In Every Generation: An Interview With ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ Writer Kelly Thompson

If you’re at all familiar with Kelly Thompson‘s work, the announcement that she would be in charge of writing Dynamite’s upcoming Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel comics couldn’t have been better news. Dynamite has been keeping a tight lid on this one, with Steve Byrne announced as the artist on Buffy, Lee Loughridge on colors and Jeff Eckleberry on letters, but here’s what Thompson could say and not be at risk of a telling off by Giles:

Rachel Bellwoar: As someone who became a Buffy and Angel fan through the DVDs, do you remember when you first started watching both shows and was there one you gravitated towards more than the other?

Kelly Thompson: I don’t know what the years were … but I do know my first episode was the finale of Season 1 – “Prophecy Girl.” And it was really love at first sight. I think I must have been seeing it in reruns … and back in those old days it was much harder to track down a thing you wanted to know everything about — but in short order I had VHS tapes full of Buffy episodes though.

Bellwoar: How does Buffy differ from some of the other strong female leads you’ve written for, like Captain Marvel and Jessica Jones?

Thompson: Buffy is actually quite interesting to me as a superhero archetype, because one of the first and most constant things “superheroes” have, is a costume. And Buffy does not have one, really never has, and I cannot imagine her ever in one. I think she’d do all she can to avoid any sort of uniform after the Doublemeat Palace incident. And even when she was working with The Initiative, she defended her tank top patrolling look with hilarious nonchalance. So for a lot of reasons, including costumes, there’s a huge gulf I think between Buffy and Captain Marvel. But I think there’s much less gulf between Buffy and someone like Jessica Jones. If you asked me to pen what a future adult Buffy who has to pay bills and also kill vamps looks like — it’s probably a private detective, not unlike Jessica, not unlike Angel. It’s a good path for people who live on the edges of society and have really special skills not easily transferrable.

Bellwoar: This speaks to the incredible range of your projects. At the same you’re writing a comic for one of the most notoriously quippy shows to ever quip, you’re also writing Jeff the Land Shark, which is much less verbal. Do you enjoy getting to stretch both muscles?

Thompson: Thank you! It’s nice to have some range in my projects — though it can be a bit of a whiplash moving from one to another. There’s a beautiful fantasy world where I can shift to projects based on my mood, but deadlines tend to make those decisions for me. I doubt our Buffy is the quippiest comic to ever quip — I don’t want the books to feel trapped in the past, so the approach is about finding the voice that feels right for those characters and then updating it so that it’s not horribly jarring to read now some 25+ years later.

Bellwoar: Is there a character whose voice has been the most fun to capture or the opposite — the most difficult?

Thompson: I think Angel can be tricky. I hope I’ve gotten there, but while he’s not a big talker, he is a big brooder — so I think there’s a tendency to overwrite his captions and underwrite his dialogue, but I’m trying. I was a bit worried about Willow, but she came to me quite naturally. Honestly, I know these characters so well as a fan, that it’s actually quite upsetting when I can’t just nail it on take one for all of them!

Bellwoar: In addition to Buffy, you’re also going to be writing the Angel comic. How has it been trying to make sure both series work separately but also tie-in to each other?

Thompson: Well, at first they basically do not work separately [laughs]. You really need Buffy #1 and the revelations inside it to understand Angel #1 and the mission that’s unfolding for all of these characters from there. I’ve been talking about the book as initially almost a big crossover event that brings both casts together for one mission. The first arc for both books are fairly intertwined. After that we’ll see more separation as Angel returns more to its “supernatural detectives in LA” roots.

Bellwoar: I’m especially excited by the prospect of Cordelia returning to Sunnydale, something she didn’t do (on the show at least) after moving to LA. Do you feel that was a missed opportunity on the original series’ part?

Thompson: Well, I think that this is exactly what the TV shows had their hands tied on and the comic book doesn’t — there’s no complicated scheduling or huge appearance fees to move the characters from book to book. We have to tell the best story and I, as the writer, have to be cognizant of what the book and artists can handle, but other than that, we’re very free of those restrictions. Cordelia is a favorite character for sure and seeing her return to Sunnydale is fun. I think she’s probably known “you can’t go home again” even before she did it, but she’s making the best of it and I’m proud of her. [laughs]

Bellwoar: Thanks for agreeing to this interview, Kelly!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #1 goes on sale July 27th from Dynamite Comics. The FOC date for the first issue is June 29th.