Buffy : Season 8

1. wenxina: How closely do you work with Andy Owens and Michelle Owens (or anyone else on the art team, including Dexter Vines who works on your variants) to see that your vision comes to fruition the way you envisioned it?

Georges: I probably work closest with Dexter Vines. He’s in the same studio as me so it takes no effort to go next door to his room and talk to him about the cover I’ve just drawn or am going to do. He and I worked together on other things in the past like the Weapon X book I did for Marvel. I’ll send Michelle some color notes here and there because I usually have the reference for what she’s coloring, which makes it a little easier on her.

2. wenxina: How has your experience been with Buffyverse fans since you started working on S8? We’re a pretty hardcore fanbase, so opinions fly like shrapnel all the time. Where do you go to gauge public opinion, if you do at all?

Georges: It has been amazing! The one thing I was not prepared for was the fandom of Buffy. I was never a part of this world when the show was on, much to my regreat, so I never had to wait a whole week to wonder how Buffy was going to get back her body from Faith, or if Tara was really dead, or the biggest question of all at the end of season 7, “what do we do now?” I was watching episodes back to back in some cases. I was so hooked. Having watched all the shows I can see why people love this series so much. It’s just really good character stuff with great stories that were at time too confined for the TV because of their scope. It was obvious Joss was trying to make mini movies with this series. I do a lot of cons so a lot of the comments I do hear are from fans. Some are really informed and others… well, they are passionate. I love all opinions but some fans are just down right mad at certain things!

3. bamph: You recently did some work for DC Comics. You did Nightwing covers during the Batman RIP tie-ins and you drew the recent Faces Of Evil One-Shot featuring Deathstroke. Can you compare the type of working experiences between that and your Buffy work and is it similar or is it completely different?

Georges: It’s all similar to the extent that I’m telling a story. And I feel if you’re a comic artist the storytelling is the most exciting and important part. From there the obvious differences were, the DC stuff was superhero and Buffy, while considered a superhero, doesn’t really have a costume. There are times when I like to cleanse my palette and just draw superhero stuff. I love Buffy but at times I need that break. I can’t tell you how astute I’ve become at women’s fasion since I’ve started drawing Buffy!

4&5. vail: One of the misteries that puzzles me the most, Twilight aside, is the Willow-Saga Vasuki arc. And I just realised that, unlike with any other new incorporation to Season 8, you didn’t draw her first in the series, but Cliff Richards, and you’ve actually just drawn her once, in WatG p. 4, but in a dreamy kind of way. My questions, therefore, are: (1) How was the creation of the character and how involved you and Joss were on it? and, if it’s not too spoilery, (2) will we have to wait much time to see you drawing her for real (not diffussed or whatever)?

Note: While Georges didn’t really answer the question, he did provide this as a very interesting tidbit:

Georges: Oh, that Snake lady. Yeah, I think that’s something that’s supposed to come up again in the future. Not sure when it’s supposed to happen, but I think she’s become a harbinger for Willow in the astral plane or something like that. I don’t know much about her beyond that. She may be featured in the future.

6. iloveromy: If you had the opportunity to draw an episode from the tv show for a comic adaptation, which one would you do?

Georges: This is such a fan geek question it’s actually kind of cool. There were so many great episodes that I would love to tackle, but they would all pale in comparison to the tv show because you have actors, music, action and so forth. With Comics you are limited to the 2D. I will say, in comic form, the last episode of season 7 “Chosen” really had the scope beyond the tv. I think that would have looked a lot more grand in the comics, you know at the end when Sunnydale is crumbling and Buffy is jumping from building to building trying to catch the bus. That stuff would have worked great in a comic! But I’m a romantic at heart, I would have liked to do one of the drama heavy shows. I spend a lot of time having these characters ‘act’ in the comics. That’s why you’ll notice that no one is ever just standing there, I try and have my characters doing somehting if it fits in with the scene whether it’s written in or not.

7. Whedon Fan: If you could choose anyone besides yourself to draw season eight who would it be?

Georges: While it would never happen, I think Adam Hughes would be perfect for the book! He’s the guy who did the drawing for the cover to the “Once More With Feeling” Soundtrack. He is an amazing artist but painfully slow. He’s done a lot of Wonder Woman covers as well as other covers for DC. I would cream for a Buffy story from him!

8. bamph: I’ve read that you have been following Angel:After The Fall.Now that it’s over,what are your final thoughts on the story and what happened in it purely as a fan of this universe?

Georges: I tried following it in the beginning but It became really hard to follow the storytelling after a while. I think these types of properties, Angel, Buffy, etc., should have a very simple story telling format simply because these books are bringing in people in some cases who have never read comics before. You don’t want to make it harder for them and that’s how I felt about Angel, I was working too hard. I think all the people involved with the book are talented, so I don’t mean to single anyone out.

9. AndrewCrossett: In "The Long Way Home," when Willow is being tortured her mind takes refuge with a group of very strange looking goddesses or female spirits. Did Joss specify exactly how those women should look, or did he give you a theme for each of them, or did he just say "make ’em look weird?"

Georges: Yeah, Joss knew what he wanted for those ladies. I don’t know where he comes up with that sort of thing but when he does, all you can do is strap on your helmat and try to give the man what he wants! I told him in the beginning of our working relationship not to hold back. If he had a comment about the art, good or bad I wanted him to feel free to express it. He’s been really good about telling me what he wants.

10. AndrewCrossett: And can you tell us if we’ll be seeing those women again in the future issues?

Georges: I don’t know if we’ll see them again, just know that they are more in Willow’s world so if there was ever a time where she might be threatened again I wouldn’t be surprised if they turned up.

11. cheryl: The statement has been made that we know Twilight but when can we expect to get some concrete hints as to who Twilight really is?

Georges: Believe it or not there have been hints about Twilight’s identity already, but they’re so obscure that it would be next to impossible to narrow them down. When all is revealed you’ll go back and make the conections, I promise. There’s going to be a big reveal towords the end of season 8, like Joss does with all the big bads, so you wont have to wait for the very last issue to find out.

12. cheryl: What do you anticipate to be the fan reaction when Twilights identity is revealed?

Georges: Shock. Surprise. Panic. Anger. Shame. Delight. Disbelief. Take your pick (I’m not kidding).

13. El Diablo Robotico: This goes way back to the very beginning of the season, so hopefully that’s not too far back to remember, but in the opening of the second issue, we see Giles on a balcony, overlooking a group of slayers as they train. Do you recall what city that was supposed to be set in? (The onion-domes on the building in the background made me guess possibly Moscow?)

Georges: Close, That was St. Petersberg in the former Soviet Russia. Remember the Slayer explosion hit world wide.

14. El Diablo Robotico: What’s involved with drawing a real location like that? Or Cleveland, or Tokyo, or any other well-known spot that we might see as the season goes along?

Georges: All the places our slayers go are real, I think. I’m drawing them in Tibet at the moment so I’ve got all this Tibetain reference around me. I try and stay as authentic as I can. If I can’t I will try and borrow the feel and arcitecture of that place where ever it may be. Brian K. Vaughen who wrote “No Future For You” the Faith arc is from Cleveland so he was all jazzed that he could start his story there. That’s a real bridge that Faith is sitting on in the beginning.

15. Emmie: Any personal anecdotes you can share about your working relationship with Joss? Or any aspect of working on S8?

Georges: It is a great ride I’m having on this book. While Joss is overseeing the season in every way I don’t get to speak to him as much if he’s not actually writing the book. But the cool thing is that all the other writers have been involved in Buffy in some way so it’s still like getting the feel for the show, I think. Joss has to approve all the scripts that come in so he is still very much involved. What I like about Joss is that he wants your involvement when you’re working on the book. When all is said and done I will have the distinct pleasure of having a very big influence on the Buffy art wise. I am very proud of that. Years from now when people finish watching all the seasons on disc someone will tell them that season 8 was produced in comic form and they will forever have that look in their minds when they read it.

16. Emmie: Your action sequences are always quite dynamic. Where do you get your ideas for the sequences? Do you model them after moves in the TV show, or movies? Anywhere?

Georges: This is where Joss wanted to differ from the TV show. He wanted the action to be much bigger, the scenes to be more grand in scale and have more of an unlimited budget to it. I have tried to invoke that into all the stories I’ve done. I try to think if this were a film how would they have done it. And I think where dynamics work best are in comics so I have tried to create a sense of dynamics and keeping it with a realistic feel.

17 daryth: Is it stated explicitly in the script how many panels per page, and how big or small they would be, or is that something that you get to choose? If you do choose, how do you go about that choice? And...

Georges: Yes, it is stated in the script how many panels there are. I work from full scripts so all the dialog is there and what the action is. I will break a story down visually and if I think I can tell the story in fewer panels I’ll suggest that or if I need to extend something by extending panels I’ll do that too.

18. daryth: What specific scene so far were you super excited to draw? As in, you got the script, saw a scene, did a happy dance that you would get to draw it, andthen actually drew it?

Georges: I loved doing the Mecha Dawn stuff! I’m a huge Godzilla fan as is Drew Goddard the writer of that arc, and it was a joy to draw! Like I said, I’m a character artist so I get excited when I have to do a character piece. I just finished a scene with Buffy and Giles talking together and while it was only 2 pages I just labored over how they stood or sat and what they were doing with their hands and such. I love it when I can emote the feeling behind what’s being said, because let’s face it, a large part of Buffy is the dialog, and I want the characters to look true to what they are saying.

19. sosa lola: My question would probably sound fangirlishly shallow, but will we see Xander wearing something else in future issues? Hopefully something that doesn’t involve a top? *Remembers #6 fondly*

Georges: It’s funny you say that, When I did the issue where Xander is hitting the punching bag with his shirt off, I actually called Joss and had a conversation with him about how built Xander has become. We talked about how he would have gotten into shape since season 7 but he wouldn’t have become mister beefy bouncer man. More like what he looked liked when he tried out for the Sunnydale swim team, which sharp eyed views will note the shirt he puts on in that scene reads the Sunnydale Swim team. There’s also a small homage to Hellboy that no one has caught in there. So while I wouldn’t rule out Xander sans top, it’s not in the immediate future.

20. Rowan Hawthorn: My question, following up on El Diablo Robotico’s question: There has been some debate as to exactly where Willow and Kennedy have been living - we saw their apartment, but I don’t think anyone has placed the location. Can you fill us in?

Georges: That’s a good question. I have no idea. I have no imput on issues I didn’t draw and while I was going to do that issue time became an issue so I had to back out. I want to say they were in New York because that’s where Kennedy is in the Fray arc, but I don’t know that for a fact.