Great interview!
I'm glad they're structuring season 9 differently. That's a good thing because as much as I have enjoyed S. 8, it's been too drawn out in some arcs. The Riley one-shot; I have always been middle of the road with my views on Riley, but after hearing about the upcoming issue, I'm looking forward to more than before.

maje | July 27, 17:27 CET

I'm really happy that they're doing concurrent issues with Season 9.

And I'm really excited to see how Season 8 ends.

jesse | July 27, 18:00 CET

Thanks for getting this Buffyfest! Good information. I can't wait to get the comic going again. This has just been too long of a wait, imo.

cheryl | July 27, 18:05 CET

Awww, I don't hate you Scott Allie!

Allie's comment regarding Buffy's needs was hilarious.

tickled pink | July 27, 18:13 CET

Great interview.

Bulletpoints.

1) Scott explains the co-writing deal.He's co-writing issues 37-39

2)Gives lot more info on season 9 and format.

3)Spike knows more about what's going on and fills in some blanks on things that Giles only halfway understood and helps out Giles on that.

4)We don't find out about where Spike gets his ship and his crew from in season 8.Working with IDW to tell that backstory in the Spike monthly at IDW or some flashbacks in season 9.

5)Spike is in the thick of it for the rest of season 8.Angel gets sidetracked and has to take care of stuff that Scott can't say more on that.

6)Spike/Buffy/Angel actually won't be interacting all that much.There will be some interaction though and with Joss writing it,it will be tense and ugly.But Buffy doesn't need that crap and tries to cut threw it as qucik as she can.

7)We will see both Angel and Spike in season 9.

8)More details on the Riley One-Shot.Sam's role and Riley and Angel/Twilights interaction.

Really worth a watch.

[ edited by Buffyfantic on 2010-07-28 03:21 ]

Buffyfantic | July 27, 18:21 CET

The concurrent titles/stories for season 9 should be interesting although I am a little worried about taking yet another format risk. It will definitely be nice to get more than one issue per month though! I am definitely curious how all of that will be managed. I just hope they take the time needed to prepare rather than launch and delay.

marvelknight616 | July 27, 18:41 CET

What I predict happening for Season 9 is Joss taking a more hands off approach. It'll probably be similar to what happened with After the Fall - Joss co-plots the storylines, gives guidance, and vetoes and okays things - but in the end, it'll be written by someone else. He'll still be "executive producer," but probably won't be as hands on as he was with Season 8.

I'm actually really excited aout the prospect of concurrent titles and miniseries. Imagine what Season 8 would've been like if we had that. I'd love a Willow series, Faith/Giles, etc. All of these crucial people in the story have been spread out all over the world and the series itself is so focused on Buffy that many times we lose sight of the others. Miniseries would help that tremendously.

Also, I kind of think Satsu could handle her own on-going series. She's unique and has a strong personality. I'd like to see her developed a bit more. I know that a Satsu series probably isn't in works, but it's just a thought.

jesse | July 27, 19:16 CET

Any chance of getting a transcript for this?

trunkstheslayer | July 27, 20:25 CET

I would love a Satsu solo series.

eddy | July 27, 21:01 CET

I dunno if Satsu deserves a solo series, that's a little extreme. Maybe a mini-series or a nice-sized one-time graphic novel (like what Dark Horse is doing with Shepherd Book's backstory--even though that one isn't all that long in terms of page count). If there's a story there, sure. Fray sold well enough (in issue format and then in trade paperback and hardcover), it had Joss' name on it, and although it had the benefit of being connected to the Buffyverse, it was focused on brand new, not-seen-on-TV characters. So a comic about the characters introduced through the comics wouldn't be surprising.

That was an awesome interview. Should put to rest some readers' fears, or at least enable them to feel a little more hopeful about Season 8's end (I dunno how to feel about Season 9, it's still a long way off--it's promising that it's supposed to be shorter, at least). I said some. Joss is writing issue 40 all by himself as far as we know, so that's something. Sounds like Scott is more plot-assisting on issues 37-39, not co-plotting. And if Joss does indeed take a pass on all the dialogue, there's not gonna be a huge difference between these and purely-Joss-written issues/episodes, is there ?

For the folks who complain that Allie never drops spoilers in Q&As and interviews (not that he should, IMO), holy crap he gave away a ton of stuff in this. Even if not actual outcomes (although I guess we know neither Spike nor Angel will die, not that there was really any doubt), he lets us in on the direction a lot of plots and characters will be headed.

I think Scott's hair is cool, but it always makes me look sideways at it at first, every time I see a pic or interview. Can hair just naturally be like that on a white guy, or would you need to style it that way ? It almost looks like Bob's from ReBoot.

ETA: Great interviewing, Buffyfest folks (if you guys don't mind my asking, who were the three members we saw on there, just so I can put faces to names?). The "only Buffy site that doesn't hate me" comment got a laugh out of me (and "Buffy doesn't need to deal with all that" got a smirk--folks'll no doubt jump on that, but I don't think it was intended by Scott to sleight anyone, just his opinion and/or him telling us where the story is going).

[ edited by Kris on 2010-07-28 07:03 ]

Kris | July 27, 21:57 CET

Nice interview guys!

Also one of you doing stuff behind Allie's back should be taken literally?

anca | July 27, 22:10 CET

Nice job, guys.

Kris: Michelle, Tara, Dan, in order of interviewers, I believe (and I really should be more certain of this since we all met as part of a big group dinner thing last Wednesday in San Diego). And I'm assuming Ivan was the camera guy. Together, they are Buffyfest, and they are wicked cool. :-)

SoddingNancyTribe | July 27, 22:18 CET

Am not too happy that Angel and Spike will be in season 9-but if they vmcan work it out with IDW maybe it will be ok.

But the funny thing is that the Spike ongoing will lead into the events of Buffy season 8...meaning it is canon...and the Spike ongoing spins out of events in Angel...therefore that is canon too:-). go on...try to deny the logic:-)

angeliclestat | July 28, 03:49 CET

Great interview Buffyfest! You guys have rocked SDCC! Really excited about the changing format for S9, but how do they expect to keep a schedule like that when they(Joss) have trouble even keeping up with one issue a month?

As others have said, I think we'll be seeing at lot less hands-on involvement from Joss heading into the future... and that worries me. Personally, I only want to read the stories Joss wants to tell with his characters. I'm not that interested in other peoples takes, no matter how good they may be. Anyway, who knows how things will shape up. Only time will tell I guess.

Kaan | July 28, 04:09 CET

@Kaan, They would have different creative teams working on different books. They would all tell the same story, but each book would probably have a different writer/artist. That's the only way it could logistically work.

jesse | July 28, 04:12 CET

Yeah, what I'm meaning is that will Joss be as involved with each creative team as he has been with the various writers in S8. As it stands now, each month there is three people that Joss has to work with to bring out an issue: the writer, the artist, and the editor. But if there are say 3 different creative teams, that means you triple the amount of people that will by vying for Joss' attention. Chaos ensues. Or Joss hands each of them an outline/bunch of notes and begins to back away slowly... at which point, for me personally, I shrug and start to walk away from the comics as well.

Kaan | July 28, 04:29 CET

That's a good point. What will probably happen, though, is that the editor will pick up a lot of Joss' slack. Joss will probably co-plot and okay all of the storylines, but won't be as involved in the individual issues. So he'll be the creative force behind the story, but the execution will come from other people; and it'll probably be the editor's job to make sure everything stays on track with Joss' vision.

jesse | July 28, 04:45 CET

Regardless of Joss' potential future involvement, something else really needs to be done in terms of the format of the series, so I'm glad they've been considering it. If it turns out that he's less "hands on", maybe they can just have him be a semi-editor/semi-plotter as others have mentioned, and have his buddies come back and focus on specific characters/stories for the ongoing, i.e. BKV for another Faith arc and Doug Petrie for a Spike arc. Keep the people writing it closer to the TV series and less comics-centric if possible (with BKV being the only exception).

archon | July 28, 04:57 CET

After As You Were, I don't want Petrie coming anywhere near Spike. Jane Espenson would be nice.

redeem147 | July 28, 05:34 CET

@redeem147... that really was a pretty bad Spike story. haha. I kinda liked the episode as a whole, though.

jesse | July 28, 05:43 CET

Thanks a lot everyone! We prepped hard for this one. Joss and his documentary camera crew were in the booth too and it was crazy there. Fun times.

SoddingNancyTribe: That's exactly right, Michelle, Tara then Bitsy(Dan), in that order with Ivan recording. Thanks for remembering. It was lovely spending real life time with you all :) Can't believe that was a week ago already!

anca: No, haha, Bitsy was just playing into Scott's joke. We, of course, have fond feelings for Scott Allie.

buffyfest | July 28, 06:12 CET

The format for season 9 makes me feel good. I really feel that Season could've benefited from some 4-issue miniseries featuring characters like Giles, Faith, Willow, Dawn, and Xander.

Riker | July 28, 06:20 CET

I'm very curious about "Spike's crew" and Allie's suggestion of collaborating with Brian Lynch / IDW.

Liam Mars | July 28, 08:04 CET

Hmm, maybe a small "Spook Squad" arc :-).

DaddyCatALSO | July 28, 08:34 CET

"Spook Squad"?

sueworld2003 | July 28, 09:31 CET

I would love to see an official co-published crossover between Dark Horse and IDW (like the old DC/Marvel crossovers [I go geeky for crossovers]). I think it would be fun, and it could serve to smooth over any transitions from Angel's book to Buffy's book.

Riker | July 28, 09:37 CET

@buffyfest OK, but don't show him the video.

anca | July 28, 09:41 CET

sueworld2003: I just like to drop references to that in as a non-sequitur at times; it was a spin-off idea that got me Letter of the Month from the old Buffy magazine so I keep nattering about it :-). A team-up of any 5 dead B'verse characters as a celestial detective agency.

I like the format possibilites here, as long as I can afford them month in and month out.

Time-Warner has owned DC since the 60s, Disney recently boguht Marvel, maybe News Corp. might buy, well, both comics companies and go with it. Or would that be bad news?

DaddyCatALSO | July 28, 13:18 CET

I liked As You Were, but to me it felt like another awkward episode in Buffy's most awkward season... it's just when I think of the writer who hit the personal high points of Spike's character (as I see them) on the show, it's Doug Petrie because of Fool for Love and the final moments of Beneath You (amongst other solid Spike moments throughout the series). That said, he was also one of the best Faith writers, too (again IMO).

Edit: Also, I just wanted to point out that I've never hated Scott either, and I don't know why people are so up in arms about him given Joss' control of most of the series anyway...

[ edited by archon on 2010-07-29 06:27 ]

archon | July 28, 21:26 CET