For those who don't know, Joss Whedon is writing season eight as a series of comic books from Dark Horse Comics. Anyone else reading it? What do you think so far?

looked at it
but i don't get to my comic book store oftern enought to try and get monthlys any more.
hopeing desparatly it will reach trade.

Dark Horse is usually quite good at putting out trades, so you may be in luck.

ARGH! When did this start? How many issues are out? Is it any good? Who's writing it? Is it better than the other Buffy comics? I should actually follow the link to have most of my quesitons answered, right?

*laughs*

That would help, yes.

It's being written by Joss Whedon. I've never read the other comics, but I can only assume that it's as good or better. It's also canon - this IS season eight, the events that would've transpired had the show not been cancelled.

Just got the second issue. It's quite excellent. The writing's top-notch, the plot's flowing well. The villains and heroes are starting to take shape and, naturally, Buffy's in a nightmarish dream-realm.

The previous comics are horrendous. Haven't read them all, but the few I have are your worst comic book cliché, plus boring. I even gave a chance to the Willow comics, coz Tara Bensons co-wrote them, and they're even worse 8not sure whose fault that is, though).

Anyway. I wonder if I can get them in comic shops around here? Will need to go on a trip...

This series feels very much like what Joss would've wanted the series to be like, had he the budget for it.

You said the series was cancelled -I just assumed they didn't want to go on and on an don. Is there some gossip I'm not aware of? (There IS something odd about the whole thing, or at leats I want to think there is, sinc eI read somewhere that Gellar refused to show in the last episod eof Angel and I couldn't help notice in the end-of-series-ever party extra footage on the 7th season DVDs she is nowhere to be seen, and no one mentiones her at all, which is weird, weird, weird.)

According to most reports, in the last few years of the show, at least, she became very difficult to work with. Reasons vary, but it's pretty much universally accepted that she was not a lot of fun to be around.

The series was cancelled, but only after SMG has said that she would not be signing up for an eighth season. Whedon and company agreed that having an eighth season of Buffy with no Buffy was dumb, but rumours persist that Whedon's choice to end the season with the awakening of all the Potentials was intended to keep the Buffyverse open - he could either pick up one of the other Potentials and tell her story, make animated movie or, as has turned out, a comic book.

I thought that the series had winded down in terms of ideas. It wasn't as bad as the last seasons of the X-Files but I still count the first 2-3 years as much better than the rest. The Spike story was the best part of the show after Angel took a leave of absence, but even that had come pretty much full circle. So whether it was Sarah's fault or not that it ended, it was probably just as well.

I haven't read any of the comics. For some reason I can't see them as much more than fanfiction. But I read a comic book written by Joss Whedon, Fray, set up a few centuries into the future. There's some mention of Buffy but not by name. I thought it was pretty good.

quote:

Originally posted by Smaug:
looked at it
but i don't get to my comic book store oftern enought to try and get monthlys any more.
hopeing desparatly it will reach trade.

I'll be waiting for the collection for sure. There was an article in a recent Wizard Mag, and Rae was reading excepts of it to me. I think Brian K Vaughn and Jeph Loeb are also writing stories? The article was pretty fun and I intended to share pieces of it here somewhere. When I get around to it, I'll drop some snips-its here.

quote:

Originally posted by chimeer:
I thought that the series had winded down in terms of ideas. It wasn't as bad as the last seasons of the X-Files but I still count the first 2-3 years as much better than the rest. The Spike story was the best part of the show after Angel took a leave of absence, but even that had come pretty much full circle. So whether it was Sarah's fault or not that it ended, it was probably just as well.

I'm in the minority in that I really like the fifth season, or at least it's main plot, but in general I agree, it's time had come before it's time actually came.

i think the fifth season was probably the best in terms of a journey, and contains at least three of the best individual episodes. Even the sixth was a brave tackling of depression and alienation in adulthood, but because of this watched difficult.

It also just felt like it was on the wrong show. I get how they set up Buffy to come back as this very damaged young woman, but she'd been of such great strength to so many for so long that to have her cave again and again and again - well, it hurt. And didn't feel real.

That said, when she breaks up with Spike the last time and, after he scoffs about how he's heard it before, and she fixes him with a stare and says, "It's over, William," for the first time and only ever using his real name . . . well, that got me.

That was a good scene, but the whole Spike trying to rape Buffy after they split was out of character and didn't fit with anything else in the story. As Spike is one of my favorite characters I still pretend that episode didn't happen.

I know this isn't quite the right place to post this, but I'm almost through Angel season 1 (which I enjoyed okay, although I could do without the veneer of cheese in the production values). Will watch X-Files season 4 and then move on to Buffy season 5. Still debating with myself whether I also want to get Buffy seasons 6/7 and Angel post-season 2. The comic sounds interesting, though. I've liked the Whedon-scripted comics I've read so far, and Fray was fun.

quote:

Originally posted by Murphy (is resolutely unimpressed):Even the sixth was a brave tackling of depression and alienation in adulthood, but because of this watched difficult.

Agree completely. After season four, I think, Buffy stopped being less fun and more serious, and sometimes very painful.

I did think the "rape" scene was very believable -I mean, after all they had all this sexual relationship based on love/hate, on 'No don't do it but I really want you to but I don't and I hate myself for it'. I can see it happening.

quote:

Originally posted by Dweller in Darkness:
It also just felt like it was on the wrong show. I get how they set up Buffy to come back as this very damaged young woman, but she'd been of such great strength to so many for so long that to have her cave again and again and again - well, it hurt. And didn't feel real.

My bolding here. Yes, it hurt, and it was meant to. But i do think it felt real.


But this is it. I disagree that she lacked strength. She still had an enormous amount of strength. Depression is not the same as weakness.

But the nature of depression is often to have those moments of clarity, but still be unable to act on them.

As i say, i don't think it was at it's best in season 6, but it showed that power isn't enough. It really showed the characters like Tara and Anya and Xander off well. They aren't heroes, but in the end Buffy couldn't have stood without them.

Season six really was Anya's shining season. Loved her in that.

When I said that it hurt, I more meant that, "Yay, we get to see SMG do her constipated squirrel of ennui face again," than anything with an emotional component.