It’s been a long wait – nearly four years in the making – but Season 8 of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER is finally here this week, albeit in comic book form.

With creator and executive producer Joss Whedon back in the fold and Dark Horse Comics lavishly promoting the new endeavor, Whedon promises a 22-episode season stretched over potentially 30 issues in a two year period featuring some of BUFFY’s long-time scribes penning issues as well.

What that means, where it all goes and how it all pans out is left to Whedon while Scott Allie, Editor of BUFFY-SEASON EIGHT, sorts it all out from there.

A writer and editor for Dark Horse and Glimmer Train Press, Allie has been with the BUFFY comics since 1998, which made him a natural fit for this new spin-off.

"I was the editor on BUFFY since 1998 or so, and I worked with Joss on other stuff, so I guess I was the editor on BUFFY before there was a Season Eight … so here I am," says Allie who also wrote the horror comic THE DEVIL’S FOOTPRINTS, contributions to the STAR WARS series, a tribute to H.P. Lovecraft and a self-published horror comic SICK SMILES.

While it might be expected that there were some hurdles in jump-starting the BUFFY franchise in comic book form, Allie says everyone was eager to jump back into it, including Fox who owns the BUFFY rights.

"Fox was eager to do whatever Joss wanted," says Allie. "There are contractual obstacles, in that every artist we use needs to audition—including artists who are far too talented to ever have to audition for any job. So we beg them, and ultimately they agree to do it because it’s Joss."

In an exclusive interview, Allie spoke with iF MAGAZINE about this ambitious project, where it’s going and what to expect as Season Eight makes its debut in comic book stores this week.