Thursday, November 21, 2013

Exclusive: Dark Horse Responds to James Marsters Graphic Novel Reveal!

So you may have heard that yesterday i09 revealed that James Marsters himself will be writing a Spike graphic novel for Dark Horse comics called Spike: Into the Light! We caught up with Dark Horse Editor-In-Chief (aka El Hefe) Scott Allie to grill him on this seemingly unforeseen chain of events! Check it out below:


Buffyfest: So Spike: Into the Light. There seems to be some confusion about when this story takes place. Is it between seasons 6 & 7 of Buffy? Right after Spike endures the trials that gave him his soul? Or is it more *during* season 7 of Buffy?

Scott Allie: It's during Season 7.

BF: He was pretty crazy at that time, will that be reflected in the story?

SA: This is a little bit later when his shit had chilled out a bit.

BF: Heh! And regarding the story, was it based off Joss's idea for the TV movie? Because that was to take place after the series ended.

SA: No, this was all James's idea. It's a story that I think he's been kicking around for a long time. The reason I wanted to do it was simple. We were backstage at some event at San Diego, and he started telling me the story. And he's the kind of actor who's a natural storyteller—not all of them are. So he just rattled this thing off in a very fun way, the way you'd tell one of your favorite misadventures to a friend over a barstool. It just rolled, and I loved it right away. It's a small story, it's not a big turning point for the character. It's a fun story where a few diverse elements come together to tell the sort of story I think we've sort of lost, something real human and personal, where the fate of the world doesn't hang in the balance. But as he told me the story he was so much inside it, so connected to what it was about and how it connected to Spike on a simple level, that I really wanted to have that comic in my hand. I ran it by Joss and he was cool with it, so off we went.

BF: Speaking of, we all know that Mr. Whedon is totally swamped right now, but how much involvement did he have with this approval process? Has he read the story?

SA:  We sent him the script and he said we could do it, but he hasn't really contributed or chimed in specifically, so it won't bare his name as exec producer. I told him the story in a nutshell, I think he had heard it from James before, and he gave it his blessing, but that's the extent of it.

BF: And how about your role as editor, did you find yourself having to edit the story to fit within the season 10 storyline? Or is it not tied together with the current events?

SA:  James was great to work with on this, I did give him a bunch of notes that he was good about working with, but it doesn't tie into Season 10. James is a storyteller, he knows these characters, but he's new to comics, so he was very cool about working with us to make it best work as a comic, and he's been very respectful of the artist. He's had a couple notes to pass on to the artist but he's being really cool and collaborative about it. I gave him script notes, and he was great about it, but I'm not personally altering a word of dialogue, beyond the stuff that he changed at my suggestion. Before he wrote the script, we'd talked about setting it in Season 10, but felt like it made more sense as its own thing, and since it didn't in any way come out of the writers summit this spring, it didn't make sense to make it a part of Season 10 in a number of ways.

BF: Gotcha. So James wife Jasmine was the inspiration for the love interest, were you aware of this trivia tidbit?

SA: Yeah, that was part of the initial conversation, and the artist was provided a lot of reference to get her right. This isn't the story of James and Jasmine's life together—it's just a sweet little story with some crazy action and a really nice view of Spike. Some people will be unhappy because how can Spike have a love interest in Season 7, when he loves Buffy. But this isn't Romeo and Juliet—in that it's not an epic love story. This is a beautiful, personal little story where we get into Spike's head in a nice, intimate, though small way. The story covers a little more than 24 hours of Spike's life, and just gives him this great moment to get the hell out of Sunnydale and get in touch with himself.

BF: Were you shocked that James even wanted to bring the idea of another girl in Spike's life? That seems bold since it's in the middle of Spike's full-on Buffy conquest.

SA: It is a little bold, and some people won't like that aspect of it. But I'm excited for people to see it, to read it. I'm glad to work with James again, and hopefully we'll do another one. We did something short a long time ago, and it maybe notoriously didn't go well, but I hope he agrees with me that this has gone pretty great.

And there you have it! Thanks so much Scott for clearing any fog and getting us all even more excited for Spike: Into the Light!

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Whedonverse Ornament Swap Lists Have Gone Out!

Lists have all now gone out for the 6th annual Whedonverse Swap! Every participant in this year's swap
should have their recipient group list at this time. If you signed up but didn't receive the email, please let us know asap.

So now it's time to get crafting on those ornaments and remember to ship out by Dec 9th (we recommend even earlier if you're outside of the US or shipping internationally, so that everyone gets the packages in time for the holidays). That's just over 2 weeks away! If you still have questions, refer to the full details in the original post here or email us at buffyfest@aim.com.

If you need a little inspiration, check out the fantastic history of this swap here. Make sure to post photos in that group as well!

Thank you to all the participants. Happy swapping!



Tuesday, November 19, 2013

The Can't Stop the Serenity Auction is On!


Can't Stop The Serenity's annual auction on e-Bay is always the last event of the year. All the money goes to Equality Now. California Browncoats are running the auction this year and they have apparently donated a ton of great stuff! 47 Lots! It runs the gamut from Firefly to Buffy to Star Trek to Xena. Some examples include:

  • A Crew Tshirt from Buffy's 100 episode "The Gift" 
  • A crew Baseball Cap from Buffy's season 6 finale "Grave"
  • A rare Season 3 Buffy promo card sent out by the WB.
  • Signed copies of the "Superstar"script written by Jane Espenson
  • An unpainted Spike action figure given to Blood Donors at San Diego Comic Con
  • Tree double-sided movie posters of Much Ado About Nothing, donated by Lionsgate. Putting one up on your wall would be cool enough but one is signed by Joss Whedon, Tom Lenk, Clark (I'm not dead) Gregg, Alexis Denishof and Amy Acker. 
  • A Jayne pack with a Ma Cobb knitted hat, a Jayne action figure and a Jaynestown "Hero of Canton" out-of-print poster signed by Adam Baldwin.
  • Glossy photos signed by Jewel Staite, Alan Tudyk, Dichen Lachman and Felicia Day. 
  • Browncoat fanpacks which might have an Inara tea caddy or music from the Bedlam Bards or a Serenity Comic or some Firefly inspired earrings or a QMX money pack, etc. They are all different.
Maybe you are a fan of Supernatural, Stargate, the Vampire Diaries or Warehouse 13? They have lots of items from those shows as well over there. And if you aren't a fan, they would make a great gift for someone! The auction runs till noon Pacific, Tuesday November 26th. Go out there and win something!

http://www.ebay.com/sch/californiabrowncoats/m.html

Monday, November 18, 2013

Last Day to Sign Up for the Whedonverse Ornament Swap!


Actually, yesterday was the deadline but we've decided to give everyone one last day since we failed to send out a reminder! So if you want to get in on the Fabuous Whedoney Holiday action, please make sure to read full details here and send an email with the following information to buffyfest@aim.com:
- name
- address
- email address
- whether your are willing to ship internationally (note: All of North America will be combined this year).

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

The 2013 Whedonverse Ornament Swap!

You know the Holidays are upon us when this post goes up! We're so happy to once again bestow upon all you crafty people our 6th annual Whedonverse Holiday Ornament Swap. Can you believe six years in a row now?! We adore this event and every year we are reminded of the wonderful creativity of this fandom. 

Check out the several hundred photos of awesomeness from years past:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/buffyfestholidayswap/

So if you're just hearing about this for the first time, the purpose of the swap is to create ornaments with a Whedonverse theme (Buffy, Firefly, Dr. Horrible, Avengers, etc.) and send them to 4-6 different recipients. In return you will receive 4-6 completely different handmade ornaments from around the world. As you can see from the photos, you really can make them out of anything: Wood, knit, sew, paint, draw, sculpt, paper craft, recycle old ornaments (earth friendly!) And you'll have a more Whedoney Holiday!

If you'd like to join us, sign-ups begin right now and will end next Saturday, November 16th at 11:59 PM U.S. EST. And pretty please make super sure you're willing to go through with this entire process before signing up! Deadbeats ruin the holiday fun for everyone. Here are the guidelines in 6 easy steps:

1. Sign up by sending an email with the subject "MERRY WHEDON" and the following information to buffyfest@aim.com by Saturday, November 16th.
- name
- address
- whether your are willing to ship overseas* (US and Canada will be mixed together)

2. On November 18th you'll receive an email from us containing the addresses and email addresses of 4-6 swap participants for you to send your ornaments to. Since you'll have each other's personal info, please contact each other with any questions, disputes or praise.

3. Design and create the multiple Whedon themed ornaments! You'll have 3 weeks to make them.

4. Package your ornaments well (especially if you create something fragile) and send one ornament to each person on the list of swap participants in your group by Monday, December 9th.

5. Sit back and relax as you wait to receive 4-6 lovely Whedonverse ornaments in the mail!

6. Then don't forget to share photos of the ornaments you make and receive by uploading to the swap flickr group here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/buffyfestholidayswap. You will need a flickr account to upload photos, which is easy to set up.

*A note on international shipping: Please only select international shipping if you are willing to ship at least 2-3 of your ornaments overseas. Take your timing and the cost of shipping into account when you design your ornament. Lighter and more compact ornaments are cheaper to ship, but chances are you cannot send any food or plant life.

Any questions? Email buffyfest@aim.com