Are the Angel and Buffy novels canon?

POSTED BY: gatozhian
UPDATED: Friday, May 7, 2004 15:58
VIEWED: 6028
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GATOZHIAN

Thursday, March 18, 2004 3:31 AM

Well, are they?

And what about the comics? If not, I'm not gonna fool with them. So there!

Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take Wash and Book from me...

ANJIN

Thursday, March 18, 2004 4:27 AM

I know of no official word from Joss or the Mutant Enemy crowd one way or the other. However, this does bring up the larger issue of what should be considered canon in any creative endeavor. For instance, the great body of work revolving around the Star Wars universe brings up some interesting arguements. There, we find varying levels on canonicity (you get the picture).

For myself, I generally assume that unless the related materals are created directly by the original creator of the Intellectual Property, it is not canon. Regarding the Buffyverse, unless Joss wrote it or was directly involved in it, I assume that he is free to contradict the work at any time and should fell free to do so if he needs to.

On the other hand, why does it matter? They may not be official, but you might enjoy the hell out of them. And if you like them and want to integrate them into your conception of the Buffyverse, do it. Intellectual Properties have no life in and of themselves. It is your interaction and relationship with it where the magic happens.

---
Raven's Prayer
http://webpages.charter.net/anjinm

FIREFLYTHEMOVIE

Thursday, March 18, 2004 6:03 AM

I have no idea about the comic books (which I think Joss was involved with, but I've never actually seen them), but I think I've read interviews in which Joss almost flat out calls the books crap. He definitely has no involvement in them. Of course, before I read the interview, I read about 10 pages of a Buffy novel. I may just be remembering my own assessment of those 10 pages.

ANJIN

Thursday, March 18, 2004 7:23 AM

If I can make one Buffyverse recommendation though, try "Frey", written by Joss and published by Dark Horse Comics. In two words: sci-fi slayer.

---
Raven's Prayer
http://webpages.charter.net/anjinm

SPOOKYJESUS

Thursday, March 18, 2004 1:26 PM

Fray's awesome - and that does seem to fit very much into the Buffyverse (the series had the first appearance of the Sith (I didn't spell that right did I?) - The fancy red axe/stake weapon thing buffy used in the last couple of episodes.

As does the Tales of the Slayers graphic novella - much of it's written by Joss, bits written by other staffers. All round good reading and I'd dare say it too fits into the buffy canon - it's just tales of past slayers.

GATOZHIAN

Thursday, March 18, 2004 1:50 PM

Ok, thanks for your opinions everybody! I'll skip the novels, but I ordered the Frey GN this morning, and I'm gonna have my local comic shop hold the new Tales of the Vampires.

Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take Wash and Book from me...

GHOULMAN

Thursday, March 18, 2004 8:39 PM

??? ... did I stray into a fanboy Star Trek forum?

Gotta say, the Joss machine makes it almost worthwhile (and keeping with the themes of Buffy and Angel) to have some sort of 'canon'. That is - there is actual continuity from season to season, story to story.

When Xander got coaght for something he did two seasons ago I was mightily impressed. 'Kick his ass' was NOT what Willow said after all.

GATOZHIAN

Thursday, March 18, 2004 9:02 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Ghoulman:
??? ... did I stray into a fanboy Star Trek forum?

I just really dig all this and I just don't want to waste my time with anything that does not count toward the larger storyline or simply isnt any good.

No need for the fanboy comment, I just miss Buffy and want more. I'm going to try Fray and I just read Tales of the Vampires #4. Tales was pretty good and had stories from Ben Edlund and Joss himself, so I figure I'm pretty safe here!

Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take Wash and Book from me...

ZORIAH

Friday, March 19, 2004 7:15 AM

Well they are not considered canon so much as an expansion on the universe. For example in a Spike/Dru novel Pretty Maids All in A Row Spike kills his third slayer. Yep that's right. However it's still an interesting read and features the idea of slayers in training - which later became a canon plotline in seventh season.

Some novels are better at getting the tone and characters right. If you like Spike then 'These Our Actors', and 'Blood and Fog' are not too bad a read.

ATHERTONWING

Friday, March 19, 2004 10:08 AM

oh dont bypass all of the novels there is one collection that is absolultey amazing, the tales of the slayer books. They deal with past slayers as well as our own Buffy summers and whats even better is they are all penned by either Buffy writers or crew members (one is even written by todd the makeup guy on buffy.i'd say they are well worth the read as is the graphic novel of the same name. has strips penned by amber benson as well as joss himself. joss also co-wrote an Angel comic series for dark horse which i would also recommend.also a fun comic by jane espenson called 'reunion' deals with the unknown that happened when buffy met with angel during season 6 of buffy and season 3 of angel.

But by far the best comic series is Fray, joss has worked wonders yet again. and little known fact is that the word 'Ruttin' was first used in fray long before the guys in the verse were spouting it.oh and also people (inc joss) always recommend Chris golden but i personally dislike his work, i found the console games helped numb my buffy withdrawl (and when eliza dusku does faiths voice whats not to love)?

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