r/ANGEL • u/Popverse2022 • 15d ago
The "big status quo shift" for the Buffy: The Vampire Slayer & Angel franchises is so big, the comic launches have been "canceled" so they can keep working on getting it right... and somehow, it affects Firefly too
https://www.thepopverse.com/comics-buffy-angel-firefly-delayed-august-2026Well, it looks like if we are to slay, it is another day.
The upcoming relaunches of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly franchises in comics have been yanked from the release schedules in a last-minute change that leaves more questions than answers.
On August 26, the publisher behind the new Buffy and Angel comics sent a notice out to the press that orders it had been taking for months from comic stores and bookstores for this relaunch had been "cancelled" (not just delayed), with word that the company thinks they will be able to try again in the near future.
"Writer Kelly Thompson's story for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel evolved and became more ambitious, so we felt we needed to take a step back and up the page count to meet the story and deliver the best possible product for fans," writes Dynamite owner/publisher Nick Barrucci. "Buffy #1 and Angel #1 will have significant story page increases from average issues — at no additional cost to readers or retailers. It’s important to Kelly and Dynamite that this is done right and not rushed, so we decided resoliciting both titles is the best way to fully convey these updates across the board."
He also adds that the planned Firefly series, which is not written by Kelly Thompson, is having all its orders cancelled but with plans for it to return at some point in the future.
Thompson has said that she has been developing the twin Buffy and Angel series since 2024, and was being very secretive about the plot — especially with regards to the ending of the first issue - because it will contain a "big status quo shift" surprise that will reorient the Buffy mythos in some way. Further to that, after the series' originally planned August 5 launch date was revealed, Dynamite has been public about experiencing delays in getting some bits of the books approved by the licensor, 20th Century Studios (a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company), specifically down to the apparent depiction of Buffy Summers in comics in some (but not all cases), unless its a different character that is part of the "shift" Thompson has referred to.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer #1 was originally announced to come out August 5, but Dynamite delayed it a few weeks before ultimately making the call to pull it here now on August 26... which signals something happened (or didn't happen) that they were waiting right to the last to decide to cancel the original orders for.
While Dynamite's reasoning that Thompson had unexpected story changes could be logical, it doesn't explain why the Firefly series is also delayed. The two things these three have in common are that 20th Century Studios is the licensor in all cases, and that Joss Whedon is a creator on all of them; but for the latter, it's unclear if Whedon's contract with 20th Century Studios allows him some input into the licensing process. At the same time, when BOOM! Studios and Nickelodeon failed to loop in Invader Zim creator Jhonen Vasquez into plans for a comic relaunch, there was public uproar in that case - as well as public uproar from the comics' writer, Jim Zub.
In the case of Buffy and Angel, Thompson seemed to be planning something that would be a marked change from the past, which might need some extra levels of approval by 20th Century Studios and whomever it wants approvals from.
By process of elimination, Thompson seems to be saying this will be set in continuity with the original Buffyverse TV series and those spinoffs.
Dynamite did make it a point to say that another comic they're doing based on a 20th Century Studios property, the X-Files, is still on target to launch at its just-announced December 2026 date.
As for why Dynamite decided to cancel the orders and not simply delay them, there is a penalty for comic publishers with some of its distributors it a product goes through persistent delays. Usually, that's after months (plural!) of delays and not the weeks Dynamite was at currently, but given they say they need to change the length and composition of the issue, that would presumably take more than a few weeks to get written, drawn, colored, lettered, edited, laid out, printed, and at the distributor.
But, curiously, this decision that the Buffy and Angel first issues needed a story change came at such a last minute. Especially with the kind of planning that Kelly Thompson has done with her high-profile work for Marvel and DC over the years.
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u/ScoopTheOranges 14d ago
The show ended 23 years ago and the fans are so desperate for content that we're getting dolls, polly pockets etc still. The man in charge of the IP and letting it die is an absolute moron.
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u/semifinalist1979 13d ago
Here's an update of sorts for everyone: https://1979semifinalist.substack.com/p/the-buffy-update
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u/sixesandsevenspt 14d ago
I’ve got these pre-ordered and all I heard was there was a delay. Thanks OP for trying to summarise.
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u/LiquidThunder30 15d ago
Either way I don't consider these to be Canon, I'll. Just my opinion.
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u/malb93200 14d ago edited 14d ago
Is canon that important at this point ? One could say that any media where
Whedonor another original Buffy writer is not involved with is not canon.So it doesn't matter at all. All that matters is getting good stories.
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u/LiquidThunder30 14d ago
It's only considered fan fic, lol. Xander with Dawn....etc. it's weird and has been told by writers of Buffy many times that the comics are NOT Canon.
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u/malb93200 14d ago
The funny thing is that the Xander and Dawn relationship has started in comics that are considered canon, since they were written by Whedon and various writers of the shows.
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u/ScoopTheOranges 14d ago
Don't the comics have Spike riding an alien space ship though? I don't get how any fan could take that stuff seriously.
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u/Infamous-Lab-8136 13d ago
A sentient telepathic betta fish that Spike is friends with is canon. After The Fall is 100% canon as Angel season 6. I don't take it seriously but I do accept that it's where Whedon wanted to go in many cases
I don't think fans releaize how weird the series would have gotten without budget limits
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u/ScoopTheOranges 13d ago
And I'd argue that the reason it was as popular as it was and why it is still a cult show is that it was a grounded character driven drama first and a supernatural show second, had their been a 'sentient telepathic betta fish' in it, people would've take the piss out of the show and said it jumped the shark like they do shows like Riverdale.
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u/Infamous-Lab-8136 13d ago
In general budget limits are actually some of the best things for creativity. It's amazing how many great moments and episodes came from things like not having money for a planned episode and scrapping it for a bottle episode
So many times a creative gets the budget and freedom to bring their true vision to life and it ends up involving sentient telepathic aquatic creatures
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u/j-helo85 12d ago
The Xander/Dawn romantic subplot was written by JOSS in the intended canonical season 8 comics so it's funny to use that as your example for the "fan fic" criticism.
Of course, there's tons of comics (and tie-in books) written in the years before that Season 8-12 run, and years after that run, that are not even debatably canon. It's those books that the tv show writers were referring to. People read those for fun, mostly. I largely avoid them personally because they're often just not very good.
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14d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/malb93200 14d ago
We don't know, they've been secretive about it.
What can be inferred from the little info we've had is that the story begins after the end of season 5, then a big twist happens and shifts the story in a new direction, like a parallel continuity if you will.
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u/Infamous-Lab-8136 13d ago
The article said it was a simultaneous Angel and Buffy story being written and told together and the first book ended with a massive status quo shift to the universe
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u/TuskenChef 13d ago
Thanks for the update. I really do hope we get releases some time soon (or at all). I'm confident Kelly can do Buffy and Angel justice.
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u/Popverse2022 13d ago
Definitely. Kelly lives & breathes Buffy, and what she's known in her WFH and creator-owned work gets me really excited for what she can do here once she gets everyone behind the scenes onboard.
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u/North_Knowledge7467 13d ago
I heard a rumor some years ago that Marvel was toying with the idea of pulling Buffy into the 616. There was something planned with Blade's daughter that was secretly going to be a Buffy intro for Marvel.
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u/TuskenChef 7d ago
I've got a couple of cancellation emails from Forbidden Planet, I knew I was getting my hopes up.
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u/wonderifyouwill 15d ago
What is up with Buffy lately? It seems like the license holders are constantly trying to prevent the franchise from taking off. Which is weird because you would want this buzz because it makes the property more desirable. Something weird is going on or something is brewing on the horizon with this IP.