SPIKE: OLD TIMES

[MattBrady]

IDW has sent along a 5-page preview of the 48-page August one-shot, Spike: Old Times, by Peter David and artist Fernando Goni. We also spend a few minutes talking with David about his foray into the Buffy-verse…

Set in the current day – that is ‘current day’ a couple of years ago, Season 6 of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer in fact – the story includes flashbacks to the past that sets up the exploration of the relationship between vampire Spike and vengeance demon named Halfrek, who indirectly led to Spike becoming a vampire.

”Back in 1880, a young and somewhat vapid poet named William was hopelessly in love with a young socialite named Cecily,” explained David. “She was his ‘inspiration’ for poetry deemed so ghastly that it earned him the name ‘William the Bloody’ for his bloody awful poetry. One night at a party he confessed his love for her, and was rebuffed so thoroughly by Cecily – who told him that he was ‘beneath’ her – that he went running off sobbing into the night. And in his late night run, he encountered a vampire named Drusilla, and the rest is Buffy history.”

Then Spike met someone in the present day that looked an awful lot like Cecily, though some Buffy fans had an alternative explanation for the resemblance. David, however, is putting an end to any alternative theories.

”In the season 6 episode of BtVS, ‘Older and Far Away,’ William the Bloody – now a feared vampire named Spike – encountered (at a birthday party, of all places) a vengeance demon named Halfrek. She did a double take when she saw him, and said, in a familiar tone of voice, ‘William?’ He looked at her suspiciously and said, ‘Wait a minute...’ But when questioned by others at the party, they both immediately claimed not to have met before. Now some claim this was simply a shout-out to the fact that the same actress, Kali Rocha, played both Halfrek and Cecily. But why go for such a mundane explanation? “

Why indeed…David is not only confirming Cecily and Halfrek and indeed one-and-the-same, he’s going so far as to reveal in this one-shot they always were. Cecily/Halfrek was a demon when she first met William all those years ago.

”In fact, she's been a demon for a long time...and we'll get some indication of how and why she became one,” revealed the writer.

Old Times deals with Spike’s feelings towards Cecily and how the two have changed over the years and their feelings toward one another.

”Let's just say there's a lot of unresolved feelings there, and this story is about resolving them.”

David – who of course has had plenty of experience working in other’s sandbox’s before – weighed the pros and cons of this type of assignment.

”The pro is, there's such an ardent following. The con is, of course, that you're using someone else's toys and have to deal with a sometimes complicated approvals process. In this case, though, the Mutant Enemy folks have been no problem.”

David enjoyed it so much, in fact, he hopes this is just the beginning of his exploration into the “Buffyverse”.

” I've been in talks with IDW over a Spike limited series,” David said. “I pitched an idea they loved and, as soon as we have approvals from Mutant Enemy and the book slotted on the schedule, we'll announce it.”

[note: also included in the preview is a certain house ad slotted to run in this 48-page one-shot.

[OMAR]

Ugh. Fan-fic wedged in between episodes of a cancelled series. I'll pass.

[Tom Daylight]

This looks fun! When does Angel #1 come out? How about the trades? Are IDW trades typically priced much lower than the individual issues, they seem too expensive for me?

[Vyper]

Originally posted by OMAR
Ugh. Fan-fic wedged in between episodes of a cancelled series. I'll pass.

Get your facts straight, please - Buffy was not cancelled, it actually wrapped up. Angel was cancelled.
Also, how does Peter David qualify as a "fanfic"?

[BlueThunderArmy]

I've never been a fan of comics-based-on-tv, but I've been missing Buffy a lot lately and have decided to give Angel a shot. And since Spike is a much, much more interesting character than Angel (IMO) it goes without saying that I'll be picking this up, as well.

[ashfett]

Loved Buffy. Love Peter David. Had up and down feelings on Spike as a character, who I went from loving to wanting dead by the end of Buffy, then came to enjoy a lot again on Angel. Very much looking forward to this.

[HankPym]

Originally posted by OMAR
Ugh. Fan-fic wedged in between episodes of a cancelled series. I'll pass.

Yeesh...what this guy said:

Originally posted by Vyper
Get your facts straight, please - Buffy was not cancelled, it actually wrapped up. Angel was cancelled.
Also, how does Peter David qualify as a "fanfic"?

Really, even if the series had been cancelled, it stuns me that someone could be so dismissive of a series that ran for seven years, had a successful spinoff, and has had a comics devoted to it in the past.

[Michael P]

Guys? It's Omar.

[twoarmman]

um...Hell yeah!! This looks great!

Love Buffyverse!
LOVE Spike!!
I think PAD is a dick but damn I love his writing.
Don't care for IDW but I have to suck it up for this...

I have stayed away from IDW so far because of their prices. I've been interested in a lot of things they have done but I can't support the type of pricing they have...

But this I have to have (see how strong my convictions are huh?) If it's Buffyverse then I'm there. Yes it's over priced but I'll be getting this (and the Angel book) because I needs me some Buffyverse!! It will be my very first IDW book...

Also, I read at TVguide.com that Joss has a hand some what in the comics. He makes sure they don't write anything that will contradict what he has in store fore the characters (he says "I have every intention of keeping the Buffyverse alive").


Here's a link to the interview...
http://www.tvguide.com/news/insider/050621a.asp

I'm getting this and the Angel book but after that I'm a man of my convictions again!!!.......... until Shaun of the Dead comes out...

[Charlie Hustle]

lol never saw either show. but my friends loves them, buys the dvd releases etc. so he'll probably love this.

[HankPym]

Originally posted by Michael P
Guys? It's Omar.

I don't bother posting nearly often enough to know what that's supposed to mean. All I have to go on is what he said here.

Originally posted by twoarmman

I think PAD is a dick but damn I love his writing.

You deserve credit for not letting your personal feelings about PAD interfere with buying the work you enjoy. Not enough people do that.

[kiddo]

OOOOOOOO! Lots of head shots. Just what I look for in my comic books. I love the traced head of spike on the cover I got that same picture on my wall.To much money for me I'm out.

[ColourMan]

I *hate* Spike so very much. I'll be sticking to the Angel series. I love Angel!!!!!

[Fazhoul]

Well, as the #2 PAD fan here on Newsarama (behind Pascal of course) you can count me in. The art looks great btw.

[darrik]

Originally posted by Fazhoul
Well, as the #2 PAD fan here on Newsarama (behind Pascal of course) you can count me in. The art looks great btw.

I'll make myself the #3 PAD fan here on Newsarama (behind Fazhoul and Pascal). I don't believe I have watched the two shows, but I'm willing to pick this up just because of the name.

EDIT: Just wanted to write this so you know I'm buying this not out of blind loyalty, but because I trust that PAD can take concepts and characters I normally wouldn't be interested in, and make me interested in them.

[Son of Satan]

Guess that makes me #4 PAD fan behind you guys, unless I try to pull some kind of coup. I wasn't going to buy this, but the more I see of it, the better it looks. Hats off to PAD, having been a fan of Buffy & Angel for so long, now getting to write a story set in the Buffyverse. May there be many more to come!

~G.

[Scavenger]

Originally posted by HankPym
I don't bother posting nearly often enough to know what that's supposed to mean. All I have to go on is what he said here.

OMAR in all his incarnataions is pretty much the ultimate Newsarama troll.

[President Kang]

I really have no clue about the Buffyverse, so 90% of this story would probably go over my head. Cheers to anyone who does love it and is a huge PAD fan. Enjoy!

However, I do love, love, LOVE that Fallen Angel ad. Serious. Woah, man. Woah. Can't wait for the relaunch.

[Michael P]

Originally posted by President Kang

However, I do love, love, LOVE that Fallen Angel ad. Serious. Woah, man. Woah. Can't wait for the relaunch.

As much as I enjoyed Lopez's art on the DC series, this looks like it's just going to blow that out of the water.

[amlah6]

Originally posted by Fetsur
This looks fun! When does Angel #1 come out?

If I'm not mistaken, this Wednesday!!!

Originally posted by HankPym
You deserve credit for not letting your personal feelings about PAD interfere with buying the work you enjoy. Not enough people do that.

Yeah, like me.

It's been 5 or 6 years since I last bought a PAD comic due to a not so good con experience.

That being said, I've already ordered this book. The Buffyverse needs good writers if the characters are going to live on in comic book form, silly personal grudges be damned.

[Julio Diaz]

It's BUFFY-verse, It's PAD... how could I not be there?

In defense of IDW: yes, their books are priced higher than the average Marvel or DC book, but the quality -- both in terms of the writing and art and in terms of the production values -- makes them worth the money. I've never picked up an IDW book and been disappointed. Granted, I'm not interested in every single thing they publish (for example, I don't even watch C.S.I., so I'm probably not the audience for a comic), but I don't understand how people hate on a company that publishes books like 30 DAYS OF NIGHT and returns classic series like GRIMJACK to the stands just because economics and production values force a slightly higher price on their books. Sure, they could print on toilet paper and price the books a buck cheaper, but that would be a waste.

'Sides, IDW EIC Chris Ryall is an all-around good guy who genuinely loves comics. How do you not support a company that has someone like that running the show?

[Ryall]

Originally posted by Julio Diaz
'Sides, IDW EIC Chris Ryall is an all-around good guy who genuinely loves comics. How do you not support a company that has someone like that running the show? [/b]

I might be biased and prone to a little bit of hyperbole here, but this is quite possibly the best post I've ever seen on any message board anywhere ever.

[Julio Diaz]

Originally posted by Ryall
I might be biased and prone to a little bit of hyperbole here, but this is quite possibly the best post I've ever seen on any message board anywhere ever.

Chris, I do accept PayPal...

Seriously, wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it. I'm loving the efforts you're making to bring back great stuff like GRIMJACK and MAZE AGENCY, very glad you're picking up FALLEN ANGEL, and can't wait to see what you guys do with ANGEL et al, among other stuff.

[Cow of Pain]

This looks like fun. I've been missing my Buffy and especially my Spike fix, so I'm definitely on board!!

[Kels]

Fan fic? Peter David? Your kidding right?

Well I for one miss seeing new "Spike" stories, and happen to love Peter David's writing, so I'm all over this one!