Buffy season nine discussion thread

[DevilEyes]

yeah no buggs as of yet in spike and no IDEA of twilight happening in angel either .
Does any one know if spike will get a series in dark horse ?
and will there be any more anthologies like tales of the vampire of tales of the slayer ?

Allie has said that Spike will be appearing in Buffy season 9 so much that there might not be time for him to have his own series. Which makes me pretty happy since I'm not a big fan of Brian Lynch's writing of Spike and I'd much rather have Whedon (or maybe Espenson) writing him.

also with dru being back in spike life do you think willow will give her a soul as well ? and will they keep this relationship going into season nine .

For one thing, I'm pretty sure that giving vampires back their souls was way beyond Willow's capabilities, great as they were (or else I imagine she'd have been doing it all the time), the only reason she was able to get Angel resouled was because he had already been cursed with a soul, and on AtS they still needed to have his soul in a jar or whatever that container was.

And it's a moot point now anyway since Willow doesn't have her magic anymore after #39.

^ Aye. It will be explained in the current IDW Spike series. Of which there are to be 8 issues, 5 of which have been released thus far. No alien bigs as of yet but they are due to appear later on. Willow showed up though last issue

Lynch has said that in Spike #7 we'll also find out when exactly and how Buffy and the Scoobies first found out about Spike's resurrection.

Whedon was apparently involved in #5 because he wanted to 'oversee' Willow's dialogue. I don't know how much he is involved in the next issues.

Can anyone figure out at what time during season 8 is the current Spike series supposed to take place? It seems that Willow already knows about Dawn being a giant.

 

[Ethros]

^ Dawn was already a giant at the start of Season 8 anyway. Also the Spike series is seemingly taking place concurrently with the last remaining IDW Angel issues, wherein Angel is not Twilight yet.

So I would say definitely before. Although the whole timeline of these comics seem very wonky, so hey I'll probably be disproven

 

[timothy]

any news of him relaunching the novels series for buffy and angel ?

 

[Admiral_Young]

Nope. Joss doesn't seem fond of novels for some reason. I believe there was a fuss some years ago about him putting the kabosh on a line of potential Firefly novels. Perhaps KRAD can shed some light on that because IIRC he was going to write one of them and he did write the novelization for Serenity.

I want more Fray. The crossover last year wasn't enough for me.

 

[timothy]

^ I found the fray original graphic novel at my comic store . first printing too . ^
you ever read " queen of the slayers or dark congress " they were set in season eight ? and if you're a faith fan you need to read " go as malice " which gives a greater history faith .

 

[Admiral_Young]

I'm not read any of the Buffy novels. Don't find any of them interesting quite frankly.

 

[Ethros]

I read Queen of the Slayers. Possibly the worst thing I've ever read. It may be set after Season 7, but suffice to say it's not connected to the Season 8 comics

 

[DevilEyes]

^ Dawn was already a giant at the start of Season 8 anyway. Also the Spike series is seemingly taking place concurrently with the last remaining IDW Angel issues, wherein Angel is not Twilight yet.

So I would say definitely before. Although the whole timeline of these comics seem very wonky, so hey I'll probably be disproven

I know that Dawn was already a giant, but Willow was away and only came back in #2 and then in #3 she is surprised that Dawn is a giant: "How come you're a giant?" So it has to be after the start of season 8.

 

[timothy]

I loved mecha dawn and why did they have to kill giles off ?

 

[Turtletrekker]

^SPOILERS!!

 

[Admiral_Young]

This is a season nine thread. Quite frankly no one should be in here if they haven't read season eight. I thought Giles death was handled brilliantly. I was shocked, more shocked with that than by the Twilight revelation.

 

[Mr Light]

I'm *STILL* confused about Giles' death I still don't understand whether Angel was possessed or influenced or what.

 

[Admiral_Young]

It's been confirmed that Angel was possessed when he snapped Giles neck.

 

[Ethros]

^ Dawn was already a giant at the start of Season 8 anyway. Also the Spike series is seemingly taking place concurrently with the last remaining IDW Angel issues, wherein Angel is not Twilight yet.

So I would say definitely before. Although the whole timeline of these comics seem very wonky, so hey I'll probably be disproven

I know that Dawn was already a giant, but Willow was away and only came back in #2 and then in #3 she is surprised that Dawn is a giant: "How come you're a giant?" So it has to be after the start of season 8.

Forgot about that; just had a look at the TPB and you're right.

Well that's a continuity error then. Obviously at the start of Season 8 the whole Twilight plan is already is motion, and indeed we see Angel-as-Twilight in #1 (well, his feet anyway)
The Spike mini is supposed to be after Angel #38, where the gang splinters off. Illyria goes off on a voyage of self discovery for her miniseries, Spike goes off for his, and Angel leaves LA for a while leaving Connor in charge of the remaining team. And Angel isn't Twilight yet.
So I'd just put it down to a mistake, of which there are the odd few in the comics

 

[Turtletrekker]

I stopped reading Angel when "After the Fall" ended. How is what came afterwards and is it connected to Buffy Season Eight? Do they explain why Spike commands an alien space ship?

I think as explained by someone in the Buffy Season Eight Thread Spike's aliens are explained in the Spike mini-series or will be? I can't remember.

^ Aye. It will be explained in the current IDW Spike series. Of which there are to be 8 issues, 5 of which have been released thus far. No alien bigs as of yet but they are due to appear later on. Willow showed up though last issue

An article at CBR commemorating the IDW Angel run with an interview with their Angel writers. The interview contains slight spoilers for their wrap-ups.

It does go into the Spike bug-ship thing, but apparently, it's something that IDW is doing to be consistant with Dark Horse, rather than Dark Horse being consistant with IDW. The relevant portions from Bryan Lynch...

Bryan Lynch said:
Well, we knew how the series was going to end because of our discussions with Scott Allie. We talked about how it had to feature the story of Spike becoming captain of a space ship with an all-insect crew. So the skeleton of that last tale was easy.

The real fun came with Spike reacting to what is, as many readers have pointed out, the very odd (even for the Buffyverse) situation of an interdimensional bug space craft. Spike’s seen some weird, weird stuff in his life, but I think this is probably the strangest. Naturally his immediate reaction is going to be a memorable one.

********

You’ll start seeing the set-up for just how Spike came across the bug ship in issue #6. By the end of the "Spike" series, it’s quite clear who the bugs are, why they follow Spike, and who Spike was pursuing when he started getting pulled into the Twilight escapade.

I LOVED writing all the bug ship stuff. I wish it could have come sooner. Let’s do a spin-off, "Cap’N Spike And The SS Grasshopper." Come on, it’ll be fun. For all I know, Dark Horse is doing that. Probably not the same title, though.

 

[timothy]

that was great and thanks for the confirmation on the hole angel giles thing it was a bit confusing . any Idea when the eighth graphic novel comes and are they planning to do a complete collection of all eight parts in one book .

 

[Admiral_Young]

Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume Eight: Last Gleaming is listed for release on Amazon Canada for June 14th. There's been no word on an omnibus yet.

 

[Ethros]

For anyone interested, an omnibus collection of all of Angel: After The Fall (Angel issues #1-17) is now available.
I haven't been to my comic store in a while so I haven't seen a physical copy yet, but from other boards I know its out. I already have the hardcovers (and the original issues) so I don't think I'll bother myself

 

[timothy]

I have the hardcover's all ready . waiting on the last one . also have the spike hardcover.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

I wonder if they're going to do any more motion comic DVDs? I just can't get into the comic medium but I can tolerate the motion comics. But I really wish some of these would be adapted into animated movies.

The weird thing that struck me about Season 8 (at least what I've seen) is how different it feels from the latter seasons of the TV show. Whereas Season 7 seemed to shift a great deal of the focus towards Anya, Spike, & Andrew, Season 8 brings it back to the core 3 of Buffy, Xander, & Willow. Sadly not enough Giles.

It's kinda like the opposite of Angel: After the Fall, which not only kept the core Season 5 cast of Angel, Spike, Gunn, Illyria, Lorne, & Wesley but also brought back all of those old characters like Connor, Anne, Gwen Raiden, and even long forgotten heroes like Groo & Kate Lockley.

also with dru being back in spike life do you think willow will give her a soul as well ?

I really can't picture that.

I read Queen of the Slayers. Possibly the worst thing I've ever read. It may be set after Season 7, but suffice to say it's not connected to the Season 8 comics

Sometimes I think I really have to read that one. It just sounds so unimaginably awful I'm frequently convinced it's a joke and that nothing as bad as you say this is could ever be published.