Titans Vinyl Buffy the Vampire Slayer Unboxed

This time, Matthew from NerdNewsToday and I took a look at the Titans Vinyl Buffy the Vampire Slayer set. This was the set I was most excited about for our first round of Titans reviews (yes, there will be more, we love Titans). I don't want to give to much away, but this box gave me a bunch of feelings.

Celebrating 20 Years of Buffy: Buffy's Impact of Mental Illness

It's Buffy's 20th Anniversary and you're going to see tons of memories and reflections about the cast/crew and Buffy's impact on society and how amazing she is. Instead of repeating what many will discuss, I want to take a few moments to reflect on Buffy’s impact on me.

Like most people, high school was a strange time for me. Aside from the hormones and figuring out who I am as a person and navigating relationships and friends and all that fun stuff, I was also struggling with severe depression and anxiety. My mental illnesses caused me to miss a lot of opportunities and time. I honestly don’t remember large chunks of that period, but one thing I do remember is Buffy. 

NYCC '13: Chat with Georges Jeanty about the Whedonverse

At New York Comic Con, I got a chance to chat briefly with Whedonverse artist Georges Jeanty. And I mean briefly chat. It was exactly 4 min 50 seconds. I timed it. He did confirm some details for me about the upcoming Serenity comics. I also quickly questioned him about any upcoming involvement with Buffy.

Ok, I bulleted all the details for a quick read. Just remember, 

This post is SPOILER-FILLED so if you are allergic to spoilers, go read another tasty article on [insertgeekhere].

Review: Spike: A Dark Place

By Reboot

Spike: A Dark Place TPB collects issues #1-5 of the mini-series of the same name.  Like all of Whedon's properties in comic book form, it is put out through Dark Horse Comics.  As always, Joss Whedon is credited as Executive Producer, and this particular story is scripted by Victor Gischler, penciled primarily by Paul Lee, with chapter break art by up and coming cover artist Jenny Frison whose done covers for Hoax Hunters, Revival, and will be doing one of the Red Sonja covers as well.

This particular story in the Whedonverse takes place in the middle of Buffy Season 9.  For those of you who familiar with Dark Horse, you know that Buffy has continued since it ended with its 8th season in comic book form with Joss' oversight and approval (so it counts!).  In the case of this story, if you aren't well read in the post-TV seasons, you will feel out of place.  There are wise cracking and endearing bug aliens, Spike is on a spaceship, and did I mention the bug aliens?  Do not let this discourage you, Buffy fans!  The same sort of witty exchanges can be found here.  However, in the case of this story, it does fall a little short at times.

2012: The Year of.....

Borrowed from cloudtimes.org

Another year at its end, 2012 brought us a lot of stuff that we celebrated or cried over as the year went on...Disney buying Star Wars, The Hobbit, Marvel Now, and another failed apocalypse. However, some of the best moments came from one persons mind. Yes, you have probably guessed who I am talking about.

A Small Bit of Amazing at BEA from Amazon!

We saw a lot of cool stuff at Book Expo America in the past two days, and we still have one more to go!  However, I just couldn't wait to share these little bits of amazing with you.  Best shelf of the event so far was this awesome at Amazon Publishing

 

There was a lot of awesome but I was drawn directly to the Buffy and Federation books.  Buffy: Making of a Slayer looks fantastic.  I was only able to read a small excerpt but it chronicles the journey to get it on the air.  It will also include some special features like pages from a Watcher's Diary and a copy of Olivia's sketch of the Gentlemen from Hush.  

Federation: The First 150 Years is more like a history book.  In fact, the excerpt I read actually is a history book that covers Federation's history and seems like it belongs in the Academy's library!  Very fun read, especially for a trekkie like me.  Both are due out in November 2012 and I promise to get more info!

There wasn't any info on the Star Wars books but they both look fantastic!  I am already working on details and promise to share soon!  Update: These two books are already out and available on Amazon!  I can say they both seem like an excellent deal for any Star Wars fan.  You just need to decide if you are walking the path of the Jedi or learning from the Sith!  Until then, we will continue working Book Expo America for all the info we can get!


Like what you just read? Let us know in the comments below and keep up to date by following us on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr!

NYCC '11: Interview with Dark Horse Editor Scott Allie

The Whedonverse is very precious to me. It kept me sane as a teenager, and Buffy: Season 8 was my gateway drug into comics. So when the chance to talk to Whedonverse editor Scott Allie, I lost my cool and went total fangirl. Luckily, I got myself together before I met him at NY Comic Con.


I was desperate to talk with him about Buffy, so I immediately asked about what challenges he wants to see Buffy take on in Season 9. He responded that she needs to figure out what the next stage of her life will be. As he puts it, "Her life was on this trajectory that was kinda up, up, up, up and now all that's behind her. She just has to be a girl living a life in San Francisco, and it's like the epic scope of that part of her life is behind her, and she just has to figure out how to move forward."


Then I asked him about the pressures of dealing with such dedicated fans. As he puts it, there are many differences between each fan groups. Even the Whedon subgroups are radically different. Then he gave me a great quote....

Video Friday: Seth Green Edition

As you have probably heard by now, Seth Green was recently asked about hosting Saturday Night Live and it was revealed that he had always dreamed of it. Well, the IGH team got together and asked, "Why hasn't he hosted already?" Wilderowens immediately rattled off five reasons why he should and given more time, would have rattled off a million more. But here is a man who has been in the industry since he was child, he's proven time and time again to be brilliantly comedic, and he's an extremely successful writer, director, and producer to boot. It seems like there's nothing he can't do. So why hasn't SNL contacted him?


Anyway, we have decided this needs to happen. We have started the campaign to get Seth Green on SNL. We set up a Facebook group and a twitter campaign has begun. To keep with the spirit, today's Video Friday is all about Seth!


We're going to kick things off with a classic Seth commerial. The hair! I would never want to revisit the styles of the 80's in real life but I sure do love seeing them onscreen. I think I would buy the product just because of his hair.





Not only is this just a fun movie but it also brought together a young Seth Green and Alyson Hannigan. Even then, you could tell they were great together.





What I really liked about this guest spot was seeing the subtleties that were played out. The character was still funny and interesting, but he was also less over the top. I'll admit it reminded me of Oz if Oz spoke more. It was great because allowed a different fan base to see how diverse Seth could be. And yes, after I screamed, I then wept like a baby at the end. I swear sometimes having emotions sucks.





Seth wrestles! This made my day! It highlights just how diverse he is. Most people wouldn't think of Seth as a "wrestler" but all you have to do is look in his eyes or watch a movie or two, and you'll know, he's scrappy. Granted, he didn't get a lot of ring time but come on, you know you loved seeing him in the ring.





Robot Chicken is one of my favorite shows and I'm not just saying that because of Seth. The second I saw all my beloved 80's characters being brought back to life in hilarious and slightly disturbing way, I was sold. This is one of my favorite Robot Chicken promotions. It's funny, spot-on, and the man can rock the eyeliner.





I know we've featured this video before, but we love it and it just so happens that Seth plays an important role in it and his awesome wife, Clare Grant, is one of women who make up Team Unicorn. Getsuyobi even suggested that when Seth hosts SNL, Team Unicorn should be the musical guest. It has my vote!





There you have it. A brief and all too short highlight of Seth Green's career. I know I left out a lot of stuff but the man's been in practically everything. I'd be here for days or weeks or maybe longer. Besides, this isn't the last time we'll be talking about the awesomeness that is Seth.




Wait! 




What's this? One last clip?


We all know no Seth Green tribute would be complete without a shout out to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The character of Oz has wildly dedicated and loyal fans. There are still debates over who Willow should have been with - Oz or Tara. But I didn't want to give you just any random Oz clip. Instead, here's a fun, behind the scene clip with Nick Brendon and Charisma Carpenter.





So, tell your friends, spread and tweet the word (hashtag #sethgreenhostsSNL) and join the group! Let get Seth Green on SNL!

Like what you just read? Let us know in the comments below and keep up to date by following us on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr!

Four Questions I want to send out into the Internet Void

As I sit here trying to write about a topic, any topic that would be mildly interesting, I find that I
have too many questions and not enough answers. I ask the Internet Void to answer me.....though I doubt I will get the answers I want.



1 - Why does Syfy make such crappy movies and such great TV shows?

You would think by now that they would be able to do both. If the right people are what it takes, you know that you have them. Just ask them to squeeze out a movie in between shows. Jane Espenson makes some of the best shows on Syfy, just hire her for one more movie. I guarantee you won't regret it.


2 - Why do they continue to destroy my childhood by remaking TV shows into crappy movies?

Yogi Bear is enough but hearing about the Thundercats movie is too much. Just leave them alone and my memories untarnished. Sometimes it is just for the best. If you mess with She-Ra, I will cut you.


3 - Why do they continue to (poorly) reboot movies that are considered classics?


You may think that this comes from the Buffy reboot, but the reboot that angered me the most is Yours, Mine and Ours from 1968. Classic movie that was destroyed in 2005 by a movie that was nothing like the original. They basically took most of the backstory and filled in the rest with stupidity. Just makes me :(


4 - When are Video Game companies just admit they are trying to recreate the holodeck from Star Trek?

C'mon the Wii, Playstation Move, and XBox Kinect are just precursors to Star Trek's holodeck. All of these engineers just need to admit they are fulfilling that fantasy. Yes, it's true they may also have a dark desire to really kill zombies or play in the NBA, but I choose to believe that this stems back to spending their childhood watching them hangout in the Enterprise holodeck.


Do you have any answers, oh Great Void? 'Cause all of these things kinda piss me off.

All the Buffy opinions are in and we have a highfive!

So the Buffy Reboot news is in and we have learned a few facts:

1 - Kristy Swanson loves the idea and wants in.
2 - Joss = :(
3 - Warner Bros. says they asked Joss first!
4 - Fox had first dibs on reboot and passed
5 - Wait, Wha?!

Yep, that is the one story that fans seemed to miss in all this.

Fox got one right!!!

Yes, they really hurt us with Firefly. The way they handled that was terrible and awful and makes me want to curl into a tiny ball while I wear my Jayne hat. Some fans feel like they hurt us with Dollhouse but I really feel like they protected us. They didn't have to give us season 2 and they did. That says something. But this is a brand new day! They have finally learned what we are worth and that makes me feel loved.

Highfive Fox. You earned it.

From Classic Fun

This is part of our ongoing "Buffy Movie" coverage. You can read our posts here and here.
To see what others are saying about this, check out Action Flick Chick's Reboot Reactions roundup here.

Opinion: What to Do When the Buffy Reboot Comes Out

Ever since it was announced that Warner Bros. was going to go ahead with their cockamamie plan for a Buffy reboot, the Whedonverse fans have been in an uproar. I am among them, and I have been trying to figure out what the best way to deal with this is. Many fans say to boycott the movie. That was my initial reaction, but as I gave it more thought and read more comments across the internet, an idea started to form.

We, as fans, have to decide if we are Whedon fans, Buffy fans, or both. The Whedon fans are those loyal to all things Whedon, while the Buffy fans care more about her than the man who brought her to life. If one is a Whedon fan then it makes sense to boycott the movie. It is absolutely ridiculous to make a movie without its creator, but it has been done before. A perfect example is the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. Wes Craven created him, but he does not own Freddy Krueger, and this led to a lot of problems with most of the sequels. In fact, the sequels that are considered the best of the bunch are the ones Wes worked on, Dream Warriors and A New Nightmare. This is what we are trying to avoid with Buffy. We don't want a new movie that is going to suck so hard Warner Bros. starts clamoring for Joss to come and make a better Buffy movie to wipe away the taint of the second movie. While we would like a Joss made movie, I don't think he would do it. Joss has been screwed over so many times by the industry, I have a hard time believing he'd make a Buffy movie. Maybe in a decade or two, long after the comics have ceased to exist, the fans are going rabid, and an embarrassingly large amount of money is thrown his way.

We are all going to be monitoring the progress of the reboot. We will be critical of casting decisions, who the crew is, and most importantly, the story and how it's written, but ultimately, I think the movie will have to be seen. I do not believe it will be a good movie, but I have to wonder what if Whit Anderson pulls off a miracle and writes an amazing movie? What if she genuinely pays homage to Joss? As a Buffy fan, I think it would be terrible not to experience the movie if it is great, but if the movie is bad, there is no way I am putting down hard earned money for something that is pooping all over a 'verse I love. So, what to do?

I propose we send in designated viewers. We convince one or two of our friends to see the movie and then report back to us. If they deem the movie worthy, we go in droves to support it. If it's unworthy, we get to not only issue a GINORMOUS "I told you so" to anyone and everyone who will listen, including the execs who green-lit the project, but we will be able to explain exactly what was wrong with it, other than Joss' absence.

Warner Bros. does not understand just how intelligent and driven Whedon fans are. They think if it says "Buffy," we will put down money to see it, no matter what the quality is. Once again, they underestimate us. We are the fans who created such a demand for Firefly that it was released on DVD, we got Dollhouse a second season, and we are the ones who brought Serenity to the big screen. There would be no Buffy, Angel, Dr. Horrible, Firefly, or any of the various spin off comics without us. We have made the Whedonverse a lucrative one because we are fiercely loyal, but we will not settle for crap.

So please, don't out right boycott the movie if you are a Buffy fan, but do NOT give a lot of money to the movie until it has proven its worth. Show Warner Bros. they cannot take us and Joss Whedon for granted.

This is part of our ongoing "Buffy Movie" coverage. You can read our first post here.
To see what others are saying about this, check out Action Flick Chick's Reboot Reactions roundup here.

Assemble the troops, we have a demon to fight.

Courtesy of Active Dollhouse

When will movie execs learn not to mess with our favorite characters? While I understand that rebooting a story is cheaper than creating a new one, when it is done poorly, it just brings the whole saga down. Which is why I died a little this afternoon.

Today we learned that Warner Bros. will be rebooting Buffy the Vampire Slayer without Joss Whedon at the helm. More than a few things about this infuriate me, so here they are:

1 - This news is maddening since they say in the press release that:


"There is an active fan base eagerly awaiting this character’s return to the big screen."


As a member of this "active fan base", I just want to say this is not what I want. This is not what my fellow Buffy fans want. We want our slayer to be continued by her creator, Joss Whedon. This is the same person that is continuing the Buffy character right now in comics. Did they miss that?

Courtesy of Dark Horse Comics

2 - Speaking of Joss, what is this statement?


"Warner Bros. Pictures optioned the rights from creators Fran and Kaz Kuzui"


Am I missing something or didn't Joss Whedon create Buffy? They are producers. I will credit them with helping give BtVS a chance to be seen but they didn't create it. They paid for it. I paid for this computer but that doesn't mean that I can say I built it and Dell can go to hell.


3 - BtVS (the show) only ended in 2003. With most remakes happening decades after the end, why rush this? If you really care about the character's development, take the time to work on it. According to the LA Times, this could be out late 2011 or 2012. To work on having it out in 2012, the same time as Joss Whedon's Avengers, seems to be rushed. I wonder why?

Courtesy of 20th Century Fox

4 - To have this written by a complete newcomer also worries me. Whit Anderson has done nothing that I can find. Taking on rebooting a fairly recent story as a first project sounds like a daunting and overwhelming task. Most actors, writers and directors are often scared to reimagine beloved characters, lest bringing the wrath of the fans. As fans, we achieved Serenity from a TV show, Firefly, that was canceled almost immediately. We convinced Fox to give Dollhouse a chance to tell its story. When we have shown our passion for these characters, the industry has taken notice. I wish that Whit Anderson feels that fear and respect for us, for Joss and for this character. We all deserve it.

"Now, we can do this the hard way or... well, actually, there's just the hard way. "

Yes, I can admit, perhaps I am jumping the gun and getting a little too excited about this, but I grew up with Buffy, Xander and Willow. They were a year ahead of me in school. They dealt with things I feared before I did: the Prom, Graduation, College Roommates.... Right now, I feel like my fandom is being tarnished and I don't like it. We need to let Warner Bros. know that this is not what we want and they will have to do it without us and our $$.

Source: For those interested, here is a link to the full release on The Wrap.



*Update* Joss has spoken. As with every other time the industry has screwed him over, he has responded with humor, intelligence, and most importantly, class. For that, Joss, we love you all the more.

Musical Friday: Whedon Edition

@Wilderowens here with a Whedon-flavored treat.  With the Dollhouse dvd coming out this week, a new music video was released as a treat for fans.  This is not the only great music coming from actors in the Whedonverse.




This is "Remains" by Maurissa Tancharoen & Jed Whedon.  This video is hauntingly beautiful and such a great tribute to the show.




This is the Macarena sung by Amber Benson, Tara Maclay from Buffy, and Common Rotation, which includes Adam Busch, who we know as skinless Warren.  This video was actually a gift to her fans for posting comments about her book, Death's Daughter.  You can learn more about Amber Benson in this interview.





This is actually a tribute video for "Do You Want to Date My Avatar?" by Felicia Day, creator of The Guild, also know as Vi from Buffy and Penny from Dr. Horrible. This is just funny.


I also wanted to include Christian Kane's new video, The House Rules, but CMT won't let the video embed properly!  You are going to have to watch our favorite lawyer here.  I am not a huge country fan but he adds a little rock in there.  His voice is great and he is so hot.




This is Adam Baldwin singing his Firefly classic, The Hero of Canton. I just love his passion and his hat.




This is Joss singing from Commentary! on This American Life. He is my master.

We got an interview with.....Amber Benson!!

Sunday, as New York Comic Con was ending, a book signing was happening downtown. We had wanted to go because we are all fans of Amber Benson, but as you might have read in our recap of day three, we couldn't due to wacky shenanigans. Instead we sent a friend of the IGH team, Faith, to cover the event. This was especially fortuitous because Faith happens to be acquaintances with Amber. So without further ado, please give a warm welcome our guest blogger, Faith, and enjoy! 

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Interview with Amber Benson

Sunday, I caught up with an acquaintance of mine at her book signing at Books of Wonder, on W18th Street in NYC. The acquaintance in question is the renaissance woman, Amber Benson.

After a wonderful panel including Amber, Mindi Scott, Laura Toffler-Corrie and many others, as well as book signing by these amazing writers, who call themselves the 10'ers, the 2010 incarnation of a community of authors debuting YA or MG novels, (The 2009 incarnation was called the Debutantes, and the 2011 writers will have a catchy nickname as well.) Amber made some time for me and was more than willing to answer my questions.

Will [your movie] Drones be coming to NYC?

Slamdance took up a lot of the promotional time for Drones, and as hard as we tried to make deals with IFC and the like, it just didn't happen. However, it's coming to mainstream theaters in March, so it isn't much of an issue.

What are you currently writing? 

I'm working on the fourth book in the Death's Daughter series. Book three will be out in March, it's with the publishers now. There's going to be a fourth and a fifth book.

Any news on Ghosts of Albion?

Oh, I would SO love to write more of that, Chris [Golden] and I would both love to write more of them, but our Editor left, so we're sort of stuck on that front at the moment... but keep your eyes open, we both love it so much.

What are you doing now? New books, new film projects, acting?

Adam and I have another film project we'd like to begin, we're working on funding right now. It's sort of a "Hard Day's Night" meets "Cinema Verte". We're definitely in the planning stages, so you heard it first!

How is Adam [Busch]?

Adam's great, he wishes he was here, actually. He's in Phoenix, for Drones, it's sort of the baby we have joint custody of, sometimes he watches it, sometimes I do. He's on diaper duty right now.

Does it bother you when people come to the book signings and are strictly Buffy fans?

Not at all. It's all part of the package, and y'know, I feel like no matter how they got here, they're still here. It's really great to be recognized in that way.

So, with how busy you are, what's your guilty pleasure right now?

Reading. Most definitely. I write so much, that it's wonderful to be able to sit down with a book. I love mysteries right now, I'm reading a book by Henning Mankell. It's really wonderful.

Amber's always wonderful to talk to, and I consider myself very lucky to count her among my acquaintances. She promised to keep me apprised of her projects, and I'll keep all of you in the loop!

~Faith Alana Alastair (@faithlessfate)

Why I Don’t Hate Dawn Summers

This summer I was one of the lucky few to attend San Diego Comic Con.  Con ends with a showing of the Buffy Musical.  As a huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan, and I mean crazy psycho huge, I was excited to attend this.  I had never done Once More With Feeling in public, unless you count me singing in the subway.  We get there and the musical starts….then the heckling begins.  Not minor teasing heckling, but people are shouting “DIE!” or “Shut Up” every time Dawn comes on the screen!  WTF people!  I admit, Dawn was never my favorite character, but she doesn’t deserve that level of hatred.  This really got to me because it just didn’t seem fair.  I even did some online searches and found a hate listing for Dawn!  In response to this travesty, I have made a list of 7 reasons why we should not hate Dawn.


(WARNING: These are kinda spoilery for the character through the TV series and the comic books.)

Seven Reasons NOT to Hate Dawn Summers

1. Great sister bickering.  Made me feel like my own big sister was there! (Hi KJ!)

2. As the Scoobies got older and Joyce passed away, Buffy needed someone to care for; Dawn provided that outlet.

3. Stop blaming Dawn for Buffy “Walking Through the Fire.”  It was Xander’s Fault!!  Just because we all love him doesn’t mean he isn’t an idiot sometimes.

4. Nice change from Xander and/or Willow being the one who caused all of the trouble.

5. If you were 13 and being cut open on top of a metal structure built by crazy people, you would cry too!  (Don’t lie, I saw you!)

6. She was a giant, a doll and a freaking centaur.  That’s just awesome.

7. Dawn may have been an annoying kid but every preteen is annoying!  Just go to your local mall if you don’t believe me.

What do you think?  What are your reasons?


I may continue this topic with other characters that people hate for no real reason.  If there is a character you want me to defend, leave their name in the comments below.