Post by Emmie on Sept 2, 2009 11:56:51 GMT -5
Dark Horse Editor, Scott Allie, and writer of Exurbia and Solomon Kane is back for another Q&A to celebrate the release of Buffy Season 8 #28 Retreat - Part III written by Jane Espenson and penciled by Georges Jeanty.
Remember to please submit one question per post and do not submit another question till the pending one has been answered.
If you want to participate, but you're not interested in registering at this time, you can e-mail your questions to emmie@slayalive.com and I'll submit them for you with credit. Again, we'd really love people to actively join in, but I'm hoping to encourage any fan out there with a great question to feel free to share it.
If this is your first time participating in the Q&A, please take a look at past Q&A's as your question might have already been answered. Thanks!
The floor is now open!
1. AndrewCrossett: In the Bones season 4 DVD set there's a trailer listed for a "Buffy season 8 adaptation." Can you tell us what this is, and if Dark Horse is involved at all?
Scott Allie: We're not involved, and I don't wanna talk about it. Sorry.
2. bamph: Buffy Season 8 has been pretty historic I think.The first time a comic book was really done as the canon continuation of a T.V. series with the creator and many of the writers of said series directly involved and the comic overseen just like a season of the series. Now that we are 28 issues into this 40 issue series,what lessons have you learned on this project and have you learned things from Buffy Season 8 that you plan to apply to Buffy Season 9? Has anything come up that surprised you as an editor and do you expect to learn more lessons still as we head into the end run of season 8?
Scott Allie: The main thing here is just learning about writing from Joss, and how to manage a long-term story with various writers. It's something I've had to do a few times before, but doing it with Joss is new. Another big thing—long-term scheduling around a single artist. We are so attached to Georges, every time we throw in a fill- in it's a compromise, so we've had to work out different ways to keep Georges front and center. So with Season 9 I'd like to work in more lead time. And ideally I'd like to go with one writer, but not if it meant compromising. Getting Jane Espenson to come on for 5 issues or to not come on at all ... I'd rather have Jane.
3. Ben Marston: There has been a lot of speculation about a motion comic/ season 8 adaptation due to the feature shown on the Bones season 4 DVD collection. As Fox has the rights to this, could there be a new video game in the works based on the story of season 8? If this is not the case, how would you feel about putting this idea forward?
Scott Allie: It's not a video game, but I don't have any affinity for video games, so that sort of thing wouldn't appeal personally to me. Not that I'd be against it, but I'm not the guy to advocate for it.
4. buffycomic: Is Dark Horse involved at all with the upcoming Wizard Magazine cover featuring Buffy Season Eight drawn by J. Scott Campbell? What was the choice of J. Scott Campbell versus someone more associated with the comic (i.e. Karl Moline, Jo Chen) doing the cover instead?
Scott Allie: Complicated. Jo was unavailable at the time that they needed the cover. Other great names were thrown around, but there were a variety of factors to consider, including Wizard's editorial direction, and which artists were approved by Sarah Michelle Gellar.
5. neowhobaz: Will there be any more big reveals by the time the arc is over?
Scott Allie: Yes.
6. iloveromy: Will Buffy be coming to DH Mobile?
Scott Allie: No.
7. vampmogs: I'm not sure if you classify this as being too spoilery or not. However, I was wondering if you could shed some light on Buffy's mindset at the end of this issue. Are we supposed to think she was going to Xander to confess feelings for him?
Scott Allie: Too spoilery. We'll be dealing with those feelings soon, though not soon enough for some of you. Joss thinks long. No instant gratification.
8. Emmie: So, any Buffy or Whedonverse news you want to share from DragonCon?
Scott Allie: I don't think I'm making any Buffy announcements at Dragon Con, though I am doing some panels with Georges and one with Felicia Day.
9. slayerette: In a lot (if not all) of the Buffy seasons prior to 8, the audience usually has a heads-up on the big bad. I'm thinking Ben is Glory/Glory is Ben. The first can look like anyone. etc. Will the readers get to see Twilight in all his non-masked brilliance before the characters do? Or do we get shock and awed at the same time as Buffy and/or Team Buffy?
Scott Allie: You'll see when the heroes see.
10. wenxina: Seeing as it's convention season still, are there any Cons that you look forward to over the rest, and why?
Scott Allie: I'm writing this from the floor of Dragon Con, so yes. Dragon Con. My best chance to see Georges, to hang a little with Buffy fans. And this year I get to see Felicia and Ron Glass as an added bonus, and Mignola's coming. Plus: Atlanta cuisine. Not to pander or anything.
11. buffycomic: As there's another 12 issues left if Season Eight is running 40 issues, are there any more guest artists filling for when Georges takes a break between arcs?
Scott Allie: Yeah. Karl's doing the Will oneshot after #30, then we'll do something, maybe a 2 parter, after Meltzer's last ish.
12. vampmogs: We only have 12 issues left of the season. Are you at all concerned that this isn't enough time to tie up all the loose ends and deliver a satisfying conclusion?
Scott Allie: Yes. It's possible it'll go to 41. I know. Everything changes.
13. nixennacht: I was wondering if now, a year later, you can tell us, why the Buffy tarot never made it into production? Since I really liked them I was also wondering if there chances that the rest of designs are going to be released online maybe?
Scott Allie: I cannot. I liked them too. Maybe I'll do next month's Q&A drunk and you can get it outta me.
14. thomas: Maybe this is too spoiler-y, but over the course of the season, I've really taken a liking to Bander. So, at the moment, I'm totally heartbroken. So, could you by any chance maybe say whether Buffy is into Xander or not? That's what a lot of people (even non-Bander shippers) got from the issue, especially from the Xander/Buffy stuff. Are we right to think that?
Scott Allie: Yeah.
15. bamph: So was Amy the cat for sure and does that make her the mole?
Scott Allie: The rat molecat, yup.
16. AndrewCrossett: I had a lot of major questions and red flags regarding some of the major interrelated elements of this issue: Andrew's "secret" and his reason for calling the group together on the last page; Willow's sudden emotional swing and reaction to Buffy's confession; the identity of the spy; the vanishing cat. I know you won't answer those questions, but am I right to think that whole situation is still in progress and not fully revealed yet?
Scott Allie: 12 issues left, guys! And 2 in this arc. Definitely in progress!
17. Jay: Was Dawn and Xander getting together Joss's idea from the start, or was that one of those things that was thought out later?
Scott Allie: I think he had this generally in mind from the get go, but it took shape slowly. He definitely didn't know when it would happen until very recently.
18. sosa lola: How did Amy find Buffy's hiding place despite all the magic suppression?
Scott Allie: Suppression wasn't enough. Didn't that make sense in the story? I thought that worked, that this scheme wasn't foolproof.
19. Ben Marston: With the Deluxe Editions of Buffy season 8, have there been talks about special features and the quality of the books. Would it be too much to ask for something along the lines of what IDW did with the Angel: After the fall HC collections, in terms of high gloss paper, bookmarks, graphics, special features, shiny cover? (Dreams of the Heaven)
Scott Allie: We're working on our format now. In fact, you just gave me an idea for an announcement I can make at Dragon Con. Wayne had me listed as making an announcement, and I had no idea what that was, but I think this'll work. But no, don't expect our Buffy hardcovers to be companions to the Angel books. We're starting from scratch, working with Joss on the presentation, and we just want to come up with the best design we can. But should I infer from your question that you liked that they modeled their omnibus program after the Buffy books? That you like the sets matching up?
20. bamph: At the end of the issue,Andrew says,"the only one left with a secret is me."Was that secret revealed in the next panel with him confessing to the group that he thought Willow was working for Twilight or has Andrew's secret not yet been revealed and is coming in a future issue?
Scott Allie: That is what he was referring to.
21: bishopcruz: The idea of the mole was originally brought up at the end of No Future for You, when one of Twilight's agents mentioned "our man on the inside", I assume that is a different mole than the Amycat. Is that going to be explained soon? Or are we already supposed to know, and I just never noticed?
Scott Allie: No spoilers.
22. AndrewCrossett: Why did Amycat choose to disappear so dramatically in front of everyone instead of being more discreet? She not only confirmed to the Slayers that they'd been infiltrated, but tipped them off to the fact they're about to be attacked. Is this just more of Amy's horrible sense of strategic timing, like with the catacomb attack?
Scott Allie: Yeah. At that point it just didn't matter; the bad guys figured they had it locked down. We'll see.
23. NotaViking: In "Harmony Comes To The Nation", Harmony actually admits on TV that vampires are evil and that they kill people. How can the public still believe that vampires are the good guys?
Scott Allie: Watch the news, man, the public will let anything pass if there's a cute skinny blond involved.
24. buffystar: Just reread "Long Way Home, P. 1" and something just popped up. Did Joss decide from the very beginning of Season 8 to have the Slayer in "The Girl in Question" be a decoy and real Buffy be in Scotland. Or did he want to have it follow the episode with real Buffy in Rome, but decided to change it later on?
Scott Allie: Not sure I follow the question, but yes, from the beginning of Season 8, that girl referenced in Angel wasn't really her. Does that answer the question? Sorry if I'm being dense.
25. sosa lola: Will there be at least someone or a group of people who aren't fooled by the whole "Vampires are good. Slayers are bad"? Because the whole world believeing that is not really realistic.
Scott Allie: I'm sure there are people who don't buy it, but I don't think we'll ever deal with them in the series.
26. slayerette: You said Joss knew Xander and Dawn were going to get together pretty early on, he just wasn't sure when it would happen. In the last few issues they've been attached at the hip, so was their kiss in this issue the first instance of them actually taking it to the physical level? Or have they been at it for a while off the page? If that's the case when did they start being couple-y?
Scott Allie: We generally won't answer questions like this, because it ties our hands storywise down the road. I know that frustrates fans, but the story is a live, moving thing, and anything that hasn't been specifically said in the story should be left fluid as we watch the story develop. I'm genuinely curious what that sounds like to you guys. The creative process wants to leave room for as much flexibility and adaptability as possible. But it think fandom works the opposite way. Maybe next time I have to interview you guys.
27. Jay: Since Season Two (except for Season Seven), there's always been an episode that celebrates Buffy's birthday. So to follow tradition, is there an issue like that planned? Buffy's birthday is on January 19th, and for next year, her birthday falls on a Tuesday. HOWEVER, the 20th will fall on a Wednesday. Maybe Joss can reference her birthday in #31 and if it's released on Jan 20th 2010, it'd be PERFECT! Her birthday doesn't even have to be central to the plot!
(....Just throwing it out there...)
But please consider it.
Scott Allie: Okay.
28. Emmie: Sorry, Scott, but this is going to be a long one. Season 8 is full of storylines that the fandom is hungry to have explored more - When will Spike appear? And Angel? What about the Decoy? And the Immortal? What happened between Chosen and The Long Way Home? What led to Buffy becoming a bank robber (her mindset, motivation)? Most of these are treated as unimportant and pushed to the side. That they're not relevant to the main thrust of the storyline and space is tight in telling that story and doing it justice.
Which brings me to the choice to have 'humanity discovers vampires and likes them' as a secondary storyline. The storyline in itself is so complex and carries so much potential to be explored, that many fans find it odd that it's pushed to the shadows. And because of its complexity, it's been hard for fans to breeze by it with assumptions and just accept it as what's happening without further exploration. Fans wonder why humanity is accepting vampires across the globe when they're obviously evil and killing people, why everyone is so easily accepting. The story of humans discovering vampires and Slayers is complex, yet it's been boiled down to its most basic function to tell the main story.
What's your take on this balance of maintaining a focused story (keeping it close to Buffy) versus not filling out the secondary storylines of Season 8? Where do you draw the line between keeping the story tight and perhaps losing the audience's suspension of disbelief when storylines meant to be taken for granted and accepted simply aren't? It's interesting in a meta way that the storyline is that humanity is so easily accepting, yet the "fandom humanity" of the Buffyverse is not...
Scott Allie: Oh, Emmie. Hard to answer. Joss and the writers and all of us are following the storylines he wants to follow. I think in the end you'll find that the 40 issues are pretty damn full. Running off on the side stories you're suggesting would require something else. I'll give you the vampire thing—there's potential stuff there that we could deal with. But Where's Spike, Angel, the Immortal, the Decoy, those things don't matter at all, in the context of this story. There could be stories in the bank robbing and the time between Chosen and The Long Way Home. But it's not what we're doing. Joss wasn't interested in puttying in the space between the stories; he was interested in getting to the place where things would be new and fresh, and run from there. And I think that's the right choice for this book. There are books where the point becomes to putty in the spaces between the important events. I often find those books tedious. I prefer what Joss's doing.
29. Ben Marston: Hey Scott, I asked question #19 about the Deluxe editions (I'm glad I inspired you to make an announcement!) I do particularly like the Angel After the Fall HC and do believe that if Buffy could live up to that, well, I will be a proud and overjoyed Buffy fan!!!
Anyway to the question, well kind of an opinion really. I hope that Amy isn't the mole mentioned at the end of No Future For You because surely she would have known the whereabouts of the slayer army all along and so why would they have ended up in Mongolia? (Okay kind of a question!)
Scott Allie: I guess that's kind of a question.
30. girlinquestion: So Xander and Dawn are now together. This has been developing for awhile, but at the beginning of Season 8, Xander and Renee had a romantic thing going on there. She was my favorite new character, so I was rather upset when she was killed off so early, Now that I see Xander with Dawn so quickly after he lost Renee, I wonder: What was the point of Renee's existence in the series? What was she supposed to add to the story?
Scott Allie: Characters don't move along straight lines. Xander's relationship with Renee meant that he didn't move straight from Anya to Dawn. It was a relatively ideal, conflict free relationship, and it had him growing in one direction. He had to get through that to get where he was going with Dawn, just as Buffy had to go through the thing with Satsu—not to say that that door is totally closed—before she could come to the conclusions she came to in the recent issue.
31. bamph: This might be a tough question to answer since it might delve into spoilerish territory. How much of Buffy's interest in Xander in this issue is because of genuine interest in him and how much of her interest is because she might be feeling needy and he's the only viable and available guy she has in front of her right now,or so she thought before seeing him and Dawn? No offense to Giles or Andrew by the way. If Angel and/or Spike were there with her by her side throughout season 8,would she be looking at Xander with this type of interest now? Or is this sort of question going to be dealt with some later on such as in Joss's one-off in #31 or Brad Meltzer's arc?
Scott Allie: I don't know that this question will be dealt with, but it's not for me to say. Good thing for you guys to discuss.
32. lmblack21: I don't usually ask questions too often since I am happy enough to just read the comics and read the questions and answers others provide but this Q&A has prompted me to ask one of my own. I hope it's not too spoilery or asking for too much, it's mainly revolving around a concern I have regarding the idea of Dawn/Xander and Buffy/Xander, leading into the possibility of a triangle with Xander and two sisters.
I find the idea horribly icky, to be honest. The idea that Xander - if anything comes of Buffy's feelings for Xander - would have been with every major female character besides Joyce and Tara is bad enough. Stud Xander of Buffy90210. (Count them, Xander/Cordy, Xander/Willow, Xander/Faith, Xander/Anya, now Xander/Dawn and possibly Xander/Buffy?) But the idea that there might be a triangle involving Buffy and her own sister over Xander is really bothering me.
It's not something I even truly considered until you told someone in this Q&A that, yes, Buffy does have feelings for Xander.
So my question is, has this been a concern raised with anyone? I know the idea of Buffy/Satsu raised concerns with some of the writers because it's been mentioned before. But has there been a discussion about the implications and squick factor involved in potentially having a triangle situation with 2 sisters, and with Xander's romantic history with every other female?
I am trying to just let the story unfold and trust in it, and Buffy has always had an element of soap opera to it, but this seems very likely to damage a lot of relationships and characters and that concerns me.
And this is probably too far into spoilery territory, but how far do you see a triangle being played out like this?
Scott Allie: We've definitely discussed the ramifications of the situation, what you refer to as a love triangle. We haven't talked about the fact that it would mean Xander's been involved with almost every female in the immediate crew. I personally don't find that hard to swallow. I think it's more unlikely that these characters would stick together all these years, than in all these years that there would be various pairings; and if Xander's the only male of an appropriate age who's been around through it all, so it makes sense to me. I look back on high school, and the crew of friends I had from sophomore to senior year, and I eventually hooked up with most of the girls in the crew—and I was far from the only guy who stuck around over that time. So I don't think it's unlikely, but I can see it as a bit icky.
33. CowboyGuy: Scott, thanks for being so good to us! My question is, can you tell us the title of Issue 31?
Scott Allie: I can't! We don't have a finished script yet.
34. AndrewCrossett: Now that they've been discovered, the Slayers have no reason to suppress their power anymore. Is their continuing "power"lessness just due to the fact that they don't have time to refocus and get it back before Twilight attacks, or have they permanently sacrificed their Slayer magic?
Scott Allie: You gotta keep reading.
35. Witchy: My question is about International release of the books, I'm not sure if this new season has been release in other countries. Do you have anything to do about it? or is completely different area in Dark Horse? Any plans about a spanish translation for Latin America?
Scott Allie: We are working on deals all over the world. I'll try to get info on which countries we're working on.
Updated Answer: In order to get the books into other countries, we need to make deals with publishers in those countries. We can't publish the books there ourselves. These are countries where we currently have deals, where books are coming out, or soon will.
In the UK, our books are for sale through Diamond Books Distributors. Retailers should be able to get the books from Diamond, but I hear rumors about people having difficulties there.
36. thomas: Are there any significant things happening with Faith between now and the end of the season?
Scott Allie: No spoilers.
37. Maggie: I have to admit I'm disappointed by your answer to Emmie, which leaves me to wonder whether it wasn't misleading to call this season 8, which implies that it is a sequel to season 7, when the intent was instead to jump to a "new and fresh" story. But leaving that aside and taking the story as is, I want to try again with a variation of what I think Emmie was trying to ask about the balance between tightness and our ability to follow the story. How are we to judge what Buffy is up to if we have no idea why she thought an organized army was necessary in the first place, or what sort of justifications she gave herself when she crossed the line into bank robbing. This is a story about Twilight trying to undermine Buffy's sense of moral certainty and yet you tell us that it is irrelevant to the story to know enough about Buffy's choices to be able to judge the extent to which they are morally dubious. Back to Emmie's version of the question, it's hard to make sense of the slayers' situation when it's hard to believe that the world could just decide that vampires are cool. Are you confident that at the end of the run we'll have enough of the background to understand the story that is being told here on its own terms?
Scott Allie: Last part first: yes. When you say you're gonna try again, it makes me think you know what you want me to say, so if so, tell me what it is and I'll see if I can oblige. I was just on a panel where a fan said starting an army was the logical step after Season 7, which is what I thought. I agree that more could be said about her decision to rob banks; my reading is that she was desperate to support her massive family, and that when she's desperate, she can justify anything. And that she feels she's at war with the demons, on a larger scale than before.
38. AndrewCrossett: I'll now fulfill my monthly duty and ask: is there a title yet for Brad Meltzer's arc that you can share?
Scott Allie: Crapola, I do, but I don't have it handy.
39. slayerette: When you are doing these Q&A's or interviews, how do you decide what's okay to spell out and what should just be left alone?
Scott Allie: Just my judgment. I've been doing this a long time.
40. Jay: Probably too late for this season, but has there been talk of doing a Halloween-themed issue in the future?
Scott Allie: Nope. Holiday eps are great on TV, less good for comics.
41. Smashed: Do you know the name of the font that is used for the TPBs? Not the officiall buffy font, but the one that says the title of the arcs (The Long Way Home, Predators and Prey, etc.)?
Scott Allie: I'll get back to you on this.
42. NotaViking: Willow has a dramatic reversal of viewpoint upon being handed Oz's baby and then reacts very calmly to the news that Buffy killed her in the future. Is it the creative team's intention that the reader view both of these points as very strange behaviour or not?
Scott Allie: Not.
Remember to please submit one question per post and do not submit another question till the pending one has been answered.
If you want to participate, but you're not interested in registering at this time, you can e-mail your questions to emmie@slayalive.com and I'll submit them for you with credit. Again, we'd really love people to actively join in, but I'm hoping to encourage any fan out there with a great question to feel free to share it.
If this is your first time participating in the Q&A, please take a look at past Q&A's as your question might have already been answered. Thanks!
The floor is now open!
______________________________________________________________________________
1. AndrewCrossett: In the Bones season 4 DVD set there's a trailer listed for a "Buffy season 8 adaptation." Can you tell us what this is, and if Dark Horse is involved at all?
Scott Allie: We're not involved, and I don't wanna talk about it. Sorry.
2. bamph: Buffy Season 8 has been pretty historic I think.The first time a comic book was really done as the canon continuation of a T.V. series with the creator and many of the writers of said series directly involved and the comic overseen just like a season of the series. Now that we are 28 issues into this 40 issue series,what lessons have you learned on this project and have you learned things from Buffy Season 8 that you plan to apply to Buffy Season 9? Has anything come up that surprised you as an editor and do you expect to learn more lessons still as we head into the end run of season 8?
Scott Allie: The main thing here is just learning about writing from Joss, and how to manage a long-term story with various writers. It's something I've had to do a few times before, but doing it with Joss is new. Another big thing—long-term scheduling around a single artist. We are so attached to Georges, every time we throw in a fill- in it's a compromise, so we've had to work out different ways to keep Georges front and center. So with Season 9 I'd like to work in more lead time. And ideally I'd like to go with one writer, but not if it meant compromising. Getting Jane Espenson to come on for 5 issues or to not come on at all ... I'd rather have Jane.
3. Ben Marston: There has been a lot of speculation about a motion comic/ season 8 adaptation due to the feature shown on the Bones season 4 DVD collection. As Fox has the rights to this, could there be a new video game in the works based on the story of season 8? If this is not the case, how would you feel about putting this idea forward?
Scott Allie: It's not a video game, but I don't have any affinity for video games, so that sort of thing wouldn't appeal personally to me. Not that I'd be against it, but I'm not the guy to advocate for it.
4. buffycomic: Is Dark Horse involved at all with the upcoming Wizard Magazine cover featuring Buffy Season Eight drawn by J. Scott Campbell? What was the choice of J. Scott Campbell versus someone more associated with the comic (i.e. Karl Moline, Jo Chen) doing the cover instead?
Scott Allie: Complicated. Jo was unavailable at the time that they needed the cover. Other great names were thrown around, but there were a variety of factors to consider, including Wizard's editorial direction, and which artists were approved by Sarah Michelle Gellar.
5. neowhobaz: Will there be any more big reveals by the time the arc is over?
Scott Allie: Yes.
6. iloveromy: Will Buffy be coming to DH Mobile?
Scott Allie: No.
7. vampmogs: I'm not sure if you classify this as being too spoilery or not. However, I was wondering if you could shed some light on Buffy's mindset at the end of this issue. Are we supposed to think she was going to Xander to confess feelings for him?
Scott Allie: Too spoilery. We'll be dealing with those feelings soon, though not soon enough for some of you. Joss thinks long. No instant gratification.
8. Emmie: So, any Buffy or Whedonverse news you want to share from DragonCon?
Scott Allie: I don't think I'm making any Buffy announcements at Dragon Con, though I am doing some panels with Georges and one with Felicia Day.
9. slayerette: In a lot (if not all) of the Buffy seasons prior to 8, the audience usually has a heads-up on the big bad. I'm thinking Ben is Glory/Glory is Ben. The first can look like anyone. etc. Will the readers get to see Twilight in all his non-masked brilliance before the characters do? Or do we get shock and awed at the same time as Buffy and/or Team Buffy?
Scott Allie: You'll see when the heroes see.
10. wenxina: Seeing as it's convention season still, are there any Cons that you look forward to over the rest, and why?
Scott Allie: I'm writing this from the floor of Dragon Con, so yes. Dragon Con. My best chance to see Georges, to hang a little with Buffy fans. And this year I get to see Felicia and Ron Glass as an added bonus, and Mignola's coming. Plus: Atlanta cuisine. Not to pander or anything.
11. buffycomic: As there's another 12 issues left if Season Eight is running 40 issues, are there any more guest artists filling for when Georges takes a break between arcs?
Scott Allie: Yeah. Karl's doing the Will oneshot after #30, then we'll do something, maybe a 2 parter, after Meltzer's last ish.
12. vampmogs: We only have 12 issues left of the season. Are you at all concerned that this isn't enough time to tie up all the loose ends and deliver a satisfying conclusion?
Scott Allie: Yes. It's possible it'll go to 41. I know. Everything changes.
13. nixennacht: I was wondering if now, a year later, you can tell us, why the Buffy tarot never made it into production? Since I really liked them I was also wondering if there chances that the rest of designs are going to be released online maybe?
Scott Allie: I cannot. I liked them too. Maybe I'll do next month's Q&A drunk and you can get it outta me.
14. thomas: Maybe this is too spoiler-y, but over the course of the season, I've really taken a liking to Bander. So, at the moment, I'm totally heartbroken. So, could you by any chance maybe say whether Buffy is into Xander or not? That's what a lot of people (even non-Bander shippers) got from the issue, especially from the Xander/Buffy stuff. Are we right to think that?
Scott Allie: Yeah.
15. bamph: So was Amy the cat for sure and does that make her the mole?
Scott Allie: The rat molecat, yup.
16. AndrewCrossett: I had a lot of major questions and red flags regarding some of the major interrelated elements of this issue: Andrew's "secret" and his reason for calling the group together on the last page; Willow's sudden emotional swing and reaction to Buffy's confession; the identity of the spy; the vanishing cat. I know you won't answer those questions, but am I right to think that whole situation is still in progress and not fully revealed yet?
Scott Allie: 12 issues left, guys! And 2 in this arc. Definitely in progress!
17. Jay: Was Dawn and Xander getting together Joss's idea from the start, or was that one of those things that was thought out later?
Scott Allie: I think he had this generally in mind from the get go, but it took shape slowly. He definitely didn't know when it would happen until very recently.
18. sosa lola: How did Amy find Buffy's hiding place despite all the magic suppression?
Scott Allie: Suppression wasn't enough. Didn't that make sense in the story? I thought that worked, that this scheme wasn't foolproof.
19. Ben Marston: With the Deluxe Editions of Buffy season 8, have there been talks about special features and the quality of the books. Would it be too much to ask for something along the lines of what IDW did with the Angel: After the fall HC collections, in terms of high gloss paper, bookmarks, graphics, special features, shiny cover? (Dreams of the Heaven)
Scott Allie: We're working on our format now. In fact, you just gave me an idea for an announcement I can make at Dragon Con. Wayne had me listed as making an announcement, and I had no idea what that was, but I think this'll work. But no, don't expect our Buffy hardcovers to be companions to the Angel books. We're starting from scratch, working with Joss on the presentation, and we just want to come up with the best design we can. But should I infer from your question that you liked that they modeled their omnibus program after the Buffy books? That you like the sets matching up?
20. bamph: At the end of the issue,Andrew says,"the only one left with a secret is me."Was that secret revealed in the next panel with him confessing to the group that he thought Willow was working for Twilight or has Andrew's secret not yet been revealed and is coming in a future issue?
Scott Allie: That is what he was referring to.
21: bishopcruz: The idea of the mole was originally brought up at the end of No Future for You, when one of Twilight's agents mentioned "our man on the inside", I assume that is a different mole than the Amycat. Is that going to be explained soon? Or are we already supposed to know, and I just never noticed?
Scott Allie: No spoilers.
22. AndrewCrossett: Why did Amycat choose to disappear so dramatically in front of everyone instead of being more discreet? She not only confirmed to the Slayers that they'd been infiltrated, but tipped them off to the fact they're about to be attacked. Is this just more of Amy's horrible sense of strategic timing, like with the catacomb attack?
Scott Allie: Yeah. At that point it just didn't matter; the bad guys figured they had it locked down. We'll see.
23. NotaViking: In "Harmony Comes To The Nation", Harmony actually admits on TV that vampires are evil and that they kill people. How can the public still believe that vampires are the good guys?
Scott Allie: Watch the news, man, the public will let anything pass if there's a cute skinny blond involved.
24. buffystar: Just reread "Long Way Home, P. 1" and something just popped up. Did Joss decide from the very beginning of Season 8 to have the Slayer in "The Girl in Question" be a decoy and real Buffy be in Scotland. Or did he want to have it follow the episode with real Buffy in Rome, but decided to change it later on?
Scott Allie: Not sure I follow the question, but yes, from the beginning of Season 8, that girl referenced in Angel wasn't really her. Does that answer the question? Sorry if I'm being dense.
25. sosa lola: Will there be at least someone or a group of people who aren't fooled by the whole "Vampires are good. Slayers are bad"? Because the whole world believeing that is not really realistic.
Scott Allie: I'm sure there are people who don't buy it, but I don't think we'll ever deal with them in the series.
26. slayerette: You said Joss knew Xander and Dawn were going to get together pretty early on, he just wasn't sure when it would happen. In the last few issues they've been attached at the hip, so was their kiss in this issue the first instance of them actually taking it to the physical level? Or have they been at it for a while off the page? If that's the case when did they start being couple-y?
Scott Allie: We generally won't answer questions like this, because it ties our hands storywise down the road. I know that frustrates fans, but the story is a live, moving thing, and anything that hasn't been specifically said in the story should be left fluid as we watch the story develop. I'm genuinely curious what that sounds like to you guys. The creative process wants to leave room for as much flexibility and adaptability as possible. But it think fandom works the opposite way. Maybe next time I have to interview you guys.
27. Jay: Since Season Two (except for Season Seven), there's always been an episode that celebrates Buffy's birthday. So to follow tradition, is there an issue like that planned? Buffy's birthday is on January 19th, and for next year, her birthday falls on a Tuesday. HOWEVER, the 20th will fall on a Wednesday. Maybe Joss can reference her birthday in #31 and if it's released on Jan 20th 2010, it'd be PERFECT! Her birthday doesn't even have to be central to the plot!
(....Just throwing it out there...)
But please consider it.
Scott Allie: Okay.
28. Emmie: Sorry, Scott, but this is going to be a long one. Season 8 is full of storylines that the fandom is hungry to have explored more - When will Spike appear? And Angel? What about the Decoy? And the Immortal? What happened between Chosen and The Long Way Home? What led to Buffy becoming a bank robber (her mindset, motivation)? Most of these are treated as unimportant and pushed to the side. That they're not relevant to the main thrust of the storyline and space is tight in telling that story and doing it justice.
Which brings me to the choice to have 'humanity discovers vampires and likes them' as a secondary storyline. The storyline in itself is so complex and carries so much potential to be explored, that many fans find it odd that it's pushed to the shadows. And because of its complexity, it's been hard for fans to breeze by it with assumptions and just accept it as what's happening without further exploration. Fans wonder why humanity is accepting vampires across the globe when they're obviously evil and killing people, why everyone is so easily accepting. The story of humans discovering vampires and Slayers is complex, yet it's been boiled down to its most basic function to tell the main story.
What's your take on this balance of maintaining a focused story (keeping it close to Buffy) versus not filling out the secondary storylines of Season 8? Where do you draw the line between keeping the story tight and perhaps losing the audience's suspension of disbelief when storylines meant to be taken for granted and accepted simply aren't? It's interesting in a meta way that the storyline is that humanity is so easily accepting, yet the "fandom humanity" of the Buffyverse is not...
Scott Allie: Oh, Emmie. Hard to answer. Joss and the writers and all of us are following the storylines he wants to follow. I think in the end you'll find that the 40 issues are pretty damn full. Running off on the side stories you're suggesting would require something else. I'll give you the vampire thing—there's potential stuff there that we could deal with. But Where's Spike, Angel, the Immortal, the Decoy, those things don't matter at all, in the context of this story. There could be stories in the bank robbing and the time between Chosen and The Long Way Home. But it's not what we're doing. Joss wasn't interested in puttying in the space between the stories; he was interested in getting to the place where things would be new and fresh, and run from there. And I think that's the right choice for this book. There are books where the point becomes to putty in the spaces between the important events. I often find those books tedious. I prefer what Joss's doing.
29. Ben Marston: Hey Scott, I asked question #19 about the Deluxe editions (I'm glad I inspired you to make an announcement!) I do particularly like the Angel After the Fall HC and do believe that if Buffy could live up to that, well, I will be a proud and overjoyed Buffy fan!!!
Anyway to the question, well kind of an opinion really. I hope that Amy isn't the mole mentioned at the end of No Future For You because surely she would have known the whereabouts of the slayer army all along and so why would they have ended up in Mongolia? (Okay kind of a question!)
Scott Allie: I guess that's kind of a question.
30. girlinquestion: So Xander and Dawn are now together. This has been developing for awhile, but at the beginning of Season 8, Xander and Renee had a romantic thing going on there. She was my favorite new character, so I was rather upset when she was killed off so early, Now that I see Xander with Dawn so quickly after he lost Renee, I wonder: What was the point of Renee's existence in the series? What was she supposed to add to the story?
Scott Allie: Characters don't move along straight lines. Xander's relationship with Renee meant that he didn't move straight from Anya to Dawn. It was a relatively ideal, conflict free relationship, and it had him growing in one direction. He had to get through that to get where he was going with Dawn, just as Buffy had to go through the thing with Satsu—not to say that that door is totally closed—before she could come to the conclusions she came to in the recent issue.
31. bamph: This might be a tough question to answer since it might delve into spoilerish territory. How much of Buffy's interest in Xander in this issue is because of genuine interest in him and how much of her interest is because she might be feeling needy and he's the only viable and available guy she has in front of her right now,or so she thought before seeing him and Dawn? No offense to Giles or Andrew by the way. If Angel and/or Spike were there with her by her side throughout season 8,would she be looking at Xander with this type of interest now? Or is this sort of question going to be dealt with some later on such as in Joss's one-off in #31 or Brad Meltzer's arc?
Scott Allie: I don't know that this question will be dealt with, but it's not for me to say. Good thing for you guys to discuss.
32. lmblack21: I don't usually ask questions too often since I am happy enough to just read the comics and read the questions and answers others provide but this Q&A has prompted me to ask one of my own. I hope it's not too spoilery or asking for too much, it's mainly revolving around a concern I have regarding the idea of Dawn/Xander and Buffy/Xander, leading into the possibility of a triangle with Xander and two sisters.
I find the idea horribly icky, to be honest. The idea that Xander - if anything comes of Buffy's feelings for Xander - would have been with every major female character besides Joyce and Tara is bad enough. Stud Xander of Buffy90210. (Count them, Xander/Cordy, Xander/Willow, Xander/Faith, Xander/Anya, now Xander/Dawn and possibly Xander/Buffy?) But the idea that there might be a triangle involving Buffy and her own sister over Xander is really bothering me.
It's not something I even truly considered until you told someone in this Q&A that, yes, Buffy does have feelings for Xander.
So my question is, has this been a concern raised with anyone? I know the idea of Buffy/Satsu raised concerns with some of the writers because it's been mentioned before. But has there been a discussion about the implications and squick factor involved in potentially having a triangle situation with 2 sisters, and with Xander's romantic history with every other female?
I am trying to just let the story unfold and trust in it, and Buffy has always had an element of soap opera to it, but this seems very likely to damage a lot of relationships and characters and that concerns me.
And this is probably too far into spoilery territory, but how far do you see a triangle being played out like this?
Scott Allie: We've definitely discussed the ramifications of the situation, what you refer to as a love triangle. We haven't talked about the fact that it would mean Xander's been involved with almost every female in the immediate crew. I personally don't find that hard to swallow. I think it's more unlikely that these characters would stick together all these years, than in all these years that there would be various pairings; and if Xander's the only male of an appropriate age who's been around through it all, so it makes sense to me. I look back on high school, and the crew of friends I had from sophomore to senior year, and I eventually hooked up with most of the girls in the crew—and I was far from the only guy who stuck around over that time. So I don't think it's unlikely, but I can see it as a bit icky.
33. CowboyGuy: Scott, thanks for being so good to us! My question is, can you tell us the title of Issue 31?
Scott Allie: I can't! We don't have a finished script yet.
34. AndrewCrossett: Now that they've been discovered, the Slayers have no reason to suppress their power anymore. Is their continuing "power"lessness just due to the fact that they don't have time to refocus and get it back before Twilight attacks, or have they permanently sacrificed their Slayer magic?
Scott Allie: You gotta keep reading.
35. Witchy: My question is about International release of the books, I'm not sure if this new season has been release in other countries. Do you have anything to do about it? or is completely different area in Dark Horse? Any plans about a spanish translation for Latin America?
Scott Allie: We are working on deals all over the world. I'll try to get info on which countries we're working on.
Updated Answer: In order to get the books into other countries, we need to make deals with publishers in those countries. We can't publish the books there ourselves. These are countries where we currently have deals, where books are coming out, or soon will.
- Turkey
- Italy
- Germany
- Spain
- France
- Brazil
- Finland
In the UK, our books are for sale through Diamond Books Distributors. Retailers should be able to get the books from Diamond, but I hear rumors about people having difficulties there.
36. thomas: Are there any significant things happening with Faith between now and the end of the season?
Scott Allie: No spoilers.
37. Maggie: I have to admit I'm disappointed by your answer to Emmie, which leaves me to wonder whether it wasn't misleading to call this season 8, which implies that it is a sequel to season 7, when the intent was instead to jump to a "new and fresh" story. But leaving that aside and taking the story as is, I want to try again with a variation of what I think Emmie was trying to ask about the balance between tightness and our ability to follow the story. How are we to judge what Buffy is up to if we have no idea why she thought an organized army was necessary in the first place, or what sort of justifications she gave herself when she crossed the line into bank robbing. This is a story about Twilight trying to undermine Buffy's sense of moral certainty and yet you tell us that it is irrelevant to the story to know enough about Buffy's choices to be able to judge the extent to which they are morally dubious. Back to Emmie's version of the question, it's hard to make sense of the slayers' situation when it's hard to believe that the world could just decide that vampires are cool. Are you confident that at the end of the run we'll have enough of the background to understand the story that is being told here on its own terms?
Scott Allie: Last part first: yes. When you say you're gonna try again, it makes me think you know what you want me to say, so if so, tell me what it is and I'll see if I can oblige. I was just on a panel where a fan said starting an army was the logical step after Season 7, which is what I thought. I agree that more could be said about her decision to rob banks; my reading is that she was desperate to support her massive family, and that when she's desperate, she can justify anything. And that she feels she's at war with the demons, on a larger scale than before.
38. AndrewCrossett: I'll now fulfill my monthly duty and ask: is there a title yet for Brad Meltzer's arc that you can share?
Scott Allie: Crapola, I do, but I don't have it handy.
39. slayerette: When you are doing these Q&A's or interviews, how do you decide what's okay to spell out and what should just be left alone?
Scott Allie: Just my judgment. I've been doing this a long time.
40. Jay: Probably too late for this season, but has there been talk of doing a Halloween-themed issue in the future?
Scott Allie: Nope. Holiday eps are great on TV, less good for comics.
41. Smashed: Do you know the name of the font that is used for the TPBs? Not the officiall buffy font, but the one that says the title of the arcs (The Long Way Home, Predators and Prey, etc.)?
Scott Allie: I'll get back to you on this.
42. NotaViking: Willow has a dramatic reversal of viewpoint upon being handed Oz's baby and then reacts very calmly to the news that Buffy killed her in the future. Is it the creative team's intention that the reader view both of these points as very strange behaviour or not?
Scott Allie: Not.