Buffy

Like, the power of that silly silly name. Buffy came into my life at a pivotal moment and I say with no shame that I’m not sure I’m a writer today if she doesn’t arrive at that point for me, so to say I’m grateful is to understate things dramatically.

Which is to say, some details have finally been released about my BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER book, Huzzah! Let’s get into it…!

AIPT had the exclusive announcement yesterday. Need to know information is that the super talented Buffy superfan Stephen Byrne on interior art and the brilliant Lee Loughridge on colors…and BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #1 in stores on July 22nd, just ahead of SDCC.

This has been a tough book to talk about, but part of that is because I KNOW Buffy fans. I know they are super smart and really fucking knowledgeable about their lore. And I do not trust them not to figure out these twists before the release if I give too many details. So I’ve been very cagey, but I think the information in this new press release has few solid hints — at least enough to grasp onto — and hopefully excite you about what this might be.

In lieu of more “plot details,” I just want to talk about Buffy a little bit. A thing about me and beloved narratives is that… the lead characters are almost never my favorite character. It’s never their fault — and if I’m watching/reading I probably AM loving them — they’re the star! — but I personally always tend to attach more to weird side characters — that frequently get huge benefits by not being the lead. They can often be funnier, or weirder, and they’re often more diverse or othered in a way that leads rarely gets to be (at least in Western media I find this true). But supporting characters are free of the burden of having to carry everything on their backs and so they get to be the fun truth-teller characters, or the slightly bad ones, or the beloved comic relief, and so on.

But that’s not Buffy’s case. Not for me. The Buffy Universe is wall-to-wall with characters I deeply love, but she is the rare lead that I love more than anyone else around her. I don’t know why that is, though I suspect it’s some very special alchemy between the way she is written and the way that Sarah Michelle Gellar inhabited her all those years ago. Whatever it is, she is truly one of my favorite sci-fi/fantasy heroes of all time. And as we know, that is a big rich pile to draw from.

Anyway, to say I’m over the moon to be writing this book is also understating things dramatically.

I had a big idea for what I would ever do if I could get my hands on the Buffy Universe and this is that idea. I hope you guys love it. I’ll be talking lots more about it as we lead up to the release. And once I get the okay, we can start talking about Angel too.

But the topline to know is that I want you guys to treat these two books almost like we’re starting with an event book…instead of building up to one. We’re bringing the two casts together right at the start for an incredibly personal mission that touches them all.

July 22nd! Let your shops know you want it. And, if not too much trouble please tell everyone you know about it… and also maybe just random strangers you encounter. ;)

Quick Housekeeping update before we get to Sneak Peeks and that new ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN PREVIEW…

All orders are shipped!

Wait. Except for one order that came in as I was shipping on 4/13, I’m sorry order #1009, you will have to wait for the next batch, but it should be before the end of the month though as I’ve streamlined some systems here and gotten some assistance from Adam to get this books back to you guys faster, even with the increased orders.

If you’d like to track your order, check you Paypal, though most of you should have them by now.

The webstore is open, though it will be another few days before I can put up the new issue of ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN (#19) that releases this week 4/22.

The April store discount code for subscribers is still valid: just enter SAKURA at checkout for 22% off your order. One code per order.

Hopefully most of you guys saw the cover released today for ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN #22 by Hayden and Jordie. It is SPECTACULAR. One of my favorites of our whole run in fact:

But the preview for ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN #19 went up this week as well — you can see it in full here. And it is maybe not what I would have chosen for a preview — as though it is quiet — it is also sort of an atom bomb? So read with caution. I’ve clipped one of my favorite pages from the preview below — skip if you don’t want spoilers:

And these three are also from ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN #19, out 4/22 by Hayden Sherman, Jordie Bellaire, and Becca Carey:

Last second edition to this post…my friend and former Comics Should Be Good/CBR boss Brian Cronin tagged me on social media that I got named dropped on an episode of BOSTON BLUE…which is hilarious and awesome and deeply surreal. I am NEVER on FB so big thanks to Brian for tagging me or I probably would have missed it. Also, for those of us that love a good easter egg, the actress is the America Chavez actress (Xochiti Gomez). I know my mother is going to wish it was BLUE BLOODS but thank you BOSTON BLUE! <3

Okay. I am out, enjoy the rest of your weekends, folks. The next post is SUPPOSED to be a fun post I’ve been writing about OTHER people’s work — and I swear to the old gods and the new that it will not get bumped again!

Take care of yourselves out there. And if you can, help someone who needs it. <3

Kelly