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George Lucas's groundbreaking visual effects company is celebrated in a new one-hour special on the Science Channel

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As if William Shatner writing a comic wasn’t enough, today Joss Whedon announced that he’d be producing a new comic for Dark Horse comics.  The six-issue miniseries, entitled Twist, is his answer to the self-imposed question: “why isn’t there a Victorian, female Batman?”

According to Whedon during an interview with EW, Twist is “a Victorian thriller about a meek chambermaid who is fed to a dark horror — but instead of dying, she returns, with knowledge, power, and rage she can neither deny nor control.”  Julian Totino Tedesco drew the promotional art pictured above, but he isn’t signed to do the series interiors.  Blambot’s Nate Piekos created the series logo.

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A new book explores the original, un-Disney-like goals of Pixar's first feature effort.

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While the second biggest opening weekend in domestic cinema history doesn’t seem like painfully coming up short, Avengers Age of Ultron failing to beat The Avengers for opening weekend gross seems to have shocked many people. Personally I blame Floyd Mayweather, as he should be blamed and punished for all the world’s ills, but Vulture’s Kyle Buchanon has a more in-depth examination of possible causes, including: the fight; the downbeat marketing campaign; the been there done that phenomenon; the mixed critical and fan reaction; and…maybe the superhero movie fatigue we’ve all been expecting:

I have no doubt that comic-book movies will continue to make bank, including the looming, two-part Avengers: Infinity War — I just think they’ll be hard-pressed to reach the massive totals that superhero movies made when this shtick all felt a little fresher. The peril to the shared cinematic universe is that they can get awfully packed with stray story lines as time goes on, and all the comic-book minutiae that Age of Ultron expects you to know will be doubled and quadrupled in the years to come, keeping the casual moviegoer at arm’s length. Geeks may cheer as the Avengers add more recruits, but as the Marvel universe grows more populated, the domestic box office for this top-heavy franchise may have topped out.

I’m not sure that adding more and more Marvel characters is the reason for this fatigue—most everyone thought the new Vision was the funnest thing in the movie—but there’s no escaping the fact that the movie was kind of…a marketing plan in search of a story. Even the biggest boosters are now saying that whaddya expect, it was just a great set-up for Avengers: Infinity War….meaning we sat through two and half hours of elements that are just priming the pump for two more movies in three years time that will probably end up setting us up for Avengers: The Clone Saga, and…where does it end?

I’ll admit, one of my favorite things in the movie was the whole Andy Serkis/Klaw segment because unlike many people Andy Serkis does a mean Afrikaner accent, and his whole schtick was over the top and…fun. But let’s get real. Was there ANY STORY REASON for that whole segment other than setting up the Black Panther movie? And setting up the also unnecessary Hulkbuster battle?

The other day I joked to someone that superhero movie fatigue will set in for real whenever they release a Wonder Woman movie…or a Black Panther movie. But I think as entertaining as it was, the noisy, shapeless Age of Ultron may be where the cracks first appeared.

But then again, it WAS the second biggest opening ever even though half the population had to take Sunday off to watch a boxing match.

Even if the public doesn’t have Superhero Movie Fatigue, it’s pretty clear that Joss Whedon does. His three-year contract with Disney is reportedly up in June, and in interviews he hasn’t worked very hard to hide that he’s burnt on all that universe running.

AND NOW SPOILERS

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/203458029″ params=”color=ff5500″ width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

In a just released podcast with Empire magazine, Whedon opens up about many things, including variant scenes, whether you-know-who may have lived, and how much he had to fight to retains the scenes down on Hawkeye’s farm. Vulture has a transcript of some of the best bits:

Whedon explained to Empire that Thor’s cave scene caused a weird sort of chain-reaction drama. Initially, Whedon wanted Thor’s interaction with Erik Selvig to be much more fleshed out, with “Thor getting answers, but he doesn’t have to ask the questions. He’s the guy giving the answers. And [Chris Hemsworth] gets to do something exciting as an actor. And he’s got his fucking shirt off, so everybody wins.” But Marvel execs wanted Whedon to whittle this scene down because it didn’t play well with test audiences. “The dreams were not an executive favorite, either. The dreams, the farmhouse, these were the things I fought to keep.” Although Whedon talks about some of his filmmaking haggling in Avengers diplomatically, he admitted that when it came down to keeping his favorite scenes, things got unpleasant and he had to pick his battles. For instance: “They pointed a gun to the farm’s head. They said, ‘Give us the cave, or we’ll take out the farm.'” Yikes.

This level of filmmaking by committee is of course standard for the MCU and it comes as no surprise, but even though Whedon wanted to make the film MORE crowded by teasing Captain Marvel and Spidey (but contracts weren’t signed) we are getting a little bit into Spider-Man 3 territory here with characters being shoehorned in whether necessary to the director’s ideas or not. And that eventually makes flat, listless movies which fans reject.

Just to cap everything, Whedon quit twitter yesterday, which, given his uneasy relationship with the internet and social media, isn’t really a surprise. There were definitely a lot of ugly comments on Avengers, but Whedon, like all famous people with more than a million followers, gets abuse and dumbass fronting all the time, so it’s not clear if this was the trigger for the removal. A previous EW interview suggests that he was ready to quit months ago::

EW: You’ve quit?

WHEDON: I joined six months ago to specifically try to drive business to Much Ado About Nothing because I figured Much Ado needs all the help it can get. The moment I joined, oh my God, what a responsibility, this is enormous work—very fun, but it really started to take up a huge amount of my head space. I’m making a movie, I got a responsibility, this job doesn’t pay very well. It’s a fascinating medium, it’s a fascinating social phenomenon. People are like, ‘It’s like a drug.’ Yeah, and it’s like a job. It’s just another art form. Until I have a script I truly believe in or a tweet that’s really remarkable, I can just walk away and get back to the storytelling I need to do.

As the exhausted, gaffe strewn media tour for Age of Ultron showed, making these movies is exhausting, Whedon has seemed exhausted for a while, and he deserves a break.

Of course, that didn’t stop GGaters from painting Whedon as the victim of crazy feminists who drove him away by calling him a hypocrite. Or some actual feminists being disappointed with some of the aspects of the Black Widow character in the film. Because there is nothing in the world that can’t become part of GGate,

Joss Whedon may have the right idea after all.

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After yesterday’s Valiant and Daredevil news items and today’s Eisner nominations, you’d think we could shut the door down on news for a while. But, surprise surprise, there’s still a few other items of note, here’s the rundown:

– Joss Whedon, while on the press circuit for next week’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, held court with Buzzfeed, and in a pretty revealing interview about his time at Marvel that is well worth reading, he happened to elaborate on his feelings regarding Edgar Wright‘s departure from Ant-Man:

I thought the script was not only the best script that Marvel had ever had, but the most Marvel script I’d read. I had no interest in Ant-Man. [Then] I read the script, and was like, Of course! This is so good! It reminded me of the books when I read them. Irreverent and funny and could make what was small large, and vice versa. I don’t know where things went wrong. But I was very sad. Because I thought, This is a no-brainer. This is Marvel getting it exactly right. Whatever dissonance that came, whatever it was, I don’t understand why it was bigger than a marriage that seemed so right. But I’m not going to say it was definitely all Marvel, or Edgar’s gone mad! I felt like they would complement each other by the ways that they were different. And, uh, somethin’ happened.

One you hear Whedon make a statement like that, it’s hard not to wonder what could have been (not that many weren’t already). I’ve long held that parting ways with Edgar Wright was one of the biggest missteps Marvel has made thus far and the loss of his idiosyncratic take on Scott Lang would be felt pretty heavily come this July. But, movies have to be seen before you can judge them, and we’ll find out soon enough.

On that note, Avengers: Age of Ultron is currently sitting at 84% on Rotten Tomatoes with 49 reviews in. If that score holds, it’ll put the film just below Iron Man (93%), The Avengers (92%), Guardians of the Galaxy (91%), and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (89%) in the Marvel canon, if you care about that kind of thing.

– One more Ultron related note, those of you who are aspiring to be professionals in the field of journalism may not want to follow the example set by Krishnan Guru-Murthy from Britain’s Channel 4 news, whose junket press questions caused Robert Downey Jr. to walk out of the interview:

Seriously, save the hard hitting stuff for when it’s warranted and expected, not in promotional interviews for a superhero film.

– The third Star Trek film in the rebooted franchise now has a rumored title: Star Trek Beyond. The rumor comes via TrekMovie who discovered Paramount’s recent MPAA registration of the title. To be honest, I don’t love it, but it’s also a good sight better than Star Trek Into Darkness, which was an awful pun. At the very least, perhaps this ensures that exploration will be the key factor for the new Star Trek entry.

– With True Detective Season 2 just a couple of months away, HBO has released some ominous looking motion posters via the show’s official twitter feed:

 

We get the world we deserve. #TrueDetective pic.twitter.com/iTkuP2t04n

— True Detective (@TrueDetective) April 22, 2015

We get the world we deserve. #TrueDetective pic.twitter.com/CFJuv00Nws — True Detective (@TrueDetective) April 22, 2015

Creepy stuff!

– And finally, in a fun little piece, here’s what this Summer’s big blockbuster releases would look like in 90’s VHS form. Oh, do I ever miss Blockbuster, until I think about the late fees and scrambling to get the latest video tapes.

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Marvel has hired Anthony and Joe Russo as the directors for the two-part conclusion of The Avengers movie series. The Russo Brothers collaborated together on Captain America: The Winter Soldier; they will return for the Captain America: Civil War adaptation.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, “they’ll film Infinity War in one long shoot beginning sometime in 2016, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter. No writers are attached, but the brothers will likely reunite with Winter Soldier’s Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.” Part 1 will hit theaters on May 04, 2018. Part 2 will follow on May 03, 2019.

Some fans may feel sad that Joss Whedon won’t take the helm for this project. Whedon, the director and screenwriter behind the first film and Age of Ultron, has earned great praise for his work on the two Avengers films. Earlier this year, he sat for an interview with Empire Magazine. SlashFilm.com reports that Whedon felt “very doubtful” about “the two-part Infinity War movie that would eat up the next four years of my life. I obviously still want to be a part of the Marvel Universe – I love these guys – but it ain’t easy.” (via The Huffington Post)

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The latest Avengers: Age of Ultron television spot is here, and it’s a fairly extended look at the team with some new footage for those of us who just can’t wait another month and a half. I particularly like how it gives a showcase for each of its stars, including the first line of dialogue out of Aaron Taylor-Johnson‘s Quicksilver, highlighting how Joss Whedon and company have kept the character to his Eastern European roots. Obviously, we’ll have to assume the same for Scarlet Witch.

Television ads like these do most of the heavy lifting of getting the non-diehards to fill the seats, and given that this provides a lot of what audiences seem to love (Tony Stark snark, ridiculously awesome action beats, and a reminder that this is the same team you saw in the first billion-dollar grossing film) it seems likely that this’ll do the trick.

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Thanks to the film’s official Facebook page, here’s a look at the new poster for Avengers: Age of Ultron.

 

I admire the talent of the designer that was able to get all ten Avengers in there, including Paul Bettany‘s Vision up top.

That first Infinity War poster will look like a Where’s Wally/Waldo? book if this keeps up!

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While we’ve seen a few smaller glimpses of Paul Bettany‘s Vision in Avengers: Age of Ultron concept art, we haven’t seen the actual man in costume.

This still isn’t that, but thanks to the folks at Fathead Wall Decals (via ComicBookMovie), we now have our best look yet at Vision’s color scheme and how he’ll appear in the upcoming Joss Whedon-helmed sequel.

Looks good! Not much else to add here, except that Vision was always my favorite Avenger as a kid, so my own excitement is pretty palpable.

If you’re so inclined, you can purchase these decals, which include a limited selection of the rest of the cast, over at Fathead’s site.

Avengers: Age of Ultron releases on May 1st.

 

 

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For a few months now, rumors have floated around that Avengers: Age of Ultron would be Joss Whedon‘s final bow with the franchise. Said rumors were quickly followed with reports that Joe and Anthony Russo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) would step up to direct Avengers: Infinity War Parts 1 and 2 for a 2018 and 2019 release respectively.

While there hasn’t been official confirmation from either party, Whedon recently spoke to Empire (quotes via CBM) about his future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe:

I couldn’t imagine doing this again.  It’s enormously hard, and it’ll be, by then, a good five years since I created anything that was completely my own.  So it’s very doubtful that I would take on the two-part Infinity War movie that would eat up the next four years of my life.  I obviously still want to be a part of the Marvel Universe – I love these guys – but it ain’t easy.  This year has been more like running three shows than any year of my life.  It is bonkers.

Based on the above quote, Whedon sounds like he’s ready to scale back his involvement with Marvel Studios. The popular filmmaker has been one of the creative forces of greatest influence for the studio since he came on board in 2010, particularly in providing re-writes to various scripts such Captain America: The First Avenger and Thor: The Dark World, along with completely overhauling Zak Penn‘s initial Avengers script.

It wasn’t too long ago when Jon Favreau was angling to direct that first Avengers entry. The years have really rolled by!

If Joss Whedon is indeed done after Avengers: Age of Ultron, who would you like to see take over? The Russos? James Gunn? Someone completely new?

Avengers: Age of Ultron hits theaters on May 1st.

 

 

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“I’m going to tear you apart from the inside.”

Is it possible that Ultron is the first truly worthwhile “dyed in the wool” bad guy that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has had since Loki? He’s striking a menacing enough presence in this new Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer that I’m hoping the end of toothless, dull villains like Ronan the Accuser and Malekith is nigh.

There’s quite a bit to absorb here, but watching scenes of Captain America and Ultron fight hand to hand, and Hulk and Iron Man in a massive brawl…it’s rather exhilarating stuff. I didn’t think it possible, but Marvel may actually be able to top their recent high-point in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy. Here’s hoping!

It’s fun to be excited about things!

Here’s the official synopsis:

When Tony Stark tries to jumpstart a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye, are put to the ultimate test as the fate of the planet hangs in the balance. As the villainous Ultron emerges, it is up to The Avengers to stop him from enacting his terrible plans, and soon uneasy alliances and unexpected action pave the way for an epic and unique global adventure.

Avengers: Age of Ultron opens May 1st.

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So I took a bit of a break from Cybils reading this week* because OMG GUESS WHAT WORDS OF LOVE SENT ME?

Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover by Sarah MacLean. And oh, it is just as delicious as I hoped. It's probably my favorite of her Rules of Scoundrels series. I love love love love that Chase was Georgiana from Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord. I'm also very excited about the glimpse we got of MacLean's new heroine for her new series (the first will release sometimes in 2015)

Some other non-Cybils things I've read this month?

Buffy: Season Ten Volume 1 : New Rules Woo-Hoo! Season 10 has started. Once again, consequences and repercussions are big themes. At the end someone shows up that proves I really should have been reading the Faith and Angel spin-off, because woah, what was that?! BUT! Dracula's around and the Dracula Xander bro-mance is in full swing, which is always fun and awesome. Now, I just need to wait for-EVER for the next one.

My hold on Mortal Heart finally came in, and, oh, another most wonderful end to a favorite series. Ever since I finished it, I've been trying to figure out which one is my favorite in this trilogy, and I just can't decide. They are all so great--there's no weak link or one particular standout, just straight-up excellence across the board. I was reading this one at a training and the person (NOT a librarian) across asked what it was and as soon as I described it as "historical fiction about assassin nuns in 15th century Brittany" she was on her library's website to see if they owned it. Because, I mean, of course she was! It's HISTORICAL FICTION ABOUT ASSASSIN NUNS. Although now I really want to read more about historical Brittany. Why isn't there an awesome YA nonfiction about the the 15th century Brittany? Someone should get on that for me.

I also read Mistletoe and Mr. Right: A Christmas Romance which I reviewed over here. If you don't feel like clicking over, I liked it.

In non-book reading, did you all see Kelly's poignant and powerful post about fatness in YA? Definitely click over to that one.


*Ok, I don't actually have any Cybils reading until January 1st, because I'm a second round judge. BUT, I'm reading my way through the long list anyway, partly for fun, partly for armchair quarterbacking, and partly so that when I do look at the short list, I'm that much more familiar with the titles and can then do deeper rereading instead of reading for the first time.

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Serenity: Leaves On the Wind, an anthology of six Serenity comics, has claimed the number one spot on the New York Times bestseller list.

According to the press release, “this official follow-up from executive producer Joss Whedon brings circumstances that force the crew to come out of hiding, and one of their own is captured, setting them on another mission of rescue and resistance.”

Writer Zack Whedon and artist Georges Jeanty collaborated on this project.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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As we hastily posted from our phone last night, the AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON trailer was supposed to break next week during Agents of SHIELD, but last night leaked versions sprang up like bedbugs, unstoppable and immortal. Marvel Studios, being smarter than the average bear, just made a joke

Dammit, Hydra.

— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) October 22, 2014

and then OFFICIALLY RELEASED THE THING EARLY.

Poor Agents of SHIELD—can’t buy a break. (However I should point out that the show is FINALLY tying in lesser characters from the Marvel U, like Mockingbird, and should rebound just fine if they don’t mess it up.)

Rections to the trailer were swift, and as you read this there are probably 900 detailed frame by frame analyses of the thing. I’ve stolen the screen caps from all the other, better sites, but I must give Andrew Wheeler a shout out for noting the “shirtless, wet Thor”.

Anyway, here are some pics and thoughts, and ideas.

James Spader voices Ultron, the robot created by Tony Stark, and, wow he’s actually scary! This trailer has  a darker, Nolan-esque  feel to it, but sandwiched between some light heated outings Guardians and Ant-Man, it’s okay. The slowed down “I’ve got no strings to hold me up” song recalls the trailer for the very successful Maleficent, which also used a creepy version of a Disney classic to set up a sad, bad world.

As for what it means: Ultron is to Tony Stark as Pinocchio is to Gepetto, get it? Throughout the trailer we see Tony looking sad and other Avengers looking mad, so presumably everyone gets annoyed that Tony created this killer robot genius in the first place.  If one wishes to detect a trace of Joss Whedon in the idea of Ultron’s journey presented as a murderous, tragic take on the sturdy Pinocchio story, well go ahead. A nice solid dramatic spine is a nice thing in a superhero epic.

This is Tony Stark’s HULKBUSTER armor, as various leaks have shown the Hulkbuster fighting Donald Sterling. NO NO WHAT AM I SAYING, The Hulkbuster fights the Hulk! The internet went ape shit over the Hulkbuster. Because you see…

Mark Ruffalo’s Banner/Hulk looks to be pretty busted up in this one. As the only “Core” character without his own film series at this point, it’s time for The Hulk to get his due. Evidently he gets the feels over something, freaks out and in true Marvel Comics fashion, must be stopped by any means necessary.

 

Hey it’s Andy Serkis! The mocap madman did some of the acting for Ultron and gets to show his face as well…but as WHO WHO WHO? The internet has decided that he’s playing a supervillain named Klaw, and this has excited the internet because Klaw is the natural enemy of The Black Panther! And The Black Panther’s introduction into the MCu has been rumored for a long time.

 

This could be interesting because one of the MOST SHOCKING SHOTS IN THE TRAILER shows Captain America’s shield DESTROYED! Oh god, can someone called Stephen Colbert? IF this is not a dream, not a hoax, not an imaginary story (and I’m not convinced it isn’t) then maybe they have to go to Wakanda and get some vibranium to make a new shield? That’s the popular theory anyway.

 

Shirtless, wet, anguished Thor. Paging fanfic writers.

The trailer also shows the Black Widow looking jaunty on a motorcycle, Captain America looking grave, Hawkeye running around in the woods, and lots of rubble. Lots and lots of rubble.

Images are now leaking from the 'Avengers 2' trailer. Here's Ultron showing his good side, saving a helpless victim. pic.twitter.com/ttKrN6PQxg

— The Film Stage (@TheFilmStage) October 22, 2014

Finally, this was the greatest thing to come out of the Affair of the Early Avengers 2 Trailer. (That’s a still from CRASH, a movie in which Holly Hunter and James Spader play people who can only have sex at the scene of horrible auto accidents, in case you didn’t know.)

Anyway, that’s what caught MY eye. What did YOU think?

 

 

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Volume 1: Freefall Joss Whedon, Georges Jeanty, Karl Moline, Dexter Vines
Volume 2: On Your Own Andrew Chambliss, Georges Jeanty, Cliff Richards, Karl Story
Volume 3: Guarded Andrew Chambliss, Jane Espenson, Drew Z. Greenberg, Georges Jeanty, Karl Moline
Volume 4: Welcome to the Team Andrew Chambliss, Georges Jeanty, Karl Moline
Volume 5: The Core Andrew Chambliss, Georges Jeanty

Ok, I’m just going to review all of Season 9 at once. It makes more sense that way. First off, there are only 5 volumes in Season 9, and that makes me sad.

Buffy’s living in San Francisco, trying to make rent and killing vamps in her spare time. She and Willow have some friction because remember how well Willow reacted to losing her magic in Tibet last season? Yeah, now that all the magic is gone from the world, it’s not easy. There are also major divisions in the slayer army--many were killed at the end of last season, but the ones that weren’t aren’t happy with Buffy for destroying the seed.

CONSEQUENCES. They’re even a bigger deal this season than they were last season. First, off World Without Magic is some seriously bad stuff that they have to learn to live with. I love the fact that Xander can’t uncoil--after years of fighting for his life, he can’t relax into normal life. I mean, I don’t love it, because Xander’s in a bad place and I like Xander, but I think it’s a very real consequence. Willow is having a hard time without magic, but one major character’s very existence is threatened by a world without magic. It’s amazing when it happens, because you don’t see it coming, and when it does, you’re just like “DUH OF COURSE”

A few big bads to deal with--ZOMBIE VAMPIRES (who Xander dubs “zompires”), who are basically feral--not the almost-human vamps we’re used to, and the Siphon, who sucks all special power out of you.

Buffy becomes friends with a cop, and they sometimes work together. An interesting character from the end of Angel shows up at the end. Spike’s around and occasionally we see him in his spaceship IN SPACE, because you know, WHY THE HELL NOT. But mostly importantly SPIKE IS AROUND. I love Spike. Kennedy has a side business of slayer bodyguards and there’s a very cool new slayer and watcher on the scene. A BOY SLAYER. He may not have actual slayer powers, but that’s not going to stop him.

I loved this, and I really loved the new complications they set up, and the new big bad we see coming for Season 10. Which comes out in November (UGH WHY SO FAR AWAY?!) I think with Season 8, sometimes Whedon was like “it’s a comic, I can do ANYTHING” and sometimes he did in ways that were fun, but weren’t necessary and sometimes took away from what makes Buffy work. He reigns that in a lot in Season 9. It’s much more about the characters, and we’re back to really just battling vampires. A new breed of vampires, but it’s back to basics (except for Spike’s spaceship, because… well of course you keep the spaceship?)

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 8: Last Gleaming Joss Whedon, Georges Jeanty, Scott Allie

So, Twilight would have been a logical conclusion to the season, but no, this one’s all about consequences, so it takes a bit of a left turn here in a way that actually works.

So, Buffy and Angel can never just be happy--no when they had superpower sex they created an entire universe, and Buffy then abandoned it to return to Earth. But nature, even on other planes, abhors a vacuum and, well, there are consequences to creating a universe, and there are consequences to abandoning it. It all ties back to the seed of wonder--the root of magic on Earth that turns out is physical object… and it’s in Sunnydale.

The question is what to do with it--protect it? Destroy it? Give it away? The gang goes back to the beginning--back to Sunnydale and back to the Protector, who is an awesome bit of “casting” on the part of Whedon et. al. Some very nice parallels with the beginning of the series (and by that, I mean the first season that was on TV beginning of the series).

And of course, at the end of Twilight, we had Spike show up in a goddamned spaceship piloted by giant cockroaches because OF COURSE SPIKE NOW HAS A GODDAMNED SPACESHIP PILOTED BY GIANT COCKROACHES. (This makes me joyously happy, both for the WTF?! factor, but also because I just love Spike. Who doesn’t love Blondey-Bear?)

Things never go right in Sunnydale, and what happens there is devastating on so many levels, making it surprisingly satisfying end to the season, and perfectly setting up the Angel & Faith spinoff.

And oh man, I thought this season dealt well with the consequences of creating a slayer army? There are MAJOR consequences to what goes down in Sunnydale--ones that are going to haunt Buffy & Co. for a long, long time.

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 7: Twilight Brad Meltzer, Georges Jeanty, Joss Whedon

So… Dawn + Xander sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G. hee hee.

Ok, back to the main plot-- Buffy and Willow have to clean up the mess they unleashed in Tibet, but Buffy’s suddenly developed some startling powers--like being able to fly. Meanwhile, Willow’s figured out that the Scoobies are missing some key characters and is trying to find them--only to discover that slayer cells around the world have been attacked and decimated. Meanwhile, it’s time for the big Buffy/Twilight showdown only… the results aren’t what anyone was expecting (Well, maybe Twilight was.)

And hoo-boy, the reveal of Twilight is something else. (Not only in identity, but the dialogue in that moment is pretty awesome and classic.)

There are some old slayer legends that need to be brought to light, because when Buffy made all the potentials slayers, there was some MAJOR blowback, and that’s why Buffy has powers, that’s why Twilight’s been doing what he’s doing, and that’s why, when they finally meet, something REALLY big happens.

(Also, I’m still laughing at Dawn’s well-placed “Ben is Glory?” line. Perfect.)

Consequences, consequences, consequences. I think that’s what this season does better than most of the TV seasons did. (With the exception of Season 6.) Buffy changed the world-- there’s a reaction to that. And what Buffy and Twilight do, well, there’s major blowback to that as well.

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 Volume 6: Retreat Jane Espenson, Andy Owens, Joss Whedon

Harmony’s PR campaign and Twilight’s army have forced the slayers into hiding. They’re losing members left and right and go to Tibet, to find Oz, to have him teach them how to suppress their magic. It doesn’t go well. Twilight’s still onto them. But hey! There is redemption for one character! Plus, OZ!

Oz is married and has a kid and Willow has some issues. She’s jealous he gets a “normal” life. She wants that, but also feels it’s fake, because who is she without magic? What is she without magic? Can she suppress hers like the others? Does she even want to?

There are also some major consequences for their actions that are worth considering.

I feel like this volume is a turning point for the series, because it’s where Buffy really has to start facing the consequences of what she’s done--creating an entire army of slayers upsets the balance and there’s a price to be paid for that. The full ramifications still have to be explored, but this is where you see that turning all potentials into Slayers might not have been the happy ending it appeared at the end of the TV-run.

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Time of Your Life (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 4) Joss Whedon, Karl Moline, Jeff Loeb

Ok, so somehow I skipped reviewing this one.

Buffy and Willow are trying to figure out the scythe and Buffy somehow* ends up propelled into the future, where once again, there is only 1 slayer a generation. Buffy’s trying to figure out where everything went wrong to get back to that point (plus, how to get home) but she’s walking into a trap of a Big Bad that we’ve seen before. This time though, the ending is devastating. (This is also apparently a crossover with Fray, which is a Whedon comic I’ve never read, so I can’t speak to how to works on that side, but if you didn’t know it was a crossover, you’d never be able to tell.)

Meanwhile, back in the present, Twilight attacks the Scottish fortress that Buffy and Co. have the hanging out in.

It was a weird diversion of a comic because even though Twilight attacks, it still seems a little more “Monster of the Week” rather than over-reaching story arc. But, as I write this, I have read the rest of this season (heck, I even have the reviews written for the rest) and I can see its place a little more. Something I’ll start pointing out more is that overall, this season deals really well with the consequences of Buffy’s actions. And this gives Buffy a glimpse of the long-term consequences and she has to try to figure out how her future actions may mitigate going back to a “chosen one” Slayer lifestyle. That said, this is probably the weakest volume in Season 8.

*mystical magical convergence oddities

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Vol. 5: Predators and Prey Joss Whedon et al.

Harmony gets a reality show and when a loner slayer tries to stake her on camera, the world turns against the slayers and is suddenly very pro-vamp. Meanwhile, Giles and Faith walk into a trap, Andrew’s plans have backfired with major consequences, and we wrap up Dawn’s mystical enchantment storyline. Oh, and there are some very cute, and very evil, stuffed animals that may just destroy the world.

As annoying as Harmony is, she's a great character (in small doses). I love the fact that she's the one that turns the world pro-vamp, I mean, OF COURSE SHE DOES. The cute, evil, stuff animal story line is pretty funny.

BUT BUT BUT

Best part about Harmony’s return? She’s hanging out with Clem, so Clem’s back. I love Clem. CLEM.


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Wolves at the Gate (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 3) Joss Whedon, Drew Goddard, Georges Jeanty and Jo Chen.

Buffy left TV after Season 7, but Season 8 (and 9, and soon, 10) exist in comic form.


Weird vamps that can shift into fog and werewolves attack the slayers and steal the scythe. The Scooby gang quickly figure either Dracula’s behind it or someone’s stolen his powers.

I like this one because it takes the slayers to Japan and it involves lots of werewolves Also, DRACULA. I love Dracula and Xander together--they are hilarious. A very unlikely Bromance. That works really well. Plus, some interesting developments on Buffy’s love life and Dawn puts her giantness to good use.

It doesn’t really advance the overall plot arc, but it’s a really fun diversion. (Seriously, the banter between Xander and Dracula alone makes it more than worth it.)

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 Volume 2: No Future for You Joss Whedon, Georges Jeanty and Brian K. Vaughn

So, this big thing to know about this one is FAITH FAITH FAITH FAITH FAITH.

I really grew to love Faith as a character ever since they defeated the mayor. She's complicated and fascinating. She's the star of this story, as Giles sends her to put down a rogue slayer, being "advised" by a warlock who works for Twilight (Season 8's Big Bad). Hilariously, this involves Faith pretending to be British aristocracy. The rogue slayer is being groomed to kill Buffy, unless Faith can stop her. Of course, in true Faith/Buffy fashion, no one's clued Buffy in to who's the good guy and who's the bad guy in this situation.

One of the things I loved about this was how it flashed back to the TV series so you see what Faith's demons are, with her narration. It really delves into her character and psyche more than the show did, which makes her even more complicated and fascinating.

At the end, there's a story about Buffy and Willow visiting some mystical forces, which reveals some secrets neither really want revealed, and some movement on Dawn's giant curse.

But, mostly, FAITH FAITH FAITH FAITH FAITH FAITH FAITH. (Also, a brief glance of Robin (Principal) Wood.

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The Long Way Home Joss Whedon.

I know I’m totally late to this party, but Buffy didn’t end when the show did! Buffy lives! In comic book form!

So, now that all the potentials are slayers, they’re all divided up into different teams, working different parts of the world, killing baddies. But Willow’s missing, Amy’s back, and so is a gross skinless Jonathan. Plus, Dawn is a giant. And the Army thinks Buffy’s the enemy. All in a day’s work for a slayer!

But, this is a comic book with many over-reaching plot threads, and it jumps around a lot, which is a bit different from the show and took some getting used to. Also, while the characters look like the actors who played them, they’re still drawings and it’s a bit hard to get into. Luckily, the voice is still there, so I can "hear" it properly in my head. I’m really excited to see where this is going. I should have gotten a few volumes at ones, because I have to waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait for the second one. It’s checked out. And I’m not the first person on the holds list for it! (Which is awesome, given these books came out in 2007 and they’re still popular!)

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