Wow! That has to be the coolest thing I've seen ever. Jo Chen is a goddess. I love that she used the animated Buffy from the canceled animated series. That is the Buffy from the canceled animated series, isn't it?

ShanshuBugaboo | June 05, 03:55 CET

That is the best cover ever. Ever.

toast | June 05, 03:56 CET

Wow, the analogy of herding cats comes to mind after reading this. Makes me never want to be an editor.

I've liked most of what I've read of Jeph Loeb--I wonder if it's Tim Sale trying to get approved by SMG? They've worked together a lot, so it seems like the obvious guess. Although waiting to tailor one's script to the artist sounds a little prima donna-ish to me.

The cover is badass. I like the Rockwellness to it, but how it's still very much Jo Chen.

It's like this series keeps getting better and better. I can't wait until I'm finally able to pick up my copy of #15 on Friday! And then...Joss and Karl's work, and then...Jane Espenson...
Sounds like I have at least some awesomeness to hold me over until January.

BandofBuggered | June 05, 04:01 CET

Jo's covers dip in and out of accurate-to-the-story-ness, so this one really maketh me wonder.

Does the TV tune in to an alternate reality, or did Andrew finally sell a screenplay? :D

Edit: Also, interesting article.

[ edited by Craig Oxbrow on 2008-06-05 01:05 ]

Craig Oxbrow | June 05, 04:05 CET

I looked at the cover before scrolling down and said, "Ah, Rockwell!" And I'm right!

Jeph Loeb's a great guy and a great writer. Looking forward to his issue. And I'm guessing Sale too.

redeem147 | June 05, 04:14 CET

The cover is utterly precious--the faces are amazing (and yay for the peek at the lost world of animated Buffy...!)

JessicaMelusine | June 05, 04:15 CET

Anyone have a feeling that there is a possibility that Time of Your Life might have some delays, they seem pretty far behind. I'd hate for more Fray delays.

hitnrun017 | June 05, 04:19 CET

I love that cover.I think it's Sale too.Besides working with Loeb a lot,Sale has also worked in the Buffyverse before.He drew the Tales Of The Vampire story writen by Jeph's son,Sam.

Buffyfantic | June 05, 04:36 CET

If there are delays because of Dollhouse, I will be the picture of patience. Dollhouse comes first.

TamaraC | June 05, 04:51 CET

Who will be picture be drawn by, TamaraC? I do agree that Dollhouse comes first, but I've gotten spoiled by being able to get each new issue when Dark Horse says it will come out.

I remember noticing that Tim's son had written one of hte Tales of the Vampires stories. It was the one about removing the guy's heart, yes?

And, like I said, I like most of what Loeb's done. I loved his Batman stories, and I really enjoyed Spiderman: Blue and Daredevil: Yellow. And Tim's art was absolutely exquisite. I wasn't a fan of his Incredible Hulk: Grey, though--though I'm not a huge Hulk fan as it is.
Most likely, I will love the Loeb/possibly Sale or someone else story. But I will wait to see.

BandofBuggered | June 05, 05:06 CET

ShanshuBugaboo: I was just thinking Jo Chen was a goddess, and even said so to my wife, and then I read your comment. There you go. The obvious synchronicity means it must be true.

Jo, if you're reading this, you now know you're an immortal being endowed with supernatural powers. Or at least you're a damned good artist.

quantumac | June 05, 05:39 CET

As much as I've enjoyed Loeb's work, I seem to recall being disappointed in a story or two. And having never written Buffy before and waiting to write the script until the "last minute" makes me nervous. I hope he's familiar with the show. And I really hope he gets it right. Even the weakest of issues up till now has been pretty amazing. I guess I'll just have to trust Joss.

And that cover is just stunning. Each time I look at it, I find myself completely captivated.

alexreager | June 05, 05:45 CET

That should be Jeph's son, Sam Loeb.
Joss took part on the homage a lot of writers and artists did for him in Superman / Batman #26 a few years ago, which was supposed to be written by Sam Loeb.

Just like, how I prefer Warren Ellis work on his own creations, over anything mainstream, I did enjoy Jeph's work on DC much more, and found most of his work on marvel, somewhat underwhelming.

[ edited by Numfar PTB on 2008-06-05 02:52 ]

Numfar PTB | June 05, 05:48 CET

Brilliant cover. You're right ShanshuBugaboo and JessicaMelusine , Joan Chen is a goddess -- I've just framed my signed print of the Season 8 #1 cover. In her latest, there's never been a nicer riff on the faces of SMG and AH.

doghouse | June 05, 06:21 CET

Thanks Numfar, I was mixing up names in my old age (20) again. I knew what I meant, and I guess you did, too! :)

I think that Jeph's work on Batman puts him up there with Miller and Moore as some of the best of the recent times. I didn't much like his Catwoman story, though. To me, he's about 50/50 for both DC and Marvel.

I would kind of like to see either an arc or a standalone done by Bill Willingham of Fables. I think the has the wit and storytelling ability to pull it off.

doghouse, don't tell me where you live or you will never find your signed print again! I wish I could afford such things--I have to make do with unused promo posters that my comics vendor gives to me because he knows of my obsession.

BandofBuggered | June 05, 06:26 CET

Whats Rockwell?
I was like... what that weird show about aliens? NO that was Roswell. Hmm? My google search has led me to Rockwell the RnB musician from the 80's but I dont think thats it... I NO GETS IT!

aus-mitch | June 05, 06:37 CET

It may be worth remembering that Jeph Loeb was going to be the co-Executive Producer on Buffy Animated.

jlp | June 05, 06:51 CET

Whats Rockwell?

Norman Rockwell.

t may be worth remembering that Jeph Loeb was going to be the co-Executive Producer on Buffy Animated.

And it's already known that the issue in question is "by Jeph Loeb, who will revisit the Buffy animated series that never happened. 'It’s Buffy sort of revisiting her high school life, but drawn in the style of the animated series that never happened.'"

[ edited by theonetruebix on 2008-06-05 04:05 ]

theonetruebix | June 05, 07:02 CET

aus-mitch you must Wikipedia Norman Rockwell. Here's a blurb about him, according to Wikipedia he was "most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening Post magazine over more than four decades."

Anywho, I love this cover. One of my faves. But seriously, they need to upgrade to a flatscreen TV. It ain't '97 no more.

twinkiefoo | June 05, 07:05 CET

Not only is Jo Chen's artwork perfect, but I just love seeing Willow, Xander and Buffy hanging out like they did when they were kids.

Very interesting to hear how many plates Allie has to keep spinning to put out the series! SMG must have a great agent if she still gets artist approval this long after the TV series wrapped.

Saturn Girl | June 05, 07:06 CET

That cover is simply stunning!! Beautiful likenesses from her as usual.

But do you know what still grates with me, that this cover brings home? That fact that Giles is missing from the picture. I really dislike that element of season 8's storyline, I really, really do.

sueworld2003 | June 05, 12:01 CET

That seems a bit hectic. But so far the teams seem to be doing a great job! The cover is just stunning, but after all, it's Jo Chen. And she rules.

Giles has been missing, it's true, but I feel it's for the better. He was semi-missing in the last two seasons of the show, and the story has sort of touched on the matter already. Something happened. We don't know what yet. If Buffy and Giles had reconciled already, then their fight wouldn't have meant anything to the readers. If enough time passes so that we truly feel Giles' disappearance from the story, the reunion will be that much sweeter!

Valentyn | June 05, 12:55 CET

Loeb's Buffy could be the biggest selling issue to date. Also the issue 20 cover is simply amazing.

Simon | June 05, 13:42 CET

Really interesting article, I had no idea the editor placed the word balloons (seems like a small thing but done badly it can break the flow of the panels, not to mention distract from and therefore lessen great art). That's a lot of juggling too, good job Mr Scott Allie, if you're reading this ;).

(and Jo Chen's cover is, as usual, very lovely. Buffy maybe looks a bit more SMGish than usual but apart from that, nigh flawless)

Although waiting to tailor one's script to the artist sounds a little prima donna-ish to me.

Is that ironic (radar's a bit wonky today due to a mate's birthday celebration last night ;) ? Because quite a lot of writers alter scripts slightly depending on who their artist is (Warren Ellis certainly does for instance as mentioned in this - to me - fascinating interview about 'Desolation Jones'). Apart from anything else, you'd obviously develop a bit of a short-hand with someone you'd worked with for years so that a new artist might need a more verbose script.

Personally i've never seen anything from Loeb that puts him close to Moore or the best of Miller (or Millar for that matter ;) but a lot of people rated 'Hush' and 'The Long Halloween' very highly and it's obviously subjective. I find him patchy but always worth reading (most of his stuff strikes me a bit like Spain's football team from a few years back - it always has amazing potential and it should be better than it ends up being).

Saje | June 05, 16:04 CET

Scott Allie has done an excellent job getting Buffy S8 to come out monthly and on time, I'd probably forgive him if a couple of issues ran late at this point (just not Astonishing X-men late, cause we've still got 25 issues left in the season).

Great cover by Jo Chen, her likenesses started out very good, and have only gotten better.

The Londinium Sun | June 05, 16:47 CET

Wow, loving the cover for issue #20! It's the scoobies getting together like old times. :D Now if we could just get Giles in there somewhere...

Jossfan_21 | June 05, 17:26 CET

Oh my God, that sounds stressful. Yet it also actually sounds kind of awesome. Yep, that is probably a job I would enjoy.

As for Jo's cover? Well, there's nothing to say that hasn't already been said. It's absolutely marvelous, one of my favorites thus far. Love the Rockwell homage. And yeah, it's going to be an issue drawn in the style of the animated series, which just excites me to no end.

I'm not a huge Loeb fan, and I pretty much agree with Saje's assessment: I find him patchy but always worth reading (most of his stuff strikes me a bit like Spain's football team from a few years back - it always has amazing potential and it should be better than it ends up being).

However, as soon as I heard that it was going to be an issue like the cartoon, most of my fears were allayed.

Tim Sale is a definite possibility as the artist. Don't know why I didn't think of that myself.

UnpluggedCrazy | June 05, 18:30 CET

Editors are gods among mere mortals. Truly.

Love the Rockwell reference, and Xander's expression in particular. Willow sometimes looks strangely thin in some of these covers though.

Sunfire | June 05, 18:41 CET

So this Rockwell guy is big in Americaland...I see... Cause he painted pictures of people doing ordinary things... right? Riiiiiiiiiight.

aus-mitch | June 05, 18:58 CET

He kind of captured the wholesomeness that everyone wished was real.

UnpluggedCrazy | June 05, 19:18 CET

Rockwell's work does have a lot of nostalgic value nowadays because he was painting an often idealized version of daily life and American culture during a time period that many Americans now look back on as a golden period. But his art did cover more than that. He made some social commentary on the biggest issues of his day. And often they're still powerful. Racism and integrating neighborhoods and schools in the 60s, for example. And probably most relevant to Buffy would be Rosie the Riveter. Also possibly the girl with the black eye (Amanda?).

Sunfire | June 05, 20:00 CET

Don't worry. I live in America and had to look that up. But I like the idea. And it works well with this issue. The Scoobs will be reflecting on the golden years of high school, same as Rockwell. And I think the TV fits perfectly with that motif. It suits the homliness better that a cold-age flat-screen. And they didn't have those back in 1997.

korkster | June 05, 22:04 CET

It is indeed another great cover. But my first thought was that they should be watching a 'Bollywood' movie.

My second was that Xander is positioned in the worst possible place to see out of his 'good' eye.

See, I'm practical like that.

missb | June 06, 15:42 CET

I don’t think the issue art style will be like the animated series but a little more like Broken Bottle of Djin from Tales of The Slayers. What I always believe was a better graphic for the cartoon.
By the way, anyone hear that in the animated series Buffy could transform herself in animals (I read it an that would be lame) and get a tiny video of the pilot or some scripts?

This Norman Rockwell guy wasn’t the same of the magazines used in Chevy Chase’s “Funny Farm” who gets SMG in a little role (dam I never could see it couse the tv versions always are cutted)?

Brasilian Chaos Man | June 06, 17:16 CET

Seeing that makes me remember how mad I am that the animated series never happened. Does anyone think that the animated series (taking place in the high school years like it was supposed to) could still happen down the road? Or at least could Season 8 eventually be made into an animated series?

mossoholic | June 07, 13:40 CET

I am laughing my butt off!

One of the things I always thought Joss was brilliant about was judging when the audience will have had enough of something and it was time to change things up. It is interesting that on this previous thread some of us were not thrilled with the idea of a a four legged Dawn and felt things were in danger of getting too gimmicky and were wishing for something simpler. So within days we find out that two covers later here comes Norman Rockwell, the most grounded and deceptively simple artist one could imagine.

Gotta say, I don't think it is a coincidence. ;-) This kind of thing is what makes me laugh in total delight at Joss's work.

And before anyone says it, yes I know it is Jo Chen who did the cover (she is amazing)and I'm sure chose the artist's style, but the inspiration for the tone is being set by the story, so I give Joss the credit for it screaming "simpler time" in what may be a deceptive way.

This is why it has been so hard for me to stop buying the comics.

Oh and yea for me getting the linky thing and the invisotext right the first time. (pats self on back)

[ edited by newcj on 2008-06-07 15:46 ]

newcj | June 07, 18:45 CET