Writer Notes Angel and Faith Season 10 Issue 15

Angel and Faith  -Fight or Flight

Page 1 – 2

Before writing this issue I got to read all of Buffy Season 10 and Angel and Faith Season 10. There was a dream that Spike has about murdering people in a Buffy issue before this. It’s connected to the Buffy season 10 Big Bad and is also effecting Angel. So I wanted to reference Spike’s dream shot wise, to help drive the connection between both their dreams.

The Fred scene I wanted to contrast the spooky Angel scene to it’s a lot of pulled out and showing the scenery off. Suggested Camden Market as a place for Fred to just be walking around to look around. Mostly because I remember a lot of weird kitchey objects getting sold there. It would be a plan where Fred could believable come across some old board games and not be expecting it.

page 3 – 4

I used Risk because Welsey and Gunn played that several times in Angel to kill time. I was told that Fred and Angel needed to go on a trip for this one shot. I thought of Ireland because Angel is from there and because of the passport thing. I asked Kate Ashwin about the passport to Ireland thing. But realize I never bothered to check to see if that only applies to UK citizens. Whoops.

It’s kinda implied in a few places that Angel has a photographic memory. So he would be able to clearly remember if his dreams were memories or not. At least he would be able to in a manner more sure than Spike was in the Buffy issues previous to this.

My original pitch was a little different because I thought Angel came from a small village/town because of the set used in his flashbacks and because Darla mentioned Angel killing everyone where he was from. I ended up changing things once I found out it was Galway. But that’s why I put in the small village line. That set doesn’t look like a major port.

Page 5 – 6

I wanted the little inn they stayed at to look wholesome. I suggested the inn that’s in Hot Fuzz as reference. Kinda quaint and quiet to hide what’s underneath.

Since Darla brags about Angel having killed most of his home town, I figured it was probably just a neighborhood. Also, Darla had a grudge against the upper crust of society. Angel’s first year or so as a vampire was probably mostly targeting them because of Darla’s guidance. I built the walking tour around that part.

page 7 – 8

I wanted the whole bellhop bit to be off putting. Also Angel would be extra aware that something is up because vampires can smell fear in the Buffyverse.

page 9 – 12

I asked the artist and colorist to do a specific layout and color scheme while the scenes got cut together. I thought it would be a nice way to visually mix up the page. The gag with the actor missing his jump scare cue doesn’t quite work on the page though.

page 13 – 15

Exposition dump time. It might have been an idea too complicated for a 18 pages of story. I saw 18 because 4 pages of this issue had to refer back to the bigger arch. I had also never written a floppy comic before so I didn’t quite have a hang of how much could go into the page. Here you have all the witches. I wanted to go for a Mother, Maiden, and a Crone thing. They are also all named after Discworld witches.

page 16 – 20

The fight was a little hard to choreography. It’s a lot for action for the pages I had left in my script. This is again where my inexperience writing something so short harmed the over all story.

page 21 – 22

This phone call with Spike starts in the Buffy issue before it. I got to write about half of it. The part with Fred is mostly to set up the next storyline. I got told the basic plot of it while Victor wrote it up. So I knew enough to get the dominos set up.

Buffy Title Card For Episode 29: Passion

Continuing my cover practice by using Buffy episodes. Out of the roughs/thumbnails I did for Buffy season 2 episodes, the design I did for Passion jumped out as the strongest. It was a design that I though hints at important events in the episode but didn’t spoil anything. I stuck to a purpley/pink color scheme because Angel’s monolog is kinda leaning into a purple prose thing. Also, like the last title card I did, I took the color scheme from Sailor Moon Illustrations.

I don’t know which of my other Buffy Cards I’m gonna finish up. Which ones would you like to see?

Buffy Title Card Roughs 16

So for the end of Season 2. I wanted each cover idea to be kinda a set. So the first two designs are inamate objects that are important to the story. The orb that is used in Angel’s soul spell and then the statue of the demon. They are kinda simple but them standing on their own and colored the right way could work.

The second set I though focusing on the two scenes where Angel is told to close his eyes would be a good idea. They kinda book end the start and end of the episodes. So the first one is Darla biting Angel to make him a vampire and the second is Buffy pulling away from her kiss with Angel.

Buffy Title Card Roughs 15

So for the Passions, I only did the one design because what Giles finds waiting for him is powerful in context but doesn’t give way what happens in the episode.

Killed by Death is was a little hard. I thought maybe the book with the monsters face on it stained with blood. The next one is the demon’s claws coming around the doorway corner. Both aren’t quite as good as I’d like.

Buffy Title Card Roughs 14

Some more Buffy title cards. So Phases I didn’t want to be too on the nose with the werewolf stuff. So I did the light on Oz’s chains for the first idea. The second idea for phases thought the gum aiming scope would be a good idea. Since Cain is a driving force in the episode that would make the idea stand out.

For Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered I thought Xander’s chest while he’s wearing the locket he gave Cordelia is a good idea. Since the whole episode is about women under the love spell being obsessed with Xander, I thought sexualizing him would be fixing. And then the other is since they use candles in the spell, so the flame making a heart would work well.