Whedonesque : Comments on 9854 : Out today in comic book shops

This site will work and look better in a browser that supports web standards, but it is accessible to any browser or Internet device.

March 22 2006

Out today in comic book shops - Angel Script Book #1 'City Of'. "Seems we have a new player in town". A steal at four dollars, it's an absolute must have for Angel fans. And for newcomers, it's a good starting point for finding out why the show was essential viewing right from the beginning.

And if you're feeling nostalgic, check out this really good pic of Joss Whedon, Elisabeth Rohm, Christian Kane and Stephanie Romanov taken by RavenU at Wizard World LA last weekend.

Simon | AtS | 11:38 CET | 28 comments total | tags: angel

Simon, where did you find the book?? I jumped to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Borders couldn't find a hint of it. I've got to have it!!!!

SangChaud | March 22, 13:27 CET

Sorry, Simon (and anyone else checking in). That posted before I was finished with it. It's 11:30 p.m. here and I'm a bit knackered. Anyway, despite my somewhat cryptic second sentence, I'd love to know where I can go to find the book. You're right, four dollars is a steal. Please help! TIA.

SangChaud | March 22, 13:35 CET

Try your local comic shop or an online comic shop and you should be able to find it.

Jackal | March 22, 14:05 CET

Thanks, Jackal! Is it a script book, like the ones available for the first 2 or 3 Buffy seasons, or is it a graphic novel?

SangChaud | March 22, 14:09 CET

It's a script like the ones in the early Buffy script books but it does have illustrations. Not sure why they stopped making the Buffy books but it'll be good to get an Angel script, especially one written by Joss.

Edited to make things clearer, I shouldn't post as soon as I get up.

[ edited by Paul_Rocks on 2006-03-22 13:58 ]

Paul_Rocks | March 22, 14:25 CET

Should be getting a text from the Comic shop anytime soon - had mine ordered as soon as I knew it was being produced.

Yet another corking photo from RavenU, look at all the beautiful people.

The Do That Girl | March 22, 14:36 CET

Thanks, Paul_Rocks! I can't figure out why they quit making the Buffy script books, either. If I had my druthers, I'd have every script of everything from the pen and/or the mind of that Joe Sweden guy. And you're right, it'll be good to get an Angel one (script book, not pen or mind). Do you know if they are planning more? All this is probably known to most, but I get a little out of touch when I do a lot of overtime at work.... Thanks, all.

Oh, and gotta agree with TDTG--corking photo & beautiful people, indeed!

SangChaud | March 22, 15:02 CET

Sorry for causing any confusion over where you can get the script book, I've made the headline clearer.

Simon | March 22, 15:12 CET

I believe IDW are just publishing selected scripts along with new artwork based on the episodes. Future ones include Spin the Bottle, Waiting in the Wings, and A Hole in the World.

paxomen | March 22, 15:12 CET

I have to wonder about the point of these books, given that the transcripts of all the episodes are freely available online now. Okay, you get the added benefit of the actual script notes of the writer (some of those written by Joss being very funny indeed) but beyond that it seems a little bit of a waste of money to me.

I'd have to assume that most fans feel the same way i do, given that the original Buffy script books didn't sell well enough to be completed. Just seems like there are better Buffy or Angel items to be spending your money on, to me anyway.

The Watcher | March 22, 15:22 CET

Yeah, IDW is putting these out monthly, and it looks like for now they're just giving us the Whedon-penned eps.

Just to be entirely clear--I believe the format on these things is not so much going to be like the Buffy scriptsbook, but like a comic book, staples in the back and all.

They'll probably be worth it for the Jeff Johnson art alone--really looking forward to seeing what he'll make of those characters.

Hey, look: Don't believe these new sollicitations (for July) were posted yet. They include Angel Spotlight: Doyle, a Spike TPB, and the first non-Sweden-penned scriptbook: Five by Five.

Niels | March 22, 15:26 CET

Regarding transcripts online, those aren't actually taken from the shooting scripts are they? I alway assumed someone noted them down when they watched the episode.

Anyhow IDW's script book does have "the entire shooting script" so I assume it will include deleted scenes and lines that were cut.

beyond that it seems a little bit of a waste of money to me.

Four dollars is a small price to pay for having a bit of fun. Cup of coffee, a cigarette and an Angel script to read? Worth every penny.

Simon | March 22, 15:28 CET

"Four dollars is a small price to pay for having a bit of fun. Cup of coffee, a cigarette and an Angel script to read? Worth every penny."

Yeah, perhaps you are right. The deleted scenes and cut lines would at least make it more worth my money, although personally i'd skip the cigarette. But then that's just my lungs. ;)

The Watcher | March 22, 15:46 CET

Even more, since they are starting with the Whedon penned scripts, as Telltale noted above, we get to read the master's words. I enjoyed the Visual Companion much more than I even expected I would because reading the script was so nice.

Lioness | March 22, 16:44 CET

Some websites archive full shooting scripts online -- it was quite common with Buffy/Angel/Firefly, as somehow the fans got ahold of them. Most of the time it's fine, although occasionally if a company buys the licensing rights they get the scripts taken offline.

* If you are a writer type person, it's worth checking out those scripts as they are in different states - ie some not the final filmed version. The pilot script there is apparently the original Minear'ed version, before the rewrites & reshoots.

[ edited by Simon on 2006-03-22 20:21 ]

gossi | March 22, 21:13 CET

I think the buffy shooting script site was taken down after an email from Fox's lawyers in 2001, when the official scripts were being published. The site is now down but see Google cache. I can't really blame Fox for doing this (though I do think they should have gone ahead and published all scripts and not stop halfway, because now I can't get a script of CWDP (for example) anywhere).

Celebithil | March 22, 21:49 CET

The shooting scripts are actually still available on one site [deleted] and the full Firefly collection is available at [deleted]. Hope that helps (and I hope Fox aren't reading this).

[ edited by Simon on 2006-03-22 20:22 ]

Jackal | March 22, 22:06 CET

*smokes her ciggie next to Simon*

Picking mine up today. Thanks for the heads up. Four bucks is a steal. I really enjoyed the recent TokyoPop version of The Gift. It was 7.00 US or so, but a little less like a comic and packaged more like a standard book or graphic novel. It had the entire shooting script and notes and such. I'm not keeping up with anything new on TV, so why not?

April | March 22, 22:07 CET

The Web Archive is also handy.

gossi | March 22, 22:10 CET

Oooh, the Doyle book could be really cool. Nice drawing too. Still miss him 7 years later . . .

Tycho | March 22, 22:18 CET

I think it would be best if we didn't draw attention to scripts hosted at fan sites. I wouldn't want anyone getting into trouble so I'm going to edit people's posts.

Simon | March 22, 22:21 CET

Slightly OT, but check out Whedonesque back in the day. Firefly premieres, and nobody posts. Nobody likes River. How times change.

gossi | March 22, 22:25 CET

Nice look back - 'course, at that time, W had but 240 members. And having all three Joss productions happening at once must have been terribly distracting. ;)

As for River, some of us (i.e. me) didn't really get into her throughout much of the first season. She was always near the bottom of my fav character list to be honest. Objects in Space and Serenity have shifted that opinion somewhat.

SoddingNancyTribe | March 22, 22:36 CET

Ah, regarding the Buffy Script Books ...

When I noticed a slowdown in the publishing of the BtVS script books, I emailed the publisher (Simon & Schuester) back in May of 2004. They cancelled BtVS Season 3, Volume 3, before publication. No mention of why, but my suspicion that it was due to lack of interest went unanswered.

Ocular | March 23, 00:10 CET

Yeah, I've been waiting for this for MONTHS now! At last I'll get to see if the wait has been worth it. I'll hit the comic shop tomorrow... too wiped from work tonight.

Haunt | March 23, 04:17 CET

Firefly premieres, and nobody posts.

Back then we didn't have specific Whedonesque discussion threads about episodes. Though do note the relevant links about the first episode on the 19th, 20th and 21st of September.

I got the feeling at the time that there wasn't much excitement about Firefly from Joss' traditional fanbase.

Simon | March 23, 13:22 CET

Very much so. As an avid viewer of both Buffy and Angel at the time, not to mention somebody with very little interest in science fiction in general, my initial reaction to Firefly was pretty much "Whatever!".

I was, of course, wrong.

The Watcher | March 23, 15:09 CET

That was around the time I became a Whedonesque lurker. In fact for the 1st few months I didn't even read the comments, just the links so I could keep upto date with what Joss was up to (and then if Firefly was going to get canned which sadly it was).

Paul_Rocks | March 23, 15:31 CET

You need to log in to be able to post comments.
About membership.

« Older Industry rag Screen Daily reviews ... | NBC pulls Seth Green's 'Four King... Newer »