Lil Spike rocks, Mr. Lynch.

Pointy | July 05, 00:09 CET

[ edited by wytchcroft on 2008-07-16 18:06 ]

wytchcroft | July 05, 00:23 CET

Cute!!! *suddely wants to revist her baby!Spike wip*

Mirage | July 05, 00:23 CET

I really enjoyed reading Shadow Puppets. I haven't read Asylum yet, though.

I started watching Buffy/Angel and most of the comics very recently and Spike is becoming one of my favorite characters. So this sounds great.

MH | July 05, 00:24 CET

Thank God I know when it's out now.

Just the other day, my friend and I were desperately searching the 'Net for a release date. Now I know why we couldn't find one...

And Brian, hey, I'll totally take you up on your Baby Spike thing at Comic-Con.

UnpluggedCrazy | July 05, 00:27 CET

Great to have a date.Here's more art by Brian for Lil'Angel, and Lil'yria.

http://bloglynch.blogspot.com/2008/07/mommeys-lil-angel-and-lilyria.html

Buffyfantic | July 05, 01:11 CET

July is looking to be a very amazing month indeed! New Buffy and Angel, now Spike, Batman...the list goes on.

flak | July 05, 01:37 CET

The series is coming along great, but it is definitely four issues. It won't go over.

Brian Lynch | July 05, 01:53 CET

Well four issues should be enough, so long as you promise that it won't be your last Spike series ever, Brian! I do love how you write Spike (but actually I love how you write all the fang gang).

embers | July 05, 02:13 CET

I read in the comments it's Spike: After The Fall.

This be true?

FaithsTruCalling | July 05, 02:15 CET

Brian, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for doing such a fantastic job keeping Spike alive, so to speak. I am so looking forward to this series and I also hope we see many more Spike projects from you in the future. Thanks again!!!!

luvspike | July 05, 02:24 CET

Unbelievably excited about this one. I'm loving After the Fall utterly and completely but four whole issues with Spike will be the icing on the cake!

tranquillity | July 05, 06:45 CET

FaithsTruCalling, yes, it is Spike: After the Fall, and it is a canonical series which takes place after "Not Fade Away" but before Angel: After the Fall.

UnpluggedCrazy | July 05, 07:53 CET

Yay!

That's all. Just "Yay!" But, emphatically.

Ghalev | July 05, 13:30 CET

Brian, assuming the sales figures are what we expect for the Spike mini, do you see the possibility of a canon Spike ongoing series (or maxi-series, at least) after ATF is all done? Would you be up for that, if offered?

Definitely be about time that Spike got the ongoing series he always deserved, even if it didn't end up as the television show all of us Spike fans really wanted. If it's going to be a comic book series then at least with Brian as writer we'd know it was in the hands of someone who appreciates the character as much as the fans do.

RockManic | July 05, 14:28 CET

UnpluggedCrazy, so Spike: ATF is canon? I hope it is (cause then I've got a good excuse to buy it ;) , but I've never seen this explicitly stated.

cypher | July 05, 20:57 CET

It is, but the good excuse to buy it is that it's shaping up to be THE GREATEEEEEEST SEEEEEEEEERIES OF AAAAAAAAAAAAAALL TIIIIIIIIIIIIIME.

Seriously, I love how it's shaping up. Dark and fun and creepy and heartbreaking and sad and funny. Good stuff.

Brian Lynch | July 05, 21:28 CET

cypher, you would only buy it if it was canon? It wouldn't matter to you if it was, you know, good? I have no idea if it is considered canon or not and don't really give a damn. I've always found the whole canon non-canon thing ridiculous.

TamaraC | July 05, 22:10 CET

Well, I have bought some apparently non-canon Angel/BtVS stories (hey, if Betta George can be retcanoned, and Faith's last name really is Lehanne, other things could be backdoored in, too). But, I do understand the concern. It's about the difference between a piece which is just a good story, and what actually counts.

If a published story isn't canon, it's basically solicited fanfiction. Not to dismiss fanfiction - I've written several Transformers and G.I. Joe "humorfics" myself which I'm rather fond of (not BtVS or Angel - I've written one Buffy and Dawn scene, but really, I'm just not good enough to touch this universe) - but, while it can be interesting or fun, it's not a part of the actual history of the franchise. So, I can see why people would want to know if a story actually "happened" to the characters, or is just an alternate world, "What If?" kind of story, especially when deciding whether to spend money on it.

Mr. Lynch has just reaffirmed that this story is canon, btw; and has also made clear that it is strictly a four-issue series, making me wonder if the intro to this thread should be adjusted accordingly?

LKW | July 05, 22:58 CET

I'm so glad this is coming out. Spike deserves his own series, and i'll be right at my local comic book shop the day this is released.

badwolf | July 05, 23:01 CET

"It's about the difference between a piece which is just a good story, and what actually counts."

I think a good story, canon or not, counts a whole lot, as a good story is really rare nowadays.

Canon-talk always gives me the heebie jeebies.

That said, SPIKE:ATF is fun fun fun!

Brian Lynch | July 05, 23:02 CET

LKW, none of it "actually counts." It is all fiction. None of it really happened. And good story is by far more important than whether or not it is canon (by some strange and lame definition). 100 times more important.

TamaraC | July 05, 23:39 CET

Brian Lynch, thanks for clearing this up - I look forward to buying the TPB (and the TPBs of Angel: ATF too).

TamaraC, well you're putting me in a bit of an awkward position given that the writer is reading this thread, but the honest answer is that I wouldn't buy it if it wasn't canon. I wasn't even aware of the concept until some people brought it up when Buffy season eight was talked about, but now I do see it as crucial - comparable to the difference between fiction and reality. Canon is the reality of a fictional world. If someone made a new non-canon Buffy film without Joss, isn't it a good thing that we can write that off as not part of Buffy's story?

Naturally, non-canon stories can be good, they can be brilliant and I completely understand reading and enjoying them and not caring about their status. However, I'm mostly interested in what happens to the characters and if when I'm reading a story I can write off what is happening with "well, yeah, but that didn't really happen to that character" then I'm losing most of what I'm looking for. Clearly this is just my way of looking at it.

cypher | July 06, 00:07 CET

As it happens, it's my way of looking at it too, cypher - just in case you were looking for support, :-) I should add that I thought Asylum was excellent, and I'm thoroughly enjoying AtF. So it's win-win-win . . .

SoddingNancyTribe | July 06, 00:21 CET

I also prefer to save whatever was written by and/or plotted by Joss, but I read a lot (if not all) of the Buffyverse comics. I have saved (even treasured) the non-canon comics written by Jane Espenson and Amber Benson! And as soon as I read Brian Lynch’s ‘Spike: Asylum’ I knew it was a keeper, even before it received the kind of ‘back door’ canonization by Joss.

embers | July 06, 00:52 CET

I didn't enjoy Asylum. I thought it was messy and incoherent. I really enjoyed Shadow Puppets though. It was a hoot and extremely well told.

Simon | July 06, 00:54 CET

cypher sums up my thoughts on canon/non-canon material perfectly, as well.

UnpluggedCrazy | July 06, 02:15 CET

I am not a fan of the beginning of Simon's post, I thought it was smelly. I really enjoyed the second part of his post. It was like a cyber hug and extremely accurate.

Brian Lynch | July 06, 03:36 CET

It makes me smile. :) Only 9 days left! :)

Astoria_Potter | July 07, 20:40 CET