The Last Page

"Don't forget your cape," my brother gibed on the phone. "Will the workshops be at night?" a colleague chortled. "Is this like a Star Trek convention?" asked a bewildered friend as I prepared to leave for the biannual conference devoted to the work of Joss Whedon, best known as creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

No, no, and no, I bridled. This was a delightful alternate universe in which pop culture academics welcomed just plain fans to revel in almost all things Whedon. Buffy and its spinoff about a vampire with a soul, Angel, have been off the air for years. In addition, he's written two not-so-successful television series (Firefly—a space Western—and Dollhouse), a movie, and an "indie" film.