NYC Can't Stop the Serenity Recap

Can't Stop the Serenity in New York's East Village was definitely shiny! Bitsy and I had a fantastic time. There was dancing, there were prizes, there was of course, Serenity. From what I hear, the Browncoats of NYC raised somewhere around $6000 for Equality Now! This bunch really knows how to throw a party all while doing something amazing and important. We were very proud to sponsor and attend this sold-out event. Can't wait for next year!

Bitsy and I - Browncoat Style.

Buffyfest with part of the NYC Browncoat crew.

Fabulous door prizes and Silent auction items. There were so many prizes that many walked away with 2 or 3 gifts. And party favors to boot! Chinese food containers full of Firefly-esque charms and Serenity comics. Class.

Browncoats of NYC.

Buffyfest's twitter pal @_adair in a very Buffy-esque city setting.

Check out the slide show below with more great pics from this CSTS event. 

Oh yeah, and we got really, really drunk. Again.

Now THAT I'd like to see...

Hello there readers, I’m Jayunderscorezero (aka Michael, so feel free to call me that if you like) and thanks to the kind people here at Buffyfest, it looks like I’m going to be your guest blogger for the next week.

When discussing Buffy/Angel, I can get a bit heavy (due largely to the influence of Buffy-based academic works; thank you, Roz Kaveney et al!) or just a bit bitchy (blame the stereotypical geek in me, I suppose), but today I’m going to go for something a bit lighter and just ask you guys to look in on a fun little thought experiment I’ve been having. I recently got around to reading “Time of Your Life”, the “Buffy vs Fray” storyline (I moved away from my local comic store last year and so have had to follow things like “Season 8” in the trades for now at least, hence the slight delay before reading it). To be honest, I wasn’t a big fan of the storyline, but that’s neither here nor there. One thing it did get me thinking about, though, was what other Buffy crossovers I’d like to see Dark Horse put out in the future. Now, these range from the slightly-ever-so-possibly-feasible to the never-gonna-happen-but-wouldn’t-it-be-cool-if they did, but still, I invite you to join me on this little stream of consciousness and see what you think.

Crossover idea: Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Aliens/Predator

Inspiration: These guys are Dark Horse’s classic crossover pair. Their original crossover seems to have been inspired by a simple “hey, these are both Fox/Dark Horse properties, so why not...?” and the same criteria is also true of Buffy now. Also, it’d be kind of nice to see Buffy return to her roots of taking on and subverting classic slasher/horror film clichés, and hey, Alien is one of the prototypical slasher films, you know, so it’d be a great place to start. Ooh, plus there’s that whole Whedon-connection to Alien Resurrection and the fact that Alien’s Ripley was part of the inspiration for Buffy.

Other than that though, it’d no doubt just be an excellent excuse to see these guys fighting, no?

Premise: Hmm, I don’t know, since the Buffy comics have already introduced time travel, it’s always possible that they could just jump further into the future and happen to encounter the aliens/Predators and perhaps even Ellen Ripley (unlikely perhaps, but with good potential for awesomeness). If one wanted to get truly silly, one could even have someone create some kind of Alien/vampire hybrid, just so we get to see Buffy take one of those things out with a crossbow. I mean come on, am I the first person to connect the vampire/H.R. Giger’s alien dots here? They’re both predators with alarming psychosexual undertones...Ok, I’m officially reading too much into this now. Still, think about it: Buffy, alien, crossbow...Cool, no?

Potential quality: Meh. There’s potentially a lot of good ideas here to be exploited, especially if Whedon himself got on board and brought some of his ideas from Alien Resurrection along with him. Otherwise though, this’d likely just be a silly fight comic.

Likelihood: There’ve been Alien/Predator crossovers with every comic property from Green Lantern to Magnus: Robot Fighter. Surely it’s only a matter of time...? Nah, I’m probably just being wildly optimistic there.

Crossover idea: Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Star Trek

Inspiration: There have already been a couple of X-Men/Star Trek crossovers, you know, so there’s clearly a market for crossovers that feature two completely different but similarly popular franchises.

Premise: Ever see Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, where Kirk, Spock et al travel back in time to 1980s Earth...and hilarity ensues? Imagine if they’d gone back to 1990s/2000s Sunnydale instead. Plus, what with the recent Star Trek reboot, you could even have the younger, sexier versions of the Enterprise crew meet up with the Buffy cast. Although that’d no doubt lead the way for some fans coming up with the craziest ship, the ship to end all ships and no doubt the ultimate expression of bizarre online fan love: Buffy/Kirk ("Birk"?).

Potential quality: Probably not good. Still, if you got a good artist involved, I really would like to see Chris Pine’s likeness making typical Kirk-like advances on SMG’s likeness.

Likelihood: Almost nil, sorry.

Crossover idea: Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Wizard of Oz

Inspiration: Likely inspired by me just being a massive fairytale/oz geek. This one doesn’t make a lick of sense, but just hear me out, ok? Plus, Wizard of Oz crossovers aren’t so crazy, didn’t Marvel do that thing a while back where they did Wizard of Oz but with the She-Hulk as Dorothy (who falls asleep and dreams the whole thing after being attacked by the villain Whirlwind, natch)?

Premise: Remember that one issue where Buffy falls asleep and dreams that she’s in an episode of the Buffy animated series? That’s not so far removed from the opening of the classic Judy Garland film, you know, and I’d be more than happy to read the further adventures of Buffy’s crazy psyche. So yeah, Buffy falls asleep (perhaps, in a little nod to continuity, after having just tried to watch Apocalypse Now again) and dreams that she’s in Oz (ok, maybe it’d make more sense if she were actually watching The Wizard of Oz). The good witch Willow instructs her to go and see the great wizard and on her travels she meets someone in need of a brain (Giles?), someone in need of a heart (Spike?) and someone in need of “the nerve” (Xander?). In the classic Wizard of Oz reveal, it’ll turn out that Giles always was the cleverest of the group, he just felt like an ineffectual “stuffed shirt” (get it? ‘Cause he’s a scarecrow, right?), Spike always had the biggest and most emotive heart (one could almost say “effulgent,” if one wanted to get really continuity-geeky about it) and Xander has always been the brave person he wished he could be.

Potential quality: This is too odd to really judge, honestly.

Likelihood: Almost nil. The more I write about it, the more I seem to convince myself that it’s an amazing idea and that it not seeing the light of day would be unfair to all of the fans who could potentially experience it, but then I just remember that I’m completely crazy and thatWicked warped my mind.

Crossover idea: Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Firefly

Inspiration: This one just suggests itself, doesn’t it? I mean, picture the venn diagram of Buffy/Serenity fans; I can imagine a lot of people that’d buy this one. Plus, did you know that from the very moment Firefly started, I always pictured it taking place in the same universe asBtVS, just in the far, far future. Yeah, I know there are no vampires, but still, isn’t the whole point of them that most people are unaware of their existence anyway? It’s not so impossible, you know.

Premise: The crew of the Serenity encounter some vampires, they somehow find a way to bring some experienced vampire slayers from the past forward in time to help them out...This one just writes itself, really. Plus, imagine all of the cute little character moments that you could extract from this: Jayne being all dismissive of Buffy because she appears to be just a diminutive little girl, which promptly leads to a swift joint beat-down from Buffy & River; Willow and Kaylee having a massive geek-out together (shades of the Willow/Fred meet-up inAngel); Xander having lusty-wrong feelings for Inara...

Potential quality: Non-fans would find it inscrutable, fans would “squee” over the whole thing regardless.

Likelihood: I think they may have ruined this one by already making Firefly a property that exists within the Buffy universe. Didn’t Buffy wear a Serenity t-shirt in one issue? Still, I’m alsoconvinced that they had one of the slayers reading Fray at some point, and that little artistic Easter egg didn’t prevent that crossover, did it?

I could likely come out with dozens more, but I think I’ve had enough of my own strange thoughts on the matter for now. Still, as crazy as these may seem, do try to remember that we live in a world in which Archie/The Punisher exists.

Anyway, that’s all for now. Thoughts? Suggestions? What reality-shattering crossovers wouldyou like to see take place? I’ve only really covered the incredibly geeky side of things, but if you’re really desperate to see a Buffy/Gossip Girl crossover or something, let me know.

Welcome Guest Blogger JayUnderscoreZero

Michelle will be out of town for a spell, but we're happy to announce that blogger JayUnderscoreZero will be over to fill in. J_0 runs 2 fabulous blogs As, If and When (a potpourri of internet goodness) & Little Red Riding Blog (a selection of media relating to Little Red Riding Hood and other fairy tales.) We're very excited to see what he has in store for Buffyfest and would like to extend a warm welcome!

Samm Levine talks about Drones

Samm Levine turned up on Saturdays with Steve (Agee, that is). On top of being an awesomely talented actor who most folks will remember from Freaks and Geeks, he also will be in the upcoming Ambr Benson/Adam Busch co-directed film "Drones". Here he talks about all manner of projects but if you skip forward to around the forty five minute mark you'll see that yours truly asked Samm about "Drones". The whole thing is pretty spectacularly hilarious though so I recommend just watching all of it.







Total side story: I knew Samm's brother, Max, many moons ago so every time I see Samm in something I always think "Man, I wonder how Max is". Thank you for listening to my pointless ramble.

fanvid sunday(?): wtfox edition

As I started looking for this week's fanvid sunday, it became very hard to ignore that nearly every single one of my favorite vid creators have had their youtube accounts suspended or outright deleted. It's so infuriating to see these talented peoples' voices being silenced.

Does Fox not understand what fantastic free marketing they are getting? Do they watch and see what these videos are about or do they just send out their cease and desists every time the word "buffy" appears? They are doing such an incredible disservice to the fans and to themselves. I hope that if anyone from Fox ever reads our site, they will sincerely reconsider their policies on fan videos because I truly think the way they are dealing with them now is a unnecessary and counter productive. Food for thought.

Moving right along, thanks to vimeo we still have some fanvid goodness in the world. This week Saskia Van Endert plays us out like a piano cat with this great video. Click through to enjoy!

You can find more of her videos at the link I posted above and also at her Buffyftube page. There are both Bangel and Spuffy videos to enjoy there. I figure many of you would want to check out her site specifically.

Happy Sunday, Buffyfesters!

"What if"...with Scott Allie

Have you ever wondered how the Buffyverse would be if some things had never happened or maybe just went a little differently? Us too. That's why we've decided to start a new segment here at Buffyfest called "What if" where we explore the alternate reality-type scenarios of our favorite characters.

Our first resident "What if" expert is none other than Scott Allie, editor of Dark Horse comics and all-around great guy. Here's his take on our first Sophie's Choice-esque "What if" question.

What if Giles and Willow were hanging off a cliff and only one could be saved, who would Buffy choose?

Well, Buffy would save Giles, and Willow would fly to safety on her own Wiccan power.

But if this were pre-Season 8, I suppose she'd have to resort to something desperate. Buffy says to Willow, "I know you blame me for Tara's death, but that's fine, because I was happy to help." When Willow goes dark, Buffy says, "But it was really Giles you have to thank, because he was the secret mastermind behind those three nerds." Willow let's out a big dark blast of magic, shredding Giles from the mountainside, and he's long dead before he ever hits the ground. Buffy hauls Willow up from the cliff, says, "Kidding," and after Willow's eyes go blue again and they have a good laugh, Buffy says, "Now please restore Giles from that mystical death you just put him through." Then everyone's cool.

But if one of them really had to die, Buffy would sacrifice her former Watcher, because she has Daddy issues, and her affection for Giles has always had its limits. -Scott

Check out the previews and pre-order information for Scott Allie's upcoming Graphic Novels Exurbia and Solomon Kane.

Michael Jackson "Spuffed Enough"

Matter of fact, some might say he "Spuffed" too much. Either way, here is Bitsy and Ivan doing an unplugged version of their MJ sampled hit, as tribute to the gloved one.

"Fallen Angel" - Exclusive interview with Peter David

Back at NYCC, IDW announced that Peter David's fantastic series, Fallen Angel, would not only be coming back but would be making its triumphant return with a four issue arc all about our favorite sort of evil ancient demon, Illyria. With the release of the first issue of this arc on the loom (it'll be out in July), I had the chance to catch up with Peter David to ask him to briefly talk about the particulars of the upcoming story and why Fallen Angel is the the series that fans of Buffy and Angels hould be reading. Here's how it went:

Buffyfest: What parallels do you see between Buffy and Fallen Angel's protagonist, Lee, and why do you think fans of Buffy and Angel will connect with Fallen Angel?

Peter David: Both of them are beings who once had overwhelming power and found themselves cast down from that level of strength. The thing is, it's approached from opposite ends. Illyria was a demon lord; Liandra was one of the heavenly host. Illyria was cast down because others feared her power; Liandra because she exercised free will in defiance of God. Indeed, in many ways they are alike, which naturally is enough to guarantee they will take an instant dislike to each other (thus insuring tha hilarity will ensue.) As for Buffy fans, I think it's safe to say that fans of BtVS like a strong heroine. The fact is that the Fallen Angel has a sizable contingent of female fans. The Fallen Angel wears a fairly concealing costume (as opposed to a thong and bra), she has a modest body type as opposed to gigantic breasts, she smokes too much, drinks too much, curses too much, and has lousy taste in men. For some reason, women find her easy to identify with. Go figure. Anyway, I think that Buffy fans will find themselves fairly comfortable walking the streets of Bete Noire.


BF: For those just jumping into Fallen Angel now, what do they need to know before they pick up the first issue of the Illyria arc?

PD: In point of fact, they don't need to know anything. Since Illyria's mission is what drives the story, I decided to make her the first person narrative, focal point. Anyone new to the series will have no problem with it because they're seeing it entirely through Illyria's eyes. Fans meeting the denizens of Bete Noire won't be confused because Illyria is meeting them at the same time, and there is no presupposed knowledge under those circumstances. For those interested in finding out more about the Fallen Angel and Bete Noire (the City that Shapes the World) I would recommend the brand spanking new Fallen Angel Omnibus which reprints, in one handy package, the first 21 issues of the series.

BF: What's the basic premise of this Illyria story?

PD: It takes place shortly after "Time Bomb." Illyria has lost a substantial portion of her powers and is feeling more distant, more cut off, more frustrated than ever. Then she has an unusual encounter at Wolfram and Hart with a gentleman identifying himself as one of the Hierarchy, the unseen organization that has the ultimate authority over Bete Noire (not dissimilar from the Senior Partners at W&H.) The gentleman offers her a fascinating deal: He can set her on a course that will enable her to become all that she was and more, and in exchange she simply has to dispose of the Fallen Angel.

I hope all you Illyria and Buffy fans are getting excited! Peter David is one of the most prolific writers in the business and I can think of no one better to tell Illyria's story. I'll be posting a review of the Fallen Angel Omnibus shortly but, and this almost goes without saying: I highly reccommend picking it up straight away as it is a thoroughly brilliant read.

Twitter Drive for Can't Stop the Serenity!

We'll be donating .10 for every new Twitter follower from now until the NYC CSTS event this Sunday! Bitsy and I are attending that event and we'll give the Browncoats of NYC the loot right there and then!

But wait, there's more! 2009 Global Organizer Anne Barringer has told us she'll personally match our donation. Miss Fabulosity! So every new follower will now be .20 for Equality Now. Yay and Po-ta-toes to giving!

Get in on the action and follow us on Twitter here:  twitter.com/buffyfest

If Twitter's not your thing, check out Anne's donation announcement today on Facebook over here: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/150518/2050548?m=f276e9a3

By the way, our new direct Facebook url is Facebook.com/Buffyfest