Fighting words there.

Dana5140 | September 14, 12:54 CET

Heh, which ones ?

Kris | September 14, 16:57 CET

For me, the ship sailed on Buffy/Xander a long time ago, so this soon-to-be triangle doesn't resonate with me. However, Angel > Xander > Spike, so I am sort of okay with this turn of events.

Riker | September 14, 17:39 CET

What was offensive about anything he said? As always, opinions of people like Georges or Scott Allie are nothing more than that...their personal opinions. :) Seems like they catch flack a lot. They're not Joss after all and have no say over what happens in the story. So why does it matter if they share an opinion you don't agree with?

Also, Riker, gonna have to disagree with that greater than/less than thing! Hehe.

CowboyGuy | September 14, 18:40 CET

Cowboy Guy, I disagree that Allie has no say. Perhaps he has less editorial leverage with S8 than most other books, but some say. Also i think the Xawn pairing to be fine and appropriate.

espalier | September 14, 20:05 CET

Yes, as part of His Bunche they are privy to ebing told things we'all fans aren't, but Scott, Jane etc as individuals are no more Dr. Joss than any one of us is. And I think the T-shirt thing is a funny nod to us grumbling fans :-).

DaddyCatALSO | September 14, 20:39 CET

Can't see how the ship sailed on Buffy/Xander a long time ago when we've never seen any evidence that Buffy's seriously contemplated getting involved with him (the comic lets us inside the characters' heads in a way that only "Earshot" did on TV). Aside from being shown that she obviously feels he's a good dependable friend, I don't think the book's closed for Buffy on this particular issue because it never seemed to occur to her that it was open in the first place (lots of distractions with powerful men [and one woman] along the way too and attempts at dating normal usually led to nothing, ie Owen, Scott Hope, Ben, etc). People grow up, feelings change. If Xander were to grow out of his Buffy crush, it'd be understandable, but it's also no surprise that Buffy's admiration might develop in the opposite direction of his.

No surprise if Xander kept that torch burning throughout all 7 seasons. On his side at least, I'd think it'd be easiest for most fans to accept. Can appreciate that there'll be arguments about Buffy's side though.

Kris | September 14, 21:30 CET

Funny nod indeed. Or a playful tweak. He certainly seems to have a good sense of fan opinions about these things.

I'm going to heartbroken if he's not the main artist for Season 9. He's a great match for the audience in terms of attention to detail and playing with those details.

Sunfire | September 14, 21:57 CET

I'm ready for a new artist. Almost thirty issues in, and he still hasn't captured the proper likeness of Buffy, Willow, Kennedy, Faith, etc.
Also, I'm sick of the faceless background people who aren't actually that much in the background.

Riker | September 14, 23:09 CET

@Sunfire | September 14, 21:57 CET

Except for that pesky tattoo on Faith's arm...

[ edited by kasadilla on 2009-09-14 23:13 ]

kasadilla | September 14, 23:17 CET

For me it depends on the panel, Riker, but I think he's got a pretty good handle on Willow and Faith, for sure (especially Faith--check out in the most recent issue where she puts her hand on Buffy during their talk while moving the rock--that looks exactly like Eliza Dushku). I haven't seen enough close-ups of Kennedy to be sure, she seems to be in the background a lot and making expressions with dots for eyes since she's far away.

Buffy it's hit and miss. Sometimes her eyes are too big and he occasionally goes too far in trying to charicturize SMG's nose. Other times I think he captures an animated Buffy perfectly.

I'm fine with Jeanty. He gets the issues out on time, that's huge.

Although to be honest, since we're talking Season 9...I would be perfectly okay with them releasing large graphic novels (6 monthly issues' worth of material packed into one book or something like that) a couple times a year rather than the monthly comic they have now. I survived just fine during the years without Buffy after 2003 and without the Buffyverse after Angel was canceled in 2004, but since we have it back, I'd rather get big doses of the comic instead of small shots of it 11 or 12 times a year. I think quality would improve (the artist's deadlines might be less rigid) and I would prefer the writers not have to script in a forced cliffhanger every 22 pages, which is the situation we have now with monthly comics.

Kris | September 14, 23:44 CET

Kris, I agree with you on the format, and it's actually a direction the comics industry should be heading in, but it will still be years before we see monthly series become original graphic novels. It is the future of comics, though.

Riker | September 15, 04:18 CET