Top ten reasons to look forward to Buffy Season 9 - BtVS

Ha, great panel and both a funny and cool list. Can't wait!

Not sure I can handle only two #1s...
Most intrigued about #8 and #3, though I guess in terms of actual story concerns, #4 is a BFD, so I'll add that to the list too. :)

wenxina | June 14, 17:55 CET

6: (sniffle)

Craig Oxbrow | June 14, 17:57 CET

Yay for #1:-)

faith in Angel | June 14, 18:14 CET

I'm wondering about #5....

buffyfest | June 14, 18:33 CET

LOL to #10 and #9.

Sniff to #6

Boo to #1 but understandable for now.

[ edited by Buffyfantic on 2011-06-14 18:37 ]

Buffyfantic | June 14, 18:34 CET

I'm definitely intrigued...can't wait!

Jossfan_21 | June 14, 18:58 CET

Oh please let Willow's Ren Faire days be behind us.

Sunfire | June 14, 19:00 CET

I liked the list up until #1. Oh well, I will still buy both series regardless of the editor's comments/opinions.

Brierly | June 14, 19:15 CET

I read it as rather tongue in cheek, myself.

Sunfire | June 14, 19:25 CET

I liked Angel and Faith in the preview panel just casually chatting and strolling the street with that labrys* strapped to her back for all the world to see like it was nothing. : )

"5. Longstanding debts come due..."

Er, how much money did they steal? It's too bad they can't just auction off some bonds--it seems to work so well.

*A double-headed axe. It's my new personal vocab word of the day.

BreathesStory | June 14, 19:36 CET

Yeah, I suspected it was tongue in cheek since he is constantly excoriated for his "Spike hatred" - by which, of course, I mean his non-hatred of Angel :).

zeitgeist | June 14, 20:44 CET

Can not WAIT for these to come out (especially A&F). I love the panel preview, but I really hope we don't get too cobbled a London throughout....we're a very modern city!

Alex_Jamieson | June 14, 21:11 CET

#11: Spike. :)

Enisy | June 14, 21:36 CET

Angel & Faith: Double the redemption!

Awesome!

Arkham258 | June 14, 21:56 CET

11. Now with twice the intent to insult your intelligence!

hence | June 14, 22:00 CET

I like #1. Angel and Faith intrigues me - I hadn't really thought about it before, but I think they might just fit each other nicely.

redeem147 | June 14, 22:48 CET

#12 Some dude will be on his way to work or coming back from work every third issue

#13 "suddenly, you're back in your 'helping the helpless' clothes and ready to kick some demon ass". It's a real burn being right so often.

KingofCretins | June 14, 22:53 CET

14. We promise not to kill your favorite character this time! (Trust us...)

Alright, now I have complained enough. It better be awesome!

hence | June 15, 00:45 CET

Liked the A&F panel. It would be cool to see some Buffy art though.

Kaan | June 15, 02:04 CET

Can anyone recommend a good comic book store in New York City? (ie one that sells Buffy comics) I'm moving there in two weeks, and I need to know where to get my fix.

racheltng | June 15, 02:06 CET

racheltng, you can use this to find the closest shop to your new address. I'm sure it will give you several.

http://www.comicshoplocator.com/

IrrationaliTV | June 15, 02:33 CET

You should shop at Forbidden Planet. Not that I'm biased or anything.

project bitsy | June 15, 02:36 CET

You sort of experience Forbidden Planet more than just shop there.

The One True b!X | June 15, 03:17 CET

Well If that panels meant to be set in London they better hurry up and do a bit more research for this series then as we don't have American style fire hydrants over here I'm afraid, And not every road is cobbled.

Also once again DH's snarky tone fails to get me laughing...

sueworld2003 | June 15, 07:59 CET

Gods forbid that the comic isn't 100% realistic. Horrors!

IrrationaliTV | June 15, 08:03 CET

Oh come on now. I don't think It's unreasonable for this company to put in a wee bit of research into a location they're going to be setting an entire run in, don you? I mean how hard is it to draw up a few images off the net for heavens sake.

This is a job for them rather then a hobby after all.

[ edited by sueworld2003 on 2011-06-15 08:22 ]

sueworld2003 | June 15, 08:21 CET

Sorry. That level of detail in a comic is an unrealistic expectation. Nice if they get it right but not really a deal breaker in a comic about effin' vampires. Realism? Not really necessary. Once again. VAMPIRES! WITCHES! DEMONS! These things are not real. I'll give them a pass on the stupid fire hydrants and cobblestones.

IrrationaliTV | June 15, 09:49 CET

I'm with Sue. PLEASE don't tell me that frame is supposed to be in England. It throws me right out of any suspension of disbelief.

IrrationaliTV, if you were shown an LA setting with a red telephone box and a double decker bus in it, wouldn't you find it irritating and annoying? It's that level of mistake to draw that frame and pretend it has anything to do with Britain.

Gill | June 15, 10:03 CET

Wait. You all are complaining about something not looking like London and you don't even know if it is supposed to be in London or not? Really? I fucking give up. That could be Boston for all you know. And yes I've lived in both Boston and London. I have points of reference beyond Los Angeles.

IrrationaliTV | June 15, 10:13 CET

Yes I agree Gill. There's a whole world of difference between dealing with fantasy elements of a story that aren't grounded in the real world (monsters etc) and yet trying to place them in real world settings that folks can recognize and that were can refer to.

I mean from this panel the place looks like a combination of oldie worldy London and somewhere in the states. :0

I believe that this is meant to be set in England though isn't it?

And 'Irrational' try and turn it down a wee bit will you. :)

[ edited by sueworld2003 on 2011-06-15 10:21 ]

sueworld2003 | June 15, 10:17 CET

Are we really talking about fire hydrants or is this another proxy war gearing up for the inevitabale Season 9 wank. Enough for the time being.

And 'Irrational' try and turn it down a wee bit will you. :)

Don't provoke. If you have problems with other posters do drop me a line.

Simon | June 15, 10:22 CET

Nevermind. Simon's on it.

[ edited by IrrationaliTV on 2011-06-15 10:23 ]

IrrationaliTV | June 15, 10:22 CET

And the same goes for you too.

Simon | June 15, 10:22 CET

Sorry Simon. As to the accusation that to pass comment on this is seen as being 'Whining and complaining' well, sorry I don't agree.

DH ask folks to part with good money for this, and so I don't think It's unreasonable to expect them to try their best at getting certain basics right, and If you set this in the UK (which we've been told it is by the way) then I'd hope we'd see better.

And yes, I am only talking about the fire hydrants here.

[ edited by sueworld2003 on 2011-06-15 10:29 ]

sueworld2003 | June 15, 10:27 CET

I too am only talking about that fire hydrant when I say, if the scene is set in London, as a piece of street furniture it sticks out like a sore thumb.

silvius | June 15, 10:47 CET

Number 1 is the main reason I'll be reading season 9. :)

HappyMeal | June 15, 10:58 CET

IrrationaliTV, if you were shown an LA setting with a red telephone box and a double decker bus in it, wouldn't you find it irritating and annoying? It's that level of mistake to draw that frame and pretend it has anything to do with Britain.

I really disagree. I’ve been on many London streets that look just like that (I can think of a few alleys just off Oxford Street, for a start) and I see no problem with it. The worst you could criticise them for is a fire hydrant but, seriously, it’s a fire hydrant, so...

The actual street is easily passable as London. London still has plenty of streets with cobbles, it has plenty of shops with roller shutter doors, and the rest is just made up of indiscriminate buildings that don’t even have enough detail to be criticised as incorrect. The fire hydrant is a mistake but I can’t fathom how something so small and insignificant could possibly upset anyone, so if that’s the biggest concern with Issac’s art then I’d say she’s doing great.

vampmogs | June 15, 11:06 CET

Well lets hope you're right and we don't get a repeat of season 8's version of how the rest of the world looked with all it's inaccuracies.

On the plus side the artwork style does look fairly pretty so far.

[ edited by sueworld2003 on 2011-06-15 11:29 ]

sueworld2003 | June 15, 11:09 CET

Yeah, I have to say I'm with Gill and Sue on this. With the obvious lack of any kind of research when it came to drawing (and writing) about non-American locations in S8, I'm having hard time giving the comics the benefit of doubt in this issue.

And the genre, be it comics or fantasy/supernatural, is no excuse for sloppy research - just check out Don Rosa's Scrooge McDuck story The Quest for Kalevala and the parts set in Helsinki for how it's done.

ruuger | June 15, 11:39 CET

The panel makes me more confident in Gage's writing. I like the art. I'm gettin' so excited.
We've already seen that page from Angel & Faith which seemed pretty modern. So I don't think we have to worry about everything being cobblestones and bowler hats.
As for georgaphical inaccuarcies an itty bitty fire hydrant seems a little too minor to start getting worked up about. Hopefully if there are any inaccuries they're minor. I guess I can understand being annoyed about that sort a thing. I mean if they did an issue set in Australia and had the Scoobies running about in the middle of a desert, with kangaroos and khakis I think I'd wanna hit someone. But it's seems like it's gonna be minor stuff if any, so stress less guys.

Nathan | June 15, 11:51 CET

The art actually looks great, and very London. Yes, there are many streets which look like that. Obviously, the fire hydrant is a mistake.

gossi | June 15, 12:01 CET

The art actually looks great, and very London. Yes, there are many streets which look like that. Obviously, the fire hydrant is a mistake.

Odd you should say that, as it looks nothing like a London street to me. It's more what someone who had never actually seen one except in set bound old movies might imagine a London street would look like. The fire hydrants are a big mistake, obviously. We don't have fire hydrants in the UK. But those apart, you would never get a London street without street markings, or parked cars. It just looks like Comic Book Ye Olde London to me.

But season 8 made it clear that's pretty par for the course. We got Comic Book Ye Olde Scotland in that, and Comic Book Ye Olde Germany too.

And of course Dark Horse isn't the only comics company that routinely get this stuff wrong, but it does make me wonder if any of the artists involved know how to use a search engine.

deborahmm | June 15, 12:21 CET

But the problem isn't he firehydrant in itself - it's the fact that they have gotten non-American locations consistently wrong, sometimes to a level that borders on offensive.

If it were just this one time, I would give them the benefit of a doubt, but as it is the artists and writers simply come across as lazy and ignorant for not bothering with even the slightest amount of research.

ruuger | June 15, 12:41 CET

Okay, now my curiosity has been not only awoken, but annoyingly stymied. Just what the heck does the definitive London/English fire hydrant look like? Google is being surprisingly difficult this morning. Or maybe that's just my brain. (I now know what they look like in Korea, Beijing, Quebec, Florence, and a half dozen old British colonies though.)

BreathesStory | June 15, 13:08 CET

I don't think we have them. Water stop cocks are located under the pavement I believe.

sueworld2003 | June 15, 13:11 CET

Odd you should say that, as it looks nothing like a London street to me. It's more what someone who had never actually seen one except in set bound old movies might imagine a London street would look like.

I completely disagree. It looks exactly like the side alleys off places such as Oxford Street, and none of them have cars on them either. They're just cobbled streets lined with stores and are easily as wide as the street Angel/Faith are walking down. I've walked down plenty of streets that pretty much look identical to this.

vampmogs | June 15, 13:16 CET

There' no road markings of course, which is odd for a start and hell, I live in London. *g*

[ edited by sueworld2003 on 2011-06-15 13:31 ]

sueworld2003 | June 15, 13:19 CET

We do have fire hydrants. They have a yellow "H" letter.

And as for that not looking like a London street - I've just got back from London. Where there were streets. Like that.

gossi | June 15, 13:19 CET

Really? Blimey.

This is more like what I see when walking in town....

http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-303807/stock-photo-empty-backstreet-in-soho-london-uk.html

[ edited by sueworld2003 on 2011-06-15 13:27 ]

sueworld2003 | June 15, 13:24 CET

Fire hydrants in London streets are below ground level, generally under a rectangular metal cover and accompanied by a sign (a black 'H' on a yellow background) on an adjacent wall.

silvius | June 15, 13:33 CET

I would actually buy an entire series about Buffy getting drunk. Calamitous results optional. That girl's hilarious when she can't hold her liquor.

...Although, a full season of that would mean she's probably an alcoholic. Less funny. Okay, I'll just say I'm glad that's on the list and leave it at that.

Kairos | June 15, 13:37 CET

Silvius thanks for that info. I thought they were underground. Thought I was going crackers there for a moment. *g*

sueworld2003 | June 15, 13:39 CET

We do have fire hydrants. They have a yellow "H" letter.

Never seen a fire hydrant in the UK, not saying they don't exist just that that'd be a new one on me. The ones we have are under rectangular mini-manhole style things about 5 x 6 inches, flush with the pavement and are marked with an 'H' post - when I was a kid my Dad hilariously told me that was where people from the water board were buried and for years afterwards i'd jump over the bit of pavement near an 'H' marker. Cheers Dad, lucky I wasn't affect;\ojkhgiu\hsgpuhted.

Aside from that, the bin in the foreground (if it is a bin) looks the right shape, the railings look right, the streets/shops etc. could be one of the alleys off the main drag in London. Not sure about the sign though, the only octagonal street signs I can think of are 'Stop' signs and that one would be in the wrong place. It's off but not by a million miles, particularly if you grant a bit of artistic licence (and either way, it doesn't bother me at all). So long as there's no-one selling cockles an' mussels and they don't get invited to a roight ol' knees up (where barrels are being rolled out willy nilly) I can deal.

ETA: We got Comic Book Ye Olde Scotland in that, and Comic Book Ye Olde Germany too.

Scotland still had bloody wolves (at least as far as Xander was concerned). Still didn't bother me (he was only off by 300 years or so ;).

[ edited by Saje on 2011-06-15 13:52 ]

Saje | June 15, 13:46 CET

So I did find pictures of fire hydrants in London. I just had no idea what I was looking at without explicit titles or descriptions. Thanks all for answering my question. : )

Conclusion: It was my brain. As usual.

It strikes me that if I ever make a comic that is set in a real city that I'm not in, it would be a good idea to have a research contact who is willing to answer questions and take pictures of fire hydrants for me...

BreathesStory | June 15, 13:51 CET

Or just have access to Google I suppose. :)

sueworld2003 | June 15, 13:52 CET

The fire hydrant is wrong, but the street not so much, I mean it could be almost this street in clerkenwell (google streetview link). The amount of roads that are cobbled but TFL (or previous councils) have just tarmac'ed over plays nicely with the comic book effect of just drawing a few cobbles. Imagine them coming through the fading tarmac.

Season 8's location shots were pretty poor in places and that's not on the artist as much as the write who assumes these things about these countries (Scotland & Germany, I'm looking at you here), but there is only one way to judge the content of the book, and that's wait till we get the book. And inevitably we will get annoyed by fire hydrants and red phone boxes, but we'll probably cope.

Sparticus | June 15, 13:53 CET

Oh if you really want to be pedantic but the stop sign in the photo should be accompanied by a thick black line on the street Angel and Faith are walking out of, to indicate to cars they have to stop their before proceeding as opposed to just giving way (probably due to the blind junction). THIS LACK OF WHITE LINE IS KILLING ME AND MAY CAUSE ME TO CANCEL MY SUBSCRIPTION.

Sparticus | June 15, 13:56 CET

I'll join those not giving a stone crap about scrupulously verified geography, architecture, and road signage for the apparent London setting of "Angel and Faith". I guess the poor city just gets to join Almost Every City Ever In Television, Movie, and Novel in which the story was not actually produced. Stephen King had Co-op City in the diametrically opposite end of New York from where it actually is for, what, a couple decades? And every show that's ever cheated LA or Vancouver for New York, Atlanta, Detroit, Washington, DC?

Dang, I was all intrigued when I saw "31 new comments", and it's all about this worn out and, from where I stand, entirely unreasonable complaint that pops up pretty much every time a Buffyverse story steps outside the contiguous United States.

KingofCretins | June 15, 14:01 CET

I think we've exhausted Hydrantgate and why everything in the panel is wrong. Let's move onto something else.

Simon | June 15, 14:02 CET

Has watergate already been used then ? *racks brains*

Number 3's up there for me, Buffy's a funny drunk. Well, SMG is.

Saje | June 15, 14:10 CET

That could man Buffy or Willow, really. I've been having an argument over whether "calamitous" will or should mean "mundane and possibly unsympathetic and causing both drama and Drama" vs. "whacky, supernatural hijinks". Their options for "whacky hijinx" are much fewer now considering the lack of magic.

KingofCretins | June 15, 14:14 CET

Hijinks will still ensue, they may just have to recalibrate their wackiness scale. Bit more A-Team, bit less beating up dragons maybe (unless "season 9"s gonna be about someone trying to bring the magic back, i've mostly avoided plot information up to now).

True though, Willow's pretty icony herself, guess Buffy getting drunk just stands out in my memory more.

Saje | June 15, 14:25 CET

Hydrantgate

Sorry but that cracked me up something wonderful.

Matt7325 | June 15, 15:18 CET

I only have 5 reasons.

1. More Buffy.
2. Angel and Faith and redemption, there's a lot to mine there.
3. Andrew Chambliss writing. I'm psyched for that.
4. Jeanty is back! I really like his work so far.
5. What happens when magic is gone? I'm intrigued.

Sunfire | June 15, 15:29 CET

I'm on board with Sunfire's 5 reasons. :)

wenxina | June 15, 15:55 CET

Yeah, Kendra totally took me out of the show. So bad and unrealistic. I mean, what horrible hair!

Jaymii | June 15, 19:10 CET

June 14 2011