Hot news from San Diego Comic-Con overnight. Dynamite Entertainment has been confirmed as the new home of both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel comics. Though the publisher has yet to confirm when new series will land in stores we do know who the new mastermind behind the Buffyverse-in-print will be.
Eisner Award-winning Kelly Thompson will be taking on the comic book franchise, as the master architect and writer for both Buffy the Vampire Slayerand Angel. The two series are set to interconnect and complement each other closely, for an epic introduction to the characters and franchise for new audiences as well as long-time readers. Buffy and Angel are two of her most ambitious projects to date, after over a decade of fan-favorite and critically acclaimed work including Absolute Wonder Woman, Birds of Prey, Captain Marvel, Black Widow, It’s Jeff, Hawkeye, Rogue & Gambit, and Deadpool — as well as stories based on cherished properties like Jem and the Holograms, G.I. Joe’s Scarlett, and Star Wars. Superstar cover artist David Nakayama will be contributing to both titles.
“In my early days trying to figure out how to be a writer and what stories mattered to me and why — no heroine quite broke through for me like Buffy Summers,” said writer Kelly Thompson. “She was somehow everything my young geek heart had always wanted but hadn’t known to ask for. Something about that delicate alchemy of horror, fantasy, and comedy paired with a hero so pure of heart and yet flawed and relatable was… impossible to deny. I fell deeply in love with Buffy, and following that, her whole world. Her ex-boyfriend is now a supernatural detective in Los Angeles you say? Inject it directly into my veins! But unlike a lot of other worlds I loved, the world of Buffy and Angel somehow never fell to the wayside. I could always come back to it and find something new, or something I’d missed, or something I needed. And I hope this new story we’re telling can do the same for old and new fans everywhere.”
Editor Nate Cosby added, “There was one name on my wish list of writers for Buffy: Kelly Thompson. There was one name on my wish list of writers for Angel: Kelly Thompson. Her passion for these characters is second-to-none. The interweaving story she’s crafted for both books is going to knock everyone’s socks off.”
The original Buffy the Vampire Slayer series ran from 1997-2003 and featured titular hero Buffy inheriting the “Slayer” mantle as a high school student, and with the help of trusted friends together they fight the forces of evil in Sunnydale, a beautiful California town set inconveniently on a Hellmouth, a gateway to Hell itself. Buffy’s first love, Angel, a vampire cursed with a soul, eventually sets out on his own to continue his journey of redemption, becoming a star in his own right — in both television and comics — as a supernatural detective in Los Angeles.
“Buffy the Vampire Slayer is truly one of the crown jewels of modern television, and comics fans know that she’s more than made her mark in this medium as well,” said Nick Barrucci, Dynamite CEO and Publisher. “The genius mix of its small-town vibes with fantasy and horror, the seamless touches of humor, incredible strong female characters that we’ve been proud to always represent at Dynamite — it all works together for a perfect set of characters and framework for stories. Including Angel! Which we’re excited to contribute to and build for new and returning fans!”
Further details on the full interior creative team, exciting variant covers, and release schedules will be forthcoming soon.
