TV Guide talks to Joss Whedon about new Spike & Angel comic books

http://www.tvguide.com/news/insider/

from IDW
SPIKE: OLD TIMES
IDW has sent along a 5-page preview of the 48-page August one-shot, Spike: Old Times, by Peter David and artist Fernando Goni. We also spend a few minutes talking with David about his foray into the Buffy-verse…

Set in the current day – that is ‘current day’ a couple of years ago, Season 6 of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer in fact – the story includes flashbacks to the past that sets up the exploration of the relationship between vampire Spike and vengeance demon named Halfrek, who indirectly led to Spike becoming a vampire.

”Back in 1880, a young and somewhat vapid poet named William was hopelessly in love with a young socialite named Cecily,” explained David. “She was his ‘inspiration’ for poetry deemed so ghastly that it earned him the name ‘William the Bloody’ for his bloody awful poetry. One night at a party he confessed his love for her, and was rebuffed so thoroughly by Cecily – who told him that he was ‘beneath’ her – that he went running off sobbing into the night. And in his late night run, he encountered a vampire named Drusilla, and the rest is Buffy history.”






Then Spike met someone in the present day that looked an awful lot like Cecily, though some Buffy fans had an alternative explanation for the resemblance. David, however, is putting an end to any alternative theories.

”In the season 6 episode of BtVS, ‘Older and Far Away,’ William the Bloody – now a feared vampire named Spike – encountered (at a birthday party, of all places) a vengeance demon named Halfrek. She did a double take when she saw him, and said, in a familiar tone of voice, ‘William?’ He looked at her suspiciously and said, ‘Wait a minute...’ But when questioned by others at the party, they both immediately claimed not to have met before. Now some claim this was simply a shout-out to the fact that the same actress, Kali Rocha, played both Halfrek and Cecily. But why go for such a mundane explanation? “

Why indeed…David is not only confirming Cecily and Halfrek and indeed one-and-the-same, he’s going so far as to reveal in this one-shot they always were. Cecily/Halfrek was a demon when she first met William all those years ago.

”In fact, she's been a demon for a long time...and we'll get some indication of how and why she became one,” revealed the writer.

Old Times deals with Spike’s feelings towards Cecily and how the two have changed over the years and their feelings toward one another.

”Let's just say there's a lot of unresolved feelings there, and this story is about resolving them.”

David – who of course has had plenty of experience working in other’s sandbox’s before – weighed the pros and cons of this type of assignment.

”The pro is, there's such an ardent following. The con is, of course, that you're using someone else's toys and have to deal with a sometimes complicated approvals process. In this case, though, the Mutant Enemy folks have been no problem.”

David enjoyed it so much, in fact, he hopes this is just the beginning of his exploration into the “Buffyverse”.

” I've been in talks with IDW over a Spike limited series,” David said. “I pitched an idea they loved and, as soon as we have approvals from Mutant Enemy and the book slotted on the schedule, we'll announce it.”

[note: also included in the preview is a certain house ad slotted to run in this 48-page one-shot.

Thanks for that.. so does this mean there might be a comic??

There is definitely a new Spike comic coming out in August (Spike: Old Times, by Peter David and artist Fernando Goni. )and it has just been announced that there will be another along later. good to know that they are aware that Spike is a beloved character that many people would like to read more about.

YaY!!! That is great!!! I would love to read it!!!

The second one, due in January, sees Spike in 1940s LA.

I think the first one is about Spike and a certain vengeance demon he seems to have had some history with. We find out how they knew each other.

I've seen the artwork for this comic now. It's really good...though the artist did seem to use real publicity stills for "inspiration".

Thats great news!! Do you have a link??

Glad to show you,but had second thoughts about posting a link because the person was very clear she didn't want buffy.nu or slayerverse to get ahold of them and post them.

Thank you thank you!!!! They look amazing!!!

Yes,I'm not really much of a comic book reader but I will be buying this one just for the cool artwork.

I hope there is a way for me to buy it too.. it looks really good!!! Comics aren't that big in this country!

I'll let you know if I hear of internet sites selling it...like Amazon etc.

Thanks

This comic book completely sold out its first printing. I have heard that it will be going to a second printing and will again be available in 6 weeks.

That's fantastic!!! I need to find a way to get me a copy.

It's by IDW Publishing....so it will probably be available at their store at some point:

http://store.idwpublishing.com/

Found this artwork...awesome for a comic,isn't it?

http://peterdavid.malibulist.com/archives/002756.html

Thanks for the link.. the art work is amazing!!! I can't wait for it to come out!!!!

awesome artwork

some of it seems like it was directly copied from photo's and stills we have all seen before...but still,at least it looks like it was drawn by a real artist unlike some of the newer ones I've been seeing.

yeah i'd assume its drawn from a picture

here's a really old article (1999) from a time when James had just written his first Spike and Dru comic...he never wrote another because he hated the artwork they used in this.


http://westfieldcompany.net/wow/low/low_int_028.html

is there a pic of the art from that comic?

I wouldn't know where to find it. But here is some info on the 2 new Spike comics due out in February.


http://www.newsarama.com/IDW/Spike/Preview...ublePreview.htm

Sweet... My B/F bought me that comic book.....

It had a diff cover though.....

I know! What's up with that? Are they trying to get us to buy multiple copies of the same comic so we can have a complete collection of covers??!!

They are evil.

I have the cover shown in that link. What does your cover have on it?

And that was very nice of your bf...being all supportive of your interests.

yes what a nice boyfriend

i love ur new sig jd-hiv

Picture this. today my local comic book store owner calls to tell me that he just saw a "Spike vs Dracula" comic and because I've bought the last few Spike comics, he wants to know if I want this put away in the "Spike" folder he made for me!!!

Never thought I was going to be able to say I had a "comic book" connection!

classic

sounds like a good comic book tho

Yeah,I got it today. Fun story but I didn't get the cover I wanted. I like the one where Spike is standing with his back to us and he's holding a sword. Oh,well.

Thanks.... and it has a pic of James... the same on of him on the cover of Angel season one except its the original photo I'll see if I can find it....

This has the photo of the cover I have. Upper right corner.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spike_vs_Dracula_(Angel_comic)

Not bad,but they didn't get Spike's mouth right.

yeah the mouth is def. not right

That's awsome.....

Joss is writing a Season 8 comic featuring Buffy and what happened to her after the Hellmouth closed. It is due out in October.

Unfortunately,I don't think there will be any Spike in it...legal issues,I hear.

Another Spike vs Dracula comic book is due out today. Check out this artwork!


http://www.idwpublishing.com/newreleases.shtml


Frankly,I find the Spike in a Nazi uniform in front of a Nazi flag giving a Nazi salute to be so abhorrent I wanted to write to the publishers and tell them what I thought of it and why I would not be buying this issue. If anyone else wants to weigh in with their opinion, here's the address:


letters@idwpublishing.com

ohhhh cant wait for seas 8 comic book

be good 2 hear what happened

I hope she's not going to be slumming around with that Immortal guy. ewww

do u mean angel??

No....you have to see Season 5 of Angel to know what that means.

Here's the new covers for the next Spike comic. It is set in Italy in the 50's.


CREDIT TO IDW COMICS and CDS.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v35/tubb...aculacover1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v35/tubb...aculacover2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v35/tubb...aculacover3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v35/tubb...aculacover4.jpg

There's a new Wesley centric comic out from IDW today. It has some Spike in it too.

http://www.idwpublishing.com/newreleases.shtml

IDW has the first 5 pages of Spike: Asylum up:

http://www.idwpublishing.com/titles/spike/1.shtml

Nice interview with the writer of Spike: Asylum and info that 2 new Spike comixcs will be talked about at the upcoming Comic Con (which Joss Whedon will be at).

http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0607/19/index.htm

Great new cover for the Spike Asylum comic due out in November.

http://media.comics.ign.com/articles/727/7...mg_3862421.html

Angel Auld Lang Syne #2 is now released as is Angel Scriptbook Vol. 1 TPB. This volume collects the scripts from 'City of', 'A Hole in the World', 'Spin the Bottle', 'Waiting in the Wings' and 'Five by Five'.





http://www.idwpublishing.com/newreleases.shtml

Interview with Chris Ryall. He praises Spike:Asylum comics as being an example of a really well-written comic!

ttp://fractalmatter.com/main/?p=457