Whedonesque.com
Encyclopedia
Whedonesque.com is a collaborative weblog devoted to the works of Joss Whedon
. At its inception in 2002, Whedonesque covered Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel
, but has since expanded to follow Whedon's professional output, as well as the careers of cast and crew associated with Whedon projects. Since 2004, the site has been recognized in other media outlets by awards and citations of Whedon's writings originally posted to Whedonesque.
Beyond simply being an informational site, Whedonesque has been referenced in books and cited in academic papers. It is used by marketers to drum up interest in Buffy products and by comic book editors to gauge reader reactions. Whedon has occasionally posted his personal political views to the site, such as during the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. This led some to mistakenly believe that Whedonesque is Whedon's personal or official site and prompted some fans to take up the writers' cause.
Posters to the site are usually referred to as "Whedonesquers". User registration is required to post, but is often closed.
, the canonicity
of Buffy Season 8
comic books, and status updates on his projects. Through the use of tagging, Whedonesque maintains a list of threads Whedon has started or in which he has posted. In 2006, Angel: After the Fall
comic book author Brian Lynch began posting to Whedonesque as well.
Late 2004 saw the first two recognitions of Whedonesque.com by major Internet media. On November 22, 2004, Whedonesque was selected as SciFi.com's Site of the Week, which remarked that it was a "first-rate weblog on all things Joss-related" that "has very clearly laid-out guidelines for posting and a solid policy on how to label spoilers." On December 14, 2004 USA Today
s Pop Candy selected "the Whedonesque gang" as the 70th of its "top 100 people of 2004", calling it "... comforting to visit Whedonesque.com each day, where piles of links are posted by my fellow Joss Whedon obsessives." In 2005, Whedonesque was cited as a case study in marketing success.
, the Los Angeles Times
, and industry press. That year Whedonesque was also cited in much more modest coverage of Whedon's involvement with Runaways and The Office
. In February 2008, Whedonesque was cited as a source in a New York Times piece on Steven Brust
's Firefly novel, My Own Kind of Freedom. Later that year, Whedonesque was cited in mainstream media treatment of Dollhouse
(especially Whedon's post explaining the new pilot) and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
. The site was taken offline for a day by the attention prompted by the release of Dr. Horrible, resulting in the site's movement from Pair.com, where it had originated, to Mediatemple.net. Unlike previous mainstream media mentions, Dollhouse and Dr. Horrible have garnered Whedonesque mainland European media attention. In August 2008, Wired
cited Whedonesque in its coverage of the YouTube
leak of a demo reel for the never-produced Buffy the Animated Series
.
At the same time as major media outlets began noting Whedonesque.com as a source, it also received more recognitions, including The Times Online's
Blog of the Week, awarded to Whedonesque on March 4, 2006. The Times review stated that "All the latest news items, rumours and sightings concerning the one-time wonder boy and the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer are logged daily by the kind of people who appreciate smart, sophisticated dialogue and plotting." Whedonesque won SyFy Portal
's Genre Award for Best Web Site of 2006, and was nominated for same award in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Entertainment Weekly
selected Whedonesque as one of the 100 Greatest Websites on December 20, 2007. In May 2008, EW selected Whedonesque as eighth on their list of 25 Essential Fansites, calling it "a reservoir of material about anyone who's starred in (or, it would seem, breathed near) his nerd-magnet projects: Buffy, Angel, and Firefly/Serenity."
Whedon has used Whedonesque as a personal blog, comparing the Stoning of Du'a Khalil Aswad
to the Captivity advertising controversy. He also posted multiple messages during the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. While Whedon has no official website, that role is sometimes erroneously attributed to Whedonesque.com, while other media outlets scrupulously describe the relationship between Whedon and the site.
, Anna Pickard of The Guardians "TV & Radio Blog" called Whedonesque the "ultimate Joss-fansite" and later quoted van Oosten de Boer and another Whedonesque administrator in a followup piece, while Rick Porter of Zap2it
referred to it as "the clearinghouse for all things Joss". While an account for frequent Whedon collaborator Tim Minear
had been created in 2005, Minear himself first began posting to Whedonesque in March, 2009. One of his first posts, regarding the "Epitaph One" episode of Dollhouse, was quoted by The Washington Post.
. It is cited as a general reference in The Physics of the Buffyverse and the Angel guide Once Bitten. Specific URL citations to Whedonesque posts are included in Reading Angel. Likewise, the academic Buffy studies journal Slayage
has included papers which cited Whedonesque in issues 16, 22, 23, and 25. The issue 22 reference included URLs to specific topics and posts, which have been "permalink
s" since the site's inception. In September 2007, Whedonesque was one website cited in an MIT
masters' thesis entitled Television 2.0: Reconceptualizing TV as an Engagement Medium.
There has been a positive reaction at Whedonesque to academic interest in Buffy and other Whedon works. Whedonesque maintains a category for "academic" posts, which includes notices of public lectures, calls for papers, and academic analyses of Whedon projects. A separate category is maintained for Whedonesque posts about Slayage content.
to merchandise. In April, 2008, Dark Horse Comics
said it would release images of a later-cancelled Buffy the Vampire Slayer tarot
card set exclusively through Whedonesque. Buffy Season 8 comic editor Scott Allie
wrote in his editorial column that he read Whedonesque for reactions to Buffy's same-sex encounter in issue 12, while Duke University Press
credits Whedonesque with helping to sell its Undead TV: Essays on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".
Whedonesque was one of six fan websites featured in Click Critics: The Power of Fan Websites, held May 19, 2008 at The Paley Center for Media in New York. Other attendees included Lostpedia
and Television Without Pity. The event highlighted six popular fan-run websites focused on current media. One participant remarked that "The Paley Center itself is trying kind of hard to figure out what this whole blogging thing is, and doesn’t quite get it, as evidenced by the fact that no urls appeared in the program for the event."
movement dubbed Fans4Writers
. The Wall Street Journal
noted this novel use of Whedonesque and similar sites. Rolling Stone
featured Whedonesque.com as one of four websites mentioned in "The Best Strike Writing" and Buffy writer Jane Espenson
specifically credited Whedonesque readers for providing pizza to the striking writers.
Joss Whedon
Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon is an American screenwriter, executive producer, director, comic book writer, occasional composer and actor, founder of Mutant Enemy Productions and co-creator of Bellwether Pictures...
. At its inception in 2002, Whedonesque covered Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel
Angel (TV series)
Angel is an American television series, a spin-off of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The series was created by Buffys creator, Joss Whedon, in collaboration with David Greenwalt, and first aired on October 5, 1999...
, but has since expanded to follow Whedon's professional output, as well as the careers of cast and crew associated with Whedon projects. Since 2004, the site has been recognized in other media outlets by awards and citations of Whedon's writings originally posted to Whedonesque.
Beyond simply being an informational site, Whedonesque has been referenced in books and cited in academic papers. It is used by marketers to drum up interest in Buffy products and by comic book editors to gauge reader reactions. Whedon has occasionally posted his personal political views to the site, such as during the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. This led some to mistakenly believe that Whedonesque is Whedon's personal or official site and prompted some fans to take up the writers' cause.
Posters to the site are usually referred to as "Whedonesquers". User registration is required to post, but is often closed.
Origin: 2002 through 2003
Whedonesque was started in mid-2002 by Caroline van Oosten de Boer, who remains the site owner as of February 2009, and Milo Vermeulen. Whedonesque started with a set of rules designed to mandate linking to external sites, encourage civil conduct, discourage copyright violations, and minimize discussion of perpetually contentious issues. The first print media mention of Whedonesque was a one sentence blurb in USA Today a month after its launch. In 2003, it was cited as one of two top Buffy Internet sites in an article commemorating the show's end.Growth: 2004 through 2006
The site's popularity grew even further once Whedon himself started posting. Whedon first acknowledged reading Whedonesque in late 2004, and the account 'joss' was created for his use on August 15, 2004. Whedon's first post directly to the site was on April 27, 2005, announcing preview screenings of Serenity. He later extended his involvement, using the site as a means of communication with fans on topics including his own fandom of Veronica MarsVeronica Mars
Veronica Mars is an American television series created by Rob Thomas. The series premiered on September 22, 2004, during television network UPN's final two years, and ended on May 22, 2007, after a season on UPN's successor, The CW Television Network. Veronica Mars was produced by Warner Bros...
, the canonicity
Canon (fiction)
In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical...
of Buffy Season 8
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight is a comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics. The series serves as a canonical continuation of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and follows the events of that show's final televised season. It is produced by Joss Whedon, who wrote the...
comic books, and status updates on his projects. Through the use of tagging, Whedonesque maintains a list of threads Whedon has started or in which he has posted. In 2006, Angel: After the Fall
Angel: After the Fall
Angel: After the Fall is a comic book published by IDW Publishing. Written by Brian Lynch and plotted with Joss Whedon, the series is a canonical continuation of the Angel television series, and follows the events of that show's final televised season...
comic book author Brian Lynch began posting to Whedonesque as well.
Late 2004 saw the first two recognitions of Whedonesque.com by major Internet media. On November 22, 2004, Whedonesque was selected as SciFi.com's Site of the Week, which remarked that it was a "first-rate weblog on all things Joss-related" that "has very clearly laid-out guidelines for posting and a solid policy on how to label spoilers." On December 14, 2004 USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
s Pop Candy selected "the Whedonesque gang" as the 70th of its "top 100 people of 2004", calling it "... comforting to visit Whedonesque.com each day, where piles of links are posted by my fellow Joss Whedon obsessives." In 2005, Whedonesque was cited as a case study in marketing success.
Recognition: 2007 through 2008
In early 2007, Whedon announced the end of his relationship with the Wonder Woman movie in a Whedonesque post, which was directly cited in traditional media, including ReutersReuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
, the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, and industry press. That year Whedonesque was also cited in much more modest coverage of Whedon's involvement with Runaways and The Office
The Office (US TV series)
The Office is an American comedy television series broadcast by NBC. An adaptation of the original BBC series of the same name, it depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania, branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company...
. In February 2008, Whedonesque was cited as a source in a New York Times piece on Steven Brust
Steven Brust
Steven Karl Zoltán Brust is an American fantasy and science fiction author of Hungarian descent. He was a member of the writers' group The Scribblies, which included Emma Bull, Pamela Dean, Will Shetterly, Nate Bucklin, Kara Dalkey, and Patricia Wrede; he also belongs to the Pre-Joycean...
's Firefly novel, My Own Kind of Freedom. Later that year, Whedonesque was cited in mainstream media treatment of Dollhouse
Dollhouse (TV series)
Dollhouse is an American science fiction television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon under Mutant Enemy Productions. It premiered on February 13, 2009, on the Fox network and was officially cancelled on November 11, 2009. The final episode aired on January 29, 2010...
(especially Whedon's post explaining the new pilot) and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is a 2008 musical tragicomedy miniseries in three acts, produced exclusively for Internet distribution. Filmed and set in Los Angeles, the show tells the story of Dr...
. The site was taken offline for a day by the attention prompted by the release of Dr. Horrible, resulting in the site's movement from Pair.com, where it had originated, to Mediatemple.net. Unlike previous mainstream media mentions, Dollhouse and Dr. Horrible have garnered Whedonesque mainland European media attention. In August 2008, Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
cited Whedonesque in its coverage of the YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
leak of a demo reel for the never-produced Buffy the Animated Series
Buffy the Animated Series
Buffy the Animated Series is an animated television series concept based on Buffy the Vampire Slayer created by Joss Whedon. Initially greenlit by 20th Century Fox in 2002, it went ultimately unproduced and unaired when no network was willing to buy the series...
.
At the same time as major media outlets began noting Whedonesque.com as a source, it also received more recognitions, including The Times Online's
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
Blog of the Week, awarded to Whedonesque on March 4, 2006. The Times review stated that "All the latest news items, rumours and sightings concerning the one-time wonder boy and the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer are logged daily by the kind of people who appreciate smart, sophisticated dialogue and plotting." Whedonesque won SyFy Portal
SyFy Portal
Airlock Alpha, formerly SyFy Portal, is an entertainment news website focusing on science-fiction, fantasy and comic book television series and films.-History:...
's Genre Award for Best Web Site of 2006, and was nominated for same award in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
selected Whedonesque as one of the 100 Greatest Websites on December 20, 2007. In May 2008, EW selected Whedonesque as eighth on their list of 25 Essential Fansites, calling it "a reservoir of material about anyone who's starred in (or, it would seem, breathed near) his nerd-magnet projects: Buffy, Angel, and Firefly/Serenity."
Whedon has used Whedonesque as a personal blog, comparing the Stoning of Du'a Khalil Aswad
Stoning of Du'a Khalil Aswad
-Asylum and return:Some news agencies reported that Aswad was being sheltered by a Yazidi tribal leader in Bashika in fear of her life until her family persuaded her that she had been forgiven and could return home. Other reports indicate that she was instead given asylum by a local Muslim Sheikh...
to the Captivity advertising controversy. He also posted multiple messages during the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. While Whedon has no official website, that role is sometimes erroneously attributed to Whedonesque.com, while other media outlets scrupulously describe the relationship between Whedon and the site.
Institution: 2009
In 2009, media websites continued to cite Whedonesque in discussions of Whedon's work. In coverage of DollhouseDollhouse (TV series)
Dollhouse is an American science fiction television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon under Mutant Enemy Productions. It premiered on February 13, 2009, on the Fox network and was officially cancelled on November 11, 2009. The final episode aired on January 29, 2010...
, Anna Pickard of The Guardians "TV & Radio Blog" called Whedonesque the "ultimate Joss-fansite" and later quoted van Oosten de Boer and another Whedonesque administrator in a followup piece, while Rick Porter of Zap2it
Zap2it
Zap2it is an American website and affiliate network that provides news, photos and video, local TV listings and movie showtimes. The site is produced by Tribune Media Services , part of the publishing division of the Chicago-based Tribune Company...
referred to it as "the clearinghouse for all things Joss". While an account for frequent Whedon collaborator Tim Minear
Tim Minear
Tim Minear is an American screenwriter and director. He was born in New York, grew up in Whittier, California, and studied film at California State University, Long Beach....
had been created in 2005, Minear himself first began posting to Whedonesque in March, 2009. One of his first posts, regarding the "Epitaph One" episode of Dollhouse, was quoted by The Washington Post.
Books and academic papers
In addition to news outlets which have picked up stories and quotes from Whedonesque, the site has been referenced in a number of books and academic papersBuffy studies
Buffy Studies is a term applied to the collection of written works about, and the university courses that discuss aspects of, the television program Buffy the Vampire Slayer and, to a lesser extent, its spin-off program Angel. It explores issues related to gender and other philosophical issues as...
. It is cited as a general reference in The Physics of the Buffyverse and the Angel guide Once Bitten. Specific URL citations to Whedonesque posts are included in Reading Angel. Likewise, the academic Buffy studies journal Slayage
Buffy studies
Buffy Studies is a term applied to the collection of written works about, and the university courses that discuss aspects of, the television program Buffy the Vampire Slayer and, to a lesser extent, its spin-off program Angel. It explores issues related to gender and other philosophical issues as...
has included papers which cited Whedonesque in issues 16, 22, 23, and 25. The issue 22 reference included URLs to specific topics and posts, which have been "permalink
Permalink
A permalink is a URL that points to a specific blog or forum entry after it has passed from the front page to the archives. Because a permalink remains unchanged indefinitely, it is less susceptible to link rot. Most modern weblogging and content-syndication software systems support such links...
s" since the site's inception. In September 2007, Whedonesque was one website cited in an MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
masters' thesis entitled Television 2.0: Reconceptualizing TV as an Engagement Medium.
There has been a positive reaction at Whedonesque to academic interest in Buffy and other Whedon works. Whedonesque maintains a category for "academic" posts, which includes notices of public lectures, calls for papers, and academic analyses of Whedon projects. A separate category is maintained for Whedonesque posts about Slayage content.
Marketing and fandom
Even though site owner van Oosten de Boer stated that Whedonesque is "there to provide a service, not to influence anyone." the site has been recognized by vendors as a place to gauge fan reactionsFandom
Fandom is a term used to refer to a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of sympathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest...
to merchandise. In April, 2008, Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
said it would release images of a later-cancelled Buffy the Vampire Slayer tarot
Tarot
The tarot |trionfi]] and later as tarocchi, tarock, and others) is a pack of cards , used from the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play a group of card games such as Italian tarocchini and French tarot...
card set exclusively through Whedonesque. Buffy Season 8 comic editor Scott Allie
Scott Allie
Scott Allie is an American comics writer and editor, currently the Senior Managing Editor for Dark Horse Comics.-Career:Scott Allie is the author of The Devil's Footprints and the editor of the Hellboy, Conan, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Serenity comics, as well as the founding editor of Dark...
wrote in his editorial column that he read Whedonesque for reactions to Buffy's same-sex encounter in issue 12, while Duke University Press
Duke University Press
Duke University Press is an academic publisher of books and journals, and a unit of Duke University. It publishes approximately 120 books annually and more than 40 journals, as well as offering five electronic collections...
credits Whedonesque with helping to sell its Undead TV: Essays on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".
Whedonesque was one of six fan websites featured in Click Critics: The Power of Fan Websites, held May 19, 2008 at The Paley Center for Media in New York. Other attendees included Lostpedia
Lostpedia
Lostpedia is a wiki-powered online encyclopedia of information regarding the American television drama Lost. Launched on September 22, 2005 by Kevin Croy, the site uses MediaWiki software to maintain a user-created database of information...
and Television Without Pity. The event highlighted six popular fan-run websites focused on current media. One participant remarked that "The Paley Center itself is trying kind of hard to figure out what this whole blogging thing is, and doesn’t quite get it, as evidenced by the fact that no urls appeared in the program for the event."
2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
In late 2007, Whedon's posts about the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike prompted reader support for the writers which grew into a multi-fandomFandom
Fandom is a term used to refer to a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of sympathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest...
movement dubbed Fans4Writers
Fans4Writers
Fans4Writers is a movement of fans who supported the striking writers of the WGA during the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike. The organization was not associated with the WGA, and indeed was notable for its unprecedented show of solidarity by individuals who were neither directly involved in...
. The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
noted this novel use of Whedonesque and similar sites. Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
featured Whedonesque.com as one of four websites mentioned in "The Best Strike Writing" and Buffy writer Jane Espenson
Jane Espenson
Jane Espenson is an American script writer and television producer who has worked on both situation comedies and serial dramas. She had a five-year stint as a writer and producer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and shared a Hugo Award for her writing on the episode "Conversations with Dead People"...
specifically credited Whedonesque readers for providing pizza to the striking writers.
External links
- Whedonesque.com
- Whedonesque.org Discussions of Whedonesque.com policy and site status updates are held on Whedonesque.org, as are discussions of non-Whedon projects.
- m.Whedonesque.com is a minimalist, text-based version of Whedonesque.com content, designed for low bandwidth and/or mobile web browsers.
- A brief Joss Whedon message to Whedonesquers posted to YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
(Adobe FlashAdobe FlashAdobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
required)