Buffy : Season 8

Perny: How has it been working on Season 8 so far? Has it challenged you artistically in some ways?

Every project I do has it’s own challenges. With Buffy Season 8, the big challenge was trying to make the comic feel like the TV show without the book looking like it was just a jumble of traced figures and heads from the series. One of the first things Joss said to me when I got the project was that he wanted it to be a comic with the characters from the show. That, we now had an unlimited budget and that everything should be bigger! You should have heard him, he was so excited to be doing Season 8 of Buffy the way he wanted to. He told me one of the best things about working on a comic was that it was just him and the artist. He didn’t have to deal with wardrobes, sets, lighting, actors and props. He just wrote what he wanted and it would appear in the form of art. I guess that can be a very liberating feeling after working so hard for 7 years on a series having to be responsible for every little thing. Not that Joss was hands off with the comic, on the contrary, in the beginning when we were getting to know each other, work wise, there was a lot of “no, more like this...” or “this is what I meant to say...”. I find when I start work with a new writer at the beginning, that we are learning how to dance together and you’re always stepping on each others toes! I will say, one of the best compliments that Joss gave me after working on the book for a few issues, he said ’you know what you’re doing. I trust these characters with you.’ Higher praise I could not hope for.

Bluebird: What is your favorite character to draw?

This question really has a lot of levels to it, but the short answer is Buffy. She was the first person I had to draw when I got the gig, and will probably be the last in this series. I will add that all of the men have been easier to draw than the women except for maybe Andrew, and all the Women have had different levels of difficulty. Dawn being the hardest.

Willow-Tree: Did you watch the show when it aired? Where you a fan?

That’s the thing! I never caught an episode of Buffy before! That’s not true. I did watch some of the episode with Jon Ritter in it, but that was only because I was a Jon Ritter fan. So I missed the whole Buffy saga as it was airing in prime time. When I got the job Dark Horse was nice enough to send me seasons 6 and 7 on DVD and I caught up rather quickly. From there I became such a fan that I went out and got Seasons 1 through 5 on my own and breezed right through them!

To date I think I’ve seen all of Joss’s shows.

Crazy Flakes: How has your work on Buffy compared to your other experiences?

Buffy has by far been the most poplar thing I’ve worked on. I did run on Gambit that was pretty popular but Buffy fans are... well, if you’re a fan you know how dedicated you are. Which is great. I consider myself a Buffy fan and proud to walk among my brethren! Having said that, there are no other fans like Buffy fans. What I really love most about Season 8 is I’ve had a lot of fans come up to me at cons or such and tell me Buffy is the first comic they have ever read. What a great way to introduce someone to a new medium, wouldn’t you say? I’m really proud to be on this book.

Crazy Flakes: Are you familiar with Joss’ other projects, such as Angel, Firefly and now Dollhouse? If so, do you think you would be interested in drawing for the Angel or Serenity comics if given the opportunity?

I am well versed in the Whedonverse. I would love to tackle some the the Angel characters, and while it’s true that Angel and Spike were a panel in the 3rd issue, that was more of a special case. In a somewhat related theme. I did do a Cover for Felicia Day’s forthcoming comic of her Guild series. So that’s kind of in the Joss family, right? Serenity might be fun but I don’t know how well I would tackle all the space scenes. I don’t know if that’s one of my strong points, but I would brave any project that allowed me to use Monera Baccarin as reference!

JCC: How do you think the comics compare to the show, in terms of quality, direction and style?

Well, if it’s a quality thing, that’s more my area, so I would say they hold up very well! But really, the great thing about Season 8 is that it brings back several of the Show’s writers! Aside form Joss, I’ve had the great distinction of working with Drew Goddard, Steven D. Night, and Jane Espenson! How cool is that?! And every one of them came back not because it was a job, but because they love Buffy. Really. Drew was working on Cloverfield when he was doing his arc and Jane was working on Gatica, so their time was stretched as it was and they always fond the time to talk to me about their stories. I think Season 8 is very close to the show with the one obvious exception that things are on a grander scale, like Dawn being a giant or Buffy having the power of flight. (what?! You say.? Buffy flies?! It’s true! Read the latest issue!) Ultimately only the fans can say for sure if it’s like the show, but I will say I put in all the heart and drama that I can manage!

Kean: Is there anything personally you would like to see happen in Season 8?

I would like to see just who this Twilight is! Oh, wait, we’re going to do that. I love the opportunity to get to draw all of these wonderful characters I’ve watched on the show!

AndrewCrossett: Where did you get the inspiration for Leah, the ultimate red head?

I don’t know if it’s obvious, but aside form Satsu, Leah is the one character I have a real affinity for. I’ll try and put her in there as often as I can, even when she’s not directly written in. I really like her. When we started, Joss had these specific slayers in mind and he left their look up to me. I had a lot of fun coming up with these girl’s looks. I hope She comes into play a little more in the future.

AndrewCrossett: On one of the pages for issue #27 there’s an image of Oz in his cage and Bay has just brought him a cup of tea and sat down next to the cage. Oz’s background is in darkness, like the night sky, and Bay’s background is an image of the rising sun. Was that deliberate symbolism, or just an interesting coincidence?

I would love to say that was a really cool accident, but I did put some thought into that. That’s the great thing about visual storytelling, you can often portray your intent with symbolism. When I read the script for that issue, I was paying attention to how Oz was saying that he was lost and in the dark about his power (curse) I mean he did loose Willow over it. And here was this girl Bay, who was the same as he but she found the light in her curse. Bam. Two things that I read into in the script, I then tried to make visual in the art. Really good storytellers will use this type of stuff in their storytelling and make it seem effortless. I’m still a practicing storyteller so I have to think real hard about these things. More often than not, I’ll see an issue that has come out and hit myself when I see some place I could have put some visual symbolism.

Lyri: I’ve heard you mention that the hardest character for you to ’get down’ was Dawn, but who was the easiest?

Right form the get go Giles has always been the easiest for some reason. I guess because he has all these little characteristics, like glasses, a high forehead, a stout jaw line. Little things like that.

The problem with drawing women is that you have to use as few lines as possible or else they tend to look ugly, and as everyone knows Joss has this weird inner eye for finding some of the most beautiful women on television, but also very natural looking. Drawing them is always a challenge. The men I don’t have that problem with because you can put as many lines in their faces and they’ll look the same.

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