Buffy : Season 9

1. Wenxina: Hi Scott. Good to continue our tradition with these Q&As. Thanks for taking the time to talk to us. Can you tell us what the title of the arc following "Billy the Vampire Slayer" will be?

Scott: "Welcome to the Team", in four parts.

2. Bunny Hearts: Hi, Mr. Allie, thanks for taking the time to answer questions. You guys decided to change the narrative format of the comics in Season 9 to more closely follow the TV show— small story arcs designed to be taken as an "episode"— and I was wondering how well it seems to be working compared to Season 8, and if you’d continue using it into Season 10?

Scott: Well, the decision to make a change wasn’t about the length of the arcs so much as the scope of the stories, the more personal nature of the stories. And we’ll continue with that. Season 8 was mostly arcs of four issues followed by single issues, and we’ve mixed that in with two- and three-issue arcs, which I’ve liked, and am going to continue in some of my other books. We’re going to be doing that sort of thing more in the Mignola books, because of how much I’ve liked it in the Buffy books when we’ve done it. So we’re happy with it, and I imagine we’ll continue next season, although a lot of things might be different next season.

3. Sire: Hi Scott! Thankyou for answering our questions, your devotion to fandom is much appreciated! Just wondering if there’s any foresight on Joss himself writing an issue or (fingers crossed) an arc for Season 9? Perhaps the finale?

Sire: No such plans. That poor guy gets busier and busier ...

4. Bamph: Hi Scott, what’s the current status of the miniseries situation for Season 9? We have Spike and Willow. The Drusilla miniseries seems to be still up in the air although both Georges Jeanty and Juliet Landau indicated that it was still in the cards recently. But at Comic Con, Joss said that he dropped the news on you at the convention about another miniseries he wants to do. So I was curious if there are any other miniseries in the cards for Season 9 after Spike and Willow?

Scott: Nope, Willow and Spike are the only ones, unless Drusilla comes together. At this rate, I could imagine Drusilla coming together sometime after Season 9 is over, but it would still technically be part of Season 9 ...

5. Stoney: Hi Scott, thanks as always for answering our questions. There has been surprise at how little Xander and Dawn have featured this season and disappointment that now both Willow and Spike are away too (Willow having been out of Buffy’s title for a lot longer). Consequently the focus has fallen around new characters interacting with Buffy more (Dowling, Severin, Koh) and even more peripheral original characters (Andrew, Kennedy). There always seems to be general resistance by fans to accept new love interests that are new characters or to have panel time taken up with a story which is pretty focussed on a new character when well loved characters are left out. Is it difficult to balance expectations that the key TV show characters will be focussed on whilst still telling the story that is wanted for Buffy? How restricting is it to the story progression and does it create frustrations? Thank you.

Scott: It is difficult. As fans of the show ourselves, we want the show characters to be in there too, but all sorts of factors go into it. And we know that doing as little as we’ve done with Xander would get a certain reaction, but it was the right thing for the story—so we don’t let the story be restricted by what we think the fans want. We aren’t totally blind or uncaring to that, but we follow the story where we think it needs to go. When the season is over, Xander fans will be disappointed that he wasn’t on more pages, but I think his story will have added up nicely.

6. SueB: Thanks Scott for chatting! I have a practical in-comic question. Where is Buffy living? She moved out of her apartment and onto the bug ship. She looked like she might be bunking at the security company complex but it’s unclear (Issue #13 spoiler: and she apparently turned down the money! and quit the job anyway). Doesn’t she have more stuff than a single travel bag? Much has changed but this is BUFFFY and I can’t imagine her living out of one suitcase. So, again, where (specifically: the apartment, with Dawn & Xander, a new place, a motel, etc...) is Buffy living? Thank you.

Scott: When she left Spike, she moved back in with Anaheed and Tumble. They hadn’t gotten a roommate. She kept that room when she was on base with Kennedy. When you see her again after #13, she’s living with Anaheed and Tumble again. I think there’s been a time or two when you saw her stuff in boxes. When she was living on the bugship she never fully unpacked, and was effectively living out of a couple boxes or a suitcase, but that was only a few days.

7. Sosa Lola: Hello, Scott! Any chance we’ll see a Buffy/Xander/Willow scene in the home strectch?

Scott: Definitely.

8. AndrewCrossett: Are there any plans to get Anaheed and Tumble more involved in the story, or are they only intended as occasional walk-ons?

Scott: A little more, yes. One of them will get a slightly larger role before long.

9. Morphia: Hi Scott. I enjoyed this arc of the Buffy comic. It’s my favourite of the three books by a long way at the moment. However, my question is about the Spike book. You’ve said the Spike book would be more an exploration of the character and less plot driven and that it wouldn’t really be connected to the events of season 9. However, since then we’ve learned that Nash and Pearl are due to turn up in it and that when the mini is over, Spike is to appear in Angel & Faith. Has the story for the mini been changed since you did the Q&A for Buffy 10, or was this (ie. Nash and Pearl as guest characters and Spike going to A&F) part of the plan from the start? If it has been changed, why has that decision been made?

Scott: No, no change there. What happens in the Spike mini isn’t that connected to the main events going on in other books, despite Pearl and Nash. You’ll see. And where he goes after the mini, well, that’s after the mini ... There is a good amount of action in the Spike series, but it really is an exploration of the character primarily. As it’s turned out, the Willow series, which I previously said was sort of the opposite ... has become more of the same. That is, we had a very specific, and sort of elaborate genre plot that Willow had to engage in, and while we’ve managed to tell that, we realized that there was room, and reason, to dig into her a bit more. In a recent interview or Q&A or something, I was asked about the Buffy characters regressing. In many ways, Willow and Spike’s minis are about breaking through their own regression.

10. SuzyLee123: Thanks so much for doing this Q&A It has been disscussed previously how Spike leaving has/is affecting his tragectery/the ultimate course of his and Buffy’s relationship, however, and I could be wrong I’m not sure that much has been said about how his leaving is currently affecting Buffy, for instance if he hadn’t left would the Guarded arc have still occured or was part of what sent her off in the direction of joining DeepScan his leaving since she has less to anchor her to where she was?

Scott: I think that sounds like a What If, and that that sort of thing’s up to readers to ponder on their own. I can’t give you a definitive answer about what would have happened if the story went in a totally different direction.

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http://slayalive.com/showthread.php/3031-EXCLUSIVE-Q-amp-A-with-Scott-Allie-for-Buffy-Season-9-13