Joss Whedon Confirms "Ripper" Happening

Better sharpen those stakes.

In a surprise Comic-Con announcement, Joss Whedon has confirmed that the long-gestating Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin-off, entitled Ripper, finally looks like it's going forward.

Whedon says that he's thisclose to signing a deal with the BBC to finance a 90-minute telepic that will star Buffy's Anthony Stewart Head as former Watcher Rupert Giles as he combats the things that go bump in the night sans Slayer.

The deal hasn't been signed yet, so anything can happen, but Whedon was quick to say that no US distribution has been decided. Meaning that it's still a bit soon to circle a launch date on your calendar or break open the bubbly.

Meanwhile, Whedon has launched a non-Buffy-related online comic called Sugar Shock with Dark Horse (the publishers of the Buffy Season Eight comic). It's free, it's online, and it might just tide you over until Ripper... or the next issue of the Buffy comic.