So we got the inside scoop about all things Dark Horse/Whedonverse from Scott Allie back on Thursday, prior to the major announcement panel at San Diego Comic Con (which actually is taking place as we write this.) When we spoke with Scott, he gave us all the news on what would be announced. You can listen to the full interview in the podcast link. Here's a rapid-fire rundown of what we talked about.click play
There will be a program called One Shot Wonders - Joss has 3 things in this category:
1. A Sugarshock one shot.
2. Dr. Horrible for the first time in print full length 24 page. story. Zack is writing it, Joelle Jones is drawing it. It will take place prior (prequel) and the goal is later on when they move forward they'll do post-webisode stuff.
3. Willow one shot - Written by Joss and someone else. Drawn by Karl Moline (Fray/Buffy) with covers by Moline and Jo Chen. It will take place prior to season 8 and explain the Snake Woman back story. Here's how Scott explains it:
"The main story tells what happens before season 8, you know...what's going on with Willow and when you see the cover by Jo, it's a gorgeous cover with Willow and the Snake Woman all wrapped up on each other. So it's gonna fill in a bunch of their story.We also talked about Jane's arc, "Retreat", and beyond. At the end of Jane's arc 26-31, Joss will be kick-starting the next arc with one issue (31). Brad Meltzer is writing 32-35, the outline have been turned in to Joss (some was Brad's idea, some was Joss's). The first script has been done (32) but Scott hasn't seen it. And then all 5 finales will most likely be back to Joss.
There's potentially room for more Buffy one shots i.e., Tales of the Vampire and Willow. We needed a break and figured no one would complain with Willow..."
Jane's arc really moves the story forward and actually the thing that happens at the end of her arc is what will be nuts. According to Scott:
"When Jane's arc wraps up, things will be significantly different for the organization. The slayer organization will be in really, really bad shape and it's going to bring about real, major transformational changes for Buffy herself
Joss will step back in for a single issue before Brad begins his arc. Digging a little deeper into why Joss was penning this particular issue Scott went on to say:
"When Joss comes in to write an issue, a lot of the times it's kinda to refocus the continuity to take everything we've done and kind of kick start into the next aspect of the story."
We also talked about the upcoming comic for Cabin in the Woods. The comic will be released after the movie is released. As to who will be writing the book, it's still looking pretty up in the air. Scott:
"Nobody's really decided who's going to write it, Joss or someone else. I suspect it will be someone else just because he's so busy."
We tried to get a little info about the potential animated series finally seeing it's release. Tight lipped on this, Scott could only answer:
"Nothing that I can say. We at Dark Horse have very little to do with that. Nope, that's not anything you're going to hear from us."
I found the "from us" part to be really telling. Could it be we'll be hearing news about a Buffy animated series elsewhere before the end of the con? Fingers crossed on that one, Buffyfesters!
We got the chance to nerd it up with Scott once all the big announcements were out of the way. We asked if Scott could pen a Buffy one-shot with no limitation to season or canon, what would it be? Here's what he had to say:
"I don' t know like, um...the 2 characters that come to mind that I'd really love to do something with would be Angel and Giles. I like horor stories set in the past, Not necessarily the distant past, but i think there's something about a horror story in the recent past where you can get a sense of nostalgia and mystery. To do a DH story with one of those guys....both of them have very, very dark pasts. That would be one the thing that would thrill me the most."
We also asked him what non-Buffy writer he'd love to see write a Buffy story. Scott, who is no stranger to the great masters of comics went for one of the biggest names of all.
"I mean the easy answer is Alan Moore because he's my hero and my favorite comic book writer of all time. "
Can you even imagine? A Buffy book by Alan Moore. Sick.
And there you have it. From Scott's mouth to our ears and now to you, our dearest Buffyfesters. Again, for the full interview, take a listen to the entire audio clip. It was great fun. Thanks, Scott!
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