Posts Tagged ‘ Buffy ’

Robot Chicken’s Seth Green and Matthew Senreich were the best bit of the Lucasfilm panel.

I don’t often run through the Dark Horse solicits but there were a few things that caught my eye so I figured why not?

I ran the Jo Chen cover a while ago (the one with the not so surprise guest star) but this is the first time I’ve seen the Georges Jeanty cover – who are these guys on the left? Am I supposed to know? Nice to see Karl Moline back for the not so surprise guest star, too…

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER “CONVERSATIONS WITH DEAD PEOPLE” BOARD

I love this solicit: “Game board for entertainment purposes only.” And the crazy people protest starts in 3…2…1…

CONAN THE CIMMERIAN #1 I’ve been a Conan follower since the new series began 4 or 5 years ago – and this is the perfect jumping off point for me. My only issue with following the trades from now on is that often with Dark Horse, the trades are more expensive than the single issues. I don’t quite understand that.

This is a book that I have heard a lot of good things about but have yet to pick up. If anyone has any advice yay or nay, let me know!

Another book that I’ve heard good stuff about but never picked up. Is it worth it? Trades or singles? Is there a good jumping on point?

Humor comics have never quite worked for me but again I’ve heard so many good things about it – maybe I should take a look?

Good grief, this is one of those posts that just begs for a beating. I admit it – I’ve never read Hellboy in any form. I did kind of like the first movie, and I’ll probably watch the second but…is the comic any good? Is there a good jumping on point?

Dark Horse really seems to do well with their licensed stuff, don’t they? Haven’t seen a new Indy comic in what, ten years? Chances are I’ll at the very least take a look at it.

Lots of great creators contributing to this – but we already saw this free on MySpace, right? Now we’re supposed to pay for it? I’ll be interested to see how much this sells – should be interesting to see how it affects the Zuda model too.

So…Yankee Girl is some kind of cross between Wonder Woman and Miss America? Only with her boobs falling out?

Like I said, I’m a Conan fan – these Essential style reprints any good?

Here’s the thing – I said I was going to switch to trades for the Star Wars books, but they’re actually slightly more expensive than the single issues. What’s the deal with that??!

One of the more enjoyable SW books right now – John Ostrander really is knocking this out of the park.

Vector hits the original trilogy era – and apparently Han and Chewie may finally show up in the book!

So…this is the Dark Horse comic adaptation of the Capcom game of the Acclaim property of the old Valiant comic, huh?

Man, I miss Acclaim. Although I realize that there are only a few of us out there…

Hollywood Reporter is reporting that some key roles have been cast in Joss Whedon’s new show, Dollhouse alongside series star Eliza Dushku.

Amongst a bunch of people you don’t know is one familiar – if unusual – name: Tahmoh Penikett.

Yes, everyone’s favorite Cylon-lover has been cast as FBI Agent Smith, potential Doll-lover.

Wait a minute…isn’t Battlestar Galactica still filming the back half of its final season? What does that say for the fate of Helo??

Other people cast include former Neighbours (an Australian soap that’s a British institution which, to be fair, did produce Guy Pearce, Radha Mitchell and – sigh – Natalie Imbruglia – aswell as Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan and, er, Craig McLachlan*) actress Dichen Lachman, Welcome to the Captain‘s Fran Kranz and Enver Gjokaj.

Hollywood Reporter’s casting news is here.

*Yes, this was mainly an excuse to inflict terrible music videos on you, although you should really watch the Natalie Imbruglia one as its mimed and fantastic- and the Kylie one isn’t a music vidoe… Now if only Rick Astley had guest starred on the show…

I don’t know about you but Buffy#16 looks pretty good to me…click to embiggen.

The excellent High Moon has four new pages up at Zuda!

Thanks to the Mind Mistress online comic for a link.

Marvel’s The Order is ending at issue #10.

Post-Annihilation Conquest, there’s a new Guardians of the Galaxy in town…but I wouldn’t be surprised if it takes the place of the Nova solo book.

Mulder and Scully vs the Wolfman? Eh?

Sarah Michelle Gellar would be open to a Buffy movie with the right script? Get it done!

There’s a creature in the water in the final ‘best day ever’ shots in Cloverfield…maybe.

Speaking of Cloverfield, Odette Yustman (above) made her movie debut…as one of the kids in Kindergarten Cop. Feel dirty (and old) yet?

Speaking of Kindergarten Cop, that movie was directed by the great Ivan Reitman – and another kid in the movie was played by his son, Jason Reitman – who’s second feature Juno is all kinds of great and should be seen right now.

Click to embiggen.

The title got your attention, eh?

Whedon and cohort Tim Minear have signed to new show Dollhouse, starring Eliza Dushku.

Bad news is that it’s on Fox and there’s a seven episode commitment. But its better than nothing.

Sounds like the show will be an actioner with a sci-fi bent, with Dushku playing Echo (Joss, that’s Marvel on the phone…), an agent sent on missions where she’s imprinted with personalities and abilities which are wiped – along with her memory – when she returns to base. Naturally enough, Echo starts to become aware.

This sounds good – very good – and my only worry is that it’s on Fox.

Because that worked out so well for Firefly, Drive and New Amsterdam. But it’s better than nothing!

Read TV Week’s article here and EOnline’s interview with both here. And I totally stole the image at the top from EOnline. Just so you know.

Fox has put a stop to the musical Buffy singalongs that have been taking place across the country.

As someone who attended one a couple of months ago, I have to say that this is a real shame and that I hope that this will be sorted out before too long.

That said, this apparently isn’t because Fox is the devil but rather because legally speaking there are issues with residuals for actors, writers, etc – or as the Uncool Kids put it:

“I don’t yet have an official written statement as to why exactly this has happened, but from my understanding the circumstance around the suspension of the rights for our screenings isn’t greed or anything like that – so please don’t use this as an excuse to lash out at Fox. Basically, the idea of presenting television shows in a theatre is so new that there are a lot of details that still need to be resolved around payments of residuals, deals with the guilds and unions, etc (I don’t know any specifics, but these are some of the issues that usually come up). Both Fox and Criterion need to fix some of these issues before they can continue to do any theatrical screenings.”

Head on over to The Uncool Kids site, or Whedonesque for more.

Friday night was dinner on Bleecker with a couple of friends, followed by the better half and I downing a couple of drinks listening to some live music at the Red Lion before heading over to the IFC to stand on line for forty five minutes or so…for the Buffy Once More with Feeling singalong with the Uncool Kids.

Honestly, it was a great show – and it probably helped that we’d had a few drinks beforehand.

Sadly, we couldn’t make it through the second two episodes – we got halfway through The Wish before bowing to the inevitable tiredness seeping through our weary bones.

If you get a chance to go to the singalong – and obviously it helps if you’re a fan – go for it; they might not all be as star-studded as the LA one a couple of months ago, but they’re a whole lot of geek-tastic fun!

Y’know, sometimes its good to sit in a room with slightly toasted people of the same mindset and just shout ‘SHUT UP, DAWN!’ at a big screen…

Despite reports last week that Wildstorm would be publishing a Veronica Mars comic taking off from where the series left off, now it appears that this may not be happening any time soon…

In this week’s Ask Ausiello, TV Guide’s columnist Matt Ausiello had this to say:

Regarding VM, Rob Thomas is knee-deep in his new role as show-runner of ABC’s Miss/Guided, so plans to continue VM via DC Comics are a ways off. “Running a new show is more than a full-time job,” Rob tells me. “I only want to do the DC thing if I’m writing it, so it may take a while.”

This seems like an odd choice – I appreciate that Rob Thomas is busy, but why not farm it out to other writers and ‘show run’ it – in a Buffy season 8 kind of way? Surely it’s better to release the comic now when the show is fresh in people’s minds rather than wait until it fades?

Anyway – it looks like we may have to last a while longer to see what happens with Keith’s election, whether Logan is a marked man or whether Piz will piss off over the summer.

In other Veronica Mars news, Jason Dohring – better known as two-fisted Logan Echolls (I really need to stop calling him that) – has apparently assumed the role of Josef, an ancient vampire regular in upcoming CBS vampire-detective show Moonlight, which is run by Angel co-creator David Greenwalt.

So it doesn’t sound like Angel at all.

Dohring replaces Rade Serbedzija (24‘s one-armed Dmitri from the season just passed) in the role as apparently someone sussed out that you don’t have to be old to be an ancient vampire…

Let’s see what’s cooking this week!

Birds of Prey #107 – This is the penultimate chapter of the Secret Six arc and Gail’s run in general, right? Can’t see Ice sticking around…

Countdown #47 – I’ve been pretty vocal about the fact that I feel this is kind of directionless. Having said that, I recall feeling pretty much the same way about 52 at first, and that turned out pretty well.

Superman #663 – This is the one of the best pure super-hero books out there right now, and with word that Kurt Busiek may be writing the ‘Final’ Crisis project next year, I can’t help but wonder if Camelot Falls plays into that somewhat…

Avengers The Initiative #3 – Prett yunderwhelming series so far. Some nice ideas, but I’m already sick of the drill-sergeant bit from Gauntlet and I find it difficult sucking up the idea that some of the established characters would go along with covering up a teenager’s death. And Hank Pym….Jesus, the wife beating mantra wasn’t enough? Now he’s a pill-popping, self-doubting weak-assed excuse for a man? Way to kill a character…

Daredevil Battlin Jack Murdock #1 – I may not pick this up but it sure looks good. Maybe the trade…

Iron Man Vol 4 #18 – The new direction isn’t grabbing me, so I’m hopping off after World War Hulk.

Irredeemable Ant-Man #9 – Consistently one of the most entertaining books on the stands – if you’re not picking this up, you really should!

Marvel Zombies vs Army Of Darkness #4 – Nice mini so far! I didn’t pick up the original MZ mini so I’m not burnt out on this yet.

Ms Marvel Vol 2 #16 – I’m going to give the book till the end of the Chasing AIM arc, or whetever its called. Again, the new direction post-CW isn’t appealing to me in spite of my fondness for the character.

Mystic Arcana Book Of Marvel Magic – I know, I know…stupid Handbooks.

New Warriors Vol 4 #1 – Apparently there’s spoilers out there but I haven’t really read any beyond the identity of a few members. I like what I hear – and Paco Medina is an added plus!

Omega Flight #3 – Sticking with it to the end of the mini but pretty disappointing so far.

Spider-Man Family #3 – Great series. One-shot Spidey stories and great reprints? Sold!

Uncanny X-Men #487 – The team’s back on Earth with some changes. Hope to see Hepzibah stick around a while, and it’ll be interesting to see some reactions to Havok, Polaris and Rachel staying in space. Speaking of which, how long till we get them in a Starjammers series?

From Dark Horse (per their site),

Buffy #4 – I’m enjoying this a lot so far – nice characterization and a few nice twists. I’m especially interested in how Warren managed to make a comeback…

Conan #41 – The Rogues in the House adaptation finally arrives after what feels like a year of build-up.

Star Wars: Legacy #13 – Sounds like a one-shot focusing on some lesser characters in this consistently entertaining series.

Star Wars: Rebellion #7 – Last issue was a big improvement over the first arc so I’m happy to stick around and see what comes with the new characters.

Trades that pique my interest:

I like the idea of Marvel’s Bullet Points but to be honest I haven’t heard that many good things. I’ll probably stick with The Nail…

On the DC side, I’m tempted by Batman: Turning Points. I missed the series when it came out a few years back but always like the sound of it.

Dark Horse and Image have their solicits for August 2007 around. Thought I’d take a look at the interesting stuff (if a little late)…

ALIENS VS. PREDATOR OMNIBUS VOLUME 2 -I never picked up any Aliens or Predator books when they first came out but I always liked the idea of them. This might be a good chance to get caught up.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #5 – A standalone issue featuring one of the decoy Slayers? I know that Buffy mentioned in #1 that one was in Italy (with Andrew, as seen in Angel) and one was underground – literally. Bet this is the latter….

CONAN #43 – Rogues in the House continues! Rogues is a classic story but to be honest I’m a little bemused by the fact that its been ‘pimped’ in the book for what feels like a year now. I mean, it’s not that good. Although it does involve a killer ape, and we all know how I feel about apes and monkeys….

STAR WARS: DARK TIMES #6— a new arc for SWDT but I hope they switch up the cast a bit. The current heroes irk me. Also, more Vader please!

STAR WARS: KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC #20 – Like this book a lot. I’m also getting the feeling that that ‘prophecy’ Zane’s masters had that kicked off the series may be right after all…

STAR WARS: LEGACY #15 - Krayt’s identity revealed (I think). If it’s not someone we know I’ll be really disappointed…

STAR WARS OMNIBUS: TALES OF THE JEDI VOLUME 1 – Containing “The Golden Age of the Sith,” “The Fall of the Sith Empire,” “Knights of the Old Republic,” and “The Freedon Nadd Uprising,” this will save me from hunting down the original issues at a fraction of their price – good stuff!

STAR WARS: REBELLION #9 – Probably the dullest Star Wars book when it launched – it just lacked the feel of adventure of the others, although it has picked up since it moved away from Luke.

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY: APOCALYPSE SUITE #1 (of 6) – Hearing lots of good things about this so I’ll give it a shot.

From IMAGE:

MADMAN, VOL. 1 TP – Legendary! I haven’t seen this in trade form before so this is a must buy!

SPAWN, VOL. 4 TP – I always liked the idea of Spawn but never picked it up. These nice trades they’re running at the moment could be a good way to try it out. Should probably start with #1 though…

BAD PLANET #3 – Worth mentioning just for the fact that they have the balls to solicit it a month after #2. And about 18 months after #1. We’ll see…although I have to say, Thomas Jane has gone up in my estimation after what he said about dropping out of the Punisher 2 movie…

Ripclaw Pilot Season #1 – I hate the character but I do like the idea of launching a series of #1s as pilots for ongoings. Neat idea. But I hate the character – did I mention that?

You know how I ranted about Drive ending?

Back on track with this week’s books – and it looks to be a pretty big week, meaning I’ll probably leave some on the shelf.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #2 – But not this one. Chances are I’ll be picking up the variant too (below).

52 Week #48 – No question that this book is great.

Justice League Of America Vol 2 #7 – This might stay on the shelf. The first arc was solidly underwhelming when it wasn’t a mess. Meltzer needs to cut back on the narration and concentrate on having a plot that makes sense.

Supergirl And The Legion Of Super-Heroes #28 – Seems to be building towards a big finish for Waid & Kitson at #30.

Superman Vol 3 #661 – The last fill-in was a little weak but I think Pacheco is back with this issue and the second half of the Camelot Falls storyline.

Annihilation Heralds Of Galactus #2 – Silver Surfer and Firelord star in this follow up; the first issue was great and I expect nothing less here.

Avengers: The Initiative #1 – Obviously. And yes, I will probably be getting both covers because I’m a sucker.

Fallen Son: Death Of Captain America – Wolverine – Like I was really going to pass this up.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #19 – The Sandman/Alternate Ben storyline is wrapping up a few loose strands nicely. Now if we can only get a good Sandman out of this, I’ll be happy…

Incredible Hulk Vol 2 #105 – Planet Hulk ends!

Irredeemable Ant-Man #7 – Probably one of the best reads every month; and look at this cover! How can you not pick up this book?

Marvel Zombies Army Of Darkness #2 – The heroes have turned so it looks like Ash will have his hands full. Well, his one hand anyway…

Ms Marvel Vol 2 #14 – #13 was a great start to the second year and set the tone for the book. Hope it continues.

Omega Flight #1 – Maybe. I feel like I should pick this up after the 5 issues are traded, but I might cave because I like a couple of the characters a lot.

Spider-Man Family #2 – Lightweight but fun. And lots of reprint goodness!

Thunderbolts Presents Zemo Born Better #3 – Excellent trip through Zemo’s lineage. I’m intrigued by where the good Baron might end up at the end of it, and I’m also impressed by how much I’ve come to like the character in the past four or five years. Fabian Nicieza is obviously working his magic!

Couple of links and some recommended reading:

Figuratively Speaking

Ed Johnson’s Figuratively Speaking - Ed’s got a series of stop-motion-style films using Marvel Minimates and music with captions for dialogue. Good stuff and some pretty good music there as well. Worth a few minutes of your time. Here’s the first ep of his series:

The Devil You Know

Mike Carey’s site has had a redesign lately – Mike posts pretty frequently and its always worth checking out; there’s also a complete list of Mike’s work in the archives. I heartily recommend checking out the Felix Castor novels if you like anything he’s ever done – especially Hellblazer.

Fifteen Years Later…

Speaking of books if you’re a fan of Buffy I recommend taking a look at Carpe Demon, the first in a series of books from author Julie Kenner. Don’t be put off by the suspiciously chick-lit’ish cover and the author’s chick-lit pedigree; this is a book you’ll enjoy (even if you’ll feel sheepish about the cover while you read it on the train).

Think of what would happen if Buffy – retired,fifteen years older with a couple of kids and a husband with political aspirations who don’t know about her past as a demon hunter – was dragged back into the fold. It’s a fun, easygoing read and a book that I’m actually glad I borrowed from my better half.

Captain Tightpants

It was Nathan Fillion’s birthday last week, and I feel obliged to point you in the direction of his MySpace page. He posts surprisingly regularly and is a funny and observant writer – and don’t forget to check out his new show (from showrunner Tim Minear) Drive on Fox Sunday April 15th. Fellow Whedonverse alumni Amy Acker plays Fillion’s wife. Small world eh?

Speaking of MySpace

There’s a few other TV and Movie related MySpace pages worth checking out (always with the caveat that due to the wonder of the internet they could be imposters) – Buffy‘s Emma Caulfield (Anya) has MySpace page here.

Firefly‘s Jewel Staite (Kaylee) has her page here (also updated often). She’s vouched for by that Fillion fella so I’m inclined to believe its the real thing…

Ditto for Ryan Reynold’s page. And he appears to be as barking as you might expect.

Writer/Director James Gunn (Slither) is here.

Jon Favreau’s page is here – not updated too much as he’s shooting that Iron Man movie, but worth a look.

Upcoming horror/slasher director/writer Eli Roth is here (personally I loved Cabin Fever but haven’t been able to sit down to Hostel yet. He’s taking on Stephen King’s Cell next).

Dynamite Entertainment have acquired the Terminator 2 license according to reports yesterday – off-topic, that makes me wonder if Dark Horse still have the Terminator license, and if anyone at all would want to license Terminator 3…

Anyway, incoming writer Simon Furman was appropriately enthusiastic and hinted at a crossover later this year with another of licensed property, not-very-cryptically saying:

“We’re speaking excitedly about the potential cross-over option that should
happen in later 2007, but there is much more to the story than meets the eye.”

So it’s Transformers, then? Hardly a surprise, given Furman’s pedigree on that book and the fact that there’s a movie out this year…

But that started me thinking about licensed properties that could crossover…

Buffy – Angel – This is a no-brainer, as long as IDW and Dark Horse could pull it together. It won’t involve as much manouevreing as the TV shows requred in their later seasons, and it would sell like gangbusters, especially if you got that Whedon fella involved.

Conan – Red Sonja – Again, a no-brainer. Sonja is a literary off-spring of Conan anyway, and they have quite the history and the same shared world, so can’t we all just get along?

Painkiller Jane – Darkman – It’d be the woman with no pain against the man with no face. Think of the bandages!

Army of Darkness – Red Sonja – Ash has a tendency to end up travelling dimensions and worlds, so why not dump in Hyboria for a spell? Those pesky Deadites would make an obvious ally for Kulan Gath, and wouldn’t we all love to see Sonja’s reaction to Ash hitting on her?

Highlander-Red Sonja - Throw Connor into the middle of the Hyborian Age with the Kurgan in tow and watch Sonja try to decipher his accent. Much swordplay ensues!

Buffy-Army of Darkness - I could see Ash falling under the spell of the Buffster, totally not getting that Willow’s gay, irritating Giles with his knowledge of an obscure ancient text and bonding with Xander. Awesome.

Spike-Army of Darkness – Spike vs Ash. Do I have to explain how great the sarcasm-fest that followed would be?

Buffy-Red Sonja – Well the First was a desert-based Slayer, right? Why not have her be an ally (or perhaps an enemy) of Sonja, and then throw Buffy in the mix? Two strong women fighting in loincloth bikini armor…I think this sells itself, right?

Highlander-Lone Ranger – By my reckoning, Connor – and Duncan for that matter – was around in the 1880s…so why not have him and the Lone Ranger cross paths on the trail of another Immortal? How would the Ranger deal with someone you can’t shoot or hang?

Spike/Angel – Lone Ranger – Angel, newly ensouled, hits the American west with an oblivious Spike in tow – who then runs afoul of a certain masked vigilante…

I tell you, the possibilities here are endless…

How did I miss this in my earlier recap of Wizard World LA?!?

According to a report from the IDW panel, Joss Whedon will be co-writing an Angel mini set after the series finale, making it canon. This announcement comes, of course, less than a week after the release of Buffy Season 8 #1 by Dark Horse, which seems to have broken the 100K barrier, making it the biggest non-Marvel, non-DC, non-25 cents issue in…well, a long time.

IDW has had some success with the Angel property – its first series, The Curse, had a post-season 5 Angel searching for a cure to his curse so he could make sweet, sweet love to Nina (his new hot werewolf girlfriend from the show), while the next series, Old Friends reunited him with Spike, Illyria and Gunn – complete with eyepatch – suggesting that they all survived the series-ending big fight.

Since then, however, most of the series or one-shots have been set firmly before the end of the series, so how much of these developments will be maintained for the new Whedon-penned series remains to be seen. Many of these have centred not around Angel but Spike, including the upcoming Spike: Smile Time which sees the return of the puppet-monsters from the show.

I’m sure more details will be released soon…

The saga continues – now it looks like Rob Thomas is shooting a Veronica Mars featurette that has Veronica as a fully-fledged FBI agent, not as a cadet – and it’s one of three possible options if the series gets picked up (presumably one of the others is to move on to the next year of college; I wonder what the third is?)

An interesting direction for the series if it gets renewed on this basis. At this stage, only Kristen Bell is in the promo – but of all the rest of the cast, I think only Enrico Colantoni (Keith Mars) is the only other cast member that I think definitely needs to be bac (although Tina Majorino;s Mac would be a good candidate for the FBI’s tech squad).

Logan (Jason Dohring) has been at a loose end for much of this season, Weevil (Francis Capra – grandson of Frank!) and Wallace (Percy Daggs III) have been largely absent, and new guys Piz (Chris Lowell) and Parker (Julie Gonzalo) haven’t made much of an impression – and Lowell has signed on for the Grey’s Anatomy spin-off anyway.

Of course, having Dick Casablancas (Ryan Hansen) somehow blunder into the FBI and harrass the female agents could be the workings of comedy genius…

The only other time I recall seeing someone put together a promo for the networks for the show is for Angel - where Joss Whedon created a short film to convince the network that the show was viable:

Of course, I’m sure this happens all the time – I know that Buffy also had a mini-pilot where Willow and Prinicipal Flutie were played by Riff Regan and the great Stephen Tobolowsky respectively; it’s on You Tube in a couple of parts and runs for about 30 minutes.

I guess the point is that the internet today offers much more insight into how these things work – and if Veronica Mars doesn’t get picked up for a fourth season, I guess at least this promo will appear somewhere (be it on DVD or You Tube) to show us how things might have been.

Keep your fingers crossed folks, it ain’t over yet.