2007:The Year of the Whedon

Why 2007 was definitely
The Year of the Whedon...

1.“You had me at Canon”
When I first saw the EW article about Season 8 I nearly cried (read:did cry). And since then I’ve been lookng forward to the beginning of each month with as much fervor as those gals seeking paternity tests on Maury. But minus the disappointment of course.

2.Trading Spaces-Joss Whedon vs. Brian K. Vaughan
I’m still not convinced that Joss Whedon and Brian K. Vaughan are two different people. I still believe that this is some sort of Garth Brooks/Chris Gaines (or for you youngins Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana) gimmick. So news that Joss Whedon was taking over writing duties on BKV's Runaways wasn't as surprising as it should have been to me. In all actuality, I still can't even really tell the difference. Joss still makes Molly awesome and does the (his?) pop culture reference thing. Meanwhile over at Buffy, BKV was putting Faith in a ball gown and sending her to jolly old England to take down a Queen B (who btw had horrendous fashion sense) by the name of Gigi. Oh and he made Billie Piper part of canon.

3.The best things in life are free.
(And written by Joss Whedon with art by Fabio Moon.)
Dark Horse Presents via the Dark Horse mySpace page launched at Comic-Con with a bang with the announcement of an all new comic book by Joss Whedon. And I mean really new. As in not related to Buffyverse or Firefly. Yeah my jaw hit the floor too. Not to mention it was going to have art by the ridiculously talented and awesome Fabio Moon. And did I mention they offered it for free? Yes we should all give Dark Horse our first born now.

4.Welcome to the Dollhouse
I swear the announcement of Dollhouse came out of nowhere. At least to me anyways. But any news concerning more Joss & Eliza is always a good thing. The fact that the news came out at the same time that the Faith arc was going on just makes it that much sweeter. And just so you know I’m still not over Tru Calling.

5.Angel in America
Season 5 of Angel is my favorite out of the entire series. Mostly because of “Smile Time”, “The Girl in Question”, the addition of Spike & appearances by Dru, Darla, Andrew, & Adam Baldwin. So the fact that Angel:After the Fall picks up exactly where we left our lawful heroes makes me giddy with joy. That the series is being written by Brian Lynch (whose Spike:Shadow Puppets was one of my fave books of 2007) adds to the giddyness. And those brilliant covers by Tony Harris are just gravy. And I’m from the South where gravy is like Holy Water.

6.The Adventures of Miss Kitty Fantastico
The Last arc of Joss Whedon & John Cassaday’s Astonishing X-Men began this year and it still is the best X-Men book out there. For instance, who knew that Piotr could be all romantic & stuff? But knowing the Whedonverse as well as I do, I know that Kitty & Piotr getting physical can really only lead to one thing. Death. And since Joss makes no bones about being a Kitty Pryde fanboy I'm thinking that there'll be White Russians served at the wake. But to me the breakout character award for this arc has to go to Cyclops for dropping the emo routine for a bit and being a hero. Though my favorite dialogue still comes from Emma who's channeling Sunnydale's favorite Cheerleader, Cordelia Chase.
The release schedule definitely requires you to repeat the mantra “Good things definitely come to those who wait”. But good things also come to those who buy anything with the names “Joss Whedon” or “John Cassaday” on it.

7.The Office Space
Joss returns to TV!!! Well sort of. Joss directed two episodes of The Office this past year which (good for NBC) actually made me start watching the show regularly again. I seriously don’t know how I abandoned watching John Krasinski weekly. But I digress. But seriously I’m going to use The Secret to get SMG on 30 Rock. She totally needs to be reunited with her Suburban Girl co-star Alec Baldwin and get back to the funny. When will people realize that she’s a fantastic comedic actress??? Oh Sh*t I digressed again. But you guys know I’m right.
Bonus:The Season 3 DVD has an interview with Joss Whedon for fangirl/fanboy enjoyment.

8.“Talk nerdy to me”
The Collector’s Edition of Serenity came out this past fall with an all new commentary by Joss and cast. Joss's commentary is in it of itself supremely entertaining. And , as with all great pop culture, very quotable. Only those who have acquired a working knowledge of Whedon commentaries have truly reached a higher plane of existence.