Date: October 1999
Price: £2.75
Page Count: 52
Editor: Darryl Curtis
Stake Out
The news pages cover the launch of www.buffy.com, which at the time of publication is just going live. In the US, the series is wrapping up its third season, while the UK remains slightly behind; non‑cable viewers are still in Season 2, almost a full year out of sync.
Regarding the website’s launch, new ‘interactive’ features include an extensive episode guide of seasons one and two and a Bestiary of demons. Chris Lowry, the site’s designer told the magazine: “We’ve been keeping an eye out for Moloch, but no demons so far. I think we’re safe.”
Famous last words.
Much of this issue’s other news focuses on hiatus projects for two of the show’s stars.
Seth Green has been confirmed to reprise his role as Scott Evil in the Austin Powers sequel The Spy Who Shagged Me. He’s also voicing two new characters, one for FOX’s Batman Beyond and one for a new animated series. He’ll voice the eldest son of the Griffin family, Chris, in a new series called The Family Guy. Whatever happened to that show?
Alyson Hannigan, meanwhile, is preparing for Band Camp, ahead of filming on American Pie, presumably a nice, clean family-friendly film about musicians in the woods.
There’s also a feature on the upcoming Angel spin‑off, which has been confirmed to have 13 episodes to begin it’s first season. The issue also comes with the first confirmation that Charisma Carpenter will be joining the new series – though the show’s creators ‘insist neither she nor David Boreanaz will depart Buffy before the end of Season 3.’
Angel also branches into comics this month with The Hollower. A brief interview with the show’s creator touches on the question of other films and series “copying” Buffy. His response: “Blade was never called the Chosen One when I read the comic book.”
Soul Man by Michael Stokes
An interview with David Boreanaz, conducted during the hiatus between Buffy Seasons 2 and 3, after the confirmation of his upcoming spin-off, a year before cameras rolled on the launch of Angel.
In the interview, the actor describes his high school years, when asked how they compared to Sunnydale High: “I went to an all boys preparatory school in the Philadelphia suburbs, so I’d say it compared differently. I had Augustinian priests instead of demons running around, but in the same sense they are demons [Laughs]. If you want to look at it that way, it was the same.”
He also describes his big break into acting: “It’d probably be a commercial when I came to Los Angeles. The third day I got here, I walked into a production office and there was a Foster’s Beer commercial being shot. I wanted to work behind the camera, and they threw me in front of the camera.”
His favourite sport is Hockey, which Angel was also a fan of (Life of the Party). His birthday is May 16th and he was born in Buffalo, New York.
Slayerpalooza! by Matt Springer
A look at the bands who have appeared on the show while performing live at the Bronze, including Four Star Mary, along with a spotlight on composer Christophe Beck’s work for the series.
Series theme writers Nerf Herder describe how they came to work on the series.
“We did the theme song before the show was on the air,” leader singer Parry Gripp says. “It was a song that had already been written, but we really didn’t know where to take it. I had some ideas – it was originally going to have some kind of science-fiction theme, which is weird, because we don’t have any other songs like that. I remember having the title of ‘Outer Space Rock; or something like that; that was a working thing.” What could have been “Outer Space Rock” instead became the theme song for Buffy, and the band immediately began receiving positive feedback at shows, where the song quickly became a highlight of their live set.
How to Identify a Vampire
A list that does exactly what the title promises.
Comic
A reprint of Wu‑Tang Fang from Buffy the Vampire Slayer #1, set during Season 3.
Poster
A giant-sized pull out of the cover image, sans text.
The Watcher's Guide 