There are the snobs that refuse to acknowledge the power of writing outside the written, bound and canonized form. TV and film are not worthy of our attention or our appreciation. Graphic novels are merely excuses for artists to create fantastical and unrealistic worlds, none of which deserve our approval and admiration.

But this is inherently full of shite. Consider the remarkable and revolutionary Joss Whedon, a writer who matters.

Over TV masterpieces like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly, graphic novel continuations of Buffy and X-Men episodes, and even Internet serials-phenomena like Dr. Horrible, Whedon puts on a hell of an entertaining show. But there’s more to it. He breaks all the rules by creating entire mythologies that are separate from our own reality, yet are infused with our faults and greatest gifts. He imbues women with extraordinary power to tell stories that transcend gender, genre and more. He makes the flighty worthwhile, powerful and unforgettable.

That’s his quiet rebellion. The flash is in creating a world where vampires and demons run amok, or a future society in the stars, or a blog where an evil villain spills his secrets and turns hilarity into fear. More importantly, he picks mundane human details and makes them important. In Buffy, he makes the very normal and typically forgettable aspects of adolescence critical not just to his characters, but to the entire fate of the world. His villains are pretty terrifying, but are merely manifestations and reflections of very human faults and emotions. The worst attacks in this fantastical realm are betrayals by friends and lovers.

A Whedon creation is a dizzying, hilarious, violent, erotic and horrifying experience. Just like the “real” world can be.

A few choice examples from the Whedon realm:

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer. A teenage girl kills vampires. Um…yeah. But here’s the thing. Buffy is the powerful puppet of an f’ed up system, run by men and won by the attrition of young nubile females. She just wants to be a normal girl, but falls in love with the world’s (two) biggest badass vampire(s), dies twice, and otherwise saves an oblivious and unthankful world. With the addition of Willow, Xander, Anya, Oz, Spike and Giles, the laughs are morbid and many, and the drama is unbearably dark and tense.
• Angel. Buffy’s love spins off as a vampire PI. What could have been a one-note procedural with a twist turned into an operatic, rich, and hugely addictive quest to find and keep humanity in a world that denies it.
• Firefly. A western in space! Sounds like another wacked-out winner! But it works in a typically ludicrous and compelling way. Captain Mal and his crew scour the galaxy for work while a totalitarian government seeks to recapture and manipulate his stowaway. Legalized prostitution! Randy engineers! Class warfare! Hot pants! In addition to Joss’ writing prowess, he also has the uncanny ability to find the best people to breathe life into his characters, and does so with aplomb in this cancelled-too-soon delight.
• Buffy, Season 8. The story of the completed show continues in Whedon’s graphic novel serialization. So far Buffy has run up against a skinless Warren, hordes of zombies, her nemesis Faith, and more. The novels bring the same mix of hilarity, weirdness and high drama, but with a much more expansive budget than TV would allow.
• Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. Barney/Doogie as an inept evil villain? Who sings? Holy schnikes, this is glorious. Shown free for one week, the three-part series broke the interwebs with record downloads, and plans are to release a fully-jacked DVD that features extravagant goodies. The best part – Whedon brought full-on gravitas to a silly little caper with a surprising, abrupt and damn dark end. Just like we’ve come to expect.
• Dollhouse. And speaking of expectations, they’re running high for Joss’ new series set to premiere in early 2009. I’ll simply let the preview speak for itself.

Got a Joss favorite? Tell us about it in the comments!

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