A Wes comic? I shall look forward to that. Not sure what to make of the art for Spike: Old Wounds though.

Simon | February 01, 10:09 CET

Must've needed some guts to take the plunge like that, good on him. I'm also not sure about the art. Looks like two entirely different styles within the same book which could be cool or could leave you wishing they'd stuck to one type throughout (my first impression is that I prefer the more photo-real stuff shown on the cover and within the panels on the top page).

Still check it out tho' (and the Wes comic has me interested).

Saje | February 01, 12:02 CET

Wesley comic? Hell yes. I'll buy it sight unseen.

electricspacegirl | February 01, 12:23 CET

Intresting article, i'm really looking forward to Spike: old wounds and the third Spike one-shot.

sethsky | February 01, 13:01 CET

I actually like the artwork...and the Spike comic stories seem to be surprisingly good. I pre-ordered the Dracula series as well as the Angel Old Friends series, so I am grateful for anything else they want to do.

Even though my main interest is in Spike , I'm looking forward to checking out the Wes, Illyria and hopefully Gunn oneshots too. If this is the only way we are going to get more stories from the Verse...then I guess it's better than nothing.

Anyway...I will be waiting to pre-order Old Wounds, Spike:Lost and Found, or any other Spike ones they want to offer. As long as they keep the Spike comics coming, I for one will buy them all.

[ edited by kathylovesspike on 2006-02-01 14:49 ]

kathylovesspike | February 01, 13:40 CET

Wes comic? I'm there. I don't much like the art, though. I'm not quite sure why, but in trying too hard to make the characters look like the people we know and love from tv, the art seems to have lost life on the page. Or at least, that's how it seems to me. But it might be better when I see it on the actual page.

As for the different styles Saje mentions: I think the cover's just a photoshopped/altered photograph and the first page looks to me to be the same as the rest of the inside of the book.

GVH | February 01, 13:45 CET

You may be right about the cover GVH, if it's not a photoshop job it's certainly an uncanny likeness of the cast.

Re: the two styles, I was referring to the 'photo' and artist's rendering of Spike (presumably for a wanted poster or somesuch) on the bottom panel of page 1. Here's a few more panels (one showing the same 'photo' again) and on balance I think i'm not liking the style tho' i'll still give it a shot as the story sounds interesting.

Saje | February 01, 14:10 CET

Ok, so where do I pre-order these comics? IDW doesn't seem to offer pre-orders on their site. Also, I just want to say: "Yeah! More Spike!"

killinj | February 01, 15:40 CET

I'm not sure where to pre-order anymore. The last IDW order I placed was for the Angel Old Friends and I got the subscription. This time for Spike vs Dracula I got the subscription from Cinequest I think. I think that Powerstar collectibles had also featured the comics. Maybe IDW will put up something soon as to whether these can be ordered now....or perhaps not til later.

If you go on the IDW site there is a forum and you could post a question there if that helps.....

kathylovesspike | February 01, 16:07 CET

So, what you're saying is that the style of the drawn picture and the drawn sketch on those pages look somewhat different from the rest of the art inside? Isn't that to be expected? A sketch in real-life looks different from its 'real' surroundings as well, after all ;-).

As for the art in general, seeing more of it, I'm still not wowed. It's too bad IDW hasn't found a good artist for these comics yet. The Angel comics looked alright, right up to the point where we got a lot of movement and action sequences - then it just fell short.

And this Spike comic is looking kinda doubtfull because it's trying too hard to do 'real' looking characters, and is failing. On top of that, it just all looks sorta 'flat', without much texture. Not my thing - but I'm still going to get it though ;-).

Having said all that - the Spike vs. Dracula art looks promising.

GVH | February 01, 16:25 CET

Well, quite. It makes perfect sense and as you imply is not a new device in the comics world. I guess my point was that if he can draw like that then why go with the slightly more abstract (and, IMO, inferior) style in the bulk of the comic ? I.e. i'd rather see that kind of detail in all the panels. Obviously, it's the artist's choice, i'm just not sure I agree with it (now watch him lose sleep over what I think ;).

Tho' clearly I need to brush up on my, erm, whadyacallit, that thing where you speak and write good ? ;)

Saje | February 01, 16:47 CET

Bout time someone did something on Wes! :) I'm not sure about all these "Angel" related comics though. I did get the Angel ones by David Messina and weren’t very impressed.

Regarding the artwork, I agree with Saje. It looks wrong having a sketch/image more detailed than the actual surroundings. I prefer the artwork stick to one style. I also don't like it when you sometimes see really simple characters on much more detailed backgrounds. If anything it should be the other way around. The objects in focus should be the most detailed!

Aviva | February 02, 03:26 CET

Glad to see people liked the column and are excited about the book.

In terms of ordering it, I'd recommend my local shop, Earth-2 Comics. They're about to unveil a new online comic shop, but in the meantime, you can just e-mail them and place a mail order for it very easily. They're at www.earth2comics.com.

Scott Tipton | February 04, 23:20 CET

Thanks ST.

This is actually the first one that actually looks intriguing. I'm not a comics person, but this is tempting.

newcj | February 05, 00:30 CET