Continuing the World of Buffy
According to the latest Entertainment Weekly, Joss Whedon sees the Buffy universe as an ongoing property, albeit not in the broadcast television medium in particular.
The short article by Jeff Jensen, focused on the success of Whedon's cancelled TV series Firefly being released on DVD and the disappointing box-office performance of Whedon's Serenity but also examined some of Whedon's upcoming projects.
He declares the comic book series he is currently working with to be "the eighth season we never made," which has interesting implications for transmedia storytelling.
Furthermore, they pbriefly mention the possibility of straight-to-DVD films featuring characters from the Buffy universe, such as Spike.
Whether you're a fan of Buffy or not, do you think there is some promise in extending the life of the Buffy property through these DVD films and the comic book series? Whedon seems to be on the cutting edge of mainstream cultural producers who are experimenting with what transmedia can do, but what do you all think?
I think Joss Whedon has been very clever about recognizing the power of using transmedia opportunities as a way to extend an IP. He was smart in leaving the Buffy open for more stories at the end of the series -- Buffy and the gang now in the wide world, able to take advantage of the diversity in settings that comic books afford. He also transformed the characters into ones who would work well in comics: each character is interesting and visually distinct. Finally, Whedon has honed his own talents in slayer-based comics with his Fray series (eight issue series from 2001 to 2003, I think).
Whedon appears to be making every effort to use transmedia to continue the Buffy IP he's already established. I have high hopes for the comics and for the DVDs.