Month: October 2002

“Buffy” continues to go from strength to strength this season. I’ve already enjoyed the first two episodes about twice as much as the first ten episodes of the previous season (not counting the musical.) That final image of Spike on the cross will be seared (no pun intended) into the minds of all Buffy fans.

However…I find that I’m starting to have some confusion about Anya and the whole soul thing.

The rationale that the series has used for Buffy’s methodical extinction of demons is that they don’t have souls. Least that’s how I’ve always understood it. They’re not “real” life. Which means, by that criteria, that Buffy should be able to snap Anya’s neck and give it no thought whatsoever because she’s now a souless creature like the rest of them. Anya even said specifically that she was once a magic user who was transformed into a demon, giving us to believe she has mortal roots.

So here’s the thing: When Anya first lost her demonic abilities/status in season 3, does that mean she reacquired *her* soul? If so, why wasn’t she as tortured as Angel and Spike are. She certainly inflicted enough torment. Instead she never seem perturbed by it at all; indeed, she looked back upon her demon days with nostalgia. So does that mean that she actually *never* had a soul even when she was human? In that case, what the hëll *was* she? And certainly Xander’s actions become even more understandable. We know demons can love; Dru even said it. “We can love quite well.” But without a soul, there’s no spiritual core to the relationship. Xander would have sensed on some level that the marriage was doomed, because Anya wasn’t truly human. She was just this…this thing in the shape of a human. But if she *does* have a soul, then that calls into question the entire notion of souless demons.

Joss? A little help?

PAD

… I have to. Here’s a small shot of what the Teen Titans in the new series look like, and you can read all about it here.

You know one of the reasons it took me so long to get a website together? Because, believe it or not, I really, really don’t like blowing my own horn. I don’t like saying “I did this” or “I did that” because it seems boastful and bragging on some level.

I came to realize, however, that keeping one’s mouth shut in this day and age simply means that you get ignored. So I thought I’d supplement the recent announcement of the new Teen Titans animated series by mentioning that I helped get it sold in the first place.

Six months ago I was contacted by Paul Levitz at DC who asked if I’d be interested in working with development folks at Kids WB and Warners Animation on a Teen Titans animated series. Why me? Because although the concept was to go back to the Wolfman/Perez era of characters, they decided they wanted it to have the sensibilities of YOUNG JUSTICE (because, really, the characters from the Wolfman/Perez days were far more “Titans” than “Teens.”)

So I re-read as much of the Wolfman/Perez and Wolfman/whoever-else “Titans” that I could find, had meetings with various folks, and wrote a bible. I then did a couple of revises on the bible, got the okay to write the pilot, did so, and did a revise on that. I also wrote a stripped down summary of the series’ premise for a market research session they were going to be holding with some young viewers.

I hewed to DC continuity where I could, but also made a variety of changes for assorted reasons. I won’t go into detail as to what because I don’t *recall* signing a confidentiality agreement, but if I did and just forgot about it, I wouldn’t want to violate it. Anyway, my initial work on the project was strong enough to help get the series green lit.

Was I annoyed that no mention of my participation was made in the press release? Nah. I mean, it’s not as if I was singled out to be omitted; they didn’t mention other development folks either. I’m not listing them here simply because I’m not sure if they’d want their names bandied about, although I should note that one of whom gave me some absolutely kickin’ Samurai Jack action figures. Furthermore, I haven’t seen much of the project for a few months; I’ve no idea how much of what I contributed remains. For instance, I didn’t have them set in some future period as implied by the press release. That wasn’t part of the mandate I was given.

Bottom line, I got paid a nice buncha money for the work, and it also led to my involvement in developing another animated series for another DC hero…and no, I’m not going to say which one until we hear whether that’s a go or not. Although it’d be cool if it did go forward, since then I’d be two for two.

PAD