Well, this is a little beyond time frame, but the public library has a couple of Buffy comics. I picked up "Past Lives," the graphic novel by Chris Golden and Tom Sniegoski from 2001.

What crack was smoked when this was written?

I was really kinda jazzed after I read the introduction -- it sounded as though it would be really good. But the plot had holes a Mack truck could drive through, and the artwork was hit and miss, and dear lord why does Angel look like a pop star pretending to be a biker?

See, it could have been really good. And maybe I just haven't been in the world of comics enough to really have a good idea of what a story's supposed to be like. But honestly, there was no lead in. It was all about getting Buffy and Angel in the same room. The plot was secondary -- I had no clue it was Angelus when he first appeared in the story. No little box to tell me it was the eighteen hundreds. I thought we were still in the present day. There were maybe two cells where Buffy looked like herself -- one where Cordelia was drawn properly. Giles and Wesley were twins. Probably because they're English. Had the artist ever actually seen Quentin Travers? And why did Giles keep saying "Indeed?" I mean, British, but really.

And Alexa.

Please.

Yeah. What did you guys think of it when it came out?

It was a reprint of crossover of the Buffy/Angel comic. Different artists, I think.

Short version. Bleah.

Longer version. Golden's writing voice just never seems to fit the characters. He tends to a more pulpy style of action.

And fundamentally, DH has never managed to get decent artists, either due to their pay rates and/or licensing issues.

Thus the reason that the Buffy comic is consistently ranked in the 110-120 range of best selling titles, when it should be much, much higher.

And Betsy, if you have the full version of that, I would love to read it....

And fundamentally, DH has never managed to get decent artists, either due to their pay rates and/or licensing issues.

Actually, I very much like the artist who does Fray, but he still hasn't finished the next issue, so...

Ah, I suspect the artists for the Joss & ME stories worked solely because it was for Joss & ME.

Meanwhile, over at CrossGen, Karl Moline, the artist of Fray, just put out his four monthly issue of Route 666 on time. CrossGen uses the bullpen system, so it shows what a little whipcracking can do...

Meanwhile, over at CrossGen, Karl Moline, the artist of Fray, just put out his four monthly issue of Route 666 on time. CrossGen uses the bullpen system, so it shows what a little whipcracking can do...

So, what you're saying is that we should show up at Moline's house carrying implements of destruction and, er, encourage him to finish the artwork for the rest of Fray?

So, what you're saying is that we should show up at Moline's house carrying implements of destruction and, er, encourage him to finish the artwork for the rest of Fray?

No, no, we should use the method that Japanese manga editors use to get pages out of their artists.

Lock him up in a hotel and slide food under the door in exchange for completed pages.

Edit, and yes, I am not kidding, well except for maybe the food part. Apparently this legal in Japan, or at least not prosecuted...

Actually, I very much like the artist who does Fray, but he still hasn't finished the next issue, so...

Meanwhile, over at CrossGen, Karl Moline, the artist of Fray, just put out his four monthly issue of Route 666 on time. CrossGen uses the bullpen system, so it shows what a little whipcracking can do...

However, he will not make next month's issue, as Route 666 goes to a backup artist next month. This is a little unusual in CrossGen's titles; usually they don't go to the backup artists until month 6 or 7 of the run.

One thing I did notice at the end of the newest Buffy comic was that Scott Allie mentioned that they would collect Fray together in one volume, but he also said it should be "finished by the beginning of next year". It looks like the schedule has slipped even further than the 12/25/02 finish date that the website promises.

Yikes. (About Fray)

So I listened to OMWF on my stereo (rather than the cd/clock-radio that I had listened to it before.) Wow. . . and this time "Sacrifice" brought tears to my eyes.

But there are places where you miss the dialogue -- oh the crickets in "I've Got a Theory", the line about Buffy needing back-up in "Life's a show". . . that sort of thing.

There also seems to be a bit of extra transition in Under Your Spell, during the time where W/T spun out of the park and into bed. Seems longer on the new soundtrack.