Whedonesque : Comments on 14220 : (SPOILER) Dark Horse release info and cover art for Buffy #9.

Both marvellous. Jo Chen just keeps hitting them out of the park, but Jeanty's alternate cover is brilliant!

crossoverman | September 13, 10:47 CET

...am I missing an Avengers in-joke with the alternate Buffy logo on that cover? it IS wonderful, though...

annagranfors | September 13, 11:22 CET

I'm not caught up on the comic canon at all, but I wonder if Jeanty meant that sexual innuendo...

LiLi | September 13, 11:39 CET

I would soooo watch that show.

Craig Oxbrow | September 13, 12:03 CET

Miss Lehane, we're needed!

Simon | September 13, 12:06 CET

The first cover is just superb, beautifully done, worthy of being framed.

The second, oh dear. I personally think it's awful. A very poor likeness of Faith as well which doesn't help matters.

sueworld2003 | September 13, 13:00 CET

I'm with sueworld2003 on this... I wasn't even sure it was Faith on the second cover! The first cover, though, is breathtaking.

TDBrown | September 13, 13:22 CET

I like it. It's very reminscent of the new wave of British comic book art that was appearing in the late 80s/early 90s i.e. artwork for Deadline, Crisis and Revolver.

Simon | September 13, 13:54 CET

With a passing glance, I loved both covers madly and deeply and wanted to take them home and hoard em' away.
On closer inspection, I love Jo's even more, but Georges cover looks a little too fan-arty for me. Faith's face is weird and Giles head is WAY out of proportion to his body.
Now I realise this may purposely be some kind of ironical, comic book, Avengers shout out thingy, but THIS average young lady just doesn't get it.
I'll still buy them both, though!

missb | September 13, 14:18 CET

Was that the dress Faith was burning? If so, me thinks this doesn't bode well...(or maybe it could, you never know with these guys)

deepgirl187 | September 13, 15:21 CET

I love it! Growing up, Emma Peel was my first, um, strong woman character.

Pointy | September 13, 15:24 CET

It goes without saying that Jo Chen's cover is stunning. Though I love the concept for the variant, I agree with sueworld2003 and missb that the execution leaves a bit to be desired. I don't know enough about comic books to know if it's a purposeful, stylistic thing or not, but I've never really "gotten" Jeanty's women's faces, and Faith's in particularly.

Art! It's so delightfully subjective!

karosurly | September 13, 16:12 CET

Jo Chen's likeness of Eliza and flames are extra good here.
I think Jeanty purposefully made the alt cover a little goofy looking, but I still don't have to like it.

Also, I'm kinda pooped that's the end of 2007 and still no sign of "Better Days."

CaptainB | September 13, 16:46 CET

While I'm not going to lie and say that Georges' cover is better than Jo's beautiful cover...well, Georges' is almost the best thing ever. (Work out THAT paradox!)

But the moods are so different, I must ask: If you buy the regular, is there a terribly sad ending where Lady Genevieve kills all the world's puppies (or something similar), and if you buy the variant, is it all happy and goofy?

And I am also sad that there's no Better Days in '07.

[ edited by UnpluggedCrazy on 2007-09-13 14:30 ]

UnpluggedCrazy | September 13, 17:29 CET

Very clever, the second one!

And can I just, as an aside, complain that TFAW has finally shipped my #6... but not until YESTERDAY (and didn't answer my e-mails asking about the delay). I've finally located a local comic book shop and once I get subscriptions organized there, I will be very happy to cancel the rest of my TFAW pre-orders.

Er... sorry... I just needed a place to vent.

Kirochka | September 13, 17:42 CET

I think the Jeanty cover is fun.

[ edited by Sunfire on 2007-09-13 15:33 ]

Sunfire | September 13, 18:33 CET

Kirochka, I know exactly what you're talking about re: TFAW's subscription shipping practices. Annoying, very.

Jo Chen's cover art is breath-taking, as usual. Am I the only person who's old & quirky enough to see a resemblance to this image from a long-ago Leonard Cohen album:
http://perso.orange.fr/pilgraeme/images/joan.jpg

Maeve | September 13, 18:54 CET

Haven't we seen that Jo Chen cover before? Actually, let me rephrase... I've seen that Jo Chen cover before (I've used it as a desktop). But the alternate...? I'm gonna side with those saying great idea, not so great execution. Again, Jeanty is obviously a talented artist, just not polished or stylized enough for my tastes.

Still, the variant cover does amuse. :)

Haunt | September 13, 18:56 CET

I guess I'm not in on the Avengers joke either.

Jeanty definitely has the chops, but he seems to have a strange view of the show/comic's tone. Chen's covers make the comic look very epic, mysterious, and intense. Jeanty's covers tend to make the comic look...comical, with a few exceptions. Buffy has always had an element of humor and silliness, but it was never a sitcom.

RaisedByMongrels | September 13, 20:06 CET

Do the cover artists know what one another are doing? Because these two in particular complement each other like woah.

Chen showed herself a brilliant portatraituress in the first run but with this arc having four covers all focused on the same character you really get to see her storytelling chops. Jeanty always had those - I'm a big fan of his faux naiv style for Buffy it has the quirkiness and inventive range of the show down to a T and his faces are so expressive. You can see Giles getting into the Steed role while Faith is more "I can't believe I agreed to this." Love the dancing bond girl border and the relative angles of stake and umbrella.

hayes62 | September 13, 20:37 CET

OK, pardon me while I post another off-topic message.

TFAW PRE-ORDERS ARE NON-CANCELLABLE.

Live and learn (to read the fine print) the hard way. I've pre-ordered through #8, plus the next Omnibus plus the first Angel: After the Fall.

YARGH. Well, that'll be the last of the money TFAW gets out of me.

Back to your actual topic. Sorry. But I was looking for a wall to slam my head against several times, and this seemed a less painful option.

Kirochka | September 13, 20:54 CET

Also, I'm kinda pooped that's the end of 2007 and still no sign of "Better Days."

Yeesh, I told people this months ago and no one listened to me. Heh.

theonetruebix | September 13, 21:35 CET

RaisedByMongrels, go here:

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d189/katiemcintyre/TheAvengers.jpg

Chris inVirginia | September 13, 21:38 CET

SNICKER! *hee*
Okay, there is SO a UST/shippy subtext thing going on between those two.

lorelei_frolick | September 13, 21:50 CET

ya know, something tells me that Jeanty's cover is a rough version that got out accidentally...again, the logo seems unfinished and temporary, and yah, it's hardly his best work, anatomy-wise.

annagranfors | September 13, 22:31 CET

Well if Gilbert and George re-imagined Buffy, the Faith/Giles pseudo Avengers cover would be it. The more I look at it, the more I'm loving it. Mr Jeanty took a risk and for me it paid off.

Simon | September 13, 22:34 CET

Oh dear, I don't think so Simon. That cover looks nothing like their style, unless I've missed something in their artistic past.

I'm glad that you you like it, but it leaves me cold. The whole thing looks incredible crude, in style, and not in an ironic way either.

In the end, art like humor is very much a personal thing though.

sueworld2003 | September 13, 22:42 CET

Okay, there is SO a UST/shippy subtext thing going on between those two.

After reading the 6th issue, I can totally see Faith and Giles as shippable. Never thought I'd be saying that.

I'm so delighted that the comics are adding so many new layers to an already rich mythos. I love it!

electricspacegirl | September 13, 23:31 CET

Lest we forget, there was never anything but flirtation between Emma Peel and Mr. Steed. She was devoted to her husband, and when he returned (I think he he was an MIA RAF pilot) she left the job to be with him. Soooo not shippable.

ohbejoyful | September 14, 00:00 CET

Not shippable because Mrs. Peel was married. Which Faith is not (though I suppose she might go back to Robin).

Really, I would be happy just with Faith/Giles flirtation.

lorelei_frolick | September 14, 00:11 CET

Kirochka, TFAW let me cancel several pre-ordered items earlier this year. I just e-mailed them with my request.

Bobbi | September 14, 00:12 CET

You know if Faith and Giles get intimate, someone has to die. This is Joss, after all. Probably Giles, actually, although not necessarily immediately.

jclemens | September 14, 00:14 CET

Sometimes I think the Jo Chen covers are too stylized and too closely resemble the actors. I realize most of you think otherwise, and that it's sort of the point for a comic that's based on a tv series. That's not to say her art isn't gorgeous, and that I don't really like some of them. This Faith cover, for example. I'm happy to see her get more into the storytelling with this cover though, and I'm hoping that trend continues. Cover after cover of "look, it's just like on tv!" concepts is starting to wear thin for me. The art's very well done, and the images look just like the actors in character. But that's kind of it. She's more than proven that she's very very good at depicting the main characters. I'd like to see things get more interesting now, and I think they have for the #9 cover, anyway.

Season 8's established itself in the new medium now, and I'd like to see the covers reflect the possibilities of that medium more and adventure away from the tv-like cover imagery a bit more. So I'm very happy to see Georges Jeanty taking some risks with his concept for the cover. Yeah, his work could be more polished. But I think he's got other strengths that make that trade-off more than worthwhile. hayes62 described his strengths nicely upthread.

Plus, Giles in that outfit? And his expression? Hilarious.

Sunfire | September 14, 00:46 CET

Kirochka I think you should email and even phone TFAW and complain bitterly, and tell them that you'll post about their policy: warning others to avoid them if they will not allow you to cancel your preorders. I would even write to the Better Business Bureau, but then I'm one of those aging nutters who do that anyway.

And I really agree w/hayes62! Giles is so into being an Avenger, it suits him to a 't', while Faith is all 'WTF?!'. I have to love the cover for that, even though it can't compare to the beauty of Jo Chen's cover (I'll have to buy them both, of course).

embers | September 14, 01:01 CET

It's hard to believe these two covers are about the same story. Can't wait to read it!
And that Giles is way funny.

jcs | September 14, 01:09 CET

this might actually be the first time i'll fork over extra cash for the alternate cover..lol

the FAT indian | September 14, 01:37 CET

I'm late to this party (The Police got in the way.) but I LOVE the Faith/Giles one. Totally up my alley.

Caroline | September 14, 01:54 CET

I love the Faith/Giles Avengers cover.

Buffyfantic | September 14, 02:07 CET

I love both covers. I'm old and loved The Avengers.

Since "Police" is capitalized, I'm guessing it was the band and not the local authorities? Hope they were fun.

Bobbi | September 14, 02:22 CET

The alternate cover is fun. I think Jeanty did a good job with it.

maje | September 14, 02:33 CET

Cool, tip on the .org said it wasn't spoilery, so I looked (cheers UnpluggedCrazy ;).

I quite like the Jeanty one. It's very clearly comic art but it's fun and retro and homagey. To me the lettering looks sort of part-way between The Avengers logo and those cheesy teen-horror flicks from the 50s and 60s (e.g. "I was a Teenage Frankenstein") with maybe a soupcon de Derek Flint thrown in.

And of course, the Chen art is beautiful. Personally i've loved the iconic portraits she's done but more narratively applicable covers are cool too.

(and if flying the flag upside down is a distress signal, what does it mean if it's on its side ? Slightly put-out ? Mildly perturbed ? ;)

Saje | September 14, 02:37 CET

(and if flying the flag upside down is a distress signal, what does it mean if it's on its side ? Slightly put-out ? Mildly perturbed ? ;)

Or perhaps just an error? Displaying the US flag perpendicularly is ok. There was a lot of that after 9/11 six years ago.

Bobbi | September 14, 03:03 CET

I doubt it's an error, it's just so it fits the "portrait" page orientation - with the flag on its side in the correct landscape orientation there'd be empty space above and below (or they'd need to distort the proportions).

(and AFAIK flying the Union flag on its end isn't particularly done but it's not insulting or anything - I was just pointing out that since it's half-way to being upside down that might mean "half-way" to being distressed, aiming to make a joke. Clearly I missed ;).

Saje | September 14, 09:52 CET

Back when Buffy was still on I was something of a spoiler whore. I've backed off of that for the most part in recent years... yet I find myself in an unusual position now, "watching" the new "season" of Buffy and once again I have to be careful what I say for fear of dropping spoilers to those with more willpower than myself.

I'll just say that BOTH covers speak to the story being told, odd as that may seem. One is a tad more literal while the other is just a scintilla more interpretive... I'll let you wonder which is which, and to what degree.

Haunt | September 14, 10:24 CET

Thanks for the (off-topic!) suggestions, guys. I'm going to e-mail TFAW this morning (I finally did get an e-mail overnight explaining and apologizing for the delay with sending #6). And I spoke to the owner of a relatively local comic book shop last night - he was so nice I wanted to dance around the room! Can't wait to go up there and get my subscriptions ordered!

(He was a bit confused, though - seemed to think he had #7 in stock already.)

Kirochka | September 14, 17:16 CET

Haunt, you tease! ;-)

UnpluggedCrazy | September 15, 12:17 CET

September 13 2007