I do like the fourth page.

Simon | February 22, 14:43 CET

Cool! Looks good. I haven't been as in love with this series as I had expected I would be, but this gets me excited again. Bring on Willow!

Jelly | February 22, 14:44 CET

Spike and Drusilla's voices are still off (former's too talky, latter's too sane), plot's all over the place, and George's OTT reaction to Spike's past was unintentionally hilarious. To quote a popular Sunnydale phrase, "Duh!"

I'm also sceptical about whether Spike's geeky enough to do a projection like that. He's familiar enough with "Star Wars" to reference Yoda in School Hard, but not enough to recognize Boba Fett in Smashed. At least the Season 8 jab was actually funny this time ("Dog?").

Looking forward to Willow, especially since Joss had a hand in her scenes.

Enisy | February 22, 15:05 CET

Preview looks good.

Buffyfantic | February 22, 15:07 CET

Maybe Spike was impersonating John Hart this time.

And yes, George feeling 100 years of slaughter is hilarious if you're not George.

Missed the dog but liked the kittens.

anca | February 22, 15:47 CET

Thing is, he's supposed to know about that stuff already. He had a vision of Spike killing a bunch of girls as early as their first meeting, in Spike: Asylum #2.

Enisy | February 22, 15:54 CET

And for those who forgot, or haven't seen page 7 of this issue, you can check it out HERE.

And Spike fans (especially the lusty ones) will probably enjoy THIS as well.

[ edited by wenxina on 2011-02-22 15:59 ]

wenxina | February 22, 15:57 CET

He had a vision of Spike killing a bunch of girls as early as their first meeting, in Spike: Asylum #2.

Did he feel it/them? Or being in the Mosaic and under medication had somehow influenced the psychic flow?

anca | February 22, 16:07 CET

Not feeling like a fanwank right now.

Back to the issue at hand, I should say that Mooney's art, although a tad hit-or-miss as usual, is a vast improvement over the last guy's. And writing-wise, I liked the first three panels of page six, and the last two panels of page four. Spike's dynamic with the Scoobies makes me d'aww.

[ edited by Enisy on 2011-02-22 16:23 ]

Enisy | February 22, 16:23 CET

I can only tell you what I intended with these scenes.

Yes, Spike is absolutely more talky. He's the leader now, so he's not hanging behind the lead making snarky comments while they drive the action. He's got to be the guy who drives the plan (specifically in these specific pages he's trying to get two different people to do things for him). The scene with Willow, specifically, he's a bit nervous so that allowed for even MORE rambling. Guess I could have trimmed a few lines, but that was my thinking at the time.

And yes, Drusilla is more lucid. A few people have figured out why, and it will be touched on. Fun fact: if SPIKE was going to be a regular series we would have played with that even more.

Finally, George absolutely knew about Spike's checkered past, but he never felt what Spike and Drusilla felt while doing it. He's a normal guy (for a fish) and feeling the absolute joy they got WHILE killing is throwing our betta for a loop. George felt what it was like to kill someone AND get off on it, that's gotta do a number.

Brian Lynch | February 22, 16:49 CET

I can't quite read it on my blackberry, but it sounds cool. I think sputtering motormouth works as a nervous Spike beseeching Willow (as he only ever fostered a relationship with Buffy). Also, I approve of a more lucid Dru, always prefer it -- some of her best stuff in in Angel Season 2, like "Reunion", in which she is lucid to the point of snarky at a couple points. I can't make out her dialogue, but unless she's just turned into Sunday, I'm sure she's fine :)

KingofCretins | February 22, 18:26 CET

Loved this. I've been waiting for the series to pick up (though, #1 was excellent) and this seems to be on just the right track.

patxshand | February 22, 19:10 CET

Like how things are starting to come together and how they are starting to connect with Buffy Seas 8 -

From the outfit that Willow is wearing, it looks to be either the time period of The Long Way Home Part IV or "Turbulance" when Spike makes contact with Willow.

nmcil | February 23, 00:12 CET

What Enisy said. I did laugh at the line about Willow ignoring the message if her eyes were black, though. Still I'm drowning in dialogue here.

[ edited by Emmie on 2011-02-23 00:31 ]

Emmie | February 23, 00:28 CET

As opposed to drowning in footwear, Em? :)

wenxina | February 23, 01:13 CET

I wouldn't mind the footwear as long as it comes with a fully-funded shoe shopping spree.

Emmie | February 23, 04:40 CET

It was really touching when Spike said that if Buffy needed Willow there in whatever way that Willow should just ignore his message. We haven't as many of those little character moments in Season 8...

nonbeliever93 | February 23, 06:15 CET

I wanna wish Brian good luck. Willow is a tough voice to crack. Hope he can handle it.
I thought Spike's first line to Willow was brilliant.

Nathan | February 23, 07:38 CET

Maybe I'm just not familiar with the medium, but the talkiness seems to be appropriate to me - gets the story across and the voice is good. He said a fair bit in AtS. Spike was so talky in his scenes in S8 he was called 'Exposition Guy'. He was so talky he sent Buffy off into a little fantasy. Evidently souled up Spike is a chatty sort of bloke :)

kamw30 | February 23, 08:18 CET

I like Spike's admission that he wishes well on Willow and Xander and Buffy. Aww.

WilliamTheB | February 23, 20:05 CET

Loved it.
Brian, any chance you can continue writing for the Buffy/Angel verse when everything is under the Darkhorse Umbrella? I promise to buy at least three copies of every book you write if you do. :)
And according to Willow, this takes place during the time in season 8 when Dawn was a giant. Good to know where the story fits in timeline-wise.
Although...Harmony's show was mentioned a few issues back, which started during the time Dawn was a centaurette...so, color me confused. But, color me entertained first so I'll just fanwank somethin and smile.

jay swif | February 24, 01:13 CET

I am really liking this series. I am a huge Brian Lynch fan and this is shaping up to be one of the best Spike stories he’s done thus far. He really gets the characters voice and the fact that characters always continue to grow and mature. At this point of the story I am a little lost, but I think it’s because of the month long gaps between issues. So I’ll prolly have to go back and read from issue 1 as well as go back and look up the Drusilla issues of AtF to figure out why she’s a little saner. If there was a problem with the issue it would be that Willow looked a bit off. I realize now that the art wasn’t handled by Urru but by Stephen Mooney who seems to be trying his best to be Urru. I’m also confused on the time line for this, this is supposed to be coinciding with Angel, who is at this point in the future then how can it be the early stages of BtVS8? But then again, Willow could just very well like that outfit and wears it more than once. IDK. Maybe a read through will address these confusifactions.

Keep up the good work Brian. I am loving the tale.

The Goose | February 24, 04:39 CET