With Joss Whedon’s BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: SEASON 8 comic book series recently wrapping up its 40 issue run (you can pre-order the final collected trade paperback here) fans will be happy to learn that there’s much more to come yet…

This August will see the release of ANGEL AND FAITH #1, a 25 issue run that will continue on after the events of SEASON 8 (no spoilers here, sorry). The series will be once again overseen by Whedon himself (hence canon, very important) and is written by AVENGERS ACADEMY scribe Christos Gage with illustration by Rebekah Issacs.

Expect the series to follow the same release pattern as SEASON 8, with Dark Horse comics releasing trade paperbacks collecting 5 issues at a time.

Cover to ANGEL AND FAITH #1

But that’s not all, oh no…

Dark Horse have officially announced that SEASON 9 is coming sooner than expected, with a scheduled September 2011 start date. The series will also be 25 issues (though SEASON 8 was originally slated for the same, eventually doubling) and once again reunite Whedon and his writing team*, along with the spectacular cover artist Jo Chen and interiors by Georges Jeanty.

We urge any BUFFY/ANGEL who haven’t yet caught the series to rectify this immediately (you won’t regret it, pinky promise.) If you’re of the few who would like to continue the story but find the comic medium off-putting, then why not try the ‘Motion Comic’ out now on DVD/Blu-Ray in the US, October 3rd in the UK. Have a ganders at the trailer here, see what you think.

*Pretty much all of the show’s writers have put aside their big, fancy-pants Hollywood-type gigs to return to the characters and contribute to the comic book run, including Drew Goddard; Jane Espenson; Steven S. DeKnight; Drew Z. Greenberg; and Doug Petrie. Whedon was also able to wangle the services of some comic book superstars, with Brian K. Vaughn (Y: THE LAST MAN); Brad Meltzer (IDENTITY CRISIS); and Jeph Loeb (BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN) coming along for the ride.

Ok, so if you’ve read this far then it’s pretty safe to say you’re a BUFFY/ANGEL nerd like me, so I thought I’d share with you this little nugget – it’s the little-seen promo trailer for a project Whedon and his writers tried to pitch to Fox way back in 2002… BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: THE ANIMATED SERIES.

What do you think? Looks like a blast to me! Sadly Twentieth Century Fox didn’t agree, and the show was never completed despite several scripts for its first season already completed. Damn you, Fox.

What do you think of the Dark Horse series so far? Still pine for the on-screen incarnations of these characters like I? Let us know with your comments below!

 

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