SPOILERS: Scott Allie Q&A for #32 *Complete*

With the fab job Season 8 is doing for Buffy fans everywhere, are there any side jobs on the horizon for the Buffy comic franchise? I would totally love to see a small series devoted to the animated series (featured in issue #20 of Season 8, which of course you already know that). I think it could be something Dark Horse could target to a younger audience of new Buffy fans to come... Or on that same note, Dark Horse could feature the animated series in the one-shot-wonders series?? Heh. I just love the old timey cartoony look of issue 20 and I’d love to see other fun plots done with it. Another suggestion would be re-releasing comic additions of an episode such as Chosen for Season 8. I’ve heard that originally Joss wanted to do a little more with the episode but had to cut some scenes due to time/budget… so maybe a pre-Season 8 arc (kinda like the Willow series) with a few extra surprises for fans? This looks a lot like begging but I'm merely tried to be the devils advocate, Scott, that's all. I would just love to have even more Buffy stuff happening because it’s definitely a cult classic which has mass opportunity to indulge upon.
Anywho, thanks for reading my question/suggestion! Have a supercalifragilistic day!

Scott Allie: We've limited what we do to what Joss can be directly involved in, what he has time to pay attention to. We're talking about how to expand that for next year.



3. bamph: I'm sure we will find out in the story why Angel is Twilight but leading up to the news leaking there was lots of speculation. Everyone from Giles, Spike and Xander to characters such as Buffy's father were speculated on as Twilight in addition to Angel.

Could you explain the significance,as much as you can without spoiling things, for Angel being chosen as Twilight and what emotional impact that would have on Buffy. Why him out of all the previous characters to choose from? Would Angel not be the main "villain" in this storyline if he wasn't the one that means the most to Buffy?

Scott Allie: Should I spoil? Should I incur the wrath of the shippers? I think I should let the story speak for itself on this. Let's talk more after the reveal happens in the story.



4. AndrewCrossett: Here's a Serenity question. All the Serenity comics have been set before the movie. Does Joss not do post-movie comics because he still has hope of doing a sequel, or is pushing the story forward just too big a job for him to get into right now?

Scott Allie: The Wash oneshot takes place after the movie. But in general, yeah, I think we've avoided stories set after the movie because Joss wants to save that—but also because any story set after the movie or before the series robs us of the full cast, and for Joss Serenity is all about the ensemble. As bloodthirsty as he is, I'm still surprised he killed off anyone in that crew. He loves the full group of them. So he's leaned toward telling stories with all of them together.



5. Maggie: The reveal on where Buffy's new power comes from is tremendous -- especially the way it contrasts with the geek fest Buffy and Xander were enjoying. My question is about how that power source relates to Retreat. We've had a few dead slayers before the big battle (and world-wide slaughter). Has Buffy been getting incremental gains -- with the big power explosion because of the sheer number of dead slayers? Or did something else set it off, like whole exercise of the slayers with Buffy giving up their power to the goddesses? Basically: has this been going on all along (just not noticeably), or was there a particular trigger mechanism that suddenly allowed Buffy to be powered by a giant dead slayer battery?

Scott Allie: More will be revealed about this over the next few issues.



6. darthrosenberg9: I think from issue #32 (Buffy Has F#©$ing Superpowers) it's safe to assume that all four issues in Meltzer's arc have a subtitle and that "The Master Plan" is the subtitle to issue #33. If this is the case, are you allowed to tell us the subtitles to issues #34 and #35?

Scott Allie: I won't tell you those titles, sorry. When you see what #34 is, you'll understand why I can't tell you until you've read #33



7. alexkrycek: Continuing on with another question about the Monkey's paw that is buffy's super powers. Has Joss elaborated on how her powers now would have compared to the power the Shadowmen offered her in the season 7 episode Get It Done?

Scott Allie: No, that hasn't come up.



8. Mark W.: Regarding the identity of Twilight, not all of the character's past actions make sense to me in light of the reveal, none moreso than this one: in the first series arc, Warren, whom I believe works for Twilight, attempted to lobotomize Willow. Am I to assume that this was done under Twilight's orders? Or at least with Twilight's knowledge and consent? Because if so, I don't see how the character who has been revealed to be Twilight can ever make sense for me again. Not just because Twilight was trying to take Willow off the board--maybe there's a way you guys can explain Twilight's rationale for opposing and attempting to kill Buffy's forces--but because of the needless cruelty of the act. Warren didn't have to lobotomize Willow, he could have simply killed her. So my question is: did Twilight order Warren to lobotomize Willow, or at least know about it and not attempt to stop it (since Warren is after all under Twilight's authority)? Because the verisimilitude of the character behind Twilight's mask is literally hanging in the balance here for me.

Scott Allie: The reveal hasn't happened yet, so of course you can't see it all. But while the unmasking happens in #33, you won't have a very clear picture until you've read #35. There are a lot of angles to this.



9. Vergil: Which cover from 36 to 40 do you think fans will talk about the most or will get the most attention?

Scott Allie: It's actually hard to say. The one I think I can single out is #40—that that's the cover that will cause the least stir. There are definitely things about #36-#39 that're gonna get you guys talking. There are gonna be people angry over Jo's cover for #36 who'll blame me, but Joss told us exactly what #36 should be, described it pretty specifically. Georges's cover for #36 is fun, probably get reposted a lot, but not stir much controversy. Some people will be excited and mystified by one of the covers for #37—speculation will run rampant. People are gonna get real worked up about #38, and #39 will get people amped up, I think. Those are my predictions.



10. Charles: The Retreat story arc introduced many new characters and updated the fans on the old ones. Are we going to see more of them ie Oz, Bay, Keldon, Munroe (if he's not dead) as S8 winds down or was #31 it for them appearing onscreen. Also will the dying soldier's promise and last words have any meaning beyond that one moment?

Scott Allie: Brad gets very focused on the main Scoobs, and we do move away from the other characters. And I don't have the comic handy, but the dying soldier was in #31, right? And I don't think there was a promise, was there?



11. moscowwatcher: In a recent interview Joss has told that Spike will make an appearance in season 8 comics. Should we expect a Jo Chen cover with Buffy and Spike?

Also, I'd like know if Dark Horse and IDW have made steps towards coordinating storylines since the leak. Thanks!

Scott Allie: You gotta wait on the cover. Well, if I have anything to say about it you gotta wait, so who the #$%& knows. As for the continuity being made to jibe, steps have been taken.



12. bamph: A foiler (fake spoiler) page for issue 35 leaked that was debunked by Georges Jeanty. He hadn't even started drawing the issue at the time.



Foilers were a big problem during the show's run.With the exception of the fake vamped faced Angel page Brian Lynch put out by Franco Urru to hide the fact Angel was going to be revealed human at the end of Angel: After The Fall #3, foilers haven't been a problem with the comics up to this point. And in the After the Fall case, it was authorized by IDW to hide a major surprise story point.

Do you anticipate fake art popping up to be ongoing problem for the rest of season 8 and is there anything that can be done about it and as editor of Buffy what are your thoughts on the use of authorized foilers by people working on this stuff to hide surprise reveals?


Scott Allie: I don't care about it. It's funny. This image is cool, like the thing with Spike holding Twilight's mask—people are having fun with this. We're having fun. It's obviously not Georges's art, not even trying to look like him. I promise you, if one of these things come up again and you don't know if it's real or not, I'll tell you as soon as you ask. I don't see the problem. It's sort of a neat thing about comics that fans can do this.



13. collex: At the beginning of Season 8, Joss made mention of the Angel episode "The Girl In Question" and Buffy's apparent relationship. Was this done in order to bring the subject back on table when Twilight is revealed, or was this done only to handwave the Buffy/Immortal issue because Joss didn't want to go there anymore (if he ever did)?

Scott Allie: More of the latter.



14. Joe: At the end of #30, Giles, Faith, Andrew, and a bunch of other slayers are seen being taken away by soldiers. In #31, Twilight is seen having Giles, Faith, and Andrew held captive but it doesn't appear he has the rest of the slayers. In #32, Willow realizes that those three have been teleported out. Amy, Warren, and the general got in only because they took out those three. Here's what I don't understand. What about the rest of the slayers that were seen being taken away at the end of #30? Where are they now? Amy's teleportation spell seemed to only take out Andrew, Giles, and Faith. Does that mean the rest of the captured slayers are still with the army in Tibet? How come Willow hasn't realized this?

Scott Allie: The other Slayers went elsewhere, not necessarily teleported. Amy teleported those three to that spot in Twilight's HQ. Willow's insight is not foolproof; she's not necessarily lining every piece up properly. More to come.



15. kaileea42: Well, we've heard from Joss that he has plans for Spike and that has been mostly interpreted as meaning that he will feature sometime later in Season 8, or possibly even Season 9. Could you maybe give us a vague time frame on when to expect that? Will it be a kind of be an 'On the cover big event deal' or more of a "secretive randomly shows up in the comics before being on the cover' kind of thing? Wow, I worded that kind of weirdly, oh well. This is my first time asking a question here, yay! I've really enjoyed the last few issues Scott, and thanks for doing these Q and A sessions.

Scott Allie: Secretive has not worked so well for us, so we're not trying so hard to be cute about Spike. But I'm not gonna tell you just yet when he's gonna show up.



16. AndrewCrossett: Can we assume from Willow's findings that all of the world's Slayers (or almost all) outside of Buffy's entourage are dead?

Scott Allie: We cannot.



17. Hellbound Hyperion: Will it be explained at some point why Buffy is getting all the powers and not Faith? Even before Chosen, there were the two Slayers; if the power is coming from the newly-activated Slayers who got their power from Willow channeling the Scythe, it would make sense for both Buffy and Faith to be gaining power.

It may be either too spoilery or inconsequential, but I really do just wanna know if we should expect Faith to start flying around too, or if there's a reason that only Buffy is receiving the powers.

Scott Allie: Well, I can only speak for me, but everything about Buffy's career as Slayer has been unusual, compared to the Slayers who've come before. So while readers and viewers have long tried to figure out the rules that apply to the Chosen ONE, ever since Kendra showed up, in my opinion Buffy is the Vampire Slayer.



18. wenxina: Hey Scott. Glad to see that you weren't just talking Brad Meltzer up; he really delivered in this issue. Jeanty too. So if this continues, 2010 should be a good year for S8, no?
Anyway, will we get an explanation as to why the Scoobies have taken to isolation from the rest of the Slayers (who are presumably still at Oz's temple, with Satsu being in charge, since she was communicating with Willow via phone/walkie-talkie)?
Is it so that Buffy can test out her new powers without drawing too much attention to them? At the moment, she seems pretty secretive about her new powers (or at least she was still pretty secretive in #31).

Scott Allie: Well, the Slayer army is crippled, certainly. And the Scoobs are the leaders, and they've concentrated their focus and their efforts. That allows us to focus on the main characters, which is necessary as we head toward the climax.



19. buffycomic: Maybe I'm just thick in the head but I didn't get the gag that Dawn and Amy both spoke about Buffy being faster than a speeding-- and then saying "Oh I just realized what they were doing. losers/nerd-a-trons."

I realize this is relating to Superman, but I don't get the context.... please don't mock and explain.

Scott Allie: Xander made Buffy race a bullet to see if she, like Superman, is "faster than a speeding bullet." That's an old phrase from Superman, a cliche, kinda funny.



20. Kratos: As the only Spray (Spike/Fray) shipper in the fandom (yeah, I know), is there any chance for these two to ever meet? Seeing as Fray doesn't have all the vital history of slayers and vampires, a 320y old Spike could teach Fray a lot. Hell, Fray's first "watcher" was a powerful demon named Urkonn.

Scott Allie: Wow. Did you carve out that unique real estate just so you can write dirty fanfic using that title, Spray?



21. neowhobaz: Are Buffy's Powers meant to be permanent or is there definite resolution to this either by the end of the season or Knowledge that it will be resolved in season 9?

Scott Allie: Of COURSE I'm not gonna answer that one ...



22. vampiresaiyan: Hopefully this can be answered but it might be too much of a spoiler. Will we see Robin again at all this season?

Scott Allie: I don't think we will.



23. Ethos: Relating to the earlier question about upcoming covers, obviously the cover to #34 spoiled things for a lot of people. And going back the one for #18 was shown before issue #16 was released, spoiling that Dawn would turn into a centaur. And even the cover for #19 of an angry looking Willow, kinda spoiled the reveal in #17 of Future Dark Willow appearing.

So my question is will any of the upcoming covers be spoilerific in nature, ruining the surprise of what's to come in issues before that one, but that still haven't been released? (if that makes sense) Seems a very silly thing to do myself.

Such as the cover for #32 shows Buffy flying, but we already knew she could as #30 was already out before said cover appeared online. Which was a good thing, but had it been revealed earlier the ending of #30 would have been hampered.

Scott Allie: The answer's yes, but we choose what to spoil on the cover with the goal of not ruining the story. Obviously it's possible to tell you things about the story without ruining it. We didn't think it ruined the story to tell you Dawn was gonna be a centaur; we didn't think it ruined anything to show Willow's eyes gone dark. Part of why that cover was so closeup was so you wouldn't know everything about her being dark. The covers to #34 were the exceptions. If you've seen the recent Diamond Previews catalog, you've seen what we meant for you to see of the #34 covers. Only one of the upcoming covers really spoils anything, but it doesn't ruin the story to know the detail the cover tells you. In our opinion, anyway.



24. alexkrycek: Any idea when we might start to see the covers for the final arc?

Scott Allie: Hopefully according to schedule, but apparently I cannot guarantee it. We won't leak covers early.



25. sosa lola: Hey, Scott, I've really enjoyed the Xander/Buffy scenes/close friendship in S8. I'm wondering if we'll get more meaningful/touching scenes between them. Sames goes for a Xander/Spike scene.

Scott Allie: Can't say.



26. stormwreath: In Dr Horrible, Joss killed Felicia Day's character Penny. In Dollhouse, Joss crippled Felicia Day's character Mag.

In Buffy, Felicia Day's character Vi hasn't been seen alive since 'Time Of Your Life'. Given the wholesale Slayer-slaughter revealed this month, should we be worried for her? Is Joss going for the hat-trick?

Scott Allie: No, but Joss did ask if he could write an issue of The Guild, and I sure hope he doesn't have any big ideas.



27. Charles: Can you say anything more about 'the prince' that Buffy has to save in an earlier issue?

Scott Allie: Nope, sorry.



28. bamph: In last month's Q/A you mentioned about rejecting several sketches for Jo's cover to #34,

Scott Allie: Do I really have to say this ...? Edward and Bella remind you of Angel and Buffy, not the other way around. C'mon, guys! But no, Jo's cover isn't an homage. We described the vibe we wanted to come across, and Jo gave us a series of sketches. If I remember this one correctly, it's the very rare occasion when we rejected all the first sketches and asked for another round. I think that was this one. Only happened once in all this time, I think, but I think it was this one.

I'm curious about some of these rejected sketches.Can you describe some of their differences from each other and the final cover?Is there any chance we might see some of the rejected sketches at some point down the line?

Scott Allie: We might show those in some later editions of the books, but no plans as of yet. But it was no big deal, it was just that the arrangement of the figures didn't communicate what we wanted. I remember one where they were both standing, centered, his head above and behind hers. And it wasn't that dynamic, doesn't fit the dimensions of a cover that well.



29. sosa lola: In last month's issue, the Buffy/Xander storyline has been put to rest by Xander rejecting Buffy and admitting that he's in love with Dawn. I hope that doesn't mean that Buffy's feelings for Xander will magically disappear, because that's not realistic. Xander had been rejected by Buffy and his feelings stayed for a long time, same goes for Spike, and also Willow (for Xander). I just hope that even though there will be no Xander/Buffy, the feelings Buffy has for Xander will still be there, even if she had to hide them for her sister.

Scott Allie: You know Joss. People love each other largely so that they can be made miserable by it. But there's gonna be a lot of distraction as the series reaches its conclusion, so you won't see much more in the way of those conversations.



30. Joe: I gotta another question. What was the point of including Riley in season 8? He was in 5ish issues but we only saw him with Twilight.. then Buffy rescuing him. Now it seems as if he's out for the rest of the season. He didn't provide Buffy with any good information that contributed to the plot. Is there more for him or was there a point of including him that I missed?

Scott Allie: There'll be some more for Riley. But he didn't have a real significant part, you're certainly right. It just made sense for him to have a role in it, given the military aspect of things. t would've been an oversight to just leave him out, but it wasn't necessary to kick him into center stage.



31. Cheryl: Will there be any reference made back to "After these messages" this season? Meaning, will the issue directly come into play with what's happening now, or was it just a really cool blast from the past?

Scott Allie: Well, largely it was just some fun, and a reflection of the themes of the series, but it also come together a bit with who Twilight is.



32. AndrewCrossett: I'm starting to develop a theory here: Buffy has become one with the Scythe. It's actually the Scythe, rather than Buffy herself, that is re-absorbing the power of dead Slayers. The Slayer magic is now actively trying to "right itself" and concentrate back into one person, and it's that magic... and not necessarily Twilight... that is sparking a great deal of the destruction the Slayers are facing now. It may eventually be possible for Buffy to separate herself from the Scythe again (like Nico and her staff in "Runaways"), but right now it's on the verge of meltdown and global catastrophe.

Can you give me any hints as to whether this theory is anywhere near on the right track?

Scott Allie: I cannot.



33. Kratos: Having the rep of being the biggest Spike/Spuffy hater on the net (nah kidding, you're barely
in the top 20 ;D), do you feel that you've been unfairly attacked? And if so, has this made you resent part of the fandom?

I mean I could understand becoming frustrated with the constant questions in regard to Spike, a character that's not even in the story yet. And those questions/requests have probably been sent since season8 has started if not before.

I guess I would also want you to see and try to understand it from the other side. On the last season on tv Spike was the male main-character of the show, his hero-journey came full circle in that season, from bigbad to hero. Show ended in 2003, four years after that season 8 finally starts and has been going strong now for 3years. We've had every character show up from Amy, Warren, Oz, Harmony, Riley, Angel, etc. All except Spike, so yeah I do think Spike fans have reasons to be frustrated too. Even if Spike were to show up in the last 2 or 3 issues what's the point? To fight against/with Buffy and then when it's over he skips on back over to IDW?

Thanks for letting me vent.

PS: To answer you question, nah I don't write fanfiction. I leave that to the good people like yourself.

Scott Allie: The point of bringing Spike in now will be more clear to you sometime after we bring him in. You guys can't expected to get it yet, because you don't know anything about the story. But Spike occupies a significant place in Buffy's life, and the lives of these other characters. He also occupies a significant place in IDW's publishing line. So not bringing him in from the get go worked for us, but bringing him in eventually was somewhat inevitable. And I hope that down the road a bit you'll agree that bringing him in proves to be meaningful. The landscape for these characters is gonna look different after Season 8, and we're addressing a changing world.



34. stormwreath: We saw Dawn and Xander kissing back in 'Retreat', but ever since then, they seem to have done nothing but argue, fight and misunderstand each other.

Are scenes like Xander ignoring Dawn and looking at his watch instead in this issue just being played for laughs, or are you deliberately trying to make us think that their relationship is on shaky ground already?

Scott Allie: We're having fun, but no, we're not trying to say that. It's a very tense moment for the team, and there's not much time to relax. But I don't thing we're ONLY showing them fighting. Buffy's reaction to their PDA is the moment that most stands out for me.



35. woundeddwarf: In "Chosen" we saw a change in the source of slayer power and Buffy's power now comes from the scythe instead of a demon, but General Vol is under the impression that Buffy is part demon, and this view is embraced by sections of the fandom. So my question is......Is Buffy part demon?

Scott Allie: Her power still originates with demons, whether she's part demon or not. The scythe is a tool, not a source.



36. bamph: Switching gears for a bit. I want to talk Dollhouse. I know Joss has said he's not looking at doing a Dollhouse comic story. But after watching the series finale, I think there are several scenarios where one could work:

1) You could do a comic series about the events between The Hallow Men following the destruction of Rossum and Epitaph One.

2) A comic story set between the end of Epitaph One and the beginning of Epitaph Two following Mag, Zone and little Caroline on their journey to Safe Haven. Epitaph Two only gives the tail end of that.

3) Stories set after Epitaph Two and what happens to everyone following the bringing back of the world.

Plus there are probably other stories I haven't thought of.

So do you have any ideas about how a Dollhouse comic could work and what did you think of the final episode of the series?

Scott Allie: In San Diego last year, Joss said he'd figured out how to do a Dollhouse comic. I was, of course, excited. But without giving too much away, his idea was sort of invalidated by Season 2. So the possibility that existed last summer is gone. There are still ways to do it... But I don't see it happening. I don't think he wants to return to it that way.



37. cheryl: Since this season is dealing with time travel, can you tell me if all the characters we have seen thus far are from their correct timeline and would it be possible for a character to meet themself in another time (past-future) Example; Could Willow have traveled to Fray's time and been face to face with the Willow already there?

Scott Allie: It would be possible, but time travel is a pain in the ass. Between this and Umbrella I'm sick of it. But yes, I think a character could meet themself. It's why Aluwyn told Will to close her eyes while bringing Buffy back from the future, lest she see her future self.



38. AndrewCrossett: Are Twilight's military troops part of the actual U.S. Army, or are they mercenaries?

Scott Allie: Actual army.



39. wenxina: So last month, you said that you hadn't even gotten the script for #35 yet. What's the status on scripts so far?

Scott Allie: Script just went to Georges yesterday.