Cool, this will be a big hitter.

Vergil | February 22, 07:11 CET

So, the reveal of Twilight will be on 33 or 34? Could these comics preview thingy get more serious?

Oh,explanation for the change of voice! Could work for anything else Twit is doing (magic)

anca | February 22, 07:15 CET

Pinky and the Brain for the win!

daevid | February 22, 07:19 CET

The reveal of Twilight's identity is in this issue.It happens on page 12.

Yes,I assume this is the explanation for the change in voice font we've been seeing.Amy was the one masking his voice.

Buffyfantic | February 22, 07:20 CET

Rising Stars, wow. What an obscure reference. Reminds me I never quite finished that series.

narky | February 22, 07:24 CET

I never read J. Michael Straczynski's comic series.I've only read his Amazing Spider-Man run and will be reading his Superman:Earth One.

I'm still waiting for Xander to joke about Buffy flying before Clark Kent does on Smallville.lol

Actually,I'm also waiting for a good Geoff Johns and/or Grant Morrison shout out.

Buffyfantic | February 22, 07:31 CET

This whole arc is like the best thing ever for me. Seriously. I'm loving it.

Sparticus | February 22, 07:34 CET

This issue has the potential to be huge! And #32 was hard to beat.

I think there was talk that maybe Andrew was going to be revealed as a traitor in #32, since he was the one doing the odd voice over (also, that's why I think he mixed up the whole Kendra/Faith succession), but after Twilight still being unable to name him, I don't think it's true. Phew.

Also, I'm going to echo the Pinky and the Brain comment. FTW!

Guestage Drew | February 22, 07:36 CET

Oh yay I’ve been dying to see some preview pages for this issue! I’m so freakin’ excited for this!

Can someone clear this up for me? What is “Pirate’s booty?” I don’t quite understand what Xander is offering her in the bowl?

I thought it was very interesting that Giles is genuinely surprised when he recognises Twilight’s voice. I’ve long suspected that Giles may be the mole and Whedon confirmed in his latest interview that he’s been hiding information on Twilight, so I was surprised by this part. But then I remembered that Twilight hasn’t revealed his identity to any of his followers so it doesn’t rule Giles out. Or Giles may not be a mole but just keeping things close to the chest for some unknown reason. Here it doesn’t really seem like Twilight and Giles have had any kind of partnership so I can’t wait to find out what Joss was hinting at.

You’re spot on about Amy masking Twilight’s voice. This is a pretty great explanation as it means the writers actually bothered to address the issue which so many comic book/movies don’t. And it also means Allie wasn’t kidding when he said the change in font was intentional. It also explains why a lot of the time he didn't really sound like you-know-who. Loved this little detail very much!

And Jeanty’s art is just wonderful here. A true return to form! I really love that panel of Buffy looking back over her shoulder and smiling :)

I’m totally in love with this preview and it's made me so excited for this issue. It's hard to believe we're actually at this moment and I'm just relieved that it appears to be in very good hands.

[ edited by vampmogs on 2010-02-22 16:48 ]

vampmogs | February 22, 07:46 CET

Love the preview but...the "Omg, I know that voice!" line from Giles? Really?
Sorry, that was mildly irksome in it's level of cliche but hey, still loving this stuff. Can't wait!

trunkstheslayer | February 22, 07:53 CET

Hand on heart and swear to Joss? Cause I'm getting tired of saying please don't spoil Twilight's identity.

Simon | February 22, 07:57 CET

Grrrr, Arghhh. I am presently at my High School where Whedonesque is luckily unblocked. Unfortunately for me, the preview is blocked. So at this point I'm going "C'mon Kailee, only 5 more hours and 2 quizzes until you get to read the Buffy preview! You can do it!" God I'm so addicted to Buffy, I need help. Keep the comments coming people, so I don't go insane with suspense. I like reading about how awesome and intriguing it is, it gives me a happy, =)

KaileeA42 | February 22, 07:58 CET

Kailee, the preview pages have been posted at Buffyforums.net so if that site is unblocked like Whedonesque, you'll be able to view them there without having to click on the link :)

And yup Allie confirmed that the solicitation is a mistake and that Twilight definitely gets revealed in this issue.

vampmogs | February 22, 08:01 CET

vampmogs, "Pirate's Booty" is a puffy snackfood, kinda hippyish in an industrial sort of way. never had any.

I'd love to look at these pages, though I haven't, and i won't untill the book comes out.
Ages ago someone pointed out that after looking at the previews the 17 pp. left were too few. I agree. le sigh.

espalier | February 22, 08:03 CET

#32 says that Twilight's gonna be unmasked in #33.

I Like the preview pages. Need more. Now.

LaputanMachine | February 22, 08:04 CET

vampmogs, "Pirate's Booty" is a puffy snackfood, kinda hippyish in an industrial sort of way. never had any.

Thanks for that espalier :)

vampmogs | February 22, 08:06 CET

VAMPMOGS,Thanks for the info, but I googled it and Buffyforums is also blocked at my school. *Sigh* No one has suffered as I have suffered.
Anyway, I think I should probabably go and pay some attention to whatever it is that my Video Media teacher is talking about. That might be a good idea, possibly. I'm so excited for this issue, even though I was already spoiled on the reveal with most everyone else. The 'Why?' is definitely going to be the most interesting part.

KaileeA42 | February 22, 08:06 CET

This is going to be amazing.
Also, I really love Xan's pep talk.

Tyler823 | February 22, 08:09 CET

It's also now posted at SlayAlive, so you could try that as well. :)

wenxina | February 22, 08:13 CET

Not feeling the love for this issue yet....

I'm still not hearing Twilight's "real" voice in the dialogue, and the explanation of the voice change is pretty wimpy. Really, the "magic is the answer" thing is wearing thin. It's the Star Trek equivalent of writing themselves into a corner and then using technobabble to provide an answer. Magic is a cheat....

And Rising Stars isn't an obscure reference!

mbeauparland | February 22, 08:13 CET

No spoiling Simon,just confirming it's in this issue.The covers already confirm that but people still seem to be confused if it's this issue or next.I can remove that line if you want though?Or when it happens in the issue?Let me know.

[ edited by Buffyfantic on 2010-02-22 17:18 ]

Buffyfantic | February 22, 08:16 CET

I already know SlayAlive is blocked. I love that site so I've checked before. I just looked at every site I could find through google and they're all blocked, so I guess I'll really just have to wait until I get home to read it. It's so obvious that my High School is on a Hellmouth. Thanks for the help anyway though, =)

KaileeA42 | February 22, 08:17 CET

Hm, Amy was masking Twilight's voice? I always assumed he was masking it himself, like Batman does, and now he's not anymore because he's ready for his reveal. Not like it matters much either way-- although it does matter slightly, because if he did it himself like Batman, then he can turn it off of his own will, which I think is slightly cooler.

Liked the preview, and although I thought the "I'm a vampire!" bit was a little melodramatic, it was also something that Buffy (a younger Buffy, pre season 6) would have said, so it's not out of character. And it wasn't dwelled on, they just said it and moved on, chop chop, which I like.

dispatch | February 22, 08:31 CET

I really love the Buffy/Xander friendship! Since they made up in Seeing Red, they started to grow closer and closer. And interesting how Twilight's real voice was masked by Amy, until she left, now he can't hide who he really is. Giles' reaction is so interesting.

Sosa Lola | February 22, 08:42 CET

Wow, finally a comic reference to a book worth reading :).

| February 22, 08:44 CET

Of the three captives, Giles is not the one I would have expected to recognize the voice. Not impossible for him to be the first one, of course, but certainly not a slam dunk.

jclemens | February 22, 08:48 CET

Judging by Faith's expression, I'm pretty sure she recognizes the voice too.

Taaroko | February 22, 08:55 CET

I'm loving this arc. The character voices sound completely authentic, and I finally feel like I'm back in the TV show. I nominate Brad Meltzer to be lead writer for Season 9.

SteveP | February 22, 09:21 CET

Looks like this is going to be an awesome issue, can't wait! I think this is shaping up to be one of my fave arcs. Woohoo!!! :D

Jossfan_21 | February 22, 10:06 CET

We all know that Twilight is a resurrected Principal Flutie. The foreshadowing's been there.

The fact that Twilight's fake voice (with those characters) was Amy's doing is pretty cool.

The jokes are wearing on me a bit in this preview. Although it looks now like Twilight might well just be goading Andrew with not knowing his name, since Andrew already told him what it was.

Anyway. CAN'T WAIT.

[ edited by WilliamTheB on 2010-02-22 20:50 ]

[ edited by WilliamTheB on 2010-02-22 20:51 ]

WilliamTheB | February 22, 11:48 CET

I wonder what Twilight means saying his line about the local witch.

(I hadn't put the exact lines on here because I am not sure if it is allowed to do it.)

rua1412 | February 22, 11:59 CET

His voice isn't masked because he ditched Amy.

The Dark Shape | February 22, 12:05 CET

Twilight is - a blur!

Whoa. No wonder he keeps his mask on, that's just creepy!

Craig Oxbrow | February 22, 12:47 CET

I'm probably going to irritate everyone around me for the next week because of how excited I am for this issue!

Shep | February 22, 12:47 CET

Dark Shape - what do you mean? I'd love to hear your theory.

[ edited by tranquillity on 2010-02-22 22:03 ]

tranquillity | February 22, 13:02 CET

Really loved these first pages! Good stuff!

peepstone | February 22, 13:21 CET

Pirate's Booty is a "healthy" junk food. It's kind of like blander non-dayglo Cheetos but with the texture of packing peanuts. I like them quite a lot but am never sure why that is.

Sunfire | February 22, 13:38 CET

tranquility - I think it's meant fairly literally. In the previous issue, Amy was shown to be elsewhere. Twilight is simply saying that since she's not there, her magic isn't disguising his voice.

MattAllain | February 22, 13:56 CET

Considering the Rising Stars shout out,it's kind of cool that a new interview with J. Michael Straczynski just came out at Newsarama where JMS mentions being a big Buffy fan.

http://www.newsarama.com/film/JMS-Week-Movies-TV-100220.html

Buffyfantic | February 22, 15:26 CET

Am I just being silly or is Buffy's "I'm a vampire" and her brooding over all these innocent deaths she's 'caused' sound familiar, as in a certain ensouled vamp... maybe it's just me imagining a kharmic evening of the board between her and her ex...

Arawyn_P | February 22, 15:47 CET

Twilight's line about the truth coming out when you ditch your witch might also be foreshadowing of what will happen if/when Willow leaves the gang. Not just a reference to what did happen to Twilight's disguised voice with Amy gone.

Changeling said:
"Wow, finally a comic reference to a book worth reading"

Rising Stars had some good points here and there, but the fact that it was JMS's first ongoing comic really showed (previously, he'd done some Babylon 5 comics and possibly others). Certain things weren't explained or were just way too vague, the dialogue wasn't JMS' best, the pacing was weird (I liked the "3 acts" thing in principle, roughly 8 issues for each act, but one act took too long, whereas another dragged), and it's no fault of JMS, but within those 24 issues we had about 6 different artists (which lead to a few art mistakes/confusion that I'm pretty sure didn't get fixed for the trades/hardcover, not to mention some just plain bad art and an unfortunate lack of consistency). It was a flawed experiment. Much better comic by JMS was Midnight Nation. I can't remember if I liked Dream Police (a one-shot), even though I read it very recently. Never got around to that creator-owned mini-series he did for Marvel (with A Distant Soil's Colleen Doran as artist), liked his Spider-Man work (don't think I read more than the first 20 issues of it though), and he put out Delicate Creatures through Top Cow/Image as well (Midnight Nation and Rising Stars were Top Cow/Image books). While it was a hardcover illustrated storybook instead of a comic, it wasn't half bad. Sort of similar to what Neil Gaiman puts out as storybooks. Lost track of JMS' work about the same time I took a break from by B5-on-DVD viewing, so I never got around to borrowing the rest of his Spider-Man off a friend, or trying out Thor or Supreme Power (which sounded a lot like a do-over, taking past characters of Marvel's to do a better Rising Stars).

Kris | February 22, 19:40 CET

I'm loving the refocus on the main gang.
But anyone else worried about the level of friendship going on here? The core group are actually working like the Scoobs of old. I don't think we've seen this level of goodwill between them since S5, and we all know what Joss loves to do to happy relationships.

Kaan | February 22, 19:55 CET

OKAY.. Completely off topic but ANTHONY STEWART HEAD IS IN THE BUILDING I WORK RIGHT NOW. I may explode if I see him.

Sparticus | February 23, 04:18 CET

Do you need a footrub? You should get a footrub.

wenxina | February 23, 05:13 CET

Fortunately, Anthony Stewart Head wasn't in "Storyteller," so I think Sparticus is safe.

(Still. !!!! :) )

WilliamTheB | February 23, 05:23 CET