Just wondering if anyone reads the comics and what their reaction would be if they ended up Bander like the rumors have been speculating.

It has started looking that way to me. If it becomes 'reality' I'm stopping reading them. Joss views Xander as himself, and Bander was his original plan 1st season until fan reaction to Angel made Bangel a better option. He's waited a long time, and may possibly believe he won't lose the revenue from the Spuffy or Bangel camps if he goes this way. Don't agree. 

I am inclined to dislike any Buffy boyfriend who isn't Spike. I admit it. But Xander? No way.

I'm reading the comic and enjoying myself. The last one was really good. I have to admit I don't want Buffy ending up with Xander, I like them more as friends. But if that happened I won't be too upset or angry about it, we can get Buffy to be with Spike in fan fiction. Although we already have too much Xander bashing in Spuffy, I'm really scared about the future of Spuffy fiction. It's not as enjoyable to me when writers have Xander or Angel or Riley act like monsters while Spike is written as a weak, abused saint. I just wish every character to be written like TV so fiction would be more believable to me. Xander, Angel and Riley were decent, actually wonderful, if flawed characters. Turning them into monsters is not true to the show or the characters and it cheepens Spuffy in my opinion.

It depends on HOW they write Xander, Angel and Riley as the bad guys to me.  If it is in character (they had lots of character flaws to work with) and the plot makes sense I have no problem with it at all.  Actually as long as ANY charcter is "in character" as I saw them on screen I have no problem with it.  Spike was multi-layered enough to play many ways as well, as was Buffy.

I think Buffy made it clear from S1 that Xander was not interesting to her as a love match.  He was more the brother/best friend type to her so I can't say that the pairing would make sense to me if she suddenly felt romantic.  Same with Giles....he was a father figure and it is just not "right" to me to entertain a romance there.  I also feel that Buffy and "normal" guys wouldn't work in general.  Her strength alone would always cause her to hold back in a relationship (hugging alone caused pain on more than one occasion with a "normal" guy).  Naturally, I prefer her with Spike but barring him it would have to be more than human to work IMHO.

As for the comics...they are too superficial so far...too much with the "girl power" that isn't and not enough of the heart and soul that drew me to the series.  I think it interesting that the bulk of the mail is from the RL Andrew's of the world and not the cross section we see in fandom for the show.  Not pleased that the new Council seems to have learned NOTHING from the previous (or about not all demons being bad, etc.).  In fact the organization looks far more like the Initiative than the Council in many ways and that makes me antsy.  Hate the plot holes (Warren saved by Amy?  If so how did the FE use Warren to appear to Andrew?  Willow combusted him after flaying him....he was dead and Amy wasn't on the scene).  Ethan was poorly used as well.  Just not the same in any way IMHO.

Yeah, I'm reading but not taking it seriously.  Doesn't hurt to see the workings of Joss' mind.  I DO enjoy the Angel and Spike comics from IDW though...they seem to have a pretty good handle on the characters layers.  Some of the Spike and post NFA Angel stuff would have worked well on screen (particularily Spike Asylum).

Kathleen

Since the comic is the official season 8 , and if Joss makes it Xan/Buffy then im going to have to completely disregard the comic as my bf is doing and write it off as just another comicbook and nothing to do with my Buffyverse.

Xander has only spirald donwards in my opinion since season 1. All this racism he sputs left an right even in s7 is repulsive and he must know he is just rincing and repeating, its old done with and he knows its not that simple YET he can not help himself, he even jibes buffy with it "so you must be dead and souless to get with you". Even after all his own experiences. He peeves me to no end and i dont see him as any kind of believeable companion to buffy.

IN FACT if Buffy ends up with the sad excuse that is Xander, in his 7 year incarnation. Then Joss takes something away from the Verse and from Buffy. I want her with Spike or someone new or keep her single!

Jo.

Xander would make no sense whatsoever.  You can't consider someone your brother for the past several years of your adult life, then do a 180 and decide to date/sleep with them.  It might make sense from Xander's end, but from Buffy's?  Nuh uh, no way, no how.  Also something that would make the sense that's not would be to make Buffy gay/bi with Willow.

Side note in regards to fan fic: Riley had serious issues.  His bigoted demon views aside, if given the chance, he would have expermented on Xander when he was split in two, though he was still all human.  That is not normal.  And Xander rising up in righteous indigation is normal, which I see a lot in fan fic. Xander evil? Not so much.  The only fic I've seen that got Xander wrong was where he stalked, and I think raped Buffy, or maybe he just tried to... Angel? Depends- he's a many layered guy, as is Spike.

I don't actually read the comics. I don't consider them part of canon, the way I don't consider the books part of canon either, though I have read some of them.

I can't picture Buffy with Xander. I can't picture her being happy with another human. I want her with Spike, I'm biased. The only way I could be content without her with Spike is if Spike met another girl that loved him and treated him right from the beginning, and Buffy was with Angel *gags* though I shudder to admit that. The only two I could believe Buffy being happy with is Spike or Angel. Xander is too human, and too breakable. And if Joss does something in the comics where all of a sudden Xander becomes some superpowered human like in Spiderman or Superman I think I would gag.

I agree with those who say the characters are layered.  It is one of the better things about the series, that the characters (even the "hero") have flaws and layers to them that allow the fan fic writer to use them in many ways.  I'm with Kathleen, as long as they come across as a version of what I remember from the show, I can enjoy any fic that depicts them in a way that can be made believable.  It comes down to whether the author's view of the character is close enough to mine that I can buy what's going on.  

As far as the comics go, I haven't been reading them, but I can't imagine a comic being able to do the kind of work that would need to happen to make Bander believable.  I can sort of see it - at least at some point (although not as one of world's great romances, but more as a comfortable settling in of good friends who have no one else left) - but it would have to be very well written and believable and I just don't see that happening in a comic book.

So there. *g*