Meaningless lists are meaningless...but fun!
I knew that Buffy was one of the characters featured on the cover of Entertainment Weekly's new issue, which lists the magazine's choices for the 100 Greatest Characters of the Last 20 Years, but I did not realize until I opened the magazine that she is #3 on their list, right after Homer Simpson and Harry Potter. I think that's pretty great! Homer and Harry are both such huge pop culture icons with massive followings that for Buffy to be considered in the same league, ahead of characters like Tony Soprano and Carrie Bradshaw, is awesome. Joss wrote a little character description of her for the article, where he mentions as inspirations Sarah Connor, Ripley, and Jimmy Stewart:
"...because nobody does better pain. Sarah Michelle Gellar brought that pinch of Jimmy Stewart, which was our nickname for her. She could connect with the audience while in the throes of what could be an overblown story line and just ground it and make it human and desperate and lovely. That's Sarah."
P.S. The comic books are not mentioned once in this appreciation of the character.
"...because nobody does better pain. Sarah Michelle Gellar brought that pinch of Jimmy Stewart, which was our nickname for her. She could connect with the audience while in the throes of what could be an overblown story line and just ground it and make it human and desperate and lovely. That's Sarah."
P.S. The comic books are not mentioned once in this appreciation of the character.