58 CET

Willow totally stole Buffy's pants.

Saturn Girl | February 05, 23:29 CET

Thanks Simon!

I can't wait, I really need to stop reading the plot, but I can't help it.

hitnrun017 | February 05, 23:29 CET

Who's the unwelcomed Prince Charmless that's going to wake up our Sleeping Buffy? I can only think of Jonothan (but he's dead) or Spike (I'm also thinking unlikely). Perhaps it's a guy or gal we never knew was in love with the Slayer before...Clem?? And yes, those are Buffy "Gradutation Day/Buffy vs Dracula" pants on Willow. I hope Oz shows up this season.

CaptainB | February 05, 23:56 CET

I love Willow's ass!

SpikeBad | February 05, 23:58 CET

SG--haha! I'd love to see a page 1 (inside front cover) of Buffy asking whether anyone's seen her red pants. and blaming it on Dawn because, well, what the hell. although apparently Dawn won't be fitting into them for a while... :)

annagranfors | February 05, 23:58 CET

Who's the unwelcomed Prince Charmless that's going to wake up our Sleeping Buffy? I can only think of Jonothan (but he's dead) or Spike (I'm also thinking unlikely).

Or Angel but also unlikely.Maybe Riley,Parker or Scott Hope.

Sound like Amy is going to be a hand fool.An unwelcome familiar face could be Ethan.

Buffyfantic | February 06, 00:09 CET

SpikeBad - "I love Willow's ass!"

What? You didn't always? ;)

Nice to see Buffy's favourite Faith-kicking pants are making a welcome return, regardless of who happens to be wearing them.

D-Monik | February 06, 00:14 CET

Wow. Willow got tall. It's pretty, though.

Meltha | February 06, 00:20 CET

I think the unwelcome familar face will be Riley and that's cause he represents the US government (who don't like what the Slayers have become).

Simon | February 06, 00:21 CET

Riley is a good call.With the government thinking the slayers are a terror cell,Riley being sent to talk to Buffy would make sense.

Buffyfantic | February 06, 00:24 CET

Or Angel but also unlikely.Maybe Riley,Parker or Scott Hope.

Well, Holden Webster told us, well, actually told Buffy, that Scott's gay, so unless it's some weird joke, I find that to be not as probable.

Riley seems a good guess. The phrasing seems to be built in the singular, so it is likely that it might be Riley himself, instead of the Finns.

Numfar PTB | February 06, 00:45 CET

Riley really does seem like the plausible one for the unwelcome face. Good idea.

maje | February 06, 01:48 CET

Yea, Riley makes sense. I can't see how either Spike or Angel would be unwelcome.

luvspike | February 06, 02:18 CET

I love all the Jo Chen covers we've seen so far and I can't wait to see some slayers in Scotland.

[ edited by derf on 2007-02-06 01:25 ]

Derf | February 06, 03:25 CET

Caleb. Returned from the dead. No way it's Parker. But Riley, maybe.

kerfuffle | February 06, 03:36 CET

Blueanddollsome: “The "Unwelcome familiar face" and the one who delivers the kiss of true love, sound like two different people.

“My money is on Xander for the kisser. Bander was hinted at in s7 with Buffy and Xander being all parental towards Dawn. And then the way Buffy talks about Xander at the beginning of issue #1 ("I still got my Watcher") shows he holds a very dear place in her life. It would give the story a nice circularity if Buffy and Xander ended up together too, since he fell for her (literally) at first sight.”

Aurey09 | February 06, 03:39 CET

Xander being the kisser is an interesting idea. I remember in some commentary Joss acknowledging that fans who rooted for Buffy/Xander had a good reason, since it's hinted at in the very first episode with Xander's reaction to first seeing Buffy.

But "I still got my Watcher" -- isn't that referring to Giles, or am I really, really missing something? I know that Xander's power is that he sees things, but Giles is still the Watcher . . .

But anyway, I cannot wait. I watched Buffy on dvd after the series was over, so this will be my very first time to consume brand new Buffy goodnes:)

sorethumb | February 06, 05:01 CET

While I would love that 'kiss' to be about B/A, I am pretty sure instead that it's a giant misdirect. Evil Joss. ;)

However, is it only me that thought the "familiar and unwelcome" face meant that Buffy was somehow possessed or taken over by another person and might end up stuck as that person and thus out of commission without that kiss of true love? That was my first thought...

I would think Riley would be a WELCOME face - especially in light of Buffy and the gang being considered terrorist cells. He'd know better and be a good source for helping them clear that up with his goverment connections. And he and Buffy DID leave things on a positive note last time they met...

love4ba | February 06, 06:21 CET

Isn't it lovely to be speculating again about what's going to happen next on Buffy?
Yay!

jcs | February 06, 06:40 CET

Twoo wuv, huh? That leaves out Spike then. He wouldn't be described that way. Not even in jest. I mean who cares about the last three years of relationship agonies on the show, right? Heh. No, I'm not bitter. Not at all.

VilleValoisGod | February 06, 07:00 CET

Well, I'd love it to be Spike, but I think it's Joyce.

Reddygirl | February 06, 07:14 CET

Eenteresting. Veddy eenteeresting.

Riley seems like a good bet. And that cover is kickin'.

UnpluggedCrazy | February 06, 07:20 CET

jcs, I was just thinking the same thing! And won't it be lovely to be misdirected by clever writing again? It's always kind of fun to realize later how cleverly I was led along the entire time. I love a sneaky plot.

I hope Willow turns Amy back into a rat for good this time. I'm pretty psyched about a proper magic duel only 3 episodes in.

Sunfire | February 06, 07:43 CET

jcs...you read my mind. It is SO nice to be speculating about Buffy again. The best feeling in the world actually. Thank you so much Joss.
A kiss from a true love huh? In my mind that will always be Angel but there are many forms of love that happen to be true.
Giles, Xander or Willow could all deliver that kiss to awaken Buffy. Joyce would be a welcomed visitor into the Universe again. Everybody truly loves Buffy, that's the beauty of this character.
Thank you for bringing Buffy back to us Joss. Nobody does it quite like you.

cheryl | February 06, 08:58 CET

Oh isn't this exciting!!
I'm thinking Riley is a good guess, although, Angel was seen as untrustworthy by the slayers...so who knows? Maybe it's him?

Either way..how sex does Willow look in that cover! Oh new Buffy! YAY!

nixygirl | February 06, 09:03 CET

Ya'll are excited about getting to speculate about Buffy *again.* I'm getting to speculate for the very first time! Because my introduction to the show was an 11-hour marathon of major episodes (starting with "Welcome to the Hellmouth" and ending with "Chosen") with summary in between eps. I then watched all the episodes, already knowing the basic story arcs.

So I am very glad about these comics, because it allows me to repent for not watching the show when it aired (in fact, I used to make fun of a friend of mine for watching *shudders and hides face in shame*)

[ edited by sorethumb on 2007-02-06 07:51 ]

sorethumb | February 06, 09:50 CET

Beautiful cover. I'd really like to read this series, but I think I'm going to wait for them all to be published together in book format. It just seems too much hassle to order a $2.99 comic from the US every two months.

flugufrelsarinn | February 06, 14:40 CET

You'll are excited about getting to speculate about Buffy *again.* I'm getting to speculate for the very first time!

What can I say, but welcome to the wagon.
But it's fun, that for the first time I can do it in Whedonesque (Caroline should retell someday that story about, how late Whedonesque came into the game), which I joined around the time BtVS was ending in May, 2003.

Numfar PTB | February 06, 15:06 CET

I liked that we could all interpret the show/ships the way we wanted without a definitive answer. I would think Joss no more wants the "Nya nya nya" crap from certain shippers anymore than most of us want to see it. While for me, it will always be Spike/Buffy, I personally hope he won't pick a side for all of our sakes, and enjoyment of the verse.

spikeylover | February 06, 16:23 CET

A larger cover pic from CBR.
Here

Numfar PTB | February 06, 16:48 CET

Hey, flugufrelsarinn, I see you live in the UK, and there are a lot of stores there that do the importing for you and sell on at reasonable prices.

Niels | February 06, 16:54 CET

I know I'm the only one here to think this, but I find that 'dress' Willows wearing rather on the weird side.

Looks to me like she's just be to the toilet and come out with the back of it tucked into her pants by accident. *g*

sueworld2003 | February 06, 17:11 CET

That is one beautiful cover for sure. Willow looks sexy and straight up bad ass.

cheryl | February 06, 17:13 CET

flugufrelsarinn, according to Yell.com there's a shop in Dundee which i'd guess is reachable (depending on your transport arrangements). Failing that the same page has a couple of Glasgow shops that'll probably post you one or failing that, there's always Forbidden Planet. Even within the UK though, expect to pay around the price of the comic on postage so if you can get to a shop it makes sense

(i've never tried it, BTW, but for those in the UK it's not entirely impossible that your local newsagent could maybe order you one specially. It might work the same way as niche magazines or foreign newspapers).

sueworld2003, well it's not exactly a going down the Co-op dress, that's fer sure ;). I guess for hi-magicks and other shenanigans it's probably OK though (and Willow is, quite literally, smokin' so I can deal ;).

Saje | February 06, 17:40 CET

Hey, is it just me or is Willow slightly see-through? You can vaguely see the background behind her. Is she a ghost? Hooking up with Ghost Tara?

Niels | February 06, 17:40 CET

Looks to me like she's just be to the toilet and come out with the back of it tucked into her pants by accident. *g

Sueworld.. Bwa ha ha! This doesn't happen to people, does it?

spikeylover | February 06, 17:41 CET

Hey, is it just me or is Willow slightly see-through? You can vaguely see the background behind her. Is she a ghost?

Well, she was a ghost once, sort of.

Numfar PTB | February 06, 18:16 CET

I'd love to see Spike/Buffy kiss, but I'm almost sure this time it will be Xander who'll give Buffy the kiss of true love.

Moscow Watcher | February 06, 18:33 CET

Telltale, I see what you mean but I think that is actually the mist passing in front of her, rather than us seeing it through her body.

D-Monik | February 06, 18:34 CET

Like others here, my first thought is that "true love" is not going to be romantic love. The idea of it being Joyce makes sense, except that she is dead. Xander would also work, but is that too much like the end of S6? Giles would also make sense as her father figure. What about it turning out to be someone totally different that we would not expect, someone who has come to love Buffy after a long road. Faith, for instance, would be an interesting choice and bring up the idea of learning to love all aspects of yourself.

newcj | February 06, 20:29 CET

It will always be Spike/Buffy for me and I would love to see some sort of closure on their relationship as I feel it was really left hanging out there. But then that is what turned it into an obsession with me, so Joss knew what he was doing there. And also, I wouldn't mind seeing Buffy with anyone, but Xander to me is just not right. They were much too much like brother and sister, it would almost be incest. Nope, wouldn't work for me.

luvspike | February 06, 20:53 CET

I don't know,I wouldn't mind if Joss gave a definitive answer on the ship.I actually would love it whatever way it went.I can understand why some like the idea of a draw/left up in the air.But for me,personally,that just isn't satisfying.Even though,one shipper group would be upset,I rather have things settled with final answers.I'm for Buffy/Angel so I would want it to go that way,of course.Either way though,shippers tend to be upset no matter what is done.If it's left up in the air,some are upset,if a definitive answer on the ships are given,other will be upset.I figure if someone is going to be upset anyway,might as well just go for it and answer things.All this is IMO.

Quite honestly though,I'm sure this 'true love' thing is a misdirect.It's in a comic solicitation and solicitations tend to have misleads.It's supposed to generate talk and speculation without revealing too much and misleading people is part of that.

ETA

I wouldn't have a problem if Buffy/Xander was played with in season 8.I think if done right,it could be an interesting storyline.I really hated the idea of Buffy/The Immortal and I'm glad Joss wiped that out but Buffy/Xander could be something to have fun with here.

[ edited by Buffyfantic on 2007-02-06 19:02 ]

Buffyfantic | February 06, 20:53 CET

True love kiss; Angel fits that category imo, but like others, I believe it's a misdirect and doesn't necessarily have to do with romantic love. I'd love it if it were Xander. Or from a parental standpoint, Joyce or Giles and sisterly, Dawn. I think someone said it before but Faith would be an interesting choice.

maje | February 06, 22:30 CET

Having relationships "hanging out there" seems pretty realistic to me. I say keep her single (at least while she's still in her 20s) and keep everyone guessing (and fighting). Much more fun that way.

jcs | February 06, 23:51 CET

I have to wonder...I would in some ways enjoy seeing Xander and Buffy together (altho I still have hopes on Anya's not staying deceased permanently;in my personal AU X&A have their second anniversary comming up late fall) but I tend to agree with the writer in BtVS and Philosophy who said they know way too much about each other's exes to ever live civilly and fight fairly together. (Again in my personal AU B&A have their first anni. comming up in May.)
And sorry but I like Riley and Sam, he deserves someone like that, so I hope nothing's gone pffft there.
Speaking of misleads, the "unwelcome" aspect of the familiar face might be in the news it speaks and not in the face itself nor the itnentions of the brain behind it.

DaddyCatALSO | February 07, 04:18 CET

Hmm, it looks like my Mary Sue character's description of Amy as "well, pretty much evil now" will have to be shortened by 60-80% of its words and a comma.
And to think that a couple years abck Liz gave an itnerview to the Buffy magazine where she said she felt Amy was more misunderstood than evil. And fans wrote in complaining about the editors' including that interview at all in an issue devoted to villains.

World keeps on turning.

DaddyCatALSO | February 07, 04:32 CET

February 05 2007