We are really excited about Buffy Season 9 comics arriving on comic shop shelves Sept. 14th and wanted to reach out to fans and get their thoughts about Season 9 and Buffy the Vampire Slayer in general. Whedon fans are legion and probably some of the most generous and passionate we've ever encountered. We're excited to share their enthusiasm for Buffy here on our Blog.
If I think about the things I have learned in my life so far, lots of them have been thanks to Buffy in some way. Joss Whedon created Buffy to be an icon, but with her amazing world full of magic and love, he also gave birth to a limitless universe where everyone could find a home and a meaning. I discovered Buffy when I was just a little girl, literally; I used to sit down with my dad, facing all my fears about vampires and demons, risking nightmares at night, so I could see how Buffy killed the monsters and learn to do it myself . . . Years later I would watch Angel, too, with my whole family, discussing at dinnertime the vampire with a soul and his redemption; how cool is that? Let me tell you, simple greatness. I grew up with the show. From looking for fun and weird knowledge in an apparently silly TV show, I eventually learned to take the show seriously, because it was real. They weren't just telling tales with monsters; they were showing how bad life can look and how good it is if you pay attention.
When you can relate so deeply to something, it's unforgettable. Buffy did leave her stake in my heart. When the series ended, I was about thirteen years old. I felt that I still had so many things to talk about, but living in Chile, as I do, it wasn't easy to find fans—not at that time, at least—so I ventured into the mysterious world of the Buffy fandom. The communities were incredible, furious, avid. I remember being so stunned when I read the forums . . . People from Spain, South America, and Central America together, laughing, crying, suffering. It was nice. I saw many friendships blossom in those places, people that I could never have known if it wasn't for Buffy. I learned to love the fact that an idea, a simple story, could change the world, my world.
I wasn't surprised when I heard that Buffy would come back; the legends always find their way back. But as a comic book? Oh, boy. I had read some of the Buffy comics, even some novels, but, of course, they never were the main story. I kept my faith, and my friends did the same, and we waited, anxious and nervous, until we could see the first pages. The joy was undeniable—Buffy jumping over a church? Wow. The fights, the quotes, almost everything that matters remained the same. And we believed again. We let the magic get us and kept reading it until the very end. It wasn't easy; like on the show, Joss and all the crew behind the comics made a journey of life, but this time you felt the darkness all over it. The first issues let us process the new aspects of the story and the partial fate of some characters. I was especially moved by “The Chain,” surprised by Warren, and curious about Twilight—I just loved the guy and his evilness. Season 8 started like no other. Later on, things got real. Destiny was against Buffy. Being the Slayer was simple, but living life as an adult and facing the aftermath of her actions? Not so much. The fandom divided as the season progressed, like it did many times in the past, but you couldn't be indifferent. Neither could you say the story was bad. Of course there were those creepy moments like the space sex or Spike's bugs, but why not? It made the story bigger, funnier, and if we had a dancer demon that made the entire town sing, well . . . it's still fiction, you know.
Four years passed. The end of Season 8 left us with pain, but also hope. The Buffy world changed again, but for Buffy there's still the night, vampires, and her stake. What do I expect from Season 9? That it will make me believe as always. I want to be so in love with the story that it makes me cry, scream, and laugh, that even when I get angry or disappointed it makes me want to keep reading, because that's Buffy. No matter what, I always want to know how it ends.
Its story is as astonishing as its fans, too easy to fall in love with and too impossible to quit, just the way I love.
—Katherine Páez Ramos
Santiago, Chile
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