Spike vs Dracula 3
Had a very nice lunch at Tate Modern today with my friend M. We were so busy chatting and eating that we didn't have time to see whether the Tate Modern's recent reorganisation had made the layout of the art any more comprehensible. I suspect not.
On my way home I popped in to the comic shop where the next issue of Spike vs Dracula was waiting for me (wish all shops were as wonderfully well-organised and friendly).
I've enjoyed the other parts of this, but I think this one is my favourite so far. Spike is in Germany in 1943 because he and Dru are concerned about Darla who hasn't answered their recent letters (I think Peter David is a secret Sparla shipper *g*). He has an early encounter with an SS officer that leads him to spend most of the story in an SS uniform (one of the many nice tie-ins with Why We Fight). He then teams up with Dracula to rescue Darla and one of Drac's gypsy brides who, due to Hitler's fascination with the mystical, have ended up as prisoners of the Nazis. There's a nice little moment during the rescue when Spike releases a captured American werewolf called Nathaniel Osborne, which I enjoyed a lot. Unfortunately we never see Darla, but we do meet Nostroyev and the Prince of Lies and are offered a really quite reasonable explanation as to why Spike was a captive in Why We Fight. Unless Joss writes something different I think I might very well consider this canon as it works for me. The story ends with a nice twist that reveals exactly what Dracula has been up to and why, but I won't give it away.
There are some very enjoyable little touches throughout the story and, as I've said, some good use of series continuity which is something I always like about Peter David's work. My only quibbles are that I wish it had been longer; Peter David really needs a British beta because Spike's dialogue was at times downright odd; and I wish the artwork actually resembled Spike. The artist is good at giving a feeling of action, which this story needs, but he's lost any ability to draw Spike, which is a bit of a handicap when the story is about him.
Good story, but shame about the artwork.
On my way home I popped in to the comic shop where the next issue of Spike vs Dracula was waiting for me (wish all shops were as wonderfully well-organised and friendly).
I've enjoyed the other parts of this, but I think this one is my favourite so far. Spike is in Germany in 1943 because he and Dru are concerned about Darla who hasn't answered their recent letters (I think Peter David is a secret Sparla shipper *g*). He has an early encounter with an SS officer that leads him to spend most of the story in an SS uniform (one of the many nice tie-ins with Why We Fight). He then teams up with Dracula to rescue Darla and one of Drac's gypsy brides who, due to Hitler's fascination with the mystical, have ended up as prisoners of the Nazis. There's a nice little moment during the rescue when Spike releases a captured American werewolf called Nathaniel Osborne, which I enjoyed a lot. Unfortunately we never see Darla, but we do meet Nostroyev and the Prince of Lies and are offered a really quite reasonable explanation as to why Spike was a captive in Why We Fight. Unless Joss writes something different I think I might very well consider this canon as it works for me. The story ends with a nice twist that reveals exactly what Dracula has been up to and why, but I won't give it away.
There are some very enjoyable little touches throughout the story and, as I've said, some good use of series continuity which is something I always like about Peter David's work. My only quibbles are that I wish it had been longer; Peter David really needs a British beta because Spike's dialogue was at times downright odd; and I wish the artwork actually resembled Spike. The artist is good at giving a feeling of action, which this story needs, but he's lost any ability to draw Spike, which is a bit of a handicap when the story is about him.
Good story, but shame about the artwork.