Fans of Buffy's season 9, do you have burning questions for head writer extraordinaire of the season Andrew Chambliss? Like is Willow going to crack and go "black eyes of evil" even in a world without magic? Is Buffy pregnant with a demon (or human) love child? Will Spike and Buffy just make out already? And what in the hell is up with Xawn? Ask all this and more at the live Twitter Chat taking place tomorrow Nov. 10th at 9am Pacific Time/12 pm East Coast.
Not only that, but Dark Horse will be giving away 5 copies of Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 9 #1 signed by Georges Jeanty during the chat.
Holy smokes! Is it really that time of year again? We're happy to announce the 4th Annual Whedonverse Holiday Ornament Swap. Wooo! We're so excited to do this every year and have witnessed such amazing Whedony Holiday creativity. See for yourself the several hundred photos of festive craftiness from years past:
Wasn't that awesome? If you're new, this event is about crafting 4-6 Holiday ornaments with a Whedonverse theme and sending them to 4-6 different recipients. In return you will receive 4-6 completely different handmade ornaments from around the globe to adorn your tree or Holiday Ritual Object of choice. 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!). It's all about imagination!
If you'd like to join us, sign-ups begin right now and will end one week from today, November 15th at 11:59 PM U.S. EST. And please be willing to go through with this entire thing before signing up! Deadbeats ruin the holiday fun. Here are the guidelines in 6 easy steps:
1. Sign up for the swap by sending an email with the subject "MERRY WHEDON" and the following information to buffyfest@aim.com by November 15th.
- name
- address
- email address
- your website or blog (if you have one)
- whether your are willing to ship internationally*
2. On November 16th 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. (Again, you will have access to each others home addresses, as well as email addresses. Please contact each other with any questions, disputes or praise.)
3. Design and create the multiple Whedon themed ornaments!
4. Package your ornaments well - especially if you create anything fragile. (Note that most international shipping requirements do not allow for any plant life or food type stuff.) and send one ornament to each person on the list of 4-6 other swap participants in your group by Monday, December 5th.
5. Sit back and relax as you wait to receive 4-6 lovely Whedonverse ornaments in the mail!
6. Then, 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 the cost of shipping into account when you design your ornament. Lighter and more compact ornaments are cheaper to ship.
What we have here on this glorious Monday are here the two covers for Angel & Faith#7! Variant with Faith in picture by Rebekah Issacs and regular with Dru by Steve Morris. And that's right, we're excited to confirm exclusively that Dru is going to be part of Angel & Faith #6-9! She'll first appear in #6. Cannot wait!
Angel & Faith #7 is on sale February 29th, 2012.
Solicit Text:
Horrors across the London landscape have led Angel and Faith to a certain hot new vampire in the underground scene . . . Drusilla. She is back in her homeland and feeling better than ever!
While Angel indecisively deals with Dru, Faith must sort out an unexpected guest of her own who promises to rile up her inner turmoil with fun-filled stories from the past.
Angel & Faith series writer Christos Gage (Avengers Academy) and series artist Rebekah Isaacs (DV8) are bringing the blood and the pain!
Drusilla returns to the Buffyverse!
Executive produced by Joss Whedon!
Angel returns to Dark Horse!
Follows the events of Buffy Season 8!
Update: The Drusilla cover has been updated to reflect the final draft, via Steve Morris.
First off, thanks to all of the creative Whedonites who entered the vidding contest and to Dark Horse for trusting us with such a task! The vids were all fun, but Dark Horse decided some were so good that they did the unprecedented and picked 2 recipients of fantastic prizes!
The top dog is getting an INCREDIBLE prize pack full of some of the best and rare collectible stuff out there. We're talking the entire collection of the Buffy Season 8 trade-paperbacks, a hardcover of Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Tales, aBuffy the Vampire SlayerLunch box, a signed copy of Buffy Season 9 #1 25th Anniversary cover from Georges Jeanty, a very special Buffy/Angel & Faith Trifold - signed by Joss Whedon, Andrew Chambliss, and Jo Chen AND a 7' tall amazing Buffy Banner! Whew! Without further ado, the Grand Prize winner is:
Erin Gabbard and her PrimEVILution Cosmetics ad!
This vid is awesome. I totally lol'ed when she said "we have surgeons from all 5 dimensions" with the photo of Scott Allie, Sierra Hahn, Joss Whedon and everyone else shown. Hysterical. Check it out below:
And because The Gomez Twins did such an amazing job with their high quality vid and original song with kick-ass vocals, Dark Horse decided to go rogue and give them a runner up prize! They won a signed Buffy #1 and some fab Buffy barware. Check their vid out below. Congratulations to both winners! Enjoy your Buffy loot :)
This week's showdown is coming in a bit late, so let's get right to it. For those just joining us, we've been asking ourselves the question: Since the shows are so similar, will Season 7 of Supernatural go down in flames like Buffy season 7 did? We've been comparing the shows episodes week-to-week to find out just that.
Before I even start this week 5 comparison, I have to point out that this is a very special showdown event as we have some major Whedon royalty throwing themselves into the mix here. That's right, both James Marsters & Charisma Carpenter turned traitor and finally made their much anticipated "Buffy Reunion" appearance in this season's Supernatural! They join an amazing 18 other Whedonverse actors who have done Supernatural! 20 crossovers in total...incredible.
Supernatural Episode #4 - "Shut Up, Dr. Phil" Episode Synopsis:
People are dying in a town called Prosperity and it's all because James Marsters can't keep it in his pants. See he and his witchy wife, played by Charisma Carpenter, are having a "War of the Roses" type separation and the boys need to stop it asap. There's jogging, bees, and in the end, Spike bags a Leviathan, so Sane!Sam and Drunk!Dean just let him and wifey go to kill more innocent people.
The Deets:
Episode starts off with major gore set in a hair salon, of all places. Bitch gets electrocuted by a hair dryer, poor thing, complete with bloody pieces of scalp and all. Dean explains to Suddenly Sane!Sam, who is sweaty having just come in from a jog, that this and other events are taking place in Prosperity, Indiana. He knows this because he drunkenly googled "Freaky Accidents" at 8 am and is generally (and hilariously) unhappy at Sane!Sam's new attitude about fitness. Side note: Jared Padelecki shared an amazing gem via The Twitter this week about this very scene. I have to interrupt this current showdown to share:
Hysterical. That outtake right there boosted this episode up a point for me! So where was I? Oh yeah, the boys put on their best FBI handsome and go check out the freakiness currently taking place in Prosperity. Dean ends up finding gold coins at both the hair salon and the construction site where a worker took it in both eyes via nail gun in a port-o-jon. Ugh. Sam later learns that there is a connection between all of these "Freaky Accidents" - all the vics were all in on a real estate venture at one point in addition to tonight's special guest #1, James Marsters! ::applause:: He's still alive, so they go pay him a visit.
Upon arrival, they are greeted with a bust sculpture of this, Mr. Donald Stark...and honestly the thing doesn't look anything like Marsters. I thought it was an asian man when I first saw it. Someone in props needs to be fired. Or at least be given a stern warning in this economy!
Anyhoo, they question Don in his office and since it's fairly obvious he has a wandering eye from the way he's ogling his bouncy blonde administrative assistant, it should come as no surprise that Sam finds witchcraftery up in the man's closet. Turns out Don's wife is a witch and she's pissed. When they leave they notice some dead foliage ala "Amends" and Dean deduces that she can “literally kill off everything around her just by PMSing at it”. And I'm sorry, Supernatural, but degrading period jokes? Really? That was lame. The point this episode made from that outtake just got taken away. Moving on.
So the boys jump in the Impala and head over to...Charisma Carpenter! Yay! Sam's trying to distract her character, Maggie, while Dean pokes around inside her apartment and finds witchy stuff featuring her next victim pinned on a board. Yep, next thing you know the bouncy blonde assistant is eating cupcakes filled with hearts and choking on her own blood. Man this episode is disgusting. Lucky for the bouncy blonde that the boys arrived just in time to find what Bobby mentioned is a Romanian Coin and stop the spell. After questioning her they learn that she's not actually banging her boss at all, it was only the bitchy blonde from the top! So they go back to Don's workplace where they witness Don's bust statue exploding with fury after an argument he had with Maggie involving her friend Sue. Things are not going well for the Starks.
Later, Dean's in this week's motel room about to enjoy a delicious pie when Sam slams some stinky chicken feet on the table. Yum! They needed feet for the potion recipe Bobby gave them to stop Maggie. And speaking of the devil, Don is lurking outside the charity auction she has been meticulously preparing for all day, but looks like things aren't going to go the way she planned because Don just magically decapitated Sue with an Hors d'oeuvre tray. See he's a witch too! The boys arrive on the scene just in time and oh! I forgot about the Leviathan that's been tailing them. I'm happy to report this episode features our Big Baddies once again. I missed them.
When the boys decide to take the witches down over at Maggie's apartment, chaos ensues. The chicken foot spell goes badly and the next thing you know, not only are the witches NOT ding-dong-dead, but Maggie is flinging Sammy up against a wall and setting a swarm of bees after Dean's hot face. Lay off the face, Charisma. With this, Sam decides to play marriage counselor and help the Starks work out their issues. It works! There is some nice chemistry between the Whedon Alums here in this scene, followed by some very awkward kissing. Honestly, I decided to rewind and watch it twice just to check it out and I'm sorry I did.
In the end, the boys go back to the motel room and get jacked by the Leviathan creeping in the room. And just when it looks like the 2 main characters might end up in the back of an ambulance for the second time, Don shows up and zaps the Leviathan right in the ass! Well, on the head, actually. He also retrieves the Romainian Coin Maggie stashed there to kill them with, thus saving them twice in one minute! Honestly, Marsters really is a good actor. Convincing in everything I've ever seen him in. I think I say that objectively and as a non-Whedonite, but who can say, really? Anywho, he instructs them to drop the Leviathan in a bottomless pit because the spell will only last a few days. So they chain him up, throw him in the back of the car and that's pretty much it. It was a fun time.
Buffy Episode #4 - "Selfless"
Ah "Selfless". The shining star in an otherwise dark period of the Whedonverse. It's got a B-side from "Once More, With Feeling" for crying out loud! Why couldn't the rest of Season 7 be like this one?
As Willow discovers that Anya had some frat boys butchered at the request of a scorn wisher, we get a fantastic peek into the past of Anyaka - or Aud rather as her name was then. Unfortunately we also get the black eyes of evil and a short glimpse of big-bad Willow. Until the day I die, I will never understand why - oh why - they did this to this character. But enough about that because there's another character to be annoyed with: Xander, who is worried about Anya's sadness as he well should be since he left her at the alter!
Sjornjost, 1890. Olaf, the troll we see in Season 5's "Triangle", is actually Aud's husband at that time. Aud is charitable and an amateur bunny breeder, of all things. The hilarious dialogue in this scene pretty much explains that even then, Anya had her signature strange way of speaking. Olaf says, "Your logic is insane and happenstance like that of the trolls" for he is not yet a Troll himself. She loves him, you see, but is afraid he's cheating. He responds with loving words such as "Your hips are small and narrow like a Baltic woman from a more arid region." Ha!
Flash to present day Anya, scrubbing blood off the walls at the scene of the crime. Even though the vengeance world is praising her, she's feeling guilt and regret over this latest massacre. Meanwhile, Buffy is trying to get Spoike the eff up out of the basement already, as the fricken Hellmouth is down there. That's pretty much all we see of him this episode.
Next thing you know, we're back in the past and Olaf has turned into a Troll, running around scaring the village people. Someone yells "Hide your babies and your beadwork!" Hee! It's then that Aud gets a visit from the very cool D'hoffryn. Turns out Aud is a very powerful witch and he's impressed by her revenge tactics. He says she is really "Anyanka" and she will help wronged women punish evil men.
Buffy's balancing a pencil cup on her head in her Guidance Counseling office (real professional) and oh yes, this is the beginning of Buffy's braid period. Cute! Willow calls and fills her in on the frat boy murder, but not on the Ayna factor. So Buffy and Xander take a walk through Season 7's favorite set, the forest, and kill the spider demon that was summoned for the vengeance gore. Back at the house Willow finally lets on that it was Anya's doing and Buffy decides that she has to kill her. Xander's shocked and appalled, accusing Buffy of black-and-whiting a gray situation. He yells that if it's a demon that she's say "boning" then it's different. And this is where the pent up anger over Xander's Season 2 message of "kick his ass" finally comes out. Buffy says "I loved [Angel] more than I will ever love anything in this life and I killed him", explaining that this thing with Anya is no different. So she grabs a sword and heads off to slay Anya.
Meanwhile, Willow summons D'Hoffryn with the coin he gave her back in Season 4. Nice callbacks in this episode all around. They exchange pleasantries and he compliments her, saying the flaying of Warren was "Water cooler vengeance" and that "Floyd has a sketch of it on his wall." Ha! Vengeance demons in a corporate cubicle environment! Meanwhile the fight is on betwixt Anya and Buffy with Xander in the middle trying to break it all up. But in the end, Buffy drives that sword right through Anya's chest and we flash back to....
The night of "Once More, With Feeling"! Sure, Anya's sporting a wig that's a tad different from that magical day, but no worries. Fact is, we're just so lucky to get this post-Musical bonus track which features Anya singing about the marital bliss that being Xander's "Mrs." will bring. Oh and we learn Anya's full name! Anya Christina Emmanuella Jenkins (lame-ass maiden name) Harris. The song's a delight and Emma Caulfield sings it well, but it gets cut short as we flash back to: Anya being impaled by Buffy's sword. She awakes though because duh! Everyone knows you need to smash a vengeance demon's necklace first in order to kill them.
Enter D'hoffryn in a blaze of lightning, the big drama queen. He notes that the scene looks like "someone slayed an Abercrombie and Fitch catalog" and who wrote this jewel of an episode? Have to check my charts. Ah, the very talented and handsome Drew Goddard. So D'hoffryn lays the whole thing out as follows: if what Anya wants is to take it all back, then the price will be the life of a vengeance demon. She agrees and just as we brace ourselves for Anya's demise, Halfrek arrives all smiley upon seeing her best friend. D'hoffryn kills her without even blinking, much to Anya's dismay. He goes for the hurt over death every time...so Anya's out of the vengeance business and her best friend is dead. When she says it should've been her, D'Hoffryn quotes this season's tragic tagline: "From Beneath You, It Devours"...basically sealing the deal on Anya's death in the series finale. In the end, Anya leaves and Xander goes out to try and console her, but she decides to make her own way in the world as a human with tears in her eyes. Well done, everyone.
How do the eps compare?
Vengeance is the theme of this week! Both episodes feature a little witchcraft, substantial carnage and a whole lotta man-bashing vengeance. Not to mention seeing James Marsters in both. How weird is that?
Mini Battles!!:
Best Witch-Bitchiness - The Starks vs. Black-Eyed-Willow - Winner: Supernatural
Best Flashback to "Once More, With Feeling" - Buffy (Song: "Mrs.") vs. Supernatural (none) - Winner: Buffy
Best Episode Villains - The Starks/Leviathan vs. Anya/Spider Demon/D'Hoffryn - Winner: Buffy
Final Ruling:
This was a little difficult for me. I actually think "Shut Up, Dr. Phil" was funny and these guys crossing over definitely confused me. Still, as fun as it was seeing Charisma & James together again, this is clearly the best Buffy episode of Season 7. I knew going into this week that beating "Selfless" would be tough and I was right. If Supernatural had kept that hilarious out take in, it might have had a slim chance...but I'm giving this to Buffy. Straight up.
I woke up to some chaos today! Joss Whedon has managed to take a bunch of Whedonverse alum and film a whole entire movie under the world's nose, all while The Avengers and Buffy Season 9 are underway! The film? Shakespeare's (or Shakespeare inspired?) Much Ado About Nothing - "A film by Joss Whedon based on a play", as the website states. And how we all slept through this, I'll never know. Upon rising, my reader was going nuts, people were emailing (thanks Chris!) and it's all over the press!
It all started with Nathon Fillion, the kook, tweeting something about having to speak Shakespearean some weeks ago. He and Fran Kranz then tweeted again yesterday, pretty much confirming everything and linking to the film's website...currently a placeholder with photo and list of cast. Oh and Buffyfest fave and she of the lack of last name vowels, Shawna Trpcic, is doing costuming! The Whedonverse alum listed are as follows:
Amy Acker (Fred/Illyiria, Angel)
Alexis Denisof (Wesley, Buffy/Angel)
Tom Lenk (Andrew, Buffy/Angel)
Nathan Fillion (Mal, Firefly - Captain Hammer, Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog)
Sean Maher (Simon, Firefly)
Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson, The Avengers)
Reed Diamond (Laurence Dominic, Dollhouse)
Ashley Johnson (Caroline/Hayden Leeds/Wendy, Dollhouse)
Fran Kranz (Topher, Dollhouse)
Riki Lindhome (Cheryl, Buffy/Angel)
Trent from Pink Is The New Blog actually got to participate in the film. His friends were in a few scenes and he played an extra. Must have been awesome for him as he is a big-time Buffy and Whedonverse fan himself.
We can only assume that this all stemmed from Whedon and the Shakespeare readings/parties he has at his home. This is how the character of Illyria came about and probably other ideas over the years as well. It looks like Alexis Denisof and Amy Acker play the lead characters in this project (shocked that there is an absence of Summer Glau here). Shakespeare's original version of Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy about two pairs of lovers: Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero. Benedick and Beatrice both talk a mile a minute and proclaim their scorn for love, marriage, and each other. Claudio and Hero, on the other hand, are sweet young people who are rendered practically speechless by their love for one another.
Exciting! Now how long before Joss goes all purple on Whedonesque and gives us some more info?
Dark Horse teamed up with us for a contest of epic proportions! Battling for a prize pack like no other, contestants created videos inspired by Buffy's Season 8 and 9 comics and the results are in! The big news is EVERYONE WHO ENTERED IS ADVANCING TO THE NEXT ROUND! That's right, all contestants who submitted entries and met the criteria will have their videos viewed by Editors Scott Allie & Sierra Hahn, who will then decide the Grand Prize Winner of the following amazing prizes:
Are both Buffy & Supernatural doomed to the same fate? Will I regret believing that Supernatural won't go down the same path as Buffy during it's Season Seven? Well hope is dwindling fast, that's all I have to say. Starting today though, I'm going to put a poll up so that you, the reader, can also weigh in on this Season Seven Showdown. Now let's get into episodes #4.
Supernatural Episode #4 - "Defending Your Life" Episode Synopsis:
In a very Season One-esque fashion, ghost car & ghost dog turn out to be the handiwork of Egyptian God Osiris. He's preying on the Guilty, you see, and leaving red dirt from the floor of his court-in-an-apple-farm-barn all over town. No seriously, RED DIRT is a serious plot point. There's also nary a single Leviathan in sight and Sam's hair and chops are at an all time whoa.
The Deets:
I'm just going to say it right off the bat - I'm not happy. And waiting until Thursday to write this has just made it fester even more. What happened here in just 2 weeks?
So, this convoluted episode starts off with a reformed drunk who drunkenly killed a girl 10 years ago getting smashed to death himself by what seems to be a killer car. Next, a former dog fighting ring host gets offed by a killer dog. Then, a paroled murderer runs out into the middle of the road and nearly gets run over by the boys. All of these events are accompanied by the accessory of red dirt.
RED DIRT
The boys, dapper in their FBI looks, argue a bit about the validity of this case. See Dean doesn't feel too guilty about bad people getting murdered and this brings me to my first problem: the way this episode paints Dean's character as the guilty one of the family. Some people don't agree with me, but I think this episode is strangely re-writing Dean's character. More on that later. Anyway, Dean doesn't want to follow up on Drunk Dude's past because it requires him visiting AA and he "gave up AA for Lent" to which Sam responds "We're not Catholic!" Hee! But that's the other problem with this episode. Dean's a drunk too! They've been punching us in the face with it for several episodes now and I think it's time we do something with that plot line. It would be far more interesting than red dirt, I'm just saying.
Anyway Dean decides to investigate the bar Drunk Dude was last seen at (no surprise there) and we meet Mia, who I swore was at least in on this episode's evil. She isn't, but the dude eavesdropping is. Later, the boys speak to Bobby whose 5 minutes of screen time is for exposition only. He explains that the Monster-of-the-week is Osiris, Egyptian God of Guilt. So they better haul ass because Dean's is usually really sad about all the pain he's caused and NO HE'S REALLY NOT. That's Sam you're talking about Bobby! Later, Dean's waiting to meet with Mia whom with he made a date and giving himself a pep talk about his own hotness...which isn't really necessary honey and I'm sorry to interrupt again but really, what the hell is going on here? The Dean I know is hot and he knows it, he's a bad-ass demon hunter and knows it, and usually sleeps pretty well at night as stated in Awesome Episode 1 of this season. He's been this way at least since season 4 onward. Again, it's Sammy that has all the emotional issues and torment. If the writers need it to be backwards this season for whatever reason, can't they think of something that feels natural instead of just pretending it's always been so? I'm annoyed.
Long story short, Osiris gets to Dean and he's tried in the Red Dirt Court. At this point in the game, Sam's settled into Season One mode by turning on whatever attorney skills he learned while at Stanford. The first witness called is Jo who died an respectable death. To bring her back this way, full of scenes from the past reminding us...it feels a little cheap. Sam then takes the stand and has a little trip down memory lane himself. It's this point that I realize we're kind of having a "flashback show". I'll admit, all the callbacks were nice, but it made the already upsetting ep feel even more like filler. What was entertaining about this though was we got to compare Sam's hairstyles over the years. At least that's something?
"This whole thing is like an episode of Pee-Wee's Playhouse". Not even close, buddy.
Next on the stand is Dean. Osiris taunts him but all this "calling of the next witness" business is really just Osiris' way of making Dean squirm over whether Sam is going to find out about Amy Pond, who he killed behind Sam's back just last week. We don't actually ever get any hard evidence that he feels guilty over it, though...just that he doesn't want Sam to find out. I guess Osiris sees into Dean's soul, or whatever, because he's sentenced to death...but instead of doling it out right there, Osiris decides to let the boys go and figure out a way to kill him. Stupid.
Later, Bobby calls with more expo, telling Sam that they need to find a ram's horn and stab Osiris with it. Easy peasy because the Jews use it on holiday and there's a temple right down the block. Quick flash to Sam getting caught by the Rabbi who says "I'm guessing you're not here for Bar Mitzvah lessons." And scene.
Dead Jo (in a fashionable mlitary jacket) pops by to kill Dean. She tells him he basically shouldn't feel guilty about anything at all whatsoever...even Amy Pond, I guess? Meanwhile, Sam kills Osiris and saves the day because he's the only one that did any work in this entire episode. The next day, the boys have a heart-to-heart but Dean never even fesses up about Amy, the one thing that I thought WOULD get wrapped up in this episode. So I guess that's going to get unnecessarily drawn out. Matter of fact, this episode didn't advance the plot in any way whatsoever. The only thing we learn is that Sam doesn't feel bad about anything anymore because of his stint in hell. The end.
Oh Supernatural, I have so many questions. Like what the hell is up with Sam's wall? I thought it was going to be a world of chaos and agony that no human could withstand? Is this really what we're doing with it? And why has there been no mention of the death of Cas? Can we see at least a minute of conversation about that?
Buffy Episode #4 - "Help"
Buffy, Dawn and Xander exit a few coffins where they were hiding waiting for a freshly sired Grandma-vamp to rise and vent about their problems: Willow's reform, the season's big bad and Buffy's first day of counseling the students tomorrow. Buffy then stakes the Grandma, which will probably put the kibosh on the funeral.
Next day, Xander and Willow bash on this season's tag line "From Beneath You, It Devours." Yeah, it always sucked. Then leave it to Xander to compare Willow's plight to hammering a nail, but Willow's more concerned about going all "black eyed baddie and cracking her friend's skulls like coconuts." That's a problem. A season 6 problem, so let's move on, ok? On the bright side, Willow's hair is looking fabulously ginger today. She shines like a copper penny in the sunlight in front of Tara's grave and damn if Alyson Hanigan never had a bad cry day on the set of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Girl knows how to work.
Meanwhile at school, Buffy's dressed kinda less than appropriately and having trubbs with the slew of kids she's counseling. She meets a bunch of students including some douche bag who is just trying to get out of class followed by Cassie, played by Azura Skye, who says she's going to die next Friday. Buffy's understandably freaked and sends Dawn to do some social recon, has Xander check her medical records (yeast infections, thanks for the info!) and asks Willow to check her LiveJournal where she finds some emo poetry. Willow then admits her own early internet experiences which included "Doogie Howser Fanfic." HIMYM shout out! Or was it Doc Horrible she was shouting out? Both work for me.
Flash to: a bunch of dudes in red robes doing a spell. That's never good.
It's Friday and Buffy visits Spike-Crazy-In-The-Basement. He reveals there's evil down there and it's him. He starts punching himself in the face for hurting Buffy, but that's not what Buffy's looking for so she makes towards the door. He wants her to stay with him but she walks off anyway. Later, Principal Wood is doing locker checks and locker #281 turns up some evidence. Then physically threatens the student. Batting a thousand here, Buff! Turns out, the culprit is the douche bag from earlier. We see him and his buddies in their evil red robes conjuring a demon for some kind of get-rich-quick scheme. Buffy's there, undercover in her own red robe and even though she stops the sacrifice of Cassie, the demon still appears.
Enter Spike who saves the day with a torch then kicks the douche bag's ass even though his chip is going off all over the place. Cassie says to Spike "She'll tell you, someday she'll tell you." After, the demon bites the douche bag then explodes. Despite Buffy's efforts which include catching an arrow when a booby traps sets it off straight towards Cassie's face, Cassie dies anyway.
The ep kind of ends with a whimper-downer. Back at home, Buffy's wearing a brown Juicy Couture velour track suit (which my friend Kris and I have dubbed the "poop suit" for years now). She informs the gang that Cassie had a heart irregularity. Buffy's feeling guilt for not saving her, but Dawn says it's not her fault. What we don't ever find out is what the hell happened to the douche bag who got bit by the demon and the rest of the red-hooded crew who attempted to murder a girl. Oh season 7. You so crazy.
Mini Battles!!:
Sam's Season 1 hair vs. Sam's Season 7 hair = SEVEN!
Willow's Season 1 hair vs. Willow's Season 7 hair = SEVEN!
Best Episode Villain - they were seriously both so, so lame. Did Buffy's demon even have a name? I guess the villain was the Douche Bag.
How do the eps compare?
I mean, there's a guilt factor... but it's not that strong in Buffy. Honestly, I think the only thing these episodes proved is that Season Sevens are way better for hair than any other season.
Final Ruling:
I'm giving this one to Buffy. I don't remember liking "Help" as much as I do now, but I think what's happening is some kind of Season Seven chemical reaction in my brain. I have no expectations at all for this season of Buffy (having hated it the first couple of times) and therefore every episode seems that much better. OTOH, Supernatural is finally feeling the effects of Michelle's challenge in the first place, which was that I will regret ever giving this season hope because the letdown will be that much greater. Plus, Azura Skye has a soothing voice.
What it is: Angel & Faith #3
Who done it: Christos Gage (w), Rebekah Isaacs (a)
When it comes out: October 26, 2011
The review
Some issues, there’s a lot of metaphor to tackle, the down and dirty “read between the lines” kind of stuff. This issue? Was good. However… it’s very heavy on the expositiony, move-the-story-forward fare. Basically, it’s nearly impossible to review this one without spoiling the crap out of you. I’ll give it a shot but, word to the wise, I’m a gonna have to reveal some stuff otherwise all I’m going to say is “I sure did like it, hurr”.
This is another focus-on-Faith issue which I love. There’s a lot of talk about how Faith has taken over the role as the responsible adult and how conflicted she feels about that. I dig it, though. She’s a lot like Spike, actually – she went through some dark times, made mistakes, went through a baptism of fire, and came out the other side not unscathed but still whole.
Angel is being very, well… Angel. He broods, he fights, he feels really bad about his checkered past. There’s some nice interplay between him and Faith which almost made me forget how completely delusional he’s being about the Giles resurrection thing.
We’re still rolling along with great secondary character support. Nadira and a few of her slayer buddies get into a bar brawl at one point which causes Faith to come to their rescue. The scene that takes place there really puts Faith’s evolution on full display.
No Giles flashback this time, but we do get a former arch mage who is decidedly very Giles-like. Through him we get a little more understanding of how the whole “no more magic” thing is affecting the supernatural population. There’s also some more “seedy underbelly of demon crime” fare that accomplishes the same.
We asked Scott at NYCC about Faith’s conflicted feelings re: bringing Giles back from the dead. There’s another wrinkle introduced here and, I gotta say, where they leave us off is very intriguing for both the future of Giles and Angel.
Good issue, but it’ll probably read better in the trades when I don’t have to wait a month to see the payoff for all the set-up this book offers.
In just a few issues, Angel & Faith has become a fan favorite. It's really no surprise, the art is fantastic and writing is super-solid. We had the opportunity at New York Comic Con to meet the team responsible for the first time in person, writer Christos Gage & artist Rebekah Isaacs. Watch as we pick their brains about the Whedonverse...
Dark Horse Comics Editor Scott Allie and Director of PR Jeremy Atkins were joined by Angel & Faith’s writer Christos Gage and artist Rebekah Isaacs as well as Annemarie who was representing House of Night. The panel focused on not only Buffy and Angel & Faith, but other books in the Dark Horse catalog that feature vampires and would be recommended to Buffyverse fans. These other titles included Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden’s Baltimore, P. C., Kristin Cast’s House of Night, and Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan’s The Strain.
After the panel, every attendee received a free copy of Angel & Faith #1! See below for the full video of the panel. Enjoy!
So New York Comic Con 2011 is finally over, but we're still rolling out the footage and tidbits! After Dark Horse's Panel here at NYCC, we had the always lovely chat with Super Scott Allie, Editor of Buffy Season 9 over at Dark Horse Comics, of course. We will have that panel up in full as soon as possible as well.
Here we spoke to Scott about all things Whedonverse Comics: The 'Free Comic Book Day" Serenity Flip Book, beloved characters like Giles, Illyria and Harmony & Clem,Buffy getting pregnant (I know, huh?), the structure of the rest of the Buffyverse season and the crossing of the universes with the Angel & Faith book. Most of the Angel & Faith stuff was reserved for our interview with Christos Gage and Rebekah Isaacs. enjoy!
Whedonverse alum Jane Espenson and writer/performer Brad Bell (aka "Cheeks") have created a marriage equality comedy called Husbands (www.HusbandsTheSeries.com.)
At this panel filmed at New York Comic Con 2011, Espenson, actor Sean Hemeon and Cheeks spoke about the show. It was moderated by Alyssa Rosenberg. Enjoy!
Yesterday was definitely "The Avengers" day at New York Comic Con 2011. Anticipation was off the charts and the largest hall in the Javitz, the IGN theater where the panel was being held, was full from the morning on. Con guests were not budging to see this thing, leaving many others sad. Finally at 7:10 pm, over a half hour late, the audience cheered so loud that the audio was a bit distorted for the first few minutes. It was crazy. Seriously, you'd think we were seeing The Beatles reunion show.
Panel guests include Clark Gregg (Agent Phil Coulson), Cobie Smulders (Maria Hill), Chris Evans (Captain America), Tom Hiddleston (super villain Loki) and Surprise Guest Mark Ruffalo (The Incredible Hulk). Highlights included: Clark Gregg singing "Avengers" theme. Ruffalo shared that since he's a friend of Ed Norton, that they'd be making jokes about the whole "Hulk casting" situation. Hiddleston hinted that he also plays his villainous character in other forms (Sif?) Kevin Feige confirmed that he is in pre-production talks for Iron Man 3 which will be phase 2 of the Avengers Initiative and will lead into an Avengers sequel.
During the panel they showed the official trailer and a fantastic scene cut just for NYCC 2011 that focused on The Incredible Hulk's impromptu encounter with Black Widow, which had a very "Joss Whedon flavor" to the directing and dialogue. The film is of course written and directed by Whedon, who wasn't present because he was busy editing. It opens May 4, 2012. See the panel below in full!
Yeah so....this happened. Not sure what went wrong, really. The concept of the Green Screen booth they're doing at Dark Horse is awesome, but Bits and I kind of screwed the pooch on the whole thing. I mean, that doesn't even look like me. I look more angry at the photographer than the "vampire" I'm staking. And Bits just looks confused. He isn't even showing his fangs! Fail.
If you want to take a crack at it, the Angel & Faith/Buffy cover will be back on the schedule on Sunday at Dark Horse's booth!
Fans of Buffy's season 9, do you have burning questions for head writer extraordinaire of the season Andrew Chambliss? Like is Willow going to crack and go "black eyes of evil" even in a world without magic? Is Buffy pregnant with a demon (or human) love child? Will Spike and Buffy just make out already? And what in the hell is up with Xawn? Ask all this and more at the live Twitter Chat taking place tomorrow Nov. 10th at 9am Pacific Time/12 pm East Coast.
