Whedonesque : Comments on 15152 : (SPOILER) Buffy #13 arriving April 2nd!

This site will work and look better in a browser that supports web standards, but it is accessible to any browser or Internet device.

January 09 2008

(SPOILER) Buffy #13 arriving April 2nd! Cover and date for the second issue of Drew Goddard's arc 'Wolves at the Gate' released on Dark Horse. Click here for the variant cover.

'Drew Goddard (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Alias, Lost, and the writer of Cloverfield), continues his story arc “Wolves at the Gate,” which has Buffy and the gang fighting a team of über vamps in Tokyo. In order to better understand their mysterious new foes, Xander must recruit an old ally to join in their cause to defeat this new danger.'

Vortigun | Printed matter | 23:28 CET | 31 comments total | tags: georges jeanty, jon foster, wolves at the gate, buffy season 8, drew goddard

Very exciting, this is my first time posting anything on the main page, so I hope everything is up to standard.

Another beautiful cover by Jon Foster, I'm guessing that is Willow and Satsu in the background?

Variant cover here.

Also looks interesting!

Vortigun | January 09, 23:35 CET

Wow, that is a beautiful cover. Jeepers.

Brian Lynch | January 09, 23:39 CET

It is a beautiful cover, Brian. You know what would be great? A sketchbook by all the cover artists of Buffy Season 8 and "After the Fall" drawing characters from both of them. See what you can do, okay?

KingofCretins | January 09, 23:42 CET

Lmao... I wonder who this old ally enlisted by Xander is... possibly Anya? Unlikely due to all the being dead...

[ edited by Vortigun on 2008-01-09 20:50 ]

Vortigun | January 09, 23:48 CET

Its obvious that the "old ally" is Dracula aka Master. He's in the variant cover.

I think its kind of cheap how they try to mislead you into thinking its someone important.

Bruce | January 10, 00:01 CET

Dracula is riding a motorcycle. If this mislead is cheap, I don't wanna have taste. Also, he is very important. He is like a rock star.

It's good to see Xander on a cover. And nice to know Dawn is still giant-sized.

(Also: this is the thread where I get to say GODDARD! Don't mind me. Carry on.)

[ edited by Sunfire on 2008-01-09 21:14 ]

Sunfire | January 10, 00:11 CET

I'm not really into Jon Foster's artwork for these Buffy comics. The artwork is lovely indeed, but I feel like I'm getting ready to read a Tim Burton comic, or stuck in something more Dungeons and Dragon-y. I realize Jo Chen couldn't work out for these coming issues for whatever (good) reason, but her rendering of our beloved Buffy characters was just so spot-on. And quite magical. That said, I like Jeanty's alternate much better.

[ edited by Kat Jetson on 2008-01-09 22:04 ]

Kat Jetson | January 10, 00:59 CET

Don't you think the old ally could be Oz?? I mean, wolves...

CaptainB | January 10, 01:07 CET

That doesn't look at all like Dracula on the variant, and how exactly is he an 'old ally'?

The Dark Shape | January 10, 01:21 CET

Also, don't forget about Serenity: Better Days #2, which is also solicited. No new Adam Hughes cover yet, but it ships on April 9.

CaptainB | January 10, 01:25 CET

Oh, no. Not Dracula again.

I wonder if they're going to work around the supposedly canon Dracula story in Tales of the Vampires. And I wonder if they're going to explain why Xander was a hunchback. And why Dracula was so goofy.

RaisedByMongrels | January 10, 01:26 CET

The Dark Shape, Xander was Dracula's ally in Buffy vs. Dracula. The rest of the Scoobies, not so much. But that's probably why Xander's the one that has to do the recruiting.

MadeToLoveJoss | January 10, 01:41 CET

My thoughts exactly, RaisedByMongrels. I suppose if season 8 occurs a year and a half after Chosen then the Dracula story could have slotted in that timeframe somewhere. I think Dracula said Xander had been with him for a year?

But I never liked the idea of this story being canon- firstly, it's completely contrary to the mature, empowered Xander we saw developing after he first fell under Dracula's thrall in season five, in season 7 and the season 8 comic. And I just don't believe that Buffy and Giles wouldn't have had the resources and motivation to save him long, long before a year had passed!

I never really understood what happened with Dracula anyway. At the end of the episode it ended humourously, that Buffy kept killing Dracula and he kept reforming. But after that...? He just left Sunnydale quietly? No-one thought he was enough of a threat to try and find a way of permanently killing him, or magically trapping him?

[ edited by Razor on 2008-01-13 19:51 ]

Razor | January 10, 01:42 CET

If it is Dracula, I don't know if I'd describe Dracula as an old ally in a blurb (I also thought Dracula's appearance was meant to underscore reality in flux, so I'd be surprised to see him again, but who knows?)

I, however, am so hoping we see Oz.

JessicaMelusine | January 10, 01:46 CET

I wasn't happy to hear that Jo Chen will be gone for a few issues, but I like what I've seen so far.

I'm not so sure what I think about the Xander-Dracula connection. It will be fun to see the butt monkey and Master Bater get back together, but the Tales of the Vampires story was a bit... cheesy. In a weird way, it could be awesome if Xander spent a year with Dracula, but... would it work with the rest of it?

Valentyn | January 10, 01:51 CET

Hmmm, Xander wasn't really a hunchback in that episode, just Dracula's servant again. And Dracula only implied that Xander has been with Dracula a year, he says something like: 'I have very much enjoyed my time with you; this past year has been satisfying.'

I have problems with it myself, I think Buffy would not leave Xander for a year, so I'm going to have to assume that on a technicality he wasn't referring to his time with Xander as a year long.

Of course we don't really know when the events of Tales of a Vampire occurred, it could be a number of years after the events of Season Eight...

Also, Buffy calls one of the slayers 'Kira', a name that we haven't heard yet. It will be interesting if Kira appears in Drew Goddard's arc. The story was written by Goddard, so I can't think that he wouldn't have remembered it. Also there is a fairly detailed picture of Dracula's mansion/castle.

Vortigun | January 10, 01:52 CET

Vortigun, what? Where? Unrepentant spoiler whore here! (beg, plead, whimper...)

Rowan Hawthorn | January 10, 03:40 CET

Sunfire: Why do you think Dawn is still giant-sized? Did I miss something?

Also, I have not read Tales of the Slayers, and I gather there is an important story between Xander and the Dark Prince, yeah? I'm not sure how I feel about that. I want Dracula to be toast...errrr, dust.

5X5B | January 10, 03:59 CET

It is Dracula. He's even got the same clothes. Not to mention the billowy cape.

You didn't miss anything 5x5B except the experience of my brain merging information from various threads and forgetting what came from where and then "reading" something that wasn't even there. Apologies. CBR mentioned it:

series editor Scott Allie promises that fans can expect “giant Dawn to stomp around Tokyo like Godzilla!"

It's an image that hasn't gone away since I read that.

Sunfire | January 10, 04:22 CET

Looks really cool. Good to see the No Future for You TPB is also available for pre-order.
And yep you all need to go get Tales of the Vampires ;) That has the Xander/Drac story.
Jon's cover is ok, enjoyed his first 2 covers a lot more though.

alexa | January 10, 04:32 CET

Hmmm, I assumed the tpb for 'No Future for You' would include issue #11 too, are they going to stick it in right before 'Wolves at the Gate'?

Seems a little odd to me.

Vortigun | January 10, 05:39 CET

So that's Dracula, then? I was staring at the cover trying to figure out who was on the motorcycle, but that does indeed make sense.

I always thought that the Xander/Drac story from Tales of the Vampires was cute and funny, though I too had problems (and a good deal of confusion) with Xander having been in his employ for a whole year without Buffy coming to the rescue. Methinks we're either gonna have to go with Vortigun's theory, or else it's gonna be an interesting retcon.

I, too, am curious about Dawnzilla. Shall be fun.

UnpluggedCrazy | January 10, 05:47 CET

Which Tales of the Vampires mag was it?

I also had trouble with the Dracula story - it felt like they wanted to setup up Xander's "Master. Bater." line so badly that they wrote the story really, well, badly.

ohbejoyful | January 10, 06:04 CET

I too doubt that Buffy would let Xander be Dracula's servant/prisoner for a week, much less than a year.

crazygolfa | January 10, 06:07 CET

Vortigun, it seems they're trying to keep the TPBs to 5 issues. Putting #11 with "Wolves at the Gates" would allow Dark Horse to keep Joss' name on the TPBs for each volume.

CaptainB | January 10, 06:13 CET

"Hmmm, Xander wasn't really a hunchback in that episode, just Dracula's servant again."

I dug out my copy of Tales of the Vampires, and Xander is definitely a hunchback in that story. He's also about four feet tall. It's all very strange.

Also, it was written by Drew Goddard. So I guess if it must be retconned, he's the one to do it.

RaisedByMongrels | January 10, 09:49 CET

“giant Dawn to stomp around Tokyo like Godzilla!"

HAHAHAHAHA I love this thought. Stupid whiny little Dawn, a national menace in Japan. I wish Joss would write a short, non-canon, comedy version of this.

5X5B | January 10, 10:30 CET

5X5B said:

Seconded! XD

sunshineguinn | January 10, 11:41 CET

Dracula was supposed to be like a rock star coming to Sunnydale. So now he's just big in Japan? Well not compared to Dawn obviously.

hayes62 | January 10, 12:43 CET

I am in love with these covers. I do enjoy Jon Foster's covers so much. Although they are totally different to Jo Chen's. Georges Jeanty has done it for me on the variant, a Buffy that looks like Sarah Michelle Gellar!!! I was really disapointed with his pig nose buffy on the issue 11 cover :( Cannot wait for this arc and I too, hope that Dracula's return isn't trashy and is done in style.

bennyboi91 | January 10, 13:46 CET

Foster's cover is gorgeous. I like Jeanty's alternate, too. It does indeed look like Dracula is back. My initial reaction is not "how fabulous." But I have faith in the Great and Handsome Goddard. I suspect he'll be able to fill in the Xander and Dracula story introduced in Tales of the Vampires and make it make sense, even the part where Buffy doesn't rescue Xander for what seems like a whole year. That never made sense to me but we'll see. Also, Xander being Dracula's butt monkey again after he got away and denounced his Renfieldness in the beginning of Season 5? Wasn't crazy about that Xander's backtracking in the Tales of the Vampire storylet, either. But again, I shall trust in Goddard. Can't wait to read this.

Ubervamps, eh? Intriguing.

phlebotinin | January 10, 20:29 CET

You need to log in to be able to post comments.
About membership.

« Older Firefly Box set named one of the m... | AICN Comics' review of Angel: Afte... Newer »