Lots of great info.I love that Wizard Of Oz cover.

Buffyfantic | June 06, 22:40 CET

Yeah, that's a good one - ties into the "flying monkeys" comment in The Avengers.

steverogers | June 06, 23:34 CET

If there is something i missed from the comics is the family feeling of the verse; wit Willow on his own book, that seems to get even broader. Dont get me wrong; i enjoy them greatly.

Darkness | June 06, 23:47 CET

Nice to see the confirmation that Joss is still reading all the scripts and sending back extensive note for re-writes on them; he hasn't been sucked away by all his other projects.

stormwreath | June 07, 01:41 CET

No complaints about a single one of these covers. Wanna high five all the artists right now.

Kairos | June 07, 01:56 CET

Great covers. Love that he likenesses are spot on but the reference photo isn't so obvious as with the season 8 covers-even though Jo Chen is an incredible artist. The Wizard of Oz one reminds me of an issue of BKV's Y the Last Man-my all time favorite comic series ever.

CaptainB | June 07, 02:54 CET

Back to Sunnydale? I'm intrigued.

anca | June 07, 05:47 CET

Nice to see the confirmation that Joss is still reading all the scripts and sending back extensive note for re-writes on them; he hasn't been sucked away by all his other projects.

I have been wondering about this for a while! I'm very relieved.

insistondoubt | June 07, 10:06 CET

One of my biggest problems with this season of 'Buffy' is how it is so focused on Buffy, which I know is a slightly strange complaint to have. The trouble is that in the TV series, and even in the early Season 8 comics before it all got too frantic, it was about Buffy and the Scoobies. Sure, as the main character Buffy got more screentime than the others, but not significantly more and all the characters had overarching character arcs and appeared a fair amount in most episodes.

However in the Season 9 comics so far we are pretty much just focusing on Buffy, with a little Spike, and based on this interview it doesn't look like that is going to change significantly for the rest of this season. There is clearly a plot going on with Xander, but at the moment it isn't getting much 'screen'time (well, it got a little more in #9 but you get my point). And we certainly aren't getting much of Buffy and the Scoobies all working together like they did in the TV series. I appreciate it is intentional, but I'm just not a big fan.

I am enjoying the season and I look forward to where it's going, but one of my favourite things about the TV series was the ensemble cast which it feels like it's missing this season.

Quarks | June 07, 12:43 CET

Is there anyone out there reading one book, but not the other? It bothers me that Allie says, "There won't be crossovers in the way that fans want." If you know we want them...

phisho | June 07, 16:37 CET

Given that Buffy's book is consistently selling more than Angel's, I'd say that it's safe to assume that not all the fans read both titles. And working around just what the fans 'want' isn't always the best way of writing a really good story. Especially when those fans tend all to want slightly different things. ;)

Five Horizons | June 07, 17:17 CET

Man, I love that Angel-Willow cover. Even though the likeness isn't quite there, it's a gorgeous setup, the symetry, color tones, etc...

CrystalSC | June 07, 17:40 CET

What is considered a crossover?In my opinion when one character or concept from one series crosses over to another or a character floats between both.There are than different types of crossovers(standalone with just characters appearing in both or where the plot line itself crosses over between both series)but in its most basic terms,that is the core.

Willow is crossing over to Angel & Faith so in my mind,that is a crossover.

[ edited by Buffyfantic on 2012-06-07 18:02 ]

Buffyfantic | June 07, 17:57 CET

Well, good to know enough of fans actually email and ask Allie for a Buffy-Angel crossover, that he actually mentioned it as something that fans want. Yes we do. In the mean time , it would feel fairly strange to have W&H come up in Buffy series - without any meaningful reference to Angel Investigation's history with the said firm. And it is a huge crossover in my books.

dorotea | June 07, 18:37 CET

Five Horizons, I second that.

Me, I want Willow and Kennedy, if I can't have the core four (with Giles dead, I consider that Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Dawn. So there... :-Pppppppbbbt)

Rowan Hawthorn | June 07, 19:23 CET

I personally am fine with this season being more about Buffy. In a magic less world, she and Spike are really the only characters so far that have any purpose and standing, to be honest... although I really enjoyed Xander's part in issue 9. Season 8 had a huge amount of Xander, Dawn and Willow, let this season focus on Buffy and Spike, please (although that's going to change in the Buffy book but at least Spike will get his own mini series). This mini-series idea is one of the inspired ideas of Season 9 so far. Willow and Spike deserve to go on their own journey and I can't wait to see them grow back into Buffy's life.

LocoforLoki | June 07, 20:47 CET

Whenever I see 'growth' being used in this context, I somehow think of root vegetables. Growth implies one direction only. Turnips grow. Characters travel, progress or regress, gain experience, and so on and such.

And honestly, I cannot stand Buffy book storyline as of late, as it became drawn and quartered metaphor. Lets hope Spike's current exit will also be a turn page for the series.

[ edited by dorotea on 2012-06-07 21:16 ]

dorotea | June 07, 21:14 CET

I must admit that I really feel Buffy's storyline is pretty awesome so far. LOVE the abortion decision-part. Best Buffy scene since the actual tv-show. Also really like how they are using metaphors big time again (the robot storyline). What I feel the story lacks, however, is focus. What is it all leading to? Here's hoping Wolfram & Hart turns out to be the real big bad of the season. (not really digging Simone. She's too one-note to be an exciting character IMH.)

[ edited by JayH on 2012-06-07 23:41 ]

JayH | June 07, 21:59 CET

Yeah, not loving Simone either. The character is just far too by-the-numbers and has no interesting qualities or character traits at all, which is not something I'm used to when it comes to Whedon bad guys and gals. Hopefully this storyline will be the last we see of her.

Five Horizons | June 07, 23:14 CET

I hope that too. I really, really do. And totally agree with you regarding Whedon's bad guys so if Simone is not dealt with in "(A)part of me" then I hope Whedon and Chambliss (at the very least) have something cool planned that'll completety change our perception of her.

JayH | June 07, 23:50 CET