Long Beach Comic Expo 2015: Buffy The Vampire Season 10 Panel Report

Earlier this month at the Long Beach Comic Expo 2015, CraveOnline hosted the final panel of the day which was dedicated to Dark Horse Comics’ Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 10 comic book series.

I co-moderated the panel with Fandom Planet’s Sax Carr as we quizzed Buffy writer Christos Gage and artist Megan Levens before opening up the panel to questions from the audience.

Fanboy Comics President Bryant Dillon has posted a panel report from our Buffy event at LBCE. With Dillon’s permission, his report is reproduced below. Note that there are some spoilers ahead for upcoming issues of Buffy Season 10!

It was heavily implied that Megan Levens will be returning to illustrate more issues (possibly somewhere around issue #20) this season. Levens’ artwork has been fantastic these last few issues, so I’m sure fans will be pleased with this news.
Speaking of pleasing fans, my fellow Scoobies will be happy to know that Gage confirmed that artist Rebekah Isaacs will illustrate the final arc of the season for Buffy: Season 10. Isaacs will be returning to the series prior to the final arc, but it still feels very appropriate that the original team of Gage and Isaacs will finish out the season together.
Apparently, Giles’ adult body will be temporarily restored in issue #19. We have yet to know any further details, but it sounds like the perfect pitch for a Buffy episode, kind of like “Giles temporarily becomes a demon” or “Giles temporarily becomes a teenager.”
It was also heavily implied (Lots of heavy implications in this panel, huh?) that Angel and Buffy will finally come face to face for the first time since Giles’ death before the end of this season. It was further implied that Spike and Buffy may still be seeing each other when Angel shows up and that the murderous, “Somnambulist”-like dreams that both Angel and Spike are currently experiencing could be the reason behind this much-anticipated meeting.
Gage and Levens also discussed the motivation and thought process behind Andrew coming out. Gage suggested that this development for the character falls in line with the themes of adulthood present in this season, and that the humor of Andrew being painfully unaware of his own sexuality had run its course The writers felt it was time to address the issue, and it seems that most fans agree.
In regards to Buffy: Season 10, Gage says fans might not have seen the big bad yet.
When the fans in the audience were asked which character couplings they still wanted to see in the Buffyverse, the most vocal suggestion was Buffy and Faith.
While Gage and Levens discussed the potential of Angel and Faith hooking up briefly, they both praised the fact that the series was one of the few examples in the comic book world where the male and female lead represented the potential for friendship and a professional working relationship between a man and woman, without romantic or sexual complications.
Apparently, when Gage and Whedon were discussing how Giles would be resurrected, Gage suggested that the character return as a teenage, Ripper-version of himself. While Whedon found it interesting, he ultimately shot the concept down because of the potential creepiness of the possibility of Giles hooking up with his pseudo-daughters, Buffy or Willow.
Levens was asked if there were any characters from Buffy that she hadn’t yet had the chance to draw, but would like to. Her answer: Angel.
Gage’s dream comic book project would be Godzilla vs. The Avengers. Apparently, the book got very close to getting the go ahead, with Marvel, IDW, and others on board, but was squashed at some point in the process by Toho.