Dru to tha silla....Hooray?


Yes hooray.
Lovin the mad fute lingo, its so hap.

aus-mitch | July 17, 05:29 CET

Yep, all but definite that it's our old lovely crazy gal. Good times, I'm looking forward to this. I also like the Starbucks reference.

It's been a while since I read Fray, but did it really have this much "Future Slang?" I seem to recall that but for a few major and obvious exceptions--lurks, for example--the language was basically the same. This has terms like "Spled," and... crap, I just closed the window.

Anyway, am I just forgetful or is Joss taking the Frayverse in a new direction verbally?

Jobo | July 17, 05:31 CET

"The last great watcher sacrificed himself..." You think we're talking a Giles, her literal watcher, or Xander, who she has referred to as her watcher?

streetartist | July 17, 05:36 CET

I'm going with neither, streetartist. I'm thinkin' this is semi-confirmation that the watcher/slayer line dies out sometime after Buffy dies.

Or a throwaway joke. But I don't think the Watcher diaries would get someone's name wrong like that, they've always been accurate so far. And watchers seem too anal to let something like that slide.

Jobo | July 17, 05:39 CET

Get someones name wrong like what Jobo?
Fray never mentions a name only refering to him as "the last great watcher sacrificed himself at the battle of starbucks"...

Could very well be Giles, though why he would be battling in a starbucks I have no clue. Starbucks sell tea no?

aus-mitch | July 17, 05:59 CET

EDIT: My mistake, there is no name mentioned.

[ edited by EX on 2008-07-17 06:10 ]

EX | July 17, 06:08 CET

She says Gates was his name. Doesn't she? This is how I'm reading it, that she named the monkey after Gates, the last watcher blah blah blah.

Fray: You really set to share a flat with Gates?
[monkey noises, screaming]
Sister Lady: "Gates?"
Fray: The last great watcher. Sacrificed himself at the Battle of Starbucks.

Jobo | July 17, 06:19 CET

Sister Lady: "Gates?"
Fray: The last great watcher. Sacrificed himself at the Battle of Starbucks.

Oh, God. All I can picture now is Bill Gates trying to take down Howard Schultz, and oh, my brain... my braaaaaiiiiin.....

Casira | July 17, 06:31 CET

I'm still not 100% convinced that the mystery woman is Drusilla. Sure, the description seems to fit, but what if Willow does indeed go dark before the season is over, as the cover of #19 seems to suggest? Maybe she'll work some nasty mojo to gain immortality, or at least manage to be around in Fray's world.

Also, the whole "she has power greater even than his" bit seems a better fit with Evil Willow than Dru.

Maybe it's all just one big misdirect... but hey, that's not like Joss, is it? ;)

[ edited by topolino on 2008-07-17 06:35 ]

[ edited by topolino on 2008-07-17 06:36 ]

topolino | July 17, 06:35 CET

Well that's disappointing a predictable. Or maybe it's just predictable because I go online and read fan speculation.. damn you smart guessing peoples.
The dark Willow theory was so cool.

alexa | July 17, 06:55 CET

Forrest's last name is Gates. You know... D.L. from Heroes? My money's on him being our last great Watcher.

leafblown | July 17, 08:10 CET

Nice preview :)

For a while there I was very confused, I thought Fray was with Buffy and I couldn't work out how this led on from Issue #16 I thought Joss had done a big time jump on us and had the two already associated and working together. But that's Fray's sister... man I need to re-read Fray.

Great images, I love Mollie's work, he draws action so well!

In regards to the descrption. Well it does sound like Dru... speaks in riddles, dark hair, has survived for 200 years ect. But it could be a mis-direct, could easily be Willow given Chen's brilliant cover for the future issue. Willow also has dark hair when she gets scary, has a lot of power and could have had managed to survive this long and gone insane because of it.

vampmogs | July 17, 08:21 CET

I'm so looking forward to this.

cleveland | July 17, 09:40 CET

I think I'll go out on a fairly sturdy, dependable limb here and say that Harth's working with Drusilla.

There's certainly room for more than one insane, babbling character in the Buffyverse; but insane, dark haired, hundreds of years older, babbling vampire (with hidden power)? Definitely Dru.

Big yay from me for her return.

The Londinium Sun | July 17, 09:50 CET

I double that yay and add a woohoo for texture.

I always had this feeling (a fact feeling feeling) that it was Dru with Harth. But, now, I know it's not the place, but anyone else thinking about Spike's quick flashforward to the land of flying cars? I stopped believing in coincidences in this verse a long time ago. *crosses fingers* It might not be resolved now, or anytime soon, but my hope is great! *refills her half-empty glass*

Mirage | July 17, 10:31 CET

A) Giles is close enough to Gates that she could have just read ye olde english wrong. I mean, those books don't look typed, and have you ever tried to read stuff written by hand from the 1700's? I haven't, but I guess it'd be hard.

B) I have a theory that the last great watcher dies by fire, hence the 'watchers burn themselves' thing going on. Maybe Giles or whoever burns down Starbucks around him to save the Slayer(s)?

Sparticus | July 17, 10:55 CET

I loved the preview although I agree that there is muich more future-y slang in this compared to Fray. It jarred slightly at first but after a couple of pages it was fine. The mysterious woman definitely sounds like Dru and I seem to remember a cover for this arc that a woman on it who looked a lot like Dru.

DreamDancer | July 17, 12:10 CET

I immediately thought Willow, not Dru. But that would suck beyond belief. And the time travel anomalies start to get in my way, since what happens in the future is affecting what happens in the past, and what happens in the past creates teh future, and my head hurts!

Dana5140 | July 17, 12:35 CET

Maybe it is a mislead about Drusilla. They're piling it on too much. Maybe. The six-limbed demon monkey looks familiar. Was he in the Fray story in Tales of the Slayers? I tried to look it up, but couldn't find my copy.

dreamlogic | July 17, 13:05 CET

Yes, the spider-monkey was from the Fray story in Tales of the Slayers.It popped out of a box that Gunther sent her after that he said she would be particularly interested in.When it popped out,it stole the Scythe and led her to this Library we see here where she began studying up on past slayers.

I suppose Dru could be a mislead but I'm thinking that Buffy and Fray deal with Harth and Dru in the future while any Willow stuff is taking place in the present.

Buffyfantic | July 17, 13:49 CET

I'm pretty sure it's Dru. I guessed it would be her the minute they revealed the person from Buffy's past would be a woman.

mysteryshadesman | July 17, 13:59 CET

but insane, dark haired, hundreds of years older, babbling vampire (with hidden power)? Definitely Dru.

I don't think "The Black Hope" has actually been described as a vampire anywhere, either in this preview or in the solicitations for future issues. Also, on the alternate cover for issue #17 by Jeanty, the woman is quite pointedly obscured by the shadows. Sure, her attire is old-fashioned and suggests Dru at first, but have you seen what Willow's been wearing lately? ;)

All I'm saying is, I smell a mislead somewheres. Personally, I like the Dru idea better, but hey, I trust our captain.

Guess we'll know for sure over the coming months! :)

[ edited by topolino on 2008-07-17 14:06 ]

topolino | July 17, 14:05 CET

I'm pretty certain myself that the mystery woman is immortal, insane Dark Willow, and we're currently being misled into thinking it's Drusilla. But we'll see...

stormwreath | July 17, 14:19 CET

Oy, my head hurts. Okay, so magic ends in the present, but Willow lives as dark magic through the future?

Dana5140 | July 17, 15:35 CET

I don't think it's such a mislead. It seems to me--and I could be way off, obviously--that the next page or two is going to reveal who it is. As in, Fray goes through the book, "Hey! Drusilla was her name!" or whatever. So I think the only huge build-up we've had to this is from preview summaries, really, which I doubt Joss is overly involved with.

Anyway, I'll be happy whoever it is. But happier if it's Drusilla. I've wanted her to get a proper send-off since season five.

Jobo | July 17, 20:01 CET

I'm really hoping that this is going to turn out to actually be Drusilla and not just a total mislead. Dru needs to make a Buffyverse comeback.

Of course, there is the question of how she could have survived the whole no-magic deal but then for it to be anyone we recognise from the present day there's going to have to be some kind of magical reason for them to have survived all that time. Dru would be no more or less likely than anyone else.

Highlander | July 17, 20:08 CET

Sigh, I always thought if magick disappeared Dru would be granted the exemption from poofing like other magickal critters and get the chance to live out her original life, albeit bumped forward a couple centuries. I feel for her at times.

DaddyCatALSO | July 17, 20:34 CET

Yeah, but she'd still be insane. That was done without any mystical forces.

MadeToLoveJoss | July 17, 21:08 CET

*shrug* Not only because it was said: "The dark-haired one", "lived for centuries", "speaks in riddles and strange voices" (because while one and two might apply to Willow in her dark veininess, she never spoke in riddles or strange voices), and "Says she has power greater than even his" (Dark Will’d never need to say, she'd show!) I am guessing it Drusilla, but because the Watcher's Diaries speak (if I'm not mistaken) about the Slayer and the vampires she/they face. And Mel said she read in them about a mad woman before. Just saying...

Mirage | July 17, 22:25 CET

RE: Giles v. Gates. They seem to flow from one suject to the next. Her sister questioned the name "Gates", but Mel herself could just be talking out loud regarding the reference to the crazy old woman.

korkster | July 17, 23:06 CET

Drusilla? Hmmm. She might be an interesting choice if Joss tells the tale, but consider the possibilities from a dramatic bent by asking yourself a simple question - Who are we more attached to, Drusilla or Willow?

I don't believe we'll be as engaged by enemy Dru as we would enemy Will. Sure Dru is demony fun, but we don't consider her a pal, whereas Willow we do. We expect villainy from Dru. We've seen villainy from Will, but we've always hoped better for her. Like with many addicts, rebound remains an ever-present threat, and given enough provocation, Willow could turn dark again.

D'Hoffryn once said, "Never go for the kill when you can go for the pain." This is a mantra from Father Joss.

For drama's sake, it must be Willow. What's more, Buffy will have to end Willow to save the future. It will be a long, hard battle, and Buffy will hate every second of it. Buffy will plead with Willow, cry, beg, try every trick in the book to derail the confrontation. Yet in the end, Buffy will have to put a knife to her friend's gut, and watch Willow's final breath through her own clouded tears. Finally, Buffy will return to the past, knowing what she's done to her best friend and wondering if the future can be changed.

At least, that's how I'd write it. Who knows what Joss has cooking.

See? There's power in that there drama!

quantumac | July 18, 02:00 CET

Clearly the final battle will happen aboard the Pequod.


... What?

Craig Oxbrow | July 18, 02:55 CET

quantumac:
Have I mentioned that I hate you?

(Well, as a writer, that is. I suddenly feel this burning need to start a "Save Willow" campaign...)

Rowan Hawthorn | July 18, 03:05 CET

But Forrest was killed by Adam, artificially reanimated by him, and then went all kablooey.

My first thought was Willow, too.

karosurly | July 18, 03:16 CET

quantumac, you made me sad. *goes to watch Doc Horrible again*

korkster | July 18, 04:05 CET

Just learning from the best, folks. Joss loves to weave the pain, and we love it when he does it. I guess that makes us all masochistic?

quantumac | July 18, 17:19 CET

Okay, now reading what quantumac wrote, I want it to be Dru more. *never knew that she cared this much about Willow/Scooby friendship* Oh. God. Just think how poor Xander would feel if it is so!!

Mirage | July 18, 17:48 CET

To me, it would make more storytelling sense if it were Dru. First of all, Dru hasn't been seen since S5, and I miss her desperately. Secondly, we've already seen Dark Willow, and to me at least this would smack of redundancy.

Though I will not judge until I've read anything. I did that when Renee died, and it came back to bite me.

ETA: I would go so far as to say there there is too much future slang in this preview.

[ edited by UnpluggedCrazy on 2008-07-18 20:04 ]

UnpluggedCrazy | July 18, 20:02 CET

I hope Buffy appears soon in this issue. As in I'd be fairly pissed if 16 was the lead up to their meeting from Buffy's POV and 17 the lead up from Fray's POV, with 17 ending (as 16 did) with them starting to have fisticufs...

Cause that would only leave two issues of Fray/Buffy funanigans.

Then again this cover shows them together with Snakey whats his name so I assume Buffy will arrive at least mid-17...

aus-mitch | July 23, 15:31 CET