Buffy : Season 8

SA: You’ve been particularly generous with your time with Buffy fans. What is it about this particular fandom that draws you to it? Have you met many Season 8 readers at conventions, book signings, etc?

GJ: It’s no big secret; I’m a fan also. I really do love this Whedonverse and enjoy lounging around it from time to time when I’m not having to work within it directly. It’s a rich vast universe filled with almost anything to satisfy the heart of anyone who gets into good melodrama!

SA: So, I recently saw that you landed a pretty sweet gig with drawing Book #4 of Grant Morrison’s 6-issue “The Return of Bruce Wayne”. Cameron Stewart was originally tapped to draw that book. What happened there, and how did you land the job? I’ve seen some of the uninked pages that CBR posted… they look great, by the way.

GJ: Yeah, that came about pretty suddenly. I found myself with a little time to kill and I called up some folks I know at DC. One guy, Mike Marts, is in charge of the Batman camp. I really didn’t expect too much to come of it, but I was looking around to see if there was a little something I could do. I figured Mike would tell me he didn’t have anything at the moment but that he would get back in touch. I did this with Marvel as well. Much to my surprise Mike said he just had a guy pull out of a project and if I wanted it, it was mine. It was just a single issue so I said yeah. I have no idea why Cameron Stewart pulled out. I was just happy to get something so quickly! It was a nice divergence from Buffy.

SA: Oh, and I have to ask… what’s it like working with Grant Morrison? The man wrote my second favorite X-Men run (New X-Men), which Joss’ Astonishing X-Men kinda used as a launching point of sorts.

I know! My one time out and I get a Grant Morrison script! How cool is that?! I wish I could say I had the same involvement with him that I have with Joss, but in truth the script was already written and I didn’t have too much back and forth with Grant. I love his work too. Maybe when the book comes out he’ll want to work together again?

SA: So, not only do you have the finale of S8 to draw, you now have Batman to juggle too. How are you managing to do that? Both Buffy and Batman are bestselling franchises for Dark Horse and DC respectively… how has the experience of drawing these two franchises differed for you?

GJ: I hadn’t even thought about that. I just try and do the best I can do when I get a project. With Batman, the story I have is a Western so I have tried to make it as gritty as possible, a far cry from Buffy which is peppered with beautiful women and not a costume in sight. They have both been a joy to work on and I would relish the opportunity to do more!

Since we are a forum that’s pretty Buffy-centric, I have to ask, where are you in terms of drawing Season 8? Last I heard, you had finished #37. Are all of the scripts in yet?

GJ: I’ve got all of the scripts and am fast finishing up! It’s great to do these last few issues, because it’s Joss and me all the way. I know fans will really appreciate Joss coming in to finish Season 8 like he did most of the other seasons! And this season will end a lot like Season 7 did, with readers going, WTF?!

SA: Alrighty, Season 8… last we saw, we had Spike’s grand arrival. Three months waiting for the next issue just seems like cruel and unusual punishment. Especially for readers that have been with the series from the start. Any tidbits that you can drop? Some cryptic remark, perhaps? Or an outright spoiler?

GJ: Spike comes back! Oh, wait, that’s not news... how about he sticks around? That unholy trinity is back in motion. All of you Spuffies and Bangels will have cause to rejoice, or is it despair? I always get those two confused. One thing’s for sure. With Joss at the helm again, you’re not going to see it coming, and no one is safe, alive or otherwise!