Buffy : Season 9

Dark Horse Comics: What are you most excited for readers to take away from reading Buffy Season 9?

Andrew Chambliss: I’m really excited for readers to see a little bit of themselves in Buffy in Season 9. Buffy’s facing so many questions that we all deal with when we’re in our twenties—figuring out who we are, where we’ve been, where we’re going—that I think people are really going to be able to relate to her journey. This really is Buffy figuring out how to be an adult, albeit doing it with all the Slayer fun and headaches thrown in. For me, what excites me so much about Season 9 is that we’re trying to tell smaller stories that focus on the core group of characters, much like the TV show. For someone who didn’t work on the original series (but was a huge fan!), the idea of trying to emulate something that’s such a touchstone has been both thrilling and a challenge. And I hope that’s the other thing readers take away from the season—walking away feeling like these comics could have been something they watched back when Buffy was on TV.

DH: In your opinion, why do you think so many people relate to Buffy so easily?

AC: I think people relate to Buffy because her stories are so emotionally grounded. Joss always approaches character in a way that starts with an honest, human emotion, and then he finds the cool genre story to serve as a vehicle for that emotion. The story is always about Buffy as a person first, and then Buffy as a Slayer. You don’t need to relate to the supernatural stuff to understand what Buffy’s going through. And I think this relates to what I said above, but I really do believe that everyone can find something in Buffy that they’ve been through themselves.

DH: How different was your approach to writing comics from that of writing screenplays?

AC: On a storytelling level, my approach to television and comic writing isn’t that different. For both, I try to find the basic emotional arc of the story and build the plot from that. At the end of the day, the story always needs to be about character and grounded in emotional reality. The mantra I learned from Joss when I was on Dollhouse about writing was “emotion and clarity above all else.” This same mantra carries over to comic-book writing as well. Where things really differ for me is in the craft. In television, you’re laying out a blueprint for other people to build off—the director, actors, editors, etc. So oftentimes you leave a bit more wiggle room for other people to fill in the blanks in a script. In comic-book writing, I find that I need to take on a few more roles. When I’m writing, I often have to think as a writer, director, and film editor. The format requires you to be much more specific about what you’re seeing on the page than television writing does. That being said, comic-book writing is definitely a hugely collaborative medium between the writer, editors, and artist, and I’m always amazed at the things other people bring to the table. At the end of the day, I think my favorite thing about comic writing is the fact that I can write anything an artist can draw. Not always the case in television, where you have to worry about scheduling and budgets!

DH: If you had time to write up your own original comic-book series, what would it be about?

AC: I’m a Cold War submarine nerd. My dad served aboard a nuclear submarine before I was born, and I’ve heard so many stories about that world that I’d love to explore a Cold War sub in comic-book form. Of course, my take on it would definitely have a genre bent to it, probably of the postapocalyptic variety. Probably? Who am I kidding? It would definitely be of the postapocalyptic variety.

DH: If you had a superpower, what would it be?

AC: I wish I had the superpower to stop time. Kind of like a snooze button for life. Between television and comic writing, my days get pretty packed, so it would be nice to be able to freeze time—and catch up on all sorts of things I’m finding myself doing less and less of these days…watching TV, playing video games, reading, and spending time with my friends.

DH: Thanks, Andrew!