ANGEL news, BUFFY news, ANGEL cover, BUFFY cover, ANGEL extended, BUFFY delay, ANGEL arist change, BUFFY soliciation

WHERE THE &^*$ HAVE YOU BEEN?

It's been a while since I've dished the news, so sorry for the lag. I'm working real hard on my own webseries at the moment, so blogging has kinda shifted to the backburner. But I'm going to be going real hard to keep up with the news, and point you in the direction of new covers whenever they're released.

And speaking of which... Brian Lynch has the full color version of Stephen Mooney's ANGEL #11 cover over at his blog.

THIS WEDNESDAY

If you go to that link, you'll notice that we've got two great comics coming out this Wednesday. We've got EVERYBODY'S DEAD #5, which concludes that series, so everyone that's been following this epic/funny/weed-smokey tale better put in the order for this book. And, of course, ANGEL #11 comes out tomorrow, and it has a certain former-human-current-vampire's climatic meeting with a former-human-former-evil-vampire-former-ensouled-vampire-current-human.

CONCLUDING "AFTER THE FALL"

So it's getting closer to that time. Here's a few bits of news you may or not know concerning the end of "Angel: After the Fall" and the future of the ANGEL franchise.

1. "Angel: After the Fall" was set to end at #16. Now, it looks like IDW may extend the series by one issue to give it a beefier ending.

2. After #11, we say goodbye to Nick Runge and welcome Stephen Mooney, who takes over art duties for #12 and #13. You can see a preview page from #12 right here. You may know his art from the "CONNOR" and "KATE" stories from Issues #6 and #7, and also the SLAY ALIVE covers from #1-#12. Check out Brian's report on that right here, and also dig some of Mooney's really awesome takes on Wesley, Spike, and Gunn. Looks like the eye of ramras is back.

3. It seems that, after Mooney finishes up #13, FRANCO URRU is joining the team to finish out "After the Fall."

And here... here is the big news... if you haven't see this yet a) you're a n00b and b) get ready to soil yourself.

4. After "Angel: After the Fall," we're getting some more of our favorite broodster. KELLEY ARMSTRONG, supernatural novelist, takes on writing duties for ANGEL: AFTERMATH, which picks up on what Angel and the gang are doing after the conclusion of AFTER THE FALL. Kelley talked about the series on her forum, and gave out a few great bits of information.

+ "It'll be a 5-6 volume single story arc."

+ "The story will be approved by (Joss Whedon)."

+ "It will follow from the events of Angel: After the Fall, it will continue that storyline and subsequent storylines will follow from it. So, yes, it's considered canon."

+ Brian Lynch will also write a continuation, later down the road. Kelley says, "I should clarify this. Brian is writing a separate story arc. Both will continue the series from the TV show (and After the Fall), but they are separate stories, so if readers do decide my contribution is a "best-forgotten alternate reality blip", the blame will fall solely on me, unfortunately..."

5. John Byrne, comic book legend, is going to be writing/pencilling an upcoming ANGEL flashback book titles ANGEL: BLOOD AND TRENCHES.

HOW ABOUT THAT BLONDE GIRL?
Ah, Buffy. A lot of great stuff is going on over at Dark Horse concerning the Buffy comic, so I'll give yall the sitch.

1. We've got the entire map out for SEASON EIGHT, it seems. I'll give you the list after I post various bits of other news.

2. Season Nine is definitely a go, and Joss Whedon will be involved. Scott Allie says that Joss will definitely Executive Produce it, but he's not sure how much Joss will be able to write, due to his involvement in DOLLHOUSE and CABIN IN THE WOODS (a film he wrote with Drew Goddard) which has been given the FREAKING GREEN LIGHT. Great news all around.

3. Solicit for Buffy #20 is out today. The blurb reads, "Written by Jeph Loeb, penciled by Eric Wight and Georges Jeanty. Comic-book writer Jeph Loeb was set to executive produce, alongside Joss Whedon and animator Eric Wight, the proposed Buffy animated TV series. While Buffy fans won't be viewing that show anytime soon, Loeb, Wight, and Whedon offer the next best thing -- a comic inspired by the animated series!" (Speaking of which, you can check out that animated show that we "won't be viewing anytime soon" right here! Great month to be a Buffy fan.

4. Georges Jeanty's #2o cover is above. It's in the style of the original ANIMATED series. In the actual comic book, I think Georges is pencilling the present scenes while Eric Wright draws the flashback scenes in the style of BUFFY: ANIMATED.

5. Sadly, now this is a wee bit of bad news, Buffy #20 is delayed about a month. It comes out November 26th instead of the first week of November, which isn't a big deal. I'd rather a small planned delay than a... erm, not planned delay. Would you agree?

BUFFY SEASON EIGHT PLAN

#20: "After These Messages ... We'll Be Right Back" written by Jeph Loeb

#21-25: The arc described by Scott Allie as "Vampires in the Vogue." It consists of standalone issues, each written by a different writer. Jane Espenson kicks it off and is followed by Doug Petrie, Drew Greenberg, Jim Krueger, annnnd one person we do not yet know.

#26-30: OZ arc, written by Jane Espenson. (If this is a five issue arc, there will be no standalones. If it's only four, however...)

#31-35: Arc leading up to the conclusion, written by Brad Meltzer

#36-40: Concludes SEASON EIGHT, written by Joss Whedon

Alright guys, a lot of stuff to swallow, probably most of which you already knew. Ah well, I'm late sauce. Gotta go put in the order for EVERYBODY'S DEAD #5 and ANGEL #11. Catch you on the flip.

PS: If you have time, subscribe to www.youtube.com/whatzgoodwebseries. Episode One comes out AUGUST 29th, and we worked really hard on it to make it as shiny as we could, which we think is pretty damn shiny. Check out the trailers and such until it's released!

I Can Hear the Squeeing Now...

BIG Joss Whedon news, straight from Comic Con. This entire post is pretty much thanks to those people who attended Joss' panel at Comic Con and were vigilant and quick fingered enough to type everything up.

So, here's a little summary of what's to come. I'll bold the things that I feel readers will find most interesting and, as always, please feel free to comment and debate which piece of news is most exciting.

RIPPER: We've been waiting so long to hear about this. It was going to be a series. It was going to be a movie. It was going to be one in a trilogy of movies about the Buffyverse characters. Hell, it was going to be a lot of things. But now, it just might get made. It's not set yet, but will likely be filmed sometime next year. It's a 90 minute made-for-TV-movie starring Anthony Stewart Head as Giles that'll be aired on BBC first. "Everybody is in the same frame of mind that it should happen and will happen soon. Been talking with Tony Head," says Joss Whedon. He went on to say, "(I am) getting sick and tired of not entertaining you enough, so I wants to do things, like Ripper, that can be done quickly. Lots of creepy things in the back of my brain that I need to get out."

BUFFY Season Eight COMICS: Oz will definitely be in the Season Eight comics at some point, which kinda kills the rumor that he'll be a star in Angel: After the Fall. Joss really wants to focus on filmed entertainment, but can't stop writing Buffy comic, almost like a drug. He isn't giving Brian Vaughn (who's writing the "No Future For You" arc beginning next month) a huge amount of notes. After Brian, two one-shots by Joss before Drew Goddard's arc.

BUFFY- SEASON NINE: There will, apparently, be a season nine of Buffy through Dark Horse comics as well. Joss said the following: "I know where season 8 of BtVS is ending, (and) I know what happens in Season 9."

GONERS: The new feature film, a fantasy/horror movie written/directed by Joss Whedon. This is the "biggest part of Joss' life right now". He's "been getting studio notes about how the script can be better. And they're right."

ANGEL- After the Fall: Brian Lynch is "doing a great job. It's about the FALL of Wolfram and hart, and the horrible things that happen subsequent to it." Joss says, "Wesley? He's dead, so obviously he's going to be the star..." Though this was likely said in jest, much like his "all about Anya" comment regarding Season Eight.

HEROES: Joss really wants to write/direct an episode, but feels that it isn't something he has time to do.

Harry Potter: Joss had previously shown interest in directing the final Harry Potter movie, but he just wants to concentrate on creator owned material at the moment. Plus, he kinda dosen't have much in the way of time to do something this major.

SUMMER GLAU: Joss is working on a ballet (wtf mate) with Summer Glau who played River Tam on Firefly. The ballet is called "The Serving Girl" and he is writing the music.

FRAY: He is doing more Fray, but he was pretty sure he wasnt supposed to tell us that.

CABIN IN THE WOODS: Joss and Drew Goddard have written a script together, for a feature length film. He says this about it: "it's the horror film to end horror films, literally."

ANGEL/BUFFY MOVIES: Joss would love to do a movie based on the ANGEL comic series coming out, but he knows that David and Sarah have both moved on.

SERENITY: There have been conflicting reports about this part of the Joss news. Some people say that Joss mentioned that the comic mini-series "Serenity: Better Days" will be released this winter, some said that Joss never mentioned. Personally, I just wish he'd leave that 'verse alone for the time being and stick to the Buffy/Angel comics, the movies he's doing, and new things. Firefly/Serenity works much better on screen than it did in comic books, as we saw in "Serenity: Those Left Behind."

Whew.