Throwback Attack - Joss Whedon, Comic Book Writer?

Joss Whedon: the name alone inspires awe and wonder in the hearts of film and television geeks. Whether you've already seen The Avengers seven times in theaters or you've practically burned a hole in your DVD Box Set of Firefly, chances are if you own a television, you know the name. But did you also know Mr. Whedon has spent the last decade of his career writing comics as well? Wa-BAM. Fun factoid. 

Meet Melaka Fray, Joss' first ever comic book super heroine. Springing from the pages of the original not-so-canon Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic books in the late 90s, the comic Fray is set in a distant dystopian future where vampires are the equivalent of pigeons along the streets of New York City (now renamed Haddyn) and the slayer line has been almost completely obliterated. Even if you're not a fan of the original TV fun of Buffy (though you really should be), this story reads like an old school pulp magazine with a mythological kick. By the end, readers are completely satisfied with the story they've just read, and many may even be thinking "Buffy? Who's that again?"


After the underground success of Fray, Whedon took to the comic pages once again to continue the adventures of his favorite space pirates. Serenity: Those Left Behind and Serenity: Better Days follow the space crew in the between time of when Firefly ended and the box office flop Serenity took place, giving readers another chance to relive the glory days with the crew.


Realizing that he could continue his shows in comic book form, Whedon teamed up with Dark Horse comics in 2007 to create one of the most unheard of comic book adventures in modern history: an eighth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Even after four years off air, the demand for new stories from the Buffyverse was at an all time high, with fans continuously speculating the possibility of a Spike/Willow movie or the BBC mini-series version of The Ripper (which we hear is still in production limbo). Instead, Joss decided to continue his hand at comic book stardom and signed on with Dark Horse to produce a 40 issue limited series that would fall under the title of Buffy Season Eight.

The stories in Season Eight are some of the most fantastic (and often times outrageous) the series had ever seen, and fans ate it up like there was no tomorrow. After a four year run and millions of issues later (and an Angel series at rival publishers IDW), Whedon wrapped up the story with a tidy bow and brought our girl back to her vamp slaying roots, giving fans everything they could have wanted and more. Now, Buffy Season Nine and sister comic Angel & Faith continue to be one of the highest selling series at Dark Horse comics, giving fans more stories from their favorite crime fighters and blood suckers.


As Whedon's success in the comic book world blew up, Marvel decided to bring him on board for on of the most earth shattering series to date. Astonishing X-Men has often times been a title that fans consider "non canon" due to the constant rotation of team members and often times ridiculous stories, and usually the series would be cancelled after limited run only to be resurrected again years later to fail again. In the hands of Whedon, however, this Astonishing team saw some major developments that are still causing ripples in the Marvel Universe. If you're looking for a good jumping-off point to get into any X-titles, this is definitely a good place to start.


Joss Whedon: Proving that you can actually do it all and still be pretty decent at it.