Buffy The Vampire Slayer

BKV: WHEN BUFFY MET BRIAN

Anyone can write Buffy fan fiction, and a big chunk of Joss Whedon’s cult following does. Brian K. Vaughan, however, gets the unique opportunity to write real Buffy canon beginning in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 #6, on sale September 5. His Faith-starring story arc, titled “No Future for You,” jumps into Whedon’s continuation of the “Buffy” TV series and gives him a shot at reciprocating after Whedon signed on at the Vaughan-created Marvel series Runaways.

Vaughan keeps a crowded schedule since his move to Hollywood as a writer on “Lost,” but he squeezed in a few minutes to tell the tale of his original “Buffy” screenplay and the road to LA that resulted his new arc, as well as his tour on the Island. Stay tuned for an exclusive look at covers and interiors for Buffy #9 and the Volume 2 trade paperback collection, too!

WIZARD: I know your schedule requires you to be pretty judicious with how many new comics projects you pick up lately. Could you talk a little bit about why you agreed to come on to Buffy for “No Future for You”?

BRIAN K. VAUGHAN: When Whedon says jump, I say off which bridge? I just love his writing and his stories are really important to me. With Y: The Last Man wrapping in a few months, I’ve made the decision to concentrate pretty much only on new creator-owned books from here on out, but if I’m going to deny myself the supreme pleasure of working on other people’s characters for the rest of my comics career, writing Buffy & Co. seemed like the perfect way to go out with a bang.

When did you decide to sign on for this?

VAUGHAN: A few years ago, before I moved to Los Angeles to work on “Lost” and adaptations of some of my comics, Joss invited me to write the screenplay for one of a few planned direct-to-DVD movies set in the Buffyverse. Sadly, those flicks eventually fell through, but getting to have dinner and break stories with Joss and Tim Minear and Drew Goddard was one of the best experiences of my life, one that helped inspire me to become the Hollywood sellout I am today. It’s also where I pitched an idea for a Faith story that everyone seemed to dig, and which Whedon asked if I wanted to resurrect for the Season Eight comic. Since Joss was kind enough to adopt my kids after I cruelly abandoned Runaways, I was more than happy to babysit the Scoobs for a few issues.

Which came first, the pitch for the arc or you agreeing to pick up on issue #6? What did Whedon have planned, and what if anything changed about the story when you started writing?

VAUGHAN: I only had a really broad concept for my Faith story, so it changed a lot. Joss and I met up, he filled me in on all the juicy secrets behind “Twilight,” and I think we found a really organic way to advance the themes and larger storylines of Season Eight through this Faith-centric arc.

What’s the setup for the story, and what is Faith’s role going to be in it?

VAUGHAN: Well, at the end of Season Seven, Buffy was nice enough to share her Slayer powers with hundreds of other young women, but as Faith knows better than anyone, just because you get great power doesn’t always mean you’ll use it with great responsibility. So when a new evil Slayer hits the scene, Giles knows there’s only person he can turn to for a particularly nasty bit of wetworks…

How much did you have to do with bringing the story to Cleveland?

VAUGHAN: Everything! Ever since I heard that throwaway line on the show about there being another Hellmouth in Cleveland, I’ve been fantasizing about setting a Buffy story in my hometown.

On a scale of 1 to “Lost”—or 10, whatever is the easiest reference point for you—where did the “Buffy” TV series fall into your priorities as far as television-watching habits went when it was on? Were you familiar with it at all? Do you have any favorite episodes?

VAUGHAN: The show was a real obsession, true, unplug-the-phone appointment television. I love all the episodes, but “The Body” is probably my favorite single hour of storytelling in any medium.

Have you talked to Whedon much as you’ve been writing the story? Has talking to him or writing the arc changed your perspective much in regards to the Buffyverse?

VAUGHAN: Yeah, Joss is an effin’ taskmaster! When he sends me his Runaways scripts, I usually write back a short note telling him how much I loved it and how perfect it was, and when I send him my Buffy scripts, he writes back a nice note saying how much he loved it—and then includes 10 pages of detailed notes explaining how I can make it better. And the annoying part is that he’s always right! He’s definitely acting as a true Executive Producer on this book, and treating every issue of Season Eight as seriously as he treated every episode of the show. In ten years of writing comics, this is probably the hardest I’ve ever worked on something, but I think the story is much better for it. As am I.

Has your own work in television now changed anything at all about either your approach to comics writing and how you handle characters or your appreciation for “Buffy” as a TV series?

VAUGHAN: Well, writing in a collaborative environment, especially one where I’m almost always the least experienced, least talented guy in the room, has really forced me to become a better writer, and at a time in my life when I think I was in danger of resting on my handful of laurels and really stagnating. So I hope my nascent career as a television writer has helped make the comics I’m lucky enough to be a part of at least a little bit stronger.

Is there any kind of situation you really wanted to see a Buffy character get put into that you were able to include? Or is there anything or anyone you would have liked to include that didn’t make it in?

VAUGHAN: Nope, I went for broke with this arc. I found a way to shoehorn in just about every character, situation and bad line of dialogue I’ve ever dreamed about writing for the Buffyverse.

What’s one thing you were able to write into you arc that you absolutely couldn’t have done if it were still part of the TV series?

VAUGHAN: I don’t want to spoil anything, but there’s a midair fight scene in issue #7 that probably would have used up the budget for an entire season of the TV series. Plus, I imagine Standards and Practices would have had a problem with all of my graphic, graphic sex scenes. Reserve your copy today, kids!