Spike: The Complete Series
Written by Brian Lynch
Art by Franco Urru, Nicola Zanni, and Stephen Mooney
Colors by Andrea Priorini, Andrea Tentori, and Fabio Mantovani
Letters by Robbie Robbins and Neil Uyetake
Cover by Jenny Frison
IDW Publishing
Release Date: July 31, 2012
Cover Price: $29.99

Seldom do I ever get to review things from the Buffyverse. And when I do, I relish it like nothing else. Spike: The Complete Series fits the bill just fine and was a wondrous read from start to finish. I’m not the biggest Spike fan, but this series might just have turned me around on “William the Bloody.”

So, like Angel in Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Spike starts this book off with a soul. Not in the whiny way that Angelus had a soul. More of an “I’ll still kick your arse to hell” kind of thing. With a couple of companions (Beck and Betta George) to ride this roller coaster with him, he takes on Wolfram & Hart, the notorious evil law firm. Taking place mostly in Sin City (Las Vegas) we watch as Spike and the gang run into problem after problem while trying to right wrongs in a city that has no respect for that idea.

We get guest appearances by Cordelia (sort of), Groosalugg, Willow, and Drusilla just to name a few. Add in some inter-dimensional traveling, soul stealing, and demons with heavy weaponry and you get a tough time for Spike and company. Of course, the regular plagues of locusts and possessions and all that are in there, too. But we sort of expect that, now don’t we? There was a lot of character development for Spike here, making him seem more human than vampire. Of course, the soul might have something to do with that…

Brian Lynch penned this series, and did a fine job of it in my opinion. Non-stop action and humor is exactly what makes Spike shine. But giving him morals and boundaries, that created new facets that we had not seen before. Vibrant and solid art bring the story to life, frame after frame. While not exceptionally detailed, the bright colors really convey Vegas in all of it’s neon glory. Shadows seem darker, more ominous than in most comics. It really gives you a sense of gloominess that continues throughout the series…kind of like a cloud of doom coming ever closer.

Overall, I enjoyed the comic. All 200 pages of it, to be exact. Eight issues are included in this book, but it flows so easily that it doesn’t even seem to have been a monthly run, it seems almost seamless. If you like Spike, this is a graphic novel for you. If you are indifferent to the character, like I was, it may just sway you over to Team Spike. Either way, fans of the Buffy franchise will find this to be a fun romp. So there you go, I liked it a lot. Though I must admit, I read the whole thing imagining James Marsters narrating it. Love him or leave him, this is all about Spike.