The slayer returns in a cartoon series.

We don't know when. We don't know how many episodes - but it looks like a Buffy Animated Series is happening.

A series was nearly made for Fox a few years ago and then parked. The man behind it, Jeph Loeb, went off to work for Smallville. Having heard rumours that the series may be on again, we caught up with Jeph to find out what's going on.

What has happened to resurrect Buffy: Animated? Is a network backing it now?

Magic. No... honestly? We think that Fox became aware of this wonderful treasure and wanted to move forward again. As to where and when it will arrive... that part we're holding as a secret for now.

Will the project continue where it left off?

Like any great Buffy story it's all about resurrection. We have the same great crew, the same commitment from the actors and the same scripts we had in the drawer. It just needed the stake taken out of it so it could rise again.

Will you be in control of the project as before and, if so, how will this affect your Smallville role?

I return to season four of Smallville as the Supervising Producer. My role on Buffy Animated will be much as before because, as you all know, I spent a year and a half getting the show ready, it just wasn't sent into production. Animation is unique really in that production is actually the final step.

How many of the original cast are likely to be on board?

We're thrilled to have Alyson (Willow), Nick (Xander) and Tony (Giles) on board so far. There are still some surprises that we'll talk about at a later date.

After the project stalled, artist Eric Wright revealed a lot of the proposed character designs on his website. Do you still plan on using him and his team to animate the project?

Well, it was actually Eric Radomski's team (Batman Animated, Spawn) and Eric Wright did some of the key designs. Yes, much of that vision that was Radomski's continues... only it's better.

Radomski is in charge of the animation and as he proved with Batman and Spawn, Buffy will reinvent what can be done in animation again. Sometimes when you have two years away from something you can really see how to change it for the good.

I know you have some scripts, but will the Buffy writing team be involved in scripting the rest, now that they have moved to other projects?

We'll drive off that bridge when we get there. We've got quite a few in the drawer. And, of course, we'll hunt them all down again!

How involved is Joss likely to be, given that the Firefly movie begins shooting next week?

Don't you know? Joss has cloned himself so he can take care of all parts of his empire. Trust us, there ain't gonna be no Buffy Animated without Joss getting ink and paint all over his hands.

Jeph has promised to keep us informed as Buffy Animated progresses. In the meantime, you can follow the links to check out our Buffy ecomics section, or watch a recent video interview with Jeph regarding his work on Smallville.