Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Buffy Season Ten #16 is a successful start to what will probably be the climactic storyline of the Season Ten Buffyverse with its character driven storytelling in both art and writing with splashes of action. Gage uses the pre-existing emotional connections between important characters like Buffy, Angel, and Spike to correspond with the raised stakes in their fight against the Big Bad, Archaeus. Archaeus uses Angel and Spike’s pasts to tempt them to become soulless killers once again, and they must also confront their pasts with Buffy and each other in order to become effective allies to the Slayer and Scoobies. Christos Gage and Rebekah Isaacs effectively use both internal and external conflict along with one of the greatest fictional love triangles to kick off this mini-crossover in a way that will make fans smile and squee.

If you didn’t grow up watching Joss Whedon’s Buffy The Vampire Slayer then we at Sound on Sight feel bad for you. Not only did you miss vampire slaying feminism (literally), but you missed one of the best television bands out there. Always spotted playing shows at the Bronze, Sunnydale’s popular and seemingly only night …

Over the years, Jeph Jacques has created a universe bursting with interesting characters. His web comic, titled Questionable Content, focuses on Marten Reed who is just starting his new life in Northampton, Massachusetts. The comic follows Marten’s daily life, from work (currently at the college library) to hanging out at the local coffee shop, or drinking (usually …

Last weekend during the Fox executive session at the Television Critics Association press tour, Fox chairman and CEO Dana Waldron talked at length about their plans for the spring, which included thoughts on the direction of Sleepy Hollow. Waldron held off on announcing a season three renewal (even after handing them out to Empire, Gotham, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine), but said they were “hopeful” and there were ongoing conversations with the creative team. Citing a “high level of difficulty” in balancing the show’s characterization and mythology, she said that the show was “a little overly serialized” and promised that there would be a shift to “something that feels a bit more episodic in nature… it’s all about calibrating the show, not making dramatic changes.”

In the spirit of Sound on Sight’s 31 Days of Horror, I decided to select some horror-related forgotten television. This series fits into the genre of supernatural horror series, being described upon its premiere as The Omen meets Carrie meets The OC.

It may be more true in horror than in any other genre that certain subgenres ebb and flow in popularity over time. Vampires were hot in the mid-’90s when you had Interview with the Vampire, From Dusk Till Dawn, Blade and the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Then, vampires sat out of popular discourse for the next ten years or so, until the double whammy of Twilight and True Blood hitting in 2008, causing a tidal wave of vampiric fiction from the arty (Only Lovers Left Alive, Byzantium) to the schlocky (Dracula Untold, Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter) that hasn’t slowed down since.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Ten #7 shows that Spike and Xander together as roommates is both comedic and dramatic gold. Christos Gage and Nicholas Brendon land joke after joke starting with the first page where Spike asks Xander to move over his “dolls” so he can have room for his hundreds (possibly thousands) of Soap Digests. (Vampires watching soap operas makes weird, yet logical sense. You have to do something to pass the time while the sun is up, and not everyone can read Jean-Paul Sartre in the original French like Angel.) Artist Rebekah Isaacs adds some more humor with her spot-on reaction shots of the other characters’ faces to Spike and Xander’s odd couple antics. An issue of Spike and Xander trading banter would be an entertaining read in and of itself, but Gage and Brendon do what Buffy did and still does best by mixing its comedy with a heavy helping of interpersonal drama and a focus on character relationships. Beyond the hilarious banter, hijinks, and strange, yet fitting baddie, Spike and Xander have a lot in common.

Jack Shephard was originally supposed to be played by Michael Keaton, and he was going to die in Lost’s pilot episode. After his death, the first to be killed by the smoke monster (that honor ended up going to the plane’s pilot, played by Greg Grunberg), Kate would take over as the leader and primary …

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 10 #1 Written by Christos Gage Art by Rebekah Isaacs Colours by Dan Jackson Executive Produced by Joss Whedon Published by Dark Horse Comics Rejoice, rejoice we are about to experience the finest Buffy season in comics to date? Well, perhaps such a declaration is too premature. Season 8 and …

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 9 #1-25 (2011-2013) Written by Joss Whedon (#1), Andrew Chambliss (#2-13, 16-25), Scott Allie (#8-10), Jane Espenson (#14), Drew Z. Greenberg (#15) Pencils by Georges Jeanty (#1-4, 6-7, 11-13, 16-19, 20-25), Karl Moline (#5, 14-15, 20), Cliff Richards (#8-10), Ben Dewey (#15) Coloured by Michelle Madsen (#1-25) Inking by Dexter …

Willow: Wonderland #1-5 Writers: Jeff Parker and Christos Gage Artist: Brian Ching Publisher: Dark Horse As a television show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer has been off the air for a decade, but the Buffyverse is still going strong. When the series was cancelled after season seven, Joss Whedon and co. took season eight to Dark Horse, and 2013 …

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1, episode 1: “Pilot” Directed by Joss Whedon Written by Joss Whedon & Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen Original air date: September 24, 2013 Airs Tuesdays at 8:00 PM on ABC With the massive success of the Marvel movies, Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. arrives with a guaranteed victory. Since the series is …

Fantastic Fest kicked off its eight-day celebration of genre fare last night in style in Austin, Texas. This year’s festival has a new venue, the Alamo Drafthouse Lakeline, partly to show off the new digs and partly because the old ones at South Lamar are currently under a whole ton of construction. The opening night …

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 9 #22-24 “The Core”, Parts Two, Three and Four Written by Andrew Chambliss Drawn by Georges Jeanty Inking by Dexter Vines Colours by Michelle Madsen Executive Producer: Joss Whedon Published by Dark Horse Comics Issue #21 of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 9” saw the return of familiar faces Willow …

Spending two hours in the world of Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing inspires envy in his seemingly palatial abode, as well as delight at his effortless, carefree adaptation of an equally effortless and carefree Shakespearean comedy. There’s mistaken identity, slapstick, swooning romance, and giddy farce, as you would expect from any revival, modern or otherwise.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 9 #21 Written by Andrew Chambliss Drawn by Georges Jeanty Inking by Dexter Vines Colours by Michelle Madsen The ninth season of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” sure has moved fast. Of course, being drawn out over 25 months, it still takes a lot longer to tell than a season of …

Before the fictional world of Buffy Summers expanded into the larger ‘Buffyverse’ franchise of today – including Angel, the comic book continuations, video games, conventions and various other media spin-offs – the Slayer and her friends resided in a singular, contained microcosm of suburban America known as Sunnydale. In a way, they still do and …

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine #1-5 Writers: Joss Whedon, Andrew Chambliss Pencillers: Georges Jeanty, Karl Moline Inkers: Dexter Vines, Andy Owens Colorist: Michelle Madsen Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Ending almost exactly after Season Eight, the first story arc of Buffy: Season Nine returns to the roots of the TV show while simultaneously trying to show the characters …

Buffy the Vampire Slayer “Season Eight 31-40” Writers: Brad Meltzer, Joss Whedon, Scott Allie Pencillers: Georges Jeanty Inker: Andy Owens Colorist: Michelle Owens Letterer: Richard Starkings Published by Dark Horse Comics The last two storylines of  Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight excelled in regards to art, dialogue, and character development, but a continued focus on …

When starting a new television show, the thing I look forward to the most is the title sequence, so it only felt right to devise this list when I heard the theme was favourite television shows this month. In early television there wasn’t a huge focus on title sequences; their only purpose was to present the …

As with any favorite, the TV series we love, those we come back to time and again, tend to say a lot about us. They remind us of who and where we were when we first saw them and help us chart how we’ve grown and changed over the years. They become guides, informing our …

Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines Directed by Kristy Guevara-Flanagan USA, 2012 Though its namesake is derived from perhaps the most famous of super-powered fiction females, Wonder Women goes beyond just looking at the development of comic book heroines, examining female role models and revolutionary characters in television and film. In looking at …

The Vampire Diaries Review, Season 3, Episode 20: “Do Not Go Gentle” Written by Michael Narducci Directed by Joshua Butler Airs Thursdays at 8pm (ET) on the CW This week, on The Vampire Diaries: Mystic Falls High continues its tradition of terrible Decade Dances, Ric pulls a Bill Forbes, and Bonnie can not catch a …