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Buffyversefantic
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Joined: 07 Mar 2007
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 Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2012 4:44 pm Post subject: |
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Review for Spike # 4.
http://fandomania.com/spike-4-comic-review/
| Quote: | Spike #4 Comic Review
Posted by Kimberly Lynn Workman
Issue: Spike #4
Release Date: November 2012
Writer: Victor Gischler
Pencils: Paul Lee
Inks: Andy Owens
Colors: Cris Peter
Letters: Richard Starkings and COMICRAFT’S Jimmy Betancourt
Cover A: Jenny Frison
Cover B: Steve Morris
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Spike is still being lured under Morgan’s spell and his bug minions are still making plans to save him, if it comes to that. This month’s issue features a bit more bridging, a little action, and a huge dose of love for the bugs who just want to see their Master be safe. For me, I’m ready for some big plot twists. Maybe next month?
There were basically two focuses in the story for this issue. One was the whole Morgan and Spike budding relationship/friendship/whatever they have. The other was Spike’s bug minions trying to keep safe the vampire they serve. Frisky and Sebastian still have their contingency plan in place. If Morgan seeks to control or betray Spike, the bugs will try to save him. However, it’s more like Frisky is gung-ho against Morgan and Sebastian is waffling. He even goes so far as to have Frisky hauled away for his apparent treachery against their leader, but he soon changes his tune when it becomes apparent Frisky was right. Morgan is indeed bad news and they will need to save Spike. The attempt was made, it was a valiant effort, but in the end Morgan was too strong for them.
As all these plans were transpiring, Spike and Morgan had been having some alone time. He still misses Buffy more than anything and Morgan knows it. She keeps trying to lend her support, to be a shoulder he can cry on, but Spike’s not into the whole caring and sharing bit. Her plan was to play into his emotional vulnerability and use that to lure him under her control, and for a while it looked like Spike might do it, but in the end he proved to be strong. That was not what Morgan wanted, not what she planned on, as no one had ever told her no before. She doesn’t take the rejection too well. After she reveals that she has a piece of the Seed left and can indeed open the Hellmouth on Easter Island, the two of them fight it out. Both Spike and his bug minions try to subdue her, but she makes her escape before that can happen. We lead into next month on a mission of recovery and hopes that Morgan doesn’t open the Hellmouth before they can find her.
While the end gave us the possibility of increased action next time, this month’s issue was filled mostly with talking. I already knew the bug minions were awesome and that they would do anything to protect their Master. I already knew Spike was missing Buffy and that he was strong enough to withstand Morgan’s lure, even if it briefly appeared that it was in question. And I already knew Morgan was bad news and that she had to be in possession of a piece of the Seed, else why would she head to a Hellmouth without it? So, I got confirmation, but not a lot of momentum forward. Guess I’ll just have to be patient and wait some more.
Rating: 3 / 5 Stars
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Cover art by Jo Chen For Spike:A Dark Place trade..
http://www.amazon.com/Buffy-Vampire-Slayer-Spike-Place/dp/1616551097/
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Buffyversefantic
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Joined: 07 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 9:12 am Post subject: |
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Willow # 2 preview pages.
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=preview&id=14393
| Quote: | EXCL PREVIEW: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Willow - Wonderland" #2
Dark Horse has provided CBR with an exclusive preview of "Willow - Wonderland" #2, by Jeff Parker and Brian Ching. The Whedonverse's "Buffy: Season 9" adventures continue on December 5.
In a strange new dimension, many unexpected encounters guide Willow on the quest to return magic to her world. While she's increasingly better at keeping her darkest self at bay, her mystery companion—Marrak—encourages darkness, making Willow wary of his intentions while dependent on his knowledge of this magically abundant realm. Just how far down the path of volatile magic will she go to get what she wants? And whom might she find there?
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Buffyversefantic
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Buffyversefantic
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Joined: 07 Mar 2007
Posts: 2869
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| Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 12:38 pm Post subject: |
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CBR interview with Scott Allie About The Willow miniseries.
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=42440
| Quote: | Allie Discusses Willow's Quest to Bring Magic Back to the Buffyverse
Dark Horse editor Scott Allie spoke with CBR about upcoming changes to the "Willow - Wonderland" writing crew, the joys of giant monsters and the character's quest to bring magic back to the Buffyverse.
Daniel Glendening, Guest Contributor
The Buffyverse has not been kind to its leading witch as of late. With the world stripped of magic, Willow has found herself unable to tap into the forces that she has traditionaly found strength and power in. Without magic, the world is graying, and Willow sees a loss for not only herself and other followers of the arcane arts, but for humanity as a whole. Music has lost its pep, rainbows their color, and no one, not even children, wants to draw anymore.
In an effort to restore this lost element to the world, Willow sets out on a quest to find and bring the magic back from wherever it has been hiding. Finding herself in the strange, yet strangely familiar, world of Wonderland, Willow allies with Marrak, a fellow conjurer, in a hunt for the source of magic power.
Comic Book Resources spoke with Dark Horse Comics editor Scott Allie about the developing story of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Willow - Wonderland," a five-issue miniseries following Willow on her quest. Allie spoke about the progress Willow has made so far in her quest, explained the reasoning behind Christos Gage joining Jeff Parker as the series' co-writer, artist Brian Ching's giant monster designs and the overall plans for Joss Whedon's creations in the months ahead.
At the end of her journey, Willow will return to the pages of "Angel & Faith"
CBR News: Willow has found herself on this magic voyage through Wonderland -- what sort of challenges will she find herself facing as the story moves forward?
Scott Allie: At the end of "Season Eight," Buffy did something that led to the destruction of magic -- the end of magic in the world -- and Willow has been kind of depressed and miserable ever since. She had to get away from her friends in order to go on this vision quest to figure it out. So, she actually disappeared after issue #5 of Buffy, almost a year ago. She was just missing in action -- she wasn't in the books at all for a while.
Then she popped up in "Angel and Faith" and revealed her plan to try to get to another dimension in order to try to figure out how to create a pathway to try to bring magic back to the world. Now, in her series, "Wonderland," she's gotten to another world, and she has to figure out how to bring magic back. That's the story that Jeff [Parker] and [artist] Brian Ching are telling. Willow has hooked up with this character Marrak, an animalistic-looking demon character that she's traveling around with. He also wants to get back to Earth with his magic powers restored, in part because he, like a lot of other people, thinks that with magic generally missing from the Earth, if he only has a little bit and could get back here, he could really be in control of things.
Willow continues her journey with this guy Marrak, [but] there's going to be a familiar face popping up really soon. That winds up taking the story in another direction, separating Willow from this kind of creepy monster guy that we've hooked her up with. Brian Ching has been designing great monsters for "Willow." We don't always get to do a lot of big monsters in Buffy -- it tends to be more down to earth, personal, face to face sort of conflict -- but since we're in another world, we really wanted to let Brian loose, and he's designed some really cool things.
I was struck by how quickly Willow puts her trust in Marrak. This took me by surprise, knowing her history.
There's always a lot of friction between them. They never totally settle in with each other, and Willow expresses doubts about this guy. My take on it, and we talked about it a lot, is that her judgment is clouded because her focus is so singularly focused on this idea of bringing magic back. The fact that she runs into a potential ally in her quest somewhat overcomes her better judgment. She does trust him too easily, and it's partly because she's grateful to have somebody. She's in a strange place she's never been before, and she doesn't really know anything, and she sort of not-so-wisely goes along with this guy. They continue, in issue #2, to talk about their uneasy alliance.
Christos Gage, who also writes "Angel & Faith," will be joining Jeff Parker on writing duties for "Willow: Wonderland" beginning with issue #3. Does that change the pacing or the direction of the story?
Jeff wasn't in on the earliest talks about "Season Nine." He wasn't there at the writer's summit at Joss' house, so there's a degree to which he wasn't dialed into the whole thrust of what we're doing. And, as we were trying to really weave together the plot lines of the "Spike" miniseries, the "Willow" miniseries, "Angel & Faith" and "Buffy," it became useful to start talking to Chris and to get him involved. The overall direction of the story is still the thing that Jeff initially pitched and outlined for us: the major events and the major action is still all what Jeff set up.
Particularly Willow and Spike -- both exist in one title, then they get their own miniseries, then they go into another title. They move around across "Season Nine" quite a bit, and it's a trick to make their journey, as it were, a consistent arc when you're working with multiple writers. There's a lot of work in terms of making sure that everybody writes Willow similarly, but she's also changing as she's moving from writer to writer, so it's really quite a trick. Part of bringing Chris in was to smooth out the Willow that he was writing in "Angel & Faith," where she showed up, and the Willow that goes through some changes in this miniseries before going back to San Francisco and the story that Andrew Chambliss is writing.
The broad strokes of it and the major events are the things that Jeff set up. Some of the more nuanced character details are where Chris contributes the most.
So, we can look forward to these miniseries all folding back into what develops in the primary "Buffy" and "Angel & Faith" storylines?
Absolutely. I'm very pleased with how we managed Willow's transition from her five-issue miniseries back into Buffy's book. There are all these weird, interesting challenges of just the -- the clothing -- making sure that what Willow's wearing at the end of her fifth issue matches what she wears in the issue that she first shows back up in Buffy's book, and making sure that when Andrew Chambliss first writes Willow reappearing in the Buffy book, she's in the same sort of state of mind that she was in when she wrapped up her own book. There was some challenge there, but yeah, Willow folds back into the main action for the "Buffy" climax. Spike, when he wraps up his miniseries, will pop up in the "Angel & Faith" book and get directly involved in the action there.
The one trick that hasn't worked out perfectly for us is that we were careful in how we worked out Spike's departure from his five-issue miniseries and his arrival in "Angel & Faith." Now, because of some artistic scheduling problems, the fifth issue of Spike is going to be late. If it's too late, it'll come out after he's reappeared in "Angel & Faith." I don't think that's going to happen but, you know, that would be unfortunate. That's one of the dangers of managing all these different artists and trying to do these really synchronized stories.
Finally, what other projects are cooking in the Buffyverse?
We're doing these big "Library Editions," these big, hardcover editions of "Buffy," and we just put to bed the fourth volume with the last ten issues of "Season 8." [Artist Georges Jeanty] got us his notes on all his artwork and everything. It's a joy to put that stuff together a really nice, big sketchbook-sized section where the artist gets to really talk about his process. We were just wrapping that up today!
"Willow - Wonderland" #2 goes on sale December 5. The "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8" Library Edition Vol. 4 is out March 20th, 2013.
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A couple of points.The caption with the cover says Willow is heading back to Angel & Faith after her miniseries but in the interview Scott Allie says Willow is heading back to Buffy for the climax of season 9.I'm assuming the blurb with the cover at the head of the article is a error at this point.
Also of note is that Scott says if Spike # 5 runs too late due to artistic scheduling problems than the issue will come out after he arrives in Angel & Faith.
ETA
Scott Allie clarifies on twtter the Willow cover caption from the CBR interview.
https://mobile.twitter.com/scottallie/status/274625731298996224
| Quote: | Georgia @Light_Watcher 3h
@ScottAllie Why does it say "At the end of her journey, Willow will return to the pages of "Angel & Faith"? Right under the right cover-pic
Scott Allie@ScottAllie
@Light_Watcher I did the interview on the phone, so it's possible I misspoke or they typoed. We don't review an article before they post it.
Georgia @Light_Watcher 3h
@ScottAllie Mistake by cbr?
Scott Allie @ScottAllie 2h
@Light_Watcher Have asked @CBR to correct.
Georgia @Light_Watcher 2h
@ScottAllie Thanks, I saw fans wondering about it in Buffyforums while I was lurking today there and it got me also curious.
@ScottAllie @CBR Yep, it's been corrected 
At the end of her journey, Willow will continue on in the story of "Buffy Season 9." |
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Buffyversefantic
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Joined: 07 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 12:22 pm Post subject: |
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First Advanced Willow # 2 review.
http://www.threeifbyspace.net/2012/12/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-willow-2-sneak-review/
| Quote: | Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Willow #2 – Sneak Review
Posted on 04 December 2012 by Nicci
** The following review while careful not to reveal any actual spoilers from this issue, it does tease the reader with hints as well as spoilers from issues past. Please feel free to purchase this issue on Wednesday **
Very sexy issue of Willow here in #2. Willow’s journey takes her and Marrak further into danger and wonder as they embark and bond. I have lots of speculations about Marrak but I am definitely enjoying the character and dialogue and power-wise he and Willow compliment each other nicely. This issue was really well done from beginning to end and I find myself very interested to see where the series continues on from here and which if any of my speculations about Willow’s new companion may come to light.
All around this issue was just downright a lot of fun. Banter and interesting creatures abounded and I particularly loved the handling of magic. Typically the Buffyverse has a very “magic against magic / steel against steel” (Sword of Truth; Terry Goodkind) relationship where magic backs the brunt strength of either Buffy in her series or Angel in his. Magic is usually a stall, or an aid, which is probably why neither of them considered its absence fully. However, in this series there is no steel against steel, the Willow series is a series about a magical heroine, and it is very interesting to see a full-on magical Buffyverse. Magic against magic, in a realm of magic. (By the way, despite how awful that “Legend of the Seeker” show was, if you love both Buffy and Game of Thrones, the Sword of Truth series is definitely for you.)
As with the first issue, phenomenal art. Really, really loving it and it really has to be incredible to help keep up with what needs to be such a magical arc. I missed Willow just being Willow, and I don’t think I realized how much until Dark Horse gave her back to us. -N
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ETA
Second advanced Willow # 2 review.
http://comicsgrinder.com/2012/12/04/willow-2-review/
| Quote: | December 4, 2012
WILLOW #2 Review
Sometimes it takes a little time to settle into character. It seemed like Willow was coming off a tad too much action hero in the opener but, in this issue, we get a kinder and gentler Willow. We get our Willow! But, of course, we never lost her. We just needed more time to get a better look at where she’s been and where’s she’s going. Brian Ching’s artwork is spectacular. His style gives you the most energetic Willow we’ve seen so far. At first, that seemed too energetic but it appears that we’re seeing some softening of the edges from the first issue. Look for yourself and you’ll see. I mean, I was right to see a Laura Croft thing going gone. Ching has drawn “Tomb Raider” comics for Image so there you go. Anyway, you can see it as a refreshing change of pace and, for the rest of the issue’s look, hands down, Ching delivers on the “Wonderland” theme.
We start off this issue of Jeff Parker’s script with a larger-than-life, larger-than-football-stadium, creature, all teeth and multi-colored, ready to chomp down on Willow and her demon sidekick, Marrak. Since Willow is now in this new magical realm, her magic mojo is running smoothly. The girl can let fly with casting one spell after another. There’s always the danger that things could still go terribly wrong, but Willow manages to do what she needs to do in confronting this Hyberrax creature.
Willow seems to be on quite a lucky streak in this issue as she coasts through the magical, and quite beautiful, new realm she’s in. This issue is a showcase for Brian Ching’s pencils, Jason Gorder’s inks, as well as Dark Horse mainstay colorist, Michelle Madsen.
Jeff Parker’s script builds its way to something significant in this issue. It has to do with our problem about no magic back on planet Earth. As for the plot, it feels like a few pieces on the ole chessboard have been moved so we’ll have to wait and see how much further along we can get in forthcoming issues. The character development is coming along nicely. Willow feels like she’s rolling right along as she should, given her mighty quest for magic and all the pitfalls that lie ahead.
Willow #2 is out December 5. Visit our friends at Dark Horse Comics.
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Buffyversefantic
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Joined: 07 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 5:14 pm Post subject: |
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Zianna's summary of Willow # 2.
http://www.buffyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?t=19109&page=2
| Quote: | The issue was fantastic.
A quick summary.
Just to inform that I don't have the issue with me at the moment, so I'm talking by memory, and I've only read it once.
Spoiler:
The monster is probably the mother of the monster that Willow and Marrak ate, or so is what Willow says. Willow uses Marrak to kill the beast. She lets it eat Marrak, but before she casted a spell on him to protect him and blast the beast from the inside out. Of course Marrak wasn't happy about it. They leave the caterpillar and the preview pages follow.
The faceless Xander and Dawn get followed by a faceless Buffy and a few more persons, all ending up jumping in a big hole leading to hell. It was a dream that somebody back in Earth was dreaming and Willow saw it.
Then she meets her snake lover and 3 more kind of witches/creatures which look a lot like her, and a kiss with her snake lover comes. All of them go to a city built in that world, where more witches live there. With their help she heals the scythe and tries to open a portal to Earth. As Marrak says she's trying to create a kind of Hellmouth. For a moment she succeeds, she can see Xander with Buffy talking, Xander teasing her about Dowling and we see Dawn's back saying that Dowling is not Buffy's type. Both Xander and Buffy have a face this time. When Buffy wonders why Dowling is not her type, Dawn replies "alive" and turns her head and as we see her face we see that she's faceless, unlike Xander or Buffy. The portal closes and the snake lover informs Willow that they have already tried that but it can't work, because it needs magic in both sides and there's no more left in Earth. Willow starts crying and the issue ends.
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Buffyversefantic
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| Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 6:27 am Post subject: |
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Another Willow # 2 review.
http://buffycomics.blogspot.fr/2012/12/review-willow-wonderland-2-buffy.html
| Quote: | Tuesday, 4 December 2012
"Willow - Wonderland #2" (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9) Review
So, I have just read the new Buffyverse comic about Willow's adventures and her quest to bring back magic to Earth.
And I was actually surprised. I liked the introduction to Willow's miniseries last month, but that was all, liked. But it has gotten me interested to see what was coming up next. And this issue, yes, it has managed to surprise me. I'll be honest, Willow was never in my list of favorite Buffyverse characters. And DarkHorse's seasons 8 and 9 just made things worse. To me it just seemed that Willow has gotten too obsessed with magic that she can't imagine her life without it. Focusing mainly on getting her powers back, than on what is best for the magicless Buffyverse. And in this issue, we see how good is Willow with magic and how much she misses her powers. When the threat appears, she's ready to face it with a different spell that the one she used in the previous issue. And when she makes a mess because of it, she has again the answer, a purification spell. And when she's dreaming someone else's nightmare, she knows exactly the way to get herself out of it.
But of course what makes the issue more interesting is the appearance of Buffy, Dawn and Xander and their connection to her mini. Characters that we've missed a lot in the main comic. Xander and Dawn are almost absent so far. And as for Buffy, she's been missed a lot after the disaster with #14 and #15 and the Billy story (what were they thinking?). Their first appearance was somebody's nightmare. But whose? Their second appearance is a real thing. Or so I believe. It's got to be real. And it makes you wonder, immediately, what is going on back on Earth and what is happening with Xander and Dawn. Especially Dawn. I'm so glad that we'll have more answers on it in a week.
A secondary but more important appearance, as far as this mini story is concerned, is the return of Aluwyn, Willow's snake-demon lover. And they have both missed each other so much. Aluwyn starts crying when she's finally able to hold Willow again. And together with her, comes the introduction of a supercoven of witches, in a place called "The Witches' Paradise", or else, "The Wellspring". A place full of witches who have all heard of Willow, thanks to Aluwyn, and admire her because of her knowledge and power. And they help Willow succeed in her first part of her plan, but a huge disappointment and a bad surprise follows which makes Willow cry and the issue ends.
So, it was a very good issue. So far I like Jeff Parker's writing and I'm getting used to Brian Ching's art. I will give it a 7 out of 10, thinking that it could have been an 8, even a 9 if Willow was my favorite. But she's not, and a 7 was not for sure what I believed that I would give it today a month ago after reading the first issue. Nice surprise, and a thanks to the team that made this comic possible.
I recommend it, and can't wait to read the following issues!
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Buffyversefantic
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Joined: 07 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 12:05 pm Post subject: |
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I have my copy of Willow # 2.
I liked last issue but I think this issue was better overall.The character voices still sound right and the story gets deeper and more interesting.
The stuff about dreams/nightmares and how they impact other dimensions was a new wrinkle to the mythology.
The Willow/Aluwym happens here and I LOLed at Marrak's reaction to the kiss.Also laughed at the Marrak The Okay title.
The one witch looks like Batman villain,Poison Ivy.The one who calls Willow,The Slayer's Hex Mistress.
Willow reaching the wellspring and the supercoven created by Aluwym and the Scythe being fixed and restored I noticed the change in color too that lines it up with the Scythe from Fray) pushes Willow's goal's forward but of course it wouldn't be that easy with magic sill gone in our dimension.
The scene of Willow looking in on Xander/Dawn and Buffy I think will tie into next week's Buffy # 16 or another issue in the next Buffy arc.Also the faceless Dawn is pretty ominous and could be hinting that the loss of magic and Dawn's magical origins are going to converge soon.There has been a lot of speculation about this element since the end of season 8 and the early issues of season 9 and this might give more weight to some of that speculation.
I liked the artwork again and I'm looking forward to next issue. |
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Buffyversefantic
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| Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 9:43 pm Post subject: |
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First advanced Buffy # 16 review.
http://comicsgrinder.com/2012/12/07/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-season-9-16-review/
| Quote: | December 7, 2012
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER SEASON 9 #16 Review
It has been some time since we’ve seen Buffy in her old digs in San Fran. You would have to go back to Issue 7. Since then, she has gone from mild-mannered barista by day/reluctant Slayer by night to being turned into a robot to upgrading to work in highend security. Along the way, Willow has left the scene in her quest for magic; Spike has walked away; and we were introduced to, Billy, a new Slayer with a lot to prove. With Issue 16, we begin a new arc, “Welcome To The Team,” which refers as much to Billy as it does to Buffy returning to working with Detective Dowling in the SFPD’s mad quest to rid itself of a zompire infestation the likes of which no one has ever seen. These zompires are industrial strength and there is no accounting for it.
Whew, that is the most concise recap I can give you. So, what else is happening on the Buffy flagship comic? It seems a concensus has formed in favor of giving Buffy some semblance of normalcy. She is back in her old apartment with her old roomies, Xander and Dawn. Buffy gets to experience stuff like accepting an invite to drink tea while watching a reality tv show she probably could do wihtout or having a friend of Dawn’s just innocently digging around Buffy’s clothes searching for something to wear for a night out clubbing. Really normal, random, dull, annoying bits of life but grounded and real which Buffy appreciates.
Neither man nor woman can live by bread alone. As you all know, our boy Spike has had his hands full as of late with a potential substitute for Buffy. And, as it goes for Buffy. Props to Andrew Chambliss for writing in this potential romance. It runs very smoothly, one of those situations where both parties are a little confused about whether or not they’re actually dating. Another one of those very real facts of life which may very well be lining up to mirror what happened to Spike in one way or another.
Then we have the zompire action. Georges Jeanty (pencils) and Dexter Vines (inks) are doing a great job with living and breathing interiors, exteriors, and zompires! These creatures have some unique traits to them looking quite fierce, almost reptilian. We really get it that these zompires are strong and, perhaps, one in particular. And, just as Buffy is getting a handle on her fight, something happens very unexpected.
I think Buffy fans are right on to wish for more and more Buffy stories. After what has been a bit of break, Buffy is back and fired up. The clash of being torn between the grounded and the supernatural is a lot of fun. I’d like to see even more location shots when possible and more extended slices of life like Buffy reading a book at City Lights, having lunch in Chinatown, or going to see a show at SFMOMA. What books or movies does Buffy like anyway? Maybe even have the zompires camp out at Fisherman’s Wharf for a bit and mix the mundane with the undead. Just a thought. I can’t wait to see what happens next.
“Buffy The Vampire Slayer #16″ is out December 12 which is a big date that also sees a lot of other cool titles including ”Orchid #11,” “Conan #11,” “The Strain #9,” “The Massive #7,” and many more. Expect more Dark Horse titles reviewed here at Comics Grinder.
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Buffyversefantic
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| Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 9:52 am Post subject: |
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Interview with variant Willow cover artist Megan Lara.
http://www.darkhorse.com/Zones/Buffy/723
| Quote: | From the Editor
An Interview with Willow Variant Cover Artist Megan Lara
The new Willow series not only takes readers on a path that follows Buffy the Vampire Slayer character and fan favorite Willow in her journey to return magic to the world, but it also treats Whedon fans to a whole series of beautiful covers by both David Mack and Megan Lara. The covers for Megan Lara are her first large scale foray into the world of comic covers and we wanted to ask her a few questions about it. Below is a chat with Megan about her art, her goals and her love of all things nerdom. You can pick up her variant cover of Willow #2 today at a local comic shop near you.
Dark Horse Comics: As an artist who often creates pieces that reflect nerd culture, you must have a long history with much of it. What started you down the dark path of nerddom?
Megan Lara: I think it all started when I was about five years old. I lived on a farm, and we didn’t have cable or anything like that. Whenever my parents took me to rent videos, I would always beg them for an SNES so I could play the games I saw there. My dad finally bought me one with Super Mario All-Stars, and I was pretty addicted. He and I would play that every day, and eventually we moved on to Donkey Kong and some other now-obscure games like Boogerman, Bubsy, etc.
After that, I got heavily into Pokémon from about third to sixth grade. Around this time is when I got a computer and started building websites (fan sites for things like Pokémon and an old game called Petz) at eleven years old. My love of Pokémon led me to become friends with some of the guys at school who were into it, and later on they were the ones who introduced me to things like Star Wars, Halo, Final Fantasy, etc. I got myself a PS2 and a Wacom tablet at thirteen, and that’s when I really delved into the nerd/art world. I was pretty obsessed with Final Fantasy and Star Wars for most of my teen years.
DHC: I think a lot of folks have a favorite Final Fantasy game. Which of the many tops your list?
ML: My favorite Final Fantasy, as far as story and everything, has to be Final Fantasy III. I’m a huge fan of Yoshitaka Amano’s artwork, as well; his drawings of Celes and Terra are some of my favorites. Final Fantasy IX also holds a special place in my heart, as it was the first one to which I was introduced.
DHC: You did a lot of work in the Whedonverse before your work on the Willow series, specifically your pieces for Serenity. What drew you to working on those pieces?
ML: I was very lucky to be contacted by Quantum Mechanix about doing some Firefly nouveau prints. They had seen my Nintendo-inspired nouveau work and reached out to me to see if I’d be interested in working with them. I’m a huuuuuge fan of Firefly, Serenity, and Joss Whedon. I mean, it borders on creepy fangirl sometimes. I jumped at the chance.
It was also my first real experience doing art for someone other than myself. I was incredibly intimidated; however, since it was for a show I loved, I put on my big-girl pants and got to work. It’s been a year since I completed them, but I’m still proud of how they turned out.
DHC: Speaking of nouveau, you seem to use that style a lot and it adds something completely unique to nerd characters we all know and love. What inspired you to try that? What was the first nouveau piece you created?
ML: I’ve been a big fan of art nouveau and Alphonse Mucha since I discovered it about two and a half years ago. Combining it with nerd culture was really a crazy, random happenstance. I’d spent some of my wedding money on a few coffee table art books, one of which was a compilation of art nouveau pieces by Alphonse Mucha. My husband was sick, so while I was nursing him back to health, I was browsing through the book off and on.
I remember lying down before bed and thinking, “It’d be really cool to do a drawing of Princess Peach in that style.” I wrote it down, and when I woke up the next morning, I got to work. It was really the first time I’d tried anything like that before, and it was HARD! At the time, I was working forty-plus hours at a pizza place for minimum wage and going to school full time. I didn’t have much extra time for personal work. But I made it my goal to actually finish that drawing, and I’m extremely glad I did. My husband posted it on Reddit (stealing all my sweet karma), and I experienced the first widespread positive response to my work. It really boosted my confidence and encouraged me to keep on truckin’, so to speak.
DHC: Nerd culture is definitely glad you finished that piece and all the others as well. What’s your process for creating those pieces? Do you sketch one, then re-create it digitally?
ML: I do a rough sketch of the layout I want, mostly using blocks and rudimentary shapes. Then I create a photo collage with various references and screenshots to help me get everything down. I draw it using the collage as reference. Usually I do a rough sketch, refine it, and then do the final line art. After that, I do a color mockup and then start the actual coloring. I haven’t sketched anything out on paper in ages! I started drawing with a tablet at such a young age that sketching on paper just feels weird to me now!
DHC: So you’ve done work for Quantum Mechanix and Dark Horse Comics, and you’ve had some pretty successful T-shirts and accessories on places like RedBubble.com and TeeFury.com. What triumphs on your bucket list would you still love to achieve with your art?
ML: It’s kind of crazy to think that I knocked so much awesome stuff off my bucket list already! I’d say probably my biggest dream would be to do character portraits for a new Baldur’s Gate game or something of the sort. That’s always been my dream! That, or doing work for Wizards of the Coast and a cover for a Stephen King book would be amazing as well. If I got to do any of those things, I could die happy. The Dark Tower is my absolute favorite book series ever, and I would love a chance to do a cover or work on the comic or basically anything to do with it.
DHC: You also have a portfolio of beautiful pieces that are very original and don’t play into nerd culture, like Laura, Lilly, Liz, and Cassie, and the new one you’ve been working on with the jellyfish. These pieces seem more personal, somehow. What inspires them?
ML: Thank you! The pieces like Laura, Liz, etc., are all original artwork that is closer to what I was trying to do before I started delving into pop culture–related art. I’m hoping that some of the exposure for my pop culture stuff will maybe garner some interest in my original work, as that’s where my heart truly lies. It’s extremely hard to get original art to sell, compared to things that already have a fan base.
DHC: Your personal pieces, along with a lot of your other pieces, display a character facing the viewer. What about this pose intrigues you?
ML: Generally, I gravitate toward straightforward portraits because I’m fascinated by female faces. There really isn’t a huge amount of thought that goes into the pose. I go with whatever is aesthetically pleasing to me at the time. I’m still trying to find my footing, so I’m trying different things to see what appeals to me the most. Right now, that’s pretty portraits of ladies.
DHC: Have you ever thought of putting an art book together of a lot of your pieces, talking about process, etc?
ML: I’d love to put an art book together at some point—especially one with explanations of process, as I get asked about that all the time—but currently my work is kind of all over the place in terms of style and subject matter. And there’s not a whole lot of it, since I’ve only been doing this for close to two years. I’d like to wait until I’ve found more consistency, stylewise, with my original art.
DHC: If you had a superpower, what would it be?
ML: If I had a superpower…jeez. I think the ability to manipulate time would be the best superpower ever. I’d love to be able to speed it up and slow it down at will. Making travel go by in the blink of an eye, or making vacations feel like they last two months instead of a week. I haven’t worked out the logistics yet, but that’s what I want!
DHC: Thank You, Megan!
Don't forget to pick up her covers of Willow as each issue arrives at your local comic shop. And take a moment to check out all of her original art on her website.
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Buffyversefantic
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Posts: 2869
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| Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 5:43 pm Post subject: |
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http://fandomania.com/willow-2-comic-recap/
| Quote: | Willow #2 Comic Recap
Posted by Kimberly Lynn Workman
Issue: Willow #2
Release Date: December 2012
Writer: Jeff Parker
Pencils: Brian Ching
Inks: Jason Gorder
Colors: Michelle Madsen
Letters: Richard Starkings and COMICRAFT’S Jimmy Betancourt
Cover: David Mack
Alternate Cover: Megan Lara
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Willow’s still trying to bring magic back, while also trying to stay alive on the dangerous journey she’s undertaken. It wouldn’t be a normal day for the Scooby Gang if someone wasn’t in mortal danger, though. And she’s got a great challenge in front of her, so I hope to see some continued action in future issues.
Note: This recap may contain spoilers!
When last we left Willow, her new companion Marrak, and the Caterpillar Guy, they were facing off with a Hyberrax that I assumed was the creature they had killed and eaten before. No, that was the baby and this is the vengeful mother. Uh oh. While the Caterpillar Guy has a few tricks up his sleeve and is able to withstand any threat through his magical cocoon, Willow and Marrak have to rely on more hands-on means of survival once Marrak’s foot gets stuck during his escape. I’m sure that he would have preferred Willow let him in on her plan rather than playing the unknowing bait, but whatever works! And she even cleaned up their mess on the way out, instead of leaving the memory water contaminated with Hyberrax guts. They’re courteous that way.
Willow’s still maintaining her stance that she can’t go darkside, as Marrak would prefer, because she’d be lost. I agree with her assertions, though. We all remember what happened last time she lost control like that, and she needs to have a handle on herself if she’s going to bring magic back to our world. I found the brief trip into nightmare land to be interesting, even if it might not have been Willow’s nightmare that she was living. The fact that all her friends were faceless, that they couldn’t hear her warnings, was a bit telling as to how Willow might see herself. She’s got to save the world, while her friends aren’t powerful enough to do so. I wonder if that will be true throughout this situation.
Marrack and Willow’s trip is cut short when a mermaid-like creature binds him and confronts Willow. Well, confront and kiss, it’s all the same. The woman is Aluwyn, the Saga Vasuki — Willow’s teacher of the High Witching Arts. She and her companions are very pleased to see Willow and they take her and Marrak to the Witches’ Paradise, which is based around a wellspring. This is what Willow’s been looking for, and when the group performs a ceremony to repair the Scythe, Willow has all the tools she needs to cut a rift into our world and let the magic flow freely. If only it were that simple. In order to replenish our world with magic, it’s already got to have magic in it. Nice Catch-22 there. Could it be that our world will permanently be without magic? I should hope not, and I’m sure Willow will continue to fight until she sees success. She has to find another way because a world without magic is no world at all.
Rating: 4 / 5 Stars
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It looks like Spike # 5 will be out 1/23/13 according to the Dark Horse site. |
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Buffyversefantic
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Buffyversefantic
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Joined: 07 Mar 2007
Posts: 2869
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| Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 6:34 am Post subject: |
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Season 9 March 2013 Solicictations.
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=42607
| Quote: | BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: WILLOW—WONDERLAND #5 (of 5)
(W), Jeff Parker (W), Brian Ching (P), Jason Gorder (I), Michelle Madsen (C), David Mack (Cover), and Megan Lara (Variant cover)
On sale Mar 6
FC, 32 pages
$2.99
Miniseries
Willow's search for magic has led her to some strange worlds with mysterious creatures, fantastical spells, lost love, and new friends (as well as enemies). As her journey speeds toward its end, Willow lands within a rather morbid landscape where the greatest evil she'll have to confront is herself if she's ever to make it home again.
• Buffy Season 9 continues with Willow's story!
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER SEASON 9 #19
Andrew Chambliss (W), Georges Jeanty (P/Variant cover), Dexter Vines (I), Michelle Madsen (C), and Phil Noto (Cover)
On sale Mar 13
FC, 32 pages
$2.99
Ongoing
The Siphon is loose and gathering power after a brutal brawl with Buffy, Illyria, and Koh. But there are bigger things. More important things. Real terror greets Buffy as soon as she returns to San Francisco, where friends and family await her with troubling news.
• Executive produced by Joss Whedon!
• Season 9 continues!
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER SEASON 9 VOLUME 3: GUARDED TP
Andrew Chambliss (W), Jane Espenson (W), Drew Z. Greenberg (W), Georges Jeanty (P), Karl Moline (P), Ben Dewey (P), Nathan Massengill (I), Andy Owens (I), Dexter Vines (I), Michelle Madsen (C), and Jo Chen (Cover)
On sale May 1
FC, 136 pages
$17.99
TP, 7" x 10"
In a bold move to give disenfranchised Slayers a meaningful societal role (with pay), Kennedy recruits Buffy to act as bodyguard for high-profile clientele. But unlike the other recruits, Buffy struggles to abandon her Slaying instincts and looks for demony threats where none lie (much to Kennedy's dismay). So it's only natural that her first job is to protect a tech mogul who just so happens to be running from demon assassins! Collects Buffy Season 9 #11–#15.
• Executive produced by Joss Whedon!
• Introduces Billy the vampire slayer!
• Guest writers Jane Espenson and Drew Greenberg!
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Buffyversefantic
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Buffyversefantic
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Joined: 07 Mar 2007
Posts: 2869
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| Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 5:52 am Post subject: |
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I might not get my copy until tomorrow but from reading early reactions it sounds like this issue is better than recent ones and is moving things forward..From what I gather.....
1)This issue ties into last weeks Willow # 2.
2)Buffy is back with her roomates
3)Dowling and Billy are now Buffy's new scoobies.
4)They are starting to play around with a Buffy/Dowling pairing.
5)One of the zompires is tougher for Buffy to take on and Buffy knows who this zompire used to be.
6)Dawn is sick.
7)Illyria arrives in this issue with her pre "Time Bomb" powers restored.
8)Issue end on a cliffhanger with Dowling being bitten by a zompire |
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