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shadowkatHorrid day at work. One of those days in which you are beset by aggravating little errors. Actually, I've been beset by aggravating little errors, mostly by me, all week long. Headache inducing. But ...
Me to work colleague: I'm having a bad day.
Work colleague: You don't have stitches in your eyebrow, your ankle isn't sprained any longer, you don't have a bunged up knee, and you aren't hobbling?
Me: no...
Work: isn't that bad then.
Me: good point. Could definitely be worse.
Made me laugh, anyhow.
In other news...IDW - which has been doing the Angelverse comics, is actually being a bit more innovative than Dark Horse. Bill Willingham is taking over the Angel comic latter this year and guess what? Angel is leaving his own comic, it's being taken over by Connor, with Angel as a recurring character. In short, Connor is going to be the main character in the Angel comics. Before Connor takes front and center, we had an issue centered on Gunn, and a mini-series entitled Angel Only Human - about Gunn and Illyria taking a road trip together.
After that we get the two part Drusilla After The Fall comics written by Juliet Landau,
Brian Lynch, and art by Franc Urru with Juliet Landau's driving it so to speak. This is a story developed by Juliet and what Juliet thinks Dru was doing all this time. And then, we get a two part comic by Brian Lynch and Frank Urru - about Spike and Angel infilterating the San Diego Comic Con to see the film version of their experiences in Angel After the Fall - entitled Last Angel in Hell - starring Nicolas Cage as Angel and some female actress as Spike.
Then finally in December, in the Angel Annual, we get the movie Last Angel in Hell in comic form.
Buffy meanwhile just continues the series of Buffy S8 except in comic form.
Anyhow - Connor fans on my flist take note - the character is about to get his own comic series as a demon fighter, even if it is still named Angel. (I'm guessing that IDW wasn't that thrilled with Kelly Armstrong's take on the series, since they seem to be going in a completely different direction. Can't say I blame them, I found the Armstrong series unreadable.)
Dru fans? Dru gets a two-parter, and it has been strongly indicated that she will continue to make appearances in the comics. (About Bloody time!)
And Spike fans? Lynch is coming back in 2010 with a full-fledged Spike Aftermath comic, where Spike is the lead. YAY! (I love Lynch's take on the character. )
Is this canon? Hell no. I don't really consider any of the comics canon - in that they are a realistic continuation of the story we saw on tv, no matter what the writers/editors want us to believe. Even if Whedon wrote them all, I wouldn't think that. The Buffy ones potentially come closest - but we are still missing vital collaborators and those are the actors. The actors interpreted the words the writers wrote and the direction the directors provided. They weren't, no matter how much the writers like to think this, empty puppets or pieces of meat to be moved about on stage. Without the actors, costumers, set designers, stunt men and women, makeup artists, and directors - the story is just a shooting script. People often use shooting scripts to justify a point in an essay - but the shooting script often differs from what is seen onscreen. Why? Because you are having someone other than yourself interpreting those words. James Marsters may read and interpret a line very different than you do or Whedon does. Whedon may direct him to say it certain way, but sometimes he'll see James say it and think you know, that's better than what I had in mind, I'm going to go with that.
In the Buffy comics - we have one guy playing all the roles - Georges Jeanty, who sometimes changes to other artists. We see Jeanty's interpretation of the writers words, not the actors SMG, NB, AH, ASH, JM, etc. So not to be picky or anything, the comics can't be canon. They aren't even what Whedon would write if he were doing it as a tv series - because he doesn't have the limits of tv nor the restrictions. How anyone can define the comics as a continuation of the story on tv is beyond me. What it is - is how Whedon and his current team of collaborators see that story continuing. But we are missing a few key players here: David Fury, David Greenwalt, David Solomon, and several others. Plus we are adding a few players who wouldn't have written for the tv series such as Brad Metzler who is co-plotting the story,
and Brian K. Vaughn.
I enjoy the comics, which have been bloody brilliant in places, but I don't see them as being a true continuation of the tv series. I do think that Whedon sees them in that way, so I'm somewhat critical of the laspes in continuity - such as Warren's thread, which pushes my suspension of disbelief a bit far. I'm sorry, but I am having troubles buying that Warren posed as the First when Andrew could walk right through him. Do these writers even remember what they wrote in S6-7? Hello, it's not like they can't rewatch the episodes on DVD before putting pen to paper, fanfic writers do it. And... I have a sinking feeling the Twilight reveal may add to that problem. I've thought about it, none of the lead or recurring heroes in the story make logical sense as Twilight unless we are doing a time travel storyline. Xander - sorry it does not work. That would have to be seriously retconned. Angel and Spike? Same deal. You'd have to retcon that one. And if they did it? I'm guessing they'd lose half their readers to IDW permanently. They'd lose me, because it makes no sense, has not been sufficiently built, and unravels the characters arcs. Plus it hurts another comic enterprise and that's just rude. Giles? Again a serious retcon and time travel - because he's been accounted for all this time. Willow? See Xander and Giles. Plus a bit out of character - she's into magic. Caleb? Didn't we already do this with Warren? Andrew - okay, but another character that has been accounted for and would have to be retconned. Also doesn't fit size or shape. Harth? Sigh, too easy, and time-travel involved, but plausible. Robin Wood? Definite possibility, not a character that has definitely been accounted for. But I'm not sure I see Robin empowering vampires, considering one killed his mother. Also the message that sends...is a bit disturbing to say the least. Ethan? Twilight killed Ethan. So another retcon, a la Warren. Jonathan? God, does anyone but Tara and Jenny and Joyce stay dead?
I get this is horror, but please. Dawn? She was otherwise engaged/indisposed. I mean it does have to make logical sense? Right? The Twilight reveal is going to be tricky. The only characters that would not require too much retcon are probably Andrew and Robin Wood.
And I don't think either works as Twilight.
I miss the tv shows sometimes, much shorter wait between episodes, granted we'd have three long months between seasons, but that's not as bad as just one episode a month. Makes me wonder if the folks waiting for the trade paperbacks might not have the right idea.
Me to work colleague: I'm having a bad day.
Work colleague: You don't have stitches in your eyebrow, your ankle isn't sprained any longer, you don't have a bunged up knee, and you aren't hobbling?
Me: no...
Work: isn't that bad then.
Me: good point. Could definitely be worse.
Made me laugh, anyhow.
In other news...IDW - which has been doing the Angelverse comics, is actually being a bit more innovative than Dark Horse. Bill Willingham is taking over the Angel comic latter this year and guess what? Angel is leaving his own comic, it's being taken over by Connor, with Angel as a recurring character. In short, Connor is going to be the main character in the Angel comics. Before Connor takes front and center, we had an issue centered on Gunn, and a mini-series entitled Angel Only Human - about Gunn and Illyria taking a road trip together.
After that we get the two part Drusilla After The Fall comics written by Juliet Landau,
Brian Lynch, and art by Franc Urru with Juliet Landau's driving it so to speak. This is a story developed by Juliet and what Juliet thinks Dru was doing all this time. And then, we get a two part comic by Brian Lynch and Frank Urru - about Spike and Angel infilterating the San Diego Comic Con to see the film version of their experiences in Angel After the Fall - entitled Last Angel in Hell - starring Nicolas Cage as Angel and some female actress as Spike.
Then finally in December, in the Angel Annual, we get the movie Last Angel in Hell in comic form.
Buffy meanwhile just continues the series of Buffy S8 except in comic form.
Anyhow - Connor fans on my flist take note - the character is about to get his own comic series as a demon fighter, even if it is still named Angel. (I'm guessing that IDW wasn't that thrilled with Kelly Armstrong's take on the series, since they seem to be going in a completely different direction. Can't say I blame them, I found the Armstrong series unreadable.)
Dru fans? Dru gets a two-parter, and it has been strongly indicated that she will continue to make appearances in the comics. (About Bloody time!)
And Spike fans? Lynch is coming back in 2010 with a full-fledged Spike Aftermath comic, where Spike is the lead. YAY! (I love Lynch's take on the character. )
Is this canon? Hell no. I don't really consider any of the comics canon - in that they are a realistic continuation of the story we saw on tv, no matter what the writers/editors want us to believe. Even if Whedon wrote them all, I wouldn't think that. The Buffy ones potentially come closest - but we are still missing vital collaborators and those are the actors. The actors interpreted the words the writers wrote and the direction the directors provided. They weren't, no matter how much the writers like to think this, empty puppets or pieces of meat to be moved about on stage. Without the actors, costumers, set designers, stunt men and women, makeup artists, and directors - the story is just a shooting script. People often use shooting scripts to justify a point in an essay - but the shooting script often differs from what is seen onscreen. Why? Because you are having someone other than yourself interpreting those words. James Marsters may read and interpret a line very different than you do or Whedon does. Whedon may direct him to say it certain way, but sometimes he'll see James say it and think you know, that's better than what I had in mind, I'm going to go with that.
In the Buffy comics - we have one guy playing all the roles - Georges Jeanty, who sometimes changes to other artists. We see Jeanty's interpretation of the writers words, not the actors SMG, NB, AH, ASH, JM, etc. So not to be picky or anything, the comics can't be canon. They aren't even what Whedon would write if he were doing it as a tv series - because he doesn't have the limits of tv nor the restrictions. How anyone can define the comics as a continuation of the story on tv is beyond me. What it is - is how Whedon and his current team of collaborators see that story continuing. But we are missing a few key players here: David Fury, David Greenwalt, David Solomon, and several others. Plus we are adding a few players who wouldn't have written for the tv series such as Brad Metzler who is co-plotting the story,
and Brian K. Vaughn.
I enjoy the comics, which have been bloody brilliant in places, but I don't see them as being a true continuation of the tv series. I do think that Whedon sees them in that way, so I'm somewhat critical of the laspes in continuity - such as Warren's thread, which pushes my suspension of disbelief a bit far. I'm sorry, but I am having troubles buying that Warren posed as the First when Andrew could walk right through him. Do these writers even remember what they wrote in S6-7? Hello, it's not like they can't rewatch the episodes on DVD before putting pen to paper, fanfic writers do it. And... I have a sinking feeling the Twilight reveal may add to that problem. I've thought about it, none of the lead or recurring heroes in the story make logical sense as Twilight unless we are doing a time travel storyline. Xander - sorry it does not work. That would have to be seriously retconned. Angel and Spike? Same deal. You'd have to retcon that one. And if they did it? I'm guessing they'd lose half their readers to IDW permanently. They'd lose me, because it makes no sense, has not been sufficiently built, and unravels the characters arcs. Plus it hurts another comic enterprise and that's just rude. Giles? Again a serious retcon and time travel - because he's been accounted for all this time. Willow? See Xander and Giles. Plus a bit out of character - she's into magic. Caleb? Didn't we already do this with Warren? Andrew - okay, but another character that has been accounted for and would have to be retconned. Also doesn't fit size or shape. Harth? Sigh, too easy, and time-travel involved, but plausible. Robin Wood? Definite possibility, not a character that has definitely been accounted for. But I'm not sure I see Robin empowering vampires, considering one killed his mother. Also the message that sends...is a bit disturbing to say the least. Ethan? Twilight killed Ethan. So another retcon, a la Warren. Jonathan? God, does anyone but Tara and Jenny and Joyce stay dead?
I get this is horror, but please. Dawn? She was otherwise engaged/indisposed. I mean it does have to make logical sense? Right? The Twilight reveal is going to be tricky. The only characters that would not require too much retcon are probably Andrew and Robin Wood.
And I don't think either works as Twilight.
I miss the tv shows sometimes, much shorter wait between episodes, granted we'd have three long months between seasons, but that's not as bad as just one episode a month. Makes me wonder if the folks waiting for the trade paperbacks might not have the right idea.
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no subject
Date: 2009-07-29 10:28 am (UTC)Maybe he just wants to get rid of everybody else's magic?
I'm pretty sure there have been clues about who Twilight is, but until we know the answer it's not possible to point them out amongst the red herrings. Once we get the reveal I suspect a post listing all the prior hints will soon be forthcoming.
(Although I'm wondering now if Angel will be "disappearing" from IDW for a while because he'll be making a guest appearance in the final issues of Season 8? :-) )
no subject
Date: 2009-07-29 04:30 pm (UTC)Wondered much the same thing when I read it. Except, not sure, because Allie and Ryall keep saying that the two universes don't really connect. And I know for a fact that Whedon has provided no input or suggestions for anything past the initial Angel and Spike After the Fall arcs. (My guess is Whedon's only interest in Spike and Angel is in how they affect or relate to Buffy, outside of that, he's sort of ambivalent. Angel was more of Greenwalt and Minear's baby than Whedon's. And neither Greenwalt or Minear are involved. Spike? He's different, because in some respects he was Whedon's baby, which Greenwalt, Noxon, Petrie, Espenson, and Fury aided in the creation of. And we have two of those with Buffy. Also, Whedon greenlit Lynch's Angel based on his reading of Lynch's Spike comics (from Whedon's perspective - Lynch had Spike nailed or so he said in an email to Tim Minear.) )
That said? It's more than possible that is why Angel is absent and Spike's story isn't picking up again until 2010. Because before the Comic Con panel - Spike was supposed to start in fall 2009 and Angel was supposed to be in the comics through then. Of course they are doing a three Angel/Spike comics - the two-parter comic con issue, and the annual - but, those comics don't necessarily conflict with the Buffyverse or for that matter interfer with their appearance in it. If anything, Whedon could refer to Angel/Spike's appearance at comic con together as well as the movie about them in his comics - as the Angel/Spike portion of "Buffy's nightmare in Always Darkest" coming to hilariously to life, at least from Buffy's perspective.
So, you may be right - he may be gearing up to resolve the Buffy/Spike and Buffy/Angel relationships or at the very least reintroduce them as players in his verse?
My guess is the reintroduction or mention is not going to satisfy most of us. It'll be a bit of a tease, mostly tongue in cheek and probably associated with/commentary on the current vampires are great, slayers evil storyline. My dream scene would be Harmony or someone capturing Angel and Spike and putting them on trial for crimes against vampires. LOL!
Or an interview with Larry King.
I'm pretty sure there have been clues about who Twilight is, but until we know the answer it's not possible to point them out amongst the red herrings. Once we get the reveal I suspect a post listing all the prior hints will soon be forthcoming.
Pretty vague ones. But you are correct, someone will
fanwanklink the dots. I saw someone link the dots for the scythe back in S7 (didn't convince me, it was still deux ex machina, but...it didn't matter that much to me either.)In regards to Twilight? There's three or four characters that would require serious retconning. Xander? Again, no way, unless you give the boy a personality transplant. Willow? Same deal. Giles? Ditto. Riley? I could see being Twilight, until he appeared as Twilight's minion. And while it would be hilarious if Riley turned out to be Xander's minion, I doubt it.
So who are the plausible options?
Andrew (a lot of retconning due to the fact that he's in two places at once. But certainly plausible.)
Ethan
Harth
Robin Wood
Some small rather inconsequential one-shot character from the series that I've completely forgotten such as Scott Hope, Parker, Grahame, Owen (poet boy from Never Kill A Boy on A First Date), etc.