My Bad. My Blunder.

Yeah, haven't posted in a while.

I'm behind on some reviews. It's true.

I've been very busy, though, shooting a lot of short films, writing a lot of long films, submitting a lot of short stories, and preparing to intern/research assist something really cool and really relevant to this site. Buuuut that is a different story. Here is what you should expect to read at this site soon.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season Eight: Tales of the Vampires- The Thrill (READ IT NOW!)

ANGEL: Not Fade Away (adaption) #1 today

ANGEL: Not Fade Away (adaption) #2 within the next two weeks

ANGEL: Blood & Trenches #3- within the week

GROOM LAKE #2- before #3 comes out this month, for sure

If I fail to get those out on time... bug me. I'll listen.

I will try to be on time for everything, as soon as I catch up on these. Reviews of the main ANGEL title, as well as the main BUFFY title, will be posted on the day of the issue's release. No doubt about that.

In the meantime, here are some things for you to look forward to.

ANGEL

JUNE

+ ANGEL #22 wraps up Kelley Armstrong's Aftermath arc. It's been a tough ride, but maybe Ms. Armstrong can bring everything in and give her story a solid end.

+ ANGEL: BLOOD AND TRENCHES #4 wraps up John Byrne's awesome WWI story.

JULY

+ ANGEL #23: Become What You Are features the return of Brian Lynch and Franco Urru! It's about what happened to Gunn between #17 and #18, and how he got in that car with Illyria.

+ FALLEN ANGEL: Rebirth #1: Illyria crosses over into Peter David's original series.

+ ANGEL: Not Fade Away #3- Scott Tipton and Stephen Mooney's adaptation of the best episode of television history concludes.

AUGUST

+ ANGEL #24: Drusilla, part one. Brian Lynch, Juliet Landau (Drusilla herself!), and Franco Urru give us the skinny on what has been up with the vamp who sired Spike.

+ FALLEN ANGEL: Rebirth #2

+ ANGEL: Only Human #1. Gunn and Illyria's story from ANGEL #23 continues in the first issue of a four issue miniseries, written by Scott Lobdell, writer of VIVA LAS BUFFY.

SEPTEMBER

+ ANGEL #25: Drusilla, part two. The two part tale concludes.

+ FALLEN ANGEL: Rebirth #3

+ ANGEL: Only Human #2

OCTOBER

+ ANGEL #26: Contents unknown. But Chris Ryall's blog revealed that it will be written by Brian Lynch with art by Stephen Mooney. Also, it includes a "red band trailer" for the ANGEL ANNUAL, which you can read about at the same link. Check out one of the covers on this post. The other is at Mr. Ryall's blog.

+ FALLEN ANGEL: Rebirth #4. The miniseries concludes. I'm pretty sure the Fallen Angel title will continue, though, so don't give up here!

+ ANGEL: Only Human #3

BUFFY

JULY

+ BUFFY, SEASON EIGHT: #26. Retreat, part 1. Written by Jane Espenson.

AUGUST

+ BUFFY, SEASON EIGHT: #27 Retreat, part 1. Written by Jane Espenson.

SEPTEMBER

+ BUFFY, SEASON EIGHT: #28 Retreat, part 1. Written by Jane Espenson.

OCTOBER

+ BUFFY, SEASON EIGHT: #29 Retreat, part 1. Written by Jane Espenson.

Angel: After the Fall Cover Gallery Volume One

What Is It?: Angel- After the Fall: Cover Gallery, Volume One. Collects the covers to Angel: After the Fall 1-5 and the complete Spike: After the Fall cover collection

The Covers: Instead of tackling the book page by page, I'll write about each artist as they appear in the book, and what contributions they gave to this book.

Angel started with Ex Machina's (one of the best comics out, in my opinion) Tony Harris on cover duty. He did the first iconic cover, a red tinted Angel over what seems to be a sanscrit background. The next cover, even better than his first, a yellow tinted Spike surrounded by flames and hellish demons. He's one of the most celebrated artists in comics, and it was great to kick off the series and this collection with him on cover duties.

Then we get some greatness from series artist Franco Urru. His cover to Angel #1 is still my favorite ever, but he's made so many epic contributions to the series, and a lot of them show up in this volume. The cover to Brian Lynch's wedding gift version of #1 is collected here, along with Franco's covers to Angel #1-5 and Spike #1-4. Franco is one of those artists that never fail to amaze, but the special thing about his work is that you notice little details upon second and third viewings that make the covers even more special. The way his Angel #3 seems to be a moment frozen in time, complete with Angel's coat, Illyria's body, and the axe all in motion is just astonishing. His balance between the actor's likenesses and his distinctive style is never better than in his cover work.

David Messina also has two covers in here, both for #1. One was an exclusive online cover and the other was the one that kicked off the BCC: T&S: Slay Alive Angel Interaction competition. Messina has always been a great cover artist, but I'm loving his work on Smile Time so much now that his art, as a whole, I feel I can appreciate more. His cover to the competition was never my favorite, but even that manages to capture the iconic feel of Angel's "last stand" and the emotion all four of our heroes are feeling in that alley.

Then we've got Mr. Stephen Mooney, who would later take on interior duties for #12, 13, and 14, which contained some of the most climatic moments of the series. After seeing his cover work here, there is no question in my mind why Brian Lynch and Chris Ryall wanted to work with the dude. The detail in his Angel Interaction #2, for example, is mind-blowing. From the face and mouth of the dragon to the Hellish landscape of LA below, that cover is one action packed, iconic image. His covers to the Angel Interaction issues 2-5 are all collected here, and from the highly praised Western standoff between Angel and Illyria in #3, to the match-up of Illyria and Gwen in a clash of blue and red on #5, these constantly remind me how lucky we fans are to have talent like this working on the series. I mean, Mooney, Urru, Harris, Messina have already been featured, and that's just for the first five issues.

We've also got three covers from Andrew Robinson. I really like the Illyria cover he provided for #3, but his #4 and #5 proved to be a bit too stylized for me. However, who I fell in love with was Rebecca A. Wrigley, the Rouge Angel artist who provided an awesome image of my favorite pairing (Wesley and Illyria) for #5. The Sharp Bros, Joe and Rob, provide covers for each issue of Spike: After the Fall, giving a nice realistic look in contrast to Franco's more comicized images. There are also three photo variants, one two-page spread from the reprint of Angel #1 and two Spike incentive covers, one from Angel #2 and one from the Spike spin-off. If that wasn't enough, the black and white version of Franco Urru's #5 is also featured, along with the initial pencils that Tony Harris painted over for #2, which is an exclusive image to this book.

Altogether, thirty-one fantastic covers from the first five issues of the series.

The Presentation: IDW really gives Angel the royal treatment. I saw a few forum posters a bit let down that this wasn't being released as an actual book... but hell, from the way the thing is handled, I can't see how it could have been better. The cover is stiff, extra thick, and glossy. Even glossier than a TPB cover, which makes the image they used on the cover--Franco's #5 done up to look like a portrait--jump out even more. It's really, just like the first two hardcovers, a sight to behold. On the flipside of the cover, we see a sort of inverted version of the image on the cover, with the Franco art looking like the negative of a photo. Then, it goes right into the covers, which are given the full page treatment. On the back cover, we get some thumbnail versions of the inside covers, much like they'd have on a calendar. How they managed to charge the price of a regular comic for such an extravagant item is beyond me, but I couldn't be happier that the title is in such good hands. If they ever release more volumes, I do hope they make a hardcover collection of these, but the issue is beautiful enough to stand on its own.

Rating: 9/10

Wow. Haven't posted covers for you in a long time. Well, here we go. Here is some new stuff.

REVIEW: for Angel #7
REVIEW: for Buffy #14

Or, you know, just scroll down.

COVERS

Buffy #16: Click -- Might have posted this already, but I'm not sure. The rest are all new
Buffy #16 Variant: Click --Yes, that's Vi and Kennedy
Buffy #17: Click
Buffy #17 Variant: Click
Incentive image (poster?) for "Time of Your Life" by Karl Moline. MIGHT be made into incentive covers: Click
Angel #8 (Mooney/SlayAlive): Click -- NOT YET IN COLOR
Angel #9 (Mooney/SlayAlive): Click -- NOT YET IN COLOR
Angel #9 (Runge): Click
Angel #9 (Alex Garner): Click
Angel #9 TFAW Exclusive: Click
Angel #10 (Brian Miller): Click
Angel #10 (Garner): Click to go to Brian's blog entry, with cover
Spike: AtF #2: Shown in top corner
Spike: AtF #3: Click to go to Brian's blog entry, with cover
Spike: AtF #3 (Variant): Click to go to Brian's blog entry, with cover

RELEASE DATES

May
7th: Buffy Omnibus Volume Four. It wasn't at my LCS, but who knows. It was supposed to come out.
14th: Serenity #3
14th: Well, darkhorse.com says it comes out in June, but the latest issue of Buffy says it comes out here. Buffy- No Future For You TPB
??th: Angel-After the Fall #1: Directors Cut
??th: Everybody's Dead #3

A NEW CANONICAL SPIN-OFF

Remember how you felt when you first heard that IDW was going to launch a canonical Angel series? How about when you learned it'd be written by Brian Lynch and plotted by both Lynch and Whedon? Great, right? How about when you found out Franco Urru would take on pencil duties?

Well... prepare to feel that way again.

I love spin-offs.

New Covers

First, we've got the cover to the Director's Cut of "Angel: After the Fall" #1. Cover by Alex Garner, includes Brian Lynch's script and a full commentary.

*

Next cover is the fifth Buffy omnibus. "Volume Five of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus series begins immediately after Season Three, after Sunnydale High has gone up in flames. Buffy is plagued by dreams of fellow Slayer Faith, who now lies in a comma. Jane Espenson, the celebrated writer from the Buffy TV show, writes the powerful Faith story Haunted. And as summer comes to an end, Buffy and Willow begin their first year of college in The Blood of Carthage, in a story written by acclaimed Buffy novelist Christopher Golden. Meanwhile Buffy embarks on a new romance with Riley Finn, and Willow and Oz's relationship comes to an end in Golden's Oz: Into the Wild. This volume also features work by Buffy Season Eight contributors Cliff Richards and Paul Lee and Brian Horton.* Collects Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Haunted, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Blood of Carthage, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Autumnal, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Oz "Into the Wild," DHP 2000: Buffy the Vampire Slayer "Take Back the Night," DHP #150: Buffy the Vampire Slayer "Killing Time"" Sounds like some pretty good stuff. I've been wondering if that Oz book is any good.

*

The next cover you've seen before. It's the variant to Buffy #15, which I threw up again to prepare you guys for the NEXT cover...

*

Foster's Buffy #15. And guess what? Not big on his #13 or 14 covers, but this one I like. The blurb for the issue is as follows: "Having traveled from her base in Scotland, Buffy ventures to the heart of Japan in order to reclaim her stolen scythe, in Drew Goddard's conclusion to Wolves at the Gate. Along the way, Buffy and the legion of Slayers join forces with the irresistible Dracula to defeat a tight-nit group of nefarious vampires, in which the Slayers suffer a massive hit." And it's out June 4th.

*

Preview for #13 is up here.

Other Shat Pand Reviews, and... (as you all know by now) A Huge Crossover Event

A few bits o' news.

1. By request, here is a review I did of "The Origin" a while ago. Click meh!

2. Again, by request.... here are some other reviews I've done that do and don't fit in with the topic of this site. If you shop on Amazon, you might have (but probably not) seen some of these. But here is my Amazon review profile: Click meh (as helpful!)

3. Yeah, it's a few days old. Yeah, I knew about it a few days ago. Yeah, I posted about it on Facebook and debated elsewhere before posting it here. Yeah, I'm lazy and all that. Yeah, yeah yeah. Click the cover on the right. Remember how much Jon Foster sucked at covers (with the sole exception of #12)? Well... Jo Chen still does the opposite of suck. Well... actually the opposite of suck is literally blow if you think about it, but she doesn't blow. She rocks. She is the opposite of... things not rock-like. But yeah, that's the cover for #16 and its her triumphant return to the making of Buffy covers.

....and yeah, that's Buffy fighting Fray. The description of the issue, provided by SlayAlive, is as follows:

July trumpets the return of Jo Chen, but also heralds the return of both Karl Moline and Fray to the Buffyverse! The Buffster squares off against her futuristic descendant in this four-part arc by Joss Whedon and Karl Moline, who first collaborated in 2003's Fray mini-series.

Hoah yeah! So we've got Moline doing the arc, Joss writing, and both Buffy and Fray starring. I couldn't be happier we've got Moline for this, but how cool would it be if the "back in the present" scenes are pencilled by Georges. Very cool, methinks.

So lets look at what we've got coming up.

SOON

March 5th: Buffy #12 (Big surprise!)

Mid/Late March: Angel- After the Fall #5 (Two days are up, Angel)

April 2nd: Buffy #13 (Drac's back)

Mid/Late April: Angel- After the Fall #6, First Night 1 (We see how Connor, Lorne, and Spike's spent their first night in Hell)

May 7th- Buffy #14 (Hypno Dawn stomps shit)

Mid May- Angel- After the Fall #7, First Night 2 (Wes gets ghosty)

JUNE

Angel- After the Fall #8, First Night 3 (Conclusion)

Angel- After the Fall #9 (back to the main story)

Buffy #15 (Peace, Drew)

JULY

Buffy #16 (Hey, Fray)

(probably) Angel- After the Fall #10

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

Sla, sla, sla, sla, slayin' alive, slayin' alive...

SlayAlive is quickly becoming the most interesting site on the web, other than Whedonesque, which is pretty much THE Buffyverse site. But yeah, you can't get much more interesting than the SlayAlive/BCC cover competition for "After the Fall." Two covers--in their full color--were released today; the cover for the last minute #6 contest and the cover for the #7 contest.

Click the link to check it out.

Verdict: Cool stuff, of course. Gotta be the funnest contest ever. Thing is, you can kinda tell that #6 was done in a rush. What's up with Lorne, Spike, and (to a lesser extent) Connor's faces? They look schfifty-five years old. But, considering the last-minuteness of the contest, it's good.

And that Wesley cover makes up for the ehhness of the #6 cover. Gadzooks, that's awesome. Though the colorist could have made Wes's jacket the actual color it was supposed to be. But other than that, it's by FAR the best SlayAlive cover so far. Click the link maddafakaz.

It would be nice...

...to know when ANGEL #4 is coming out.

In other news, a lot of new stuff has been released recently. I'll link you to all the sites for the various covers and images.

Cover to Buffy #14 by Jon Foster [AWESOME RATING: 0/5. We don't even get a freaking face. There is nothing that separates this from any other comic cover. I was pleased with Foster's #12, but he's been turning out garbage ever since. Can't wait until Jo Chen comes back for #16.]

Variant Cover to Buffy #14 by Georges Jeanty [AWESOME RATING: 2/5. Why the same exact concept? Well, at least it isn't ugly. And we even get a face!]

A Page from Spike's "First Night" Story by David Messina [AWESOME RATING: 5/5. Messina's best work ever. I'm the first to point out how not-so-good his work on the earlier Angel comics has been, but this is a perfect page. One of the best I've seen from AFTER THE FALL, which is saying quite a lot. And the award for most improved goes tooooooo.... MR. MESSINA!!!!]

A Page from Wesley's "First Night" Story by Nick Runge [AWESOME RATING: 5Million/5. Okay, I'm biased. It's Wesley. It's Wesley and Fred. But damn that's a good page. DAMN that's a good page.]

A Page from Lorne's "First Night" Story by Jon Byrne (now in color, though the text is gone) [AWESOME RATING: 1/5. Byrne is famous and all, but I'm just not liking this page. The style is very cartoony, and though it is about Lorne...who is a singing green guy with horns... the style just doesn't fit ANGEL.)

The Cover to Angel #6 (the first part of "First Night") [AWESOME RATING: 4/5. When it's pared with the cover for #7, which is the other half of it, this is probably the best painted cover we've gotten from AFTER THE FALL so far.]

ALSO, big thing about "First Night." It's no longer just two issues. It will consist of THREE issues. That's right, "Angel: After the Fall 6-8" will be the First Night arc. For all those worrying that too much time will be spent AWAY from the main "After the Fall" story (left off in Issue #5), I wouldn't worry. Chris Ryall has stated that "After the Fall #9," the one picking up on the main story will likely be released TWO WEEKS (not a month) after #8, which will conclude the "First Night" arc.

For anyone interested in the SLAYALIVE Angel Interaction contest, keep checking out the site. The cover for #6 will be revealed soon, according to CowboyGuy, the site moderator.

Some stuff coming soon on this site will be:

+ A review of the "Shadow Puppets" TPB.
+ A huge list of videos of Buffyverse related people and other comic reviews.
+ A review of TFAW's "Nick and Dent" program
+ *crosses fingers* The review for After the Fall #4.

Sorta-New Covers

So we've got some new stuff going on. Mainly covers. I'm sure you've seen them all, but I do like to wait a bit after they're released before posting them. It seems rude to the original site that has posted them to put it on MY blog the day they put it on their site, eh?








Buffy #15 Variant. I know, I know, we haven't gotten any #14 covers yet. That's just how this particular cookie crumbled. Thanks to CowbowGuy from the SlayAlive forums, we get this one early, which I think is pretty awesome.

L -> R: Dracula, Xander, Renee, Buffy, Andrew, Willow, Satsu














SlayAlive Variant to Angel #5, by Stephen Mooney.
Though the concept has little to nothing to do with the description of the issue... hey, it makes for a cool cover!

"Angel After the Fall #6: First Night" Cover B

This is by the Sharp Bros, colored by Art Lyons. Contrary to oddly popular belief, that gun-blasting fellow is indeed Wesley. Duh, much?

--------------------------------------------------------------

Now, this very special cover is for the first two issues of "First Night." It will connect when you put the issues together, which is pretty awesome.

Also, sorry for the faulty info (thanks, TFuckingAW) but the cover for "After the Fall #5" was not by Rebecca Wrigley. It was by Andrew Robinson, much like #3 and #4 were. THIS cover, however, IS by Rebecca Wrigley.

In other news.... it seems as if "First Night" has exapanded into THREE issues. However, according to Chris Ryall, the next "After the Fall" comic that continues the main story (#9, at this point) will be released in the same MONTH as "After the Fall #8, First Night part 3" so we don't get too behind on the story. It will likely come out TWO WEEKS after #8.

See you all soon!

Sorry, I'm late.

Been slacking with the postage.

Covers for Buffy #13

First one is by Foster, the second is by Jeanty. You probably already knew that though. If you didn't, get wittit!

Covers for Angel #5

First is by Rebecca Wringley, and it's her first cover. Second is by--of course--Franco Urru, AKA the MAN.

BLUBS FOR Buffy #13: Drew Goddard (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Alias, Lost, and the writer of Cloverfield), continues his story arc "Wolves at the Gate," which has Buffy and the gang fighting a team of über vamps in Tokyo. In order to better understand their mysterious new foes, Xander must recruit an old ally to join in their cause to defeat this new danger.

BLURB FOR Angel #5: Everything he had was taken away from him. But now, in his darkest hour, Angel is taking it back. The battle lines are drawn, sides are chosen, and Angel takes a stand that will change everything and everyone close to him. Joss Whedon, Brian Lynch and Franco Urru bring you the official continuation of the Angel TV series! Rogue Angel cover artist Rebecca Wrigley supplies a variant cover.

---------

Alrighty. We've seen a lot of folks doing Buffyverse covers. From Jo Chen, to Georges Jeanty, to Paul Lee, Tony Harris, Andrew Robinson, Franco Urru, and now Rebecca Wringley. Jo Chen is pretty much unquestionably the best at covers, but--for now--she's gone. Luckily, going by what Joss said, she'll be back after "Wolves at the Gate." I liked Jon Foster's cover for #11 and loved his #12, but this #13... really fell flat. Kinda even pissed me off. That looks absolutely nothing like Xander. One of the most exciting things about these comics is waiting to see the new covers, and this #13 by Foster is the first "main" cover that I outright dislike.

Now... the Angel cover situation. Franco Urru went from 'variant' cover artist to main cover artist, because he's just that badass. His covers aren't painted, but they're just as attractive as if they were. But... After Harris left, the painted covers haven't been that high in quality. Robinson's first cover (his #3, featuring Illyria) is good. I put it as my desktop in anticipation for Wednesday, but... the fact that he had to paint Illyria's name into the cover STILL irks me. If it was an Illyria one-shot, by all means... But it's kinda like he's reminding us who she is. But, other than that tiny quibble, nothing annoyed me. Until his cover for #4. Nice use of colors, but... Huh? Really? I know it's dream-like, but Angel looks like he's wearing skiis. And why is Angel suddenly, you know, Ricky Martin? Don't get it. But we needn't fret, the painted cover for #5 was better. Wringley handled this one and as I said, it was better than #4, but *still* not what I'd expect from someone given the responsibility of creating a cover for such an epic series by Lynch and Urru. I don't know if it's the colors or the grittiness of the cover, but... Angel doesn't look like Angel and Spike looks like Eminem...

But I'm just bitching. What I am glad about is that each issue has at least one good cover. This Wednesday, Angel #3 has that badass Franco cover. The next two Franco covers are also amazing. For the upcoming Buffy #11, I'd say go with Jeanty's if you have to pick, but for #12 definitely get the Foster. Back to Jeanty for #13, though.

See ya'll on Wednesday.

And The Award Goes To...

So the first poll is closed. The best Buffyverse arc of the year, according to a whopping 38% of the voters, is "No Future For You." Congratulations, all of those who worked hard on this arc, as I am about to present you with the shittiest award you will ever, ever get. I wish I was able to give you a big shiny trophy like you deserve, but I am a lowly peasant, with limited paint skills and limited time.... skills. So I take pride in the shittiness of the award, because it was actually... really fun to make. Please, inform me if anyone is ever to present you with a shittiER award, as I will make it my life's purpose to outshit them. In a not stinky way.

















Click and enjoy a larger version of this award that reeks of painted shittiness.

NOW. In other news.

The trade paperback for "Spike: Shadow Puppets" is out today. While I was unable to get it due to the fact that my LCS didn't order it, I do know that it is packed with extras, including the "Brian Lynch Commentary" stuff we got with "Asylum." It's pretty much what we wanted from the extras in the Buffy TPB and didn't get. Brian Lynch is to us as Aladdin is to those poor people he throws gold to in the scene where he sings about being a prince. He just keeps on giving and giving and giving. Hopefully, Dark Horse takes note of how COOL Lynch's extras are and gives us some Buffy extras next time.

Speaking of Lynch, we've got a release date for the next two "After the Fall" comics.

December 19th (only a week from today): #2

January 16th: #3

And apparently, we'll be able to see the cover to #5 once #2 is released. From the way Brian and (I believe) Ryall have been talking about it, it's going to make us squint because of the awesome radiating off of it. Perhaps we'll have to look at it through that bendy thing people look at eclipses through so we don't hurt our eyes. Hell, I'm just glad Franco is so awesome at covers, because the Robinson's cover to #4? Not so impressive:





















On that note, I'm going to bow out with this...


TOMORROW: New poll. Please vote.

TOMORROW: Bad ass post concerning Season Eight. Tune in. Except... you know. Don't tune as much as click.

Wolves At The Gate

That thing we've been calling the "Untitled Tokyo Arc" is no longer untitled. Issues 12-15 of "Buffy: Season Eight" will be called "Wolves at the Gate." Great title, and the artwork for both of the covers is great. The Jon Foster cover is far better than his #11 cover, and Jeanty's ain't bad either. It's one of Jeanty's best Buffy likenesses, though I'm not really sure about that Xander's cleavage in the background.

So #12 comes out on March 5th. The blurb is as follows:

"Acclaimed television series writer, Drew Goddard (Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Alias; Lost), takes the reins on Season Eight with his four-issue arc titled "Wolves at the Gate." The gang (yep, Dawn too) travels to Tokyo where they duel vampires with unusual, yet strangely familiar, powers.With Joss Whedon serving as executive producer, Georges Jeanty (The American Way) as series artist, and Jon Foster on covers, Buffy Season Eight continues to entertain longtime Buffy fans and newcomers alike."

Not much we didn't know in there already, except for the fact that Dawn is joining them. Move over Godzilla, the motherf***ing KEY is coming.

A Beautiful Sunset

BUFFY Season Eight #11...

...written by Joss Whedon

...is called...

"A Beautiful Sunset."

The issue definitely reveals the PHYSICAL Big Bad of the series. The one. And what a name for the issue, huh? It's kinda perfect.

Here's the blurb: An ill-prepared Buffy comes face to face with the new Big Bad in the form of an old- fahioned death match in this standalone issue titled A Beautiful Sunset.




BAD ASS

INFLUX of Joss Whedon News

First of all, to your left is the variant cover to Buffy #11. Buffy and Satsu, taking on some evil. This issue is supposedly going to be the one that reveals the real big bad of the season.

+ I'm sure you've heard, and I feel a bit silly for posting--as, again, I'm sure you all know--but there is going to be a new show created and executive produced by Joss Whedon (and starring Eliza Dushku). It's called Dollhouse, and you can find out more about it right here. From now on, as news of the show comes in, I'll post updates.

+ A much more complete preview (seven pages) of Issue #8, which comes out this Wednesday (that's five days, guys.) Check it out here.

+ I have a copy of "The Long Way Home" trade paperback, and will be reviewing it shortly. Contrary to popular belief--both Whedonesque and Dark Horse--the trade paperback actually hit stores Wednesday the 24th, not two days ago. I've had ample time to check it out, but haven't gotten the chance to review as of yet. I'll post one up tomorrow.

+ Again, I apologize for the non-postage that I've been doing of late. Things have been hectic over here (school/ writing my novel/ trying to get my other novel published/ the job that actually puts money in my pocket/ trying to memorize a section of The Canterbury Tales/ reading, of course/ social life (which has taken a major blow from school & work/ EEEEEK!), but since November is the BIGGEST MONTH EVER (Buffy #8 and AFTER THE FREAKING FALL), I'm sure you'll be hearing more of me than you want to.

+ The next post will be about my little awards thing I mentioned before.

Horray, much?

It was originally implied that there would be a break between issues #9 and #10 of Buffy. Turns out? Not so much.

Buffy: Season Eight #10 (Standalone written by Joss Whedon, pencils by Cliff Richards)

BLURB: Buffy and Willow meet a demon who reveals a dim future, forcing the two to reflect on their past. Meanwhile, back in Scotland, Dawn confides in Xander the deed that led to her mysterious growth spurt.

The Jo Chen cover is right to the side. The Jeanty variant was posted a few entries ago. It doesn't look like we'll be getting an extra rare cover from Cliff Richards the way we got the Paul Lee one for "The Chain", but one can hope.

JANUARY 2nd, 2008

No title, yet.

Brand New COVERS and Brand New NEWS and some SEASON NINE information

I'll be, ahem, straight forward

COVERS TO ANGEL: AFTER THE FALL #3--> CLICK
(Tony Harris will no longer be doing covers. With this third one and on, Andrew Robinson has taken over)

Information on Buffy: Season Eight #10- Scott Allie says... "That’s a housekeeping issue. That’s how things start with Joss. He goes “I have to fill a blank. There’s this thing I have to address, and it turns into something so much more. Issue #10, we did a contest on MySpace where you write in and say “this is how BUFFY affected my life,” and Joss picks the winner and the winner will be drawn into an issue of BUFFY. Joss read all the entries, and was really moved by a lot of them and the winner he was struck by and he basically wrote Issue #10 about her, sort of. It’s a Willow and Buffy issue, with some Xander. It’s an issue that catches you up and shows you how things are screwed up with our characters." He also said, in an audio interview, that the issue is comparable to episodes like "Hush" and "The Body." Oh yeah, and it'll make you cry fan tears.

Information of Buffy: Season Eight #11- We find out who/what the Big Bad of the season will be.

Information on DREW GODDARD's arc (ISSUES 12-15): Some vampires get a new power that isn't very vampire-y. The Scoobs head to Japan to dig up some info on the case. *Sigh* Sounds so good.

SPOILER (Highlight to Read:) At some point in the season, Dracula will make a cameo.

SEASON NINE: Scott Allie says... "It’s a real ambitious thing and we’ve already sketched out what Season 9 would be. At one point, I was pretty sure Season 8 would be the end of all of this. The original idea looked like that was it, but now we have a Season 9, that would be much different than Season 8. We might take a break, but when Joss and I talked about it, Joss said he might want to take a break between eight and nine – “maybe a month.” That’s barely a break. It’s not even a summer, but yes, Season 9 should happen pretty soon after this"

Check out the Scott Allie interviews at the following links:
http://new.ifmagazine.com/feature.asp?article=2393
http://sl-podcast.livejournal.com/192735.html

Oh, yeah... And we'll be getting a release date on "After the Fall #1" by next week.

ndvkjbdiupehowj :]

Season 8 News

That's the cover for #10 variant cover, by Georges Jeanty. The woman in the middle is "Robin", the winner of Joss' contest. This 'very special issue' will feature her, as well as a heart to heart between Buffy and Willow. The interior is drawn by Cliff Richards.

About #11, the other standalone. Looks like Jeanty will be drawing that one, from the piece of press Dark Horse just released.

Holy Avengers, Giles!

I've been waiting for this for a while. Ever since I happened upon what could only be the art for the final issue of the "No Future For You" arc. You know, fiery Faith? The naked chick? Yeah. When I first came upon that cover in the wall-paper section of the Dark Horse site, it had no subtitle to let us know what it was. But what else could it be except the cover to Issue #9? Scott Allie told us there'd be a cover like it, and there it was.

It was exciting to happen upon it so early, but it made me wonder how long it would take for the variant and the little blurb about the issue to come out. I mean, the three (the Jo Chen cover, the Georges Jeanty variant, and the blurb) usually come out together.

So we've been waiting...

And here it is. One of the funniest covers Jeanty has produced, which is interesting... The Jo Chen cover looks so serious, but the Jeanty... Much with the comedy!

But it's good. Jeanty's variant covers have ranged from mehhh to mmmm, and this is definitely worthy of the latter. Matter of fact, here's my take on his variants.

Issue #1: Great. The demon is monsterific and you can't go wrong with Buffy in action
Issue #2: One of my favorites. Great way to show off three shiny new characters
Issue #3: Interesting, as it goes along with the theme of waking Buffy up (putting her back together), but not as good as the previous two
Issue #4: Lazy. Buffy, Willow, and Xander stand across a white background. A considerable let down after two great variant covers and one okay one.
Issue #5: This is my favorite Jeanty variant (it kicks the ass of Paul Lee's variant by a mile). This is, so far, the only issue that I feel had a better Jeanty variant cover than the Jo Chen cover. Brilliant.
Issue #6: This was pretty good. Moody and all, but kinda the same as three. Not disappointing like the cover to #4, but also pretty plain. Though the colors do kick ass.
Issue #7: This made me say "WTF" to all my mates. What's up with this cover? Is that Buffy? Do all these character put cotton in their cheeks?
Issue #8: Buffy, Faith, and especially 'Gigi' look considerably better in this variant cover than they did in #7, and the logo dug into the table is cool... But unimpressive. With a cover like Jo Chen's 'Faith vs. Buffy' for the same issue, this one comes up quite flat.

Okay. So it seemed as if Jeanty might've been slacking off for the last few covers, but now it seems he's back on track.

Oh. And I almost forgot. The little blurb (or is solicitation a better word) for the final issue (#9) to the "No Future For You" arc.

"Slayers battle to the death in the thrilling conclusion to Brian K. Vaughan's four-issue run on Buffy Season Eight."

Frustratingly ambiguous, eh? Yeah. But we're better off not knowing for now. I mean, "slayers" could mean any of the following, based on what we know from Issue #6 and from the covers...

a) Faith vs. Gigi
b) Faith vs. Buffy
c) Faith/Buffy vs. Gigi
d) Buffy vs. Gigi
e) Many slayers vs. Gigi
f) The slayers Gigi captured in her "blooding" game vs. Gigi
g) Good slayers vs. slayers influenced by Gigi (are there any?)

So pretty much, we know nothing more than we did yesterday. But hey, we've got a new badass cover, haven't we?

Ohh, and Bee Tee Dub.

The issue comes out DECEMBER 5TH, everyone.

NEW COVERS

New cover images are popping up online today....

1. First, the shiniest and newest of all, I hereby present Jo Chen's cover to the "No Future For You" trade paperback!

2. Now, this is the FULL cover for "No Future For You pt IV", the firey Faith cover. The other before was simply a desktop image made of half of the cover. This is the full thing.

3. And I know I took a while to post this one, that it's been out for a while, but I didn't want to step on anyone's toes by putting this out before it was supposed to be seen. This is Franco Urru's variant cover to the first issue of ANGEL: After the Fall.

4.And this? A brand new page from "No Future For You pt I"

5. The third Buffy omnibus from Dark Horse

Click these to make 'em bigger.

If You Can Believe It... Cover to #9

If you can believe it, that is indeed the cover to the ninth issue of "Season Eight." We've had a lot of new covers this week (#8, #8b, Omnibus #3...) and this is one of the most beautiful of the lot. Scott Allie said we had a cover like this coming up, and I can only guess that this is the one.