The 1997-2003 television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and its spin-off Angel (199-2004) eclipsed the 1992 Buffy film that inspired them by mixing horror, humor, and heart to tell long-form stories about the horrors of high school, adulthood, and urban life. Those stories are a large reason why the Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz starring shows are still beloved by fans decades after their final episodes aired.
It’s also why the sudden cancellation of Hulu’s Buffy requel series was a blow to many fans, but hope is not lost. New Buffy and Angel stories are on the way, just from a different medium: comics!
There have been Buffy and Angel comics from a variety of publishers, but this year, the licenses for those titles move to Dynamite Entertainment, which will publish brand-new (and new reader friendly) Buffy and Angel comics. Both books will be written by Kelly Thompson, whose Absolute Wonder Woman series for DC Comics won the Best New Series at last year’s Will Eisner Awards (comics' highest honors). Ahead of the books’ release dates (Buffy #1 drops July 22 and Angel comes out August 19 from Dynamite), I spoke with Thompson about her plans for both series.
You’re writing both Buffy and Angel comics for Dynamite, and I know you’ve been a fan of both of those shows for quite some time. What was it about those shows that first captured your imagination as a viewer, and what is it about these characters that makes them still so compelling as a fan and creator decades after the shows ended?
I happened to discover Buffy at the perfect moment, where it just landed hard as exactly what I needed and had been looking for – as both a viewer and as a writer trying to figure out who I was or might be. Buffy came at a time when women as superheroes were still pretty rare, and that, plus the high school-as-horror-story vibes, made it so rich and interesting to me.
The Angel spin-off could have been a miss, I suppose, but a supernatural detective is such a rich vein of stories to tap – it just worked. For me, falling in love with the characters is how you get that kind of devotion over decades, and with Buffy and company, I never had a chance. Love at first sight.
There will be people reading this interview who’ve never picked up a Buffy or Angel comic or perhaps any monthly comic. What do you want those people to know about what you can do with Buffy and Angel stories in the medium of comics versus television?
That’s such a great angle on the question – thank you! I think the first thing comics can do that TV and film can’t do is tell stories at any point in time – actors age – which is a tricky reality, but particularly tricky in a show that has a lot of characters that don’t ever age. So at a certain point, the only stories you can tell in those mediums, without changing the characters, have to become a different kind of narrative.
Nothing wrong with that, but it’s beautiful that we don’t have that restriction. We can tell stories anywhere, at any time. We can also smash together characters that maybe didn’t get much interaction on a show where schedules and budgets are difficult to wrangle. Not a problem for comics. We can make anyone have an uncomfortable conversation. [laughs]
There have been Buffy and Angel books set in between episodes and seasons of the shows, after the shows, and in brand-new rebooted realities. What can you tell us about the settings of your books?
Our books basically assume only the shows exist. Which is not a slight at any of the comics or novels or audio dramas that have come out since the show – I think it’s amazing that the property is so strong that it commands it – but we wanted to keep it simple. If you’ve seen the show, that’s all you need to know.
That said, we went to great pains to build the first issue, especially so that it could work as a handhold to bring in all-new readers. There’s no way to ignore that longtime fans of the show obviously will get the most bang for their emotional buck since they’re already invested in these characters, but we tried hard to make it accessible for even a brand new reader.
One of the most appealing aspects of both Buffy and Angel is the casts that surround the titular characters. Who are some of your favorite Buffy and Angel supporting players, and will any of them be spotlighted in your initial stories?
The hardest thing about promoting this book has been finding a way to talk about it while not spoiling…everything. People should think of these first issues almost like we’re starting with an event book – that brings the casts of Buffy AND Angel together (though a couple of my favs take a backseat, but more on that later).
Some favorite characters…well, I like them all, so let’s not take this too seriously. But for big Lorne and Gunn fans, be forewarned that they take a backseat in this opening arc, despite being two of my favs. For favorites, we will get to see a lot of right away, well, I am obviously very partial to Buffy. But Giles, Spike, Angel, Cordelia, Anya, and Willow…ugh, I give up. I love them all.
What’s been the most fun and interesting aspect of playing with the larger mythos of Buffy and Angel monsters and villains in comics? Can you offer up any hints or teasers about some of the horrors we might see in your initial story?
Well, we’ve got a very cool big-bad…that is somehow both old and new (mysterious!). I especially dig this big-bad’s minions, the “Vampwires.” They fly – and that’s another thing it’s easy to do in comics and nearly impossible to do well in TV. Flying vamps for everyone!
So I’m excited about all the action stuff as ever. But the real crux of this story is the beating heart at the center – all the messy emotions flying (no pun) everywhere that will hopefully remind you what you originally loved about all these characters.
Who’s bringing to life your initial Buffy and Angel stories?
I don’t know if I’m allowed to talk about Angel yet – but the artist on Buffy is the excellent Stephen Bryne and the terrific Lee Loughridge, who I worked with on Scarlett, will be on colors.
I typically don’t want to do work on comics that were previously a TV show or film – and that’s mostly about the art. It’s incredibly hard to find the right match on just a regular comic book, but a book like Buffy that has to deal with likenesses and heavy reference…it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack to find someone that can do the likenesses (but not too close or that gets you in legal trouble), and the references, and can create visuals that feel like the show, while also building toward being its own thing. That’s a freaking unicorn. Fortunately, we have Stephen and Lee doing terrific work.
Giulia Giacomino is drawing Angel and she's doing an incredible job with both the action and the emotional heavy lifting required. She also designed one of my favorite aspects of the new series — these cool, very strong, wiry vampires with wings that Dawn terms “Vampwires.” Very fun, and the kind of thing that would have been hard to do in the show, but is pretty easy for us in comics.
How tied together are your Buffy and Angel books when they begin? Do you need to read both comics to get the full initial story?
For the first arc, they are very tightly connected. I think of it like us starting with an event book that brings everyone together. If you’re interested in the series, you’re going to need both Buffy #1 and Angel #1. Angel is basically a part two to Buffy. As they go, they rely on one another less and less, but I hope people will read both books for the first arcs, as that is the complete story. After that first arc, they develop more into their own separate identities.
Part of the reason for doing that, as I said earlier, is that I had a big idea, and it needed everyone and a lot of pages to make it work. But it’s also because one of the reasons the shows rarely crossed over once Angel debuted was simply because it’s a logistical nightmare (not to mention expensive) but through the magic of comics, we CAN put everyone in the same book (for a while…you don’t want to do it too long or I’m sure your artist starts looking into how best to murder you) – but it’s a great advantage that we use to the fullest.
Finally, what can you tell me about your plans for Buffy and Angel beyond your initial story? Will the titles still be tightly connected?
Even going forward, I’d like to keep more connectivity between the books, just because it’s nice to have that option and I like seeing characters that we didn’t really get to see interacting the first time around get smashed together and sometimes build interesting new relationships with one another that the shows originally didn’t have time, or the logistics for.
But I’m also excited because while this first story sort of demands everyone come together for the “big event” – I love what the original shows were – tragic supernatural detective in Los Angeles? Yes, please! High school (and later just life) through a horror meets superhero lens? Also, yes, please! It’s all my favorite things. So it will be fun to explore them in those more traditional ways as well once we get the “big stuff” sorted.
