Dollhouse the TV show may have had a rough time of it over the course of its troubled two season run, but if the upcoming trade collection Dollhouse Volume 1: Epitaphs is any indication, the comics should have no trouble winning new fans over to the franchise.

For those of you not familiar with Dollhouse, the show was created by Geek Legend Joss Whedon, and even by his standards of quirk was a tough sell: Dolls are mind-wiped human beings, programmed to serve any need or desire, and rented out to the wealthy for their enjoyment. One of those Dolls was named Echo (played by Eliza Dushku), and she was different... Over time, it became clear she wasn’t being wiped as cleanly as the others, and the series became about how - and why - that was happening. Read more...

Tags Dark Horse Comics, Dollhouse, Dollhouse Volume 1: Epitaphs

Take a comic book, put it on TV, and the fans go nuts. Take a TV show and adapt it to a comic and… Not so much. Mainly because most of them are shockingly bad. That said? There’s been a few TV to comic book adaptations that don’t just not suck, they’re actually good. Here are ten of the best:

10. True Blood

IDW’s recent comics based on the sweaty, dirty HBO vampire series may lack the wall-to-wall nudity, but they make up for it in crazy creatures and buckets of blood. It’s tough to nail the voices of “real” characters, but these comics do it swimmingly… Fake sounding Southern accents and all.

9. Supernatural

Read more...

Tags Doctor Who, Dollhouse, Firefly, Muppets, Supernatural, True Blood

By Action Flick Chick

Joss Whedon is a fantastic storyteller, and on a side note, I am super thrilled that he’s directing The Avengers (2012)!!!! I get excited anytime I hear that he’s attached to a project. After all, he has written some of the most geektastic television shows ever, like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly. Now, I haven’t met nearly as many Dollhouse fans as I have Buffy or Firefly, but there is a loyal fan base out there and with good reason. Read more...

Tags Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dollhouse, Eliza Dushku, Firefly, FOX, Joss Whedon, The Avengers, The Guild

A few weeks ago, Starz, the network that’s launching a brand new series of Torchwood, sent out a press release trumpeting the new coat John Barrowman would be wearing on screen. Between releases trumpeting new trailers, online games, and more, it stuck out to your faithful garment-challenged MTV Geek writer, but we put up a – some might say snarky – post, all the same. And then almost immediately, were corrected about certain details over Twitter by the designer of the coat, Shawna Trpcic.

Turns out that I’m the ignoramus here, and Trpcic gracefully agreed to an interview to chat more about why the changes in the coat were important. It also turns out that Trpcic is the costume designer behind pretty much all of your favorite geek shows, from the dusty future of Firefly, to the superheroes of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-Long Blog. And now, Trpcic is creating a New World with Captain Jack, Gwen Cooper, and some mystery enemies called “The Soulless.” We chatted with Trpcic about all of that, and also got some info on Joss Whedon’s long waiting in the wings feature, Cabin in the Woods:

MTV Geek: Let’s talk about Torchwood, which you’re working on right now… There’s a lot of new characters, of course, but you do have some pre-existing characters: Captain Jack, Gwen Cooper, etc… What’s it like trying to adapt another designer’s looks to American TV?

Shawna Trpcic: I just updated them - slimmed them down and accentuated their bodies. Actors work really hard at keeping in shape, why hide it! I love the human figure, and love to show it off. Read more...

Tags Angel, Dollhouse, Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, Firefly, Joss Whedon, Shawna Trpcic, Torchwood: Miracle Day

By Action Flick Chick

Think back to the television shows that were cancelled even though you loved them with all your heart and soul, shows that were cut down right as they were getting really, really good. Now, think back to what network they were on. When I was thinking back over some of my favorite cancelled television shows, I realized that Fox was the one responsible for killing a LOT of them. Which brings me to ask, why does Fox love to torture us geeks? Sure, Fox does have some good shows, but they have also cancelled a lot of good shows as well, and it makes me irritated every time I think about it.

First up on Fox’s unjustified reject list is Dollhouse. Created by Joss Whedon and starring Eliza Dushku, this television show is about a corporation programming people (dolls) with temporary skills and knowledge for various purposes like infiltrating a mob group or just to have as a companion. Dollhouse was only given 9 months before it was cancelled, premiering in February 2009 and being cancelled in November of the same year. Only 27 episodes were produced. But what Fox didn’t see in the show, Dark Horse Comics did because it will be releasing the first issue of a Dollhouse mini comic series written by Andrew Chambliss July 11, 2011. Read more...

Tags Dollhouse, Firefly, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Dark Horse's Jeremy Atkins, Scott Allie, and Sierra Hahn were on board at WonderCon to give fans the skinny on what they can expect from their several titles based on Joss Whedon creations:

- The Buffy Season 9 artist will be Georges Jeanty, and will be written by Joss Whedon and Andrew Chambliss (chosen based on his writing for the Dollhouse comic)

- Spike will be a part of Buffy Season 9!

- IDW's Angel series leads into Buffy Season 9, but the panel would not yet divulge the connection between them. Read more...

Tags Angel and Faith, Buffy Season 9, Buffy The Vampie Slayer, Dark Horse, Dollhouse, Joss Whedon, WonderCon

Over the course of two seasons on FOX, Dollhouse went through more changes than Eliza Dushku's character Echo. But by the end of the final episodes, fans were hooked. The entire premise of the show-programmable human beings can be made to order for the rich-had been turned on its end, leaving us in a post-apocalyptic future where most of the human race had their minds wiped, leading to the end of civilization as we know it.

This March, series writers Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon return, once more, to this vision of the future with a one-shot from Dark Horse that's a continuation of the series, as well as a great introduction for new readers. We chatted with them about the book, whether they'll be making cameos, and what's next for Dollhouse. Oh, in case you're wondering: the pair are a hive mind, and answered all of their questions together.

MTV Geek: Way back before the show premiered, I talked to Joss Whedon and asked whether he'd ever consider doing, or letting someone do a comic version of Dollhouse. He said pretty definitively, "no." What changed?

MT & JW: Time passed, Joss grew older and a little wiser.  Initially he didn't think that the Dollhouse premise would translate well into comic book form, but when we were deeper into Season One and developed the future timeline of the Epitaph episodes, his feelings changed.  The apocalyptic future of Dollhouse was a comic book story worth telling.

Geek: You had a pretty nice, clean button on the show-or at least Echo's story...Why continue it now? And why in comic book form?

MT & JW: The "Epitaphs" series begins the day of the phone call that sparks the Apocalypse.  There’s a lot of time to explore between that moment and when we ended the TV series.  And Echo, during all that, is still buttonless.  So there.

Geek: Which characters will we see returning in this one-shot? Any new characters?

MT & JW: Some of the main characters on the show will appear in the comic series and we'll introduce some new ones.  Total party.

Geek: Maurissa, you played Kilo in a few Dollhouse episodes, and tend to cameo in a lot of the web videos you guys make. Do you get a cameo in this comic?

MT: We all know that Kilo was the real star of Dollhouse and that her story will live on in everyone's hearts.  That being said, if I appear in one more thing I'm writing I think I'll be fired forever.  So no, no Kilo in this Read more...

Tags Dark Horse Comics, Dollhouse, Eliza Dushku, Jed Whedon, Joss Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen