Hello and a quick comment on the canon wars
My first LJ post! I suppose a brief introduction is in order. I was introduced to BtVS/AtS two years ago, stormed through all 12 seasons in a brisk 3 months, and turned to fanfiction about 3 months after that. I love the complexity of the Buffyverse, and am a pure Spikeophile. Not sure why I've felt the urge to de-lurk of late. But every now and then my pesky opinionated self just has to say things!
So the topic of the moment seems to be the question of whether B8 and A6 should be considered as canon.
I suppose my opinion is closest to
rahirah's. Joss is the author of the 'verse, and as long as he maintains continuity with the other elements of the 'verse, then it's at least presumtively canon. But the one thought I wanted to add is that the question of whether or not the comics are canon can't be definitively answered ahead of time. Authorship and continuity matters. But canonization also requires that the texts be received as canon. In other words, the community of readers/viewers gets the final word. If the community give the comics the same authoritative status as the TV shows, then they are canon, regardless of what other criteria you might wish to apply to the question. And if the community ignores the comics, then they aren't canon. And if that happens, it won't matter how much Joss insists that they are. Because reception is key, it makes no sense to try and prejudge the issue.
We can, however, make guesses about how it will turn out. My guess would be that the comics end up in a sort of in-between zone, as a sort of apocrypha. They will be given some weight, but not the same weight that is afforded to the TV shows themselves. I'm guessing that because the canon has appeared to be closed for three years, and readings of the 'verse have had time to get more entrenched. There will be more resistance to story lines that upset those readings. There seems to be enough sentiment in the community resistant to the comics for those reasons as well as the change in medium that it seems unlikely that the comics will end up as full canon. But if they turn out to be compelling additions to the story we've had so far, then all bets are off. My point for today is that as of now, no one can really say whether the comics will be canon or not. We have to wait and see how the comics are received.
So the topic of the moment seems to be the question of whether B8 and A6 should be considered as canon.
I suppose my opinion is closest to
rahirah's. Joss is the author of the 'verse, and as long as he maintains continuity with the other elements of the 'verse, then it's at least presumtively canon. But the one thought I wanted to add is that the question of whether or not the comics are canon can't be definitively answered ahead of time. Authorship and continuity matters. But canonization also requires that the texts be received as canon. In other words, the community of readers/viewers gets the final word. If the community give the comics the same authoritative status as the TV shows, then they are canon, regardless of what other criteria you might wish to apply to the question. And if the community ignores the comics, then they aren't canon. And if that happens, it won't matter how much Joss insists that they are. Because reception is key, it makes no sense to try and prejudge the issue.
We can, however, make guesses about how it will turn out. My guess would be that the comics end up in a sort of in-between zone, as a sort of apocrypha. They will be given some weight, but not the same weight that is afforded to the TV shows themselves. I'm guessing that because the canon has appeared to be closed for three years, and readings of the 'verse have had time to get more entrenched. There will be more resistance to story lines that upset those readings. There seems to be enough sentiment in the community resistant to the comics for those reasons as well as the change in medium that it seems unlikely that the comics will end up as full canon. But if they turn out to be compelling additions to the story we've had so far, then all bets are off. My point for today is that as of now, no one can really say whether the comics will be canon or not. We have to wait and see how the comics are received.