Confessions From A 'Buffy' Addict
My interview with Buffy's Nicholas Brendon
As I put the finishing touches on The Sire: Aftermath #1 – the 14th chapter in the series! – my mind drifts to earlier days in my life when I would draw this character, and craft this story in college.
And I confess… it makes me miss Buffy.
No, this isn’t a long lost girlfriend…or pet for that matter. It’s Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the WB/CW sci-fi cult hit that ran from 1997-2003.
(Considering the type of folks on this newsletter, I assume most of you knew what I was talking about, but just in case.)
In college, where I tirelessly worked on the comic book that would later become The Sire, I used to love watching Buffy. In fact, during the cold dark winter days at school, it was probably the thing I looked forward to the most. I used to set my VCR (yes, I’m that old) and record each episode and watch and re-watch. I was pretty obsessed. And I marveled at how Joss Whedon crafted a show that felt so much like a comic book series unfolding in live action.
I shipped Spike/Buffy (bite me Angel/Buffy shippers!) I got emotional when Buffy sacrificed herself at the end of season 5 (my favorite season aside from season 2.) And I absolutely loved the crossover events with the spin-off series Angel.
I wanted a gang like the Scooby gang. I wanted a hang out in a place like the Bronze, where everyone would go, and something crazy would happen. I wanted to live in that universe!
But most of all, I miss TV shows that were appointment TV. For those under the age of 30, there was something cool about looking forward to each week because the characters and storyline pulled me in. I also loved how these shows were a marker in time, where the characters experienced the change in season as I did in real life (a very special Halloween episode! A can’t miss Valentine’s Day episode!)
Everything felt together. Like we were part of the same universe. Like Buffy’s world was happening side by side along with mine.
With streaming and on demand, anytime, anywhere programming, it’s going to be difficult, if not impossible to capture that same sense of togetherness TV could give us. And it makes me sad for this generation of TV viewers that they can’t experience it the same way I did. I’m sure it’s been replaced with something in their everyday life that I won’t experience, but still. I think we had it made.
So it’s on that note, I get to share an interview I did with Buffy’s own Nicholas Brendon, from back in 2017, when the show was celebrating its 20th anniversary. And it’s pretty cool that almost 30 years later (yikes!) the show still resonates with so many, much the way it did for me
Click the video below and enjoy!
-Mike