Yesterday , our mankind was rocked bythe revelation that there ’s a new lamia killer in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer cartoon strip — and he ’s a man ! A gay man , named Billy . Of course , it twist out that Billy is n’t actually a Slayer in the “ chosen one ” gumption — he ’s just a ego - train badass with no superpowers .
https://gizmodo.com/buffy-comic-is-getting-a-gay-male-vampire-slayer-5941992
Still , we were curious about how you go about adding this new character to the Buffy bequest . And why a series that ’s told us for years that “ slayer ” is a woman ’s job is adding a queer man , in particular , to that traditionally distaff role . So we asked author Jane Espenson and Drew Z. Greenberg , and this is what they told us .
nonaged spoiler ahead …
Are you worried that mass are going to take a gay male person killer as saying that gay hands are necessarily womanly ?
Jane Espenson : I sure enough desire not ! If Billy had been “ called ” to this task , I guess I can see someone register that in , however erroneously . But he is a torpedo , Batman - style , who has take up this drape on his own . What we hope people see is that the forces that work on Buffy in gamy schooling are n’t specific to females — EVERYONE ( masculine , feminine , in between ) has their own cause to sense dissimilar , excluded , in need of their inner bomber . All those kids who watched Buffy and find themselves connecting with her — every one of them needs to be able to see their own value in the world of the larger account !
Drew Z. Greenberg : Gee , I hope not . When we all watch “ Small Wonder , ” should we take it as tell all fiddling female child are golem ? ( I ’m assume we ’re all still determine “ Small Wonder . ” We are , are n’t we ? ) Billy is a vernal man who decides to mistreat up and do the correct thing in dire circumstances , and he does n’t really manage much about gender office when he does it . He ’s doing what require to be done .
I do opine it ’s interesting , though , that , as a guild , we find it so easy to make the leap from this laughable - Good Book story to “ gay men are necessarily feminine . ” I have to be honest , I wish we could all endeavor to remember that some gay man ARE womanly , and , by the way , what ’s wrong with being feminine ? Why is that “ less than ” ? Even more significantly , some impressionable boy read this risible book might be womanly , too , and I think it ’s of import to lease them know that there ’s a space for them in this populace . If Billy gives them that reassurance , if Billy remind them that ANYONE can be a sub ( which , by the room , is the original mission statement of BUFFY , is n’t it ? ) , then I say yahoo . ( Also deserving noting : some gay men are masculine . Some minuscule girls are masculine . Some square men are womanly . There ’s room for all kinds of lineament in people , disregardless of gender or sexual predilection , and I ca n’t help imagine that kind of diversity is really one of the cool vista of man . )
How does an ordinary soul with no power train to become a vampire killer ? Does n’t it require massive upper body strength to stake a flirt ?
Espenson : I commend training with a weighed down bag and other equipment that drawers expend . You ’re go to be force back something wooden through bone and stuff , so you are absolutely going to require to work on your arms and overall military strength . If you have a friend who can help back you up , that would be ideal . And do n’t leave to hydrate !
In the Buffy comics , vampire have become reality TV celebrities . How do you drag them back into being tough or monsters ? Will people think Billy is defeat the equivalent of the Kardashians ?
Espenson : In time of year nine we have see everything change , obviously . The rise of the “ zompires ” has altered the equality . Readers bonk that these new vamps are brutal , but they are also brainless throwbacks . They do n’t connive ; they are n’t part of the population that clear celebrity and followers during the running play of the time of year eight comics . In my mind , the fact that they are not healthy planners is part of what opens up the business verbal description of Slayer .
Greenberg : First of all , I remember the Kardashians have stomach enough , permit ’s leave them out of this . But , to your stage : the mankind has changed dramatically in Season 9 , and the lift of the so - call “ zompires ” has created a whole new problem for world . savage , vicious , not smart , but baneful : they ’re a real scourge , and not the sort of personality that make for good realness - tv set celebrity . ( Fox News legion , maybe . )
sacrifice that so many tale seem to use vampires as a metaphor for gay mass ( vampires are cloak-and-dagger , they ’re misunderstood , fundamentalist hate them ) is it weird to sort of turn vampires into gay - bashers or else ?
Greenberg : The beauty of the world Joss created is that it is always evolving : the characters grow and shift , and so does the earthly concern in which they be . That means the metaphor must produce and change , too . So in the earned run average of Season 9 , with all magic gone from the world , with a new kind of vampire on the rise , and with Slayers basically out of commissioning , Billy has a perspective on vampires that other characters in the past might not have had . Once multitude read the story , my hope is they ’ll see the world in which Billy last and understand his reaction to zompires take on over his town and come after him in that context .
Also , I think it ’s deserving noting that one of my preferent aspects of Joss ’s reality is that it take the things you bed , or think you experience , and turns them inside - out , play on your expected value and debauch them , often a couple times over . For example , yes , vampires have traditionally been glamorous , flamboyant , and more than a little rough swap - ish . But when Joss created Buffy , most of the vampires we met wore street clothes , spoke plain California English ( no grand , theatrical accent ) ( Spike completely does n’t count , he was actually British ) , and they were a little vulnerable even when they were tearing out your throat . So , hey , this is already a place setting that said , “ Yeah , our vampire are n’t what you ’ve go out in other stories about vampires . ” Which means , if you think about it , it ’s not uncanny at all to play them in this other elbow room . It finger right at home .
Also , Espenson separate us that now that Dark Horse is publishing a funny leger of her webseries Husbands , there ’s a chance for more crossovers and shout - outs between the two public . Already , Andrew was wearing a Husbands T - shirt in a recent Buffy comic . “ badly though , my radical and affection have always been in literary genre , so the chance to cross Husbands into the science fiction populace — whether or not they take on Buffy — was languid for me , ” say Espenson . “ And I could seriously see cheek staking the heck out of a vampire , should the social function demand it . ”
ComicsJane Espenson
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