I just finished the script for “Spike vs. Dracula #5,” the last installment of the series. It takes place during the early part of the fifth season of “Angel.” Dracula shows up in LA, because naturally his attorneys are Wolfram and Hart…and when he shows up, the ghostly Spike is lying in wait to drive him absolutely bonkers.
It may well be one of the funniest comic book stories I’ve ever written.
But now I have to wait for it to be drawn and everything. It’s so frustrating, because as soon as it’s done I’m anxious to get it in front of reader’s eyes. Kathleen and Ariel both read it and thought it was great. Now I want to get the finished product out there.
So next time you think how frustrating it is to have to wait a month to see what happens in a comic, keep in mind that the writer has to wait even longer to see what your reactions are to what happens.
PAD
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Perhaps you should videotape yourself re-enacting the issue with sock puppets or something and then post the footage on the web…?
So now you make us wait too. TANJ.
The sad thing is that this will be the last we see of your writings in the Buffyverse for a long time. Sigh. While I am happy for you that you got an exclusive with Marvel and I look forward to seeing your stories there, I will miss your Spike.
Peter!
You think you have it rough! A decade or so ago I was hired by NOW Comics to write a mini-series based on their Mel Mudd: Comic Book Detective character. Two scripts into the project, it was put on hiatus, and soon after, so was NOW Comics.
Flash forward into the 21st century, and a revitalized NOW plans to finally release the first issue of Mel, attaching it to a DVD edition of NOW WHAT? (a comics mockumentary). The world awaits… or at least I do.
A couple of years later, and we’re still waiting.
NOW honcho Tony Caputo once sent me a more-or-less finished copy of the first issue, and after dusting it off and re-reading it, I still kinda like it, and wonder what the fans would’ve said about it. (Sigh.) (My major regret: One joke in the issue was inspired by a column by Harlan Ellison, and hinged upon the correct, original usage of the word “gunsel.” I would really have loved to get his reaction.)
I won’t even mention the fact that my contract for the books called for “payment upon publication.” (Or maybe I will.)
So next time you think how frustrating it is to wait for fan reaction for your stuff, think of me, and be glad you’re you.
It’s so frustrating, because as soon as it’s done I’m anxious to get it in front of reader’s eyes.
Email me! I’m perfectly willing to take a look at it. Even just a snippet or something. I’d love to give you a preview review, and obviously you know you can trust me not to leak it anywhere.
I feel your pain. The waiting time between finishing my novels and them hitting stores seemed an infinite wait.
Spike vs Dracula seems really drawn out. I was wondering if Peter David had decided it should be a mini series or the company. It seems to me this comic could have been done in one extra large issue.
I hadn’t thought about it from that perspective before, PAD. Well, I guess now we’re ALL looking forward to it (just the thought of it, from that plot description, makes me laugh)!
And, J. Alexander, maybe you don’t need to get TOO sad yet. I’ve seen in a couple places that PAD has at least one “Angel Character Spotlight” issue coming out; the newest “Angel featuring Buffy magazine” indicates two. So, I guess either these were already set up before the Marvel exclusive contract; or, the sources are out of date, and the projects will have tobe re-assigned. Guess we’ll see…
When is the comic Spike vs. Dracula supossed to come out? My husband owns a comic store and he did order one for me but we haven’t recived one yet. I checked on our wholesalers web site and I didn’t see the comic so I don’t know if they ran out or it hasn’t come out yet. I really like the Spike stories. I like how the characters are how they would be in the tv shows if they were still on. Did you watch Buffy and Angel to get to know the characters? Thanks for your time.
Teresa Thomas