Comics
Review: ‘Spike’ #3
Season Nine of the Buffyverse has been so consistently awesome, that it’s almost painful to see one of the major spin-offs fizzle out into ineffective filler material. Unfortunately, that’s exactly the case for Victor Gischler’s Spike #3. Following the events of “A Dark Place” #2, Spike meets a demon in distress named Morgan, and gets reacquainted with the nasty Pearl and Nash; all of whom are after the pieces of the destroyed Seed buried in the rubble formerly known as Sunnydale.
WRITTEN BY: Victor Gischler
ART BY: Paul Lee
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics
PRICE: $2.99
RELEASE: October 24th
Part 3 begins with a flashback to Rome in 1953, where we meet an 18 year old Pearl and a young Nash who are caught up in some Black Widower Demon sex drama. Spike happens to have business with this particular demon so he shows up in all his greaser glory and decapitates the beast right as Drusilla makes her first cameo appearance of the series. Disregarding the fact that a flashback in “The Girl in Question” puts Spike and Dru in Italy in the 1950s, Gischler’s Pearl and Nash seems to be out of character and extremely superfluous in both flashback and present scenes. The readers get to touch on a bit of the backstory between Pearl, Nash, and Spike, though there’s not nearly enough presented to get anything significant out of the scene.
The rest of the issue deals with Spike, Morgan, and the bug minions in orbit aboard his ship. Past assumptions concerning Morgan’s succubus background are kicked to the curb as she reveals she’s a “high end” type of female sex demon, if you will. The fact that Gischler feels the need to establish the fact that Morgan is a classier companion, as opposed to your run-of-the-mill succubae, seems like indirect slut-shaming to me. Why is one more or less acceptable than the other?
The plot appears to be advancing, but it’s happening at such a slow pace that it’s hard to be sure how the series is going to play out. Makes you wonder how Gischler’s going to tie the story together to make for a satisfying end with only 2 more issues left.
Overall, Spike’s sarcastic retorts and his affinity for dark humor is handled really well, but the British slang placed in the dialogue comes off as forced. The third installment brings about less action on the pages but more dialogue and self-reflective monologues from our male protagonist. In terms of the artwork, Paul Lee continues to deliver uncanny likeness to the already established characters from the franchise on pencils; and Andy Owens remains consistent with his inks.
2.5/5 SKULLS
Reviewed by – ShadowJayd
Comics
‘You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive’ – IDW Dark’s Next Horror Comic Will Make You Question Reality
Five friends. Four houses. One perfect life. Bloody Disgusting is excited to exclusively announce You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive, a brand new horror comic from IDW Dark.
From Eisner-Nominated writers Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, and rising horror artist Heather Vaughan, You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive is described as a “paranoia-laced, socially-conscious, horror mystery that will leave you questioning reality, and reveal that this crafted world is more of a nightmare than the idealistic dream they were expecting.”
Phoebe Joplin has never questioned the world her parents built: a secluded community where she and her friends were raised to be smarter, stronger, and better than anyone else. No distractions. No dangers. No secrets. Until the night of their graduation.
When one of them dies under impossible circumstances, Phee starts to pull at the edges of her perfect life—and what she finds is something far more terrifying than she ever imagined.
Because this place isn’t a sanctuary. It’s a cage. And no one who discovers the truth ever leaves it alive.
Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing (Batman – One Bad Day: Clayface, Star Trek: The Last Starship) co-write the upcoming IDW Dark horror comic, featuring art by Heather Vaughan.
Jackson Lanzing said in a statement to Bloody Disgusting, “You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive is in many ways a spiritual successor to our last creator-owned horror, The Principles of Necromancy – a dive into the promise and consequence of playing god with the blood of innocents. But the Hivemind book this reminds me of most is Clayface: One Bad Day. This is a deeply human story with intensely raw emotions – five best friends and their five mysterious parents, tearing one another apart for the promise of some impossible glory that’s waiting just beyond their darkest actions. We’re thrilled to be bringing this story to life with our long-time partner in crime, editor Heather Antos, at IDW Dark – and we’re particularly excited to give our Clayface fans a new, brutal and emotional horror made just for them.”
Adds Collin Kelly, “We’re deconstructing a feeling that seems universal these days; our elders have a death grip on their power, without any intention of giving it up to the generations that come next. YNLTPA is about growing up with the limitless potential of the future… and realizing how much it’s a lie we’ve been fed to keep us under the yoke of the past. Bringing this brutal experience to life is our artist and co-creator, Heather Vaughan, who brings an incredible amount of humanity to our cast. But it’s in our youthful leads that Heather’s art really shines – you are going to fall in love with these young people, even as they go through the worst experience of their lives. What we’ve all crafted together is going to be tragic, painful, but above all else, sincere – with a future so uncertain, there’s only one thing we can trust: you’ll never leave this place alive.”
“Some horror stories are about monsters in the dark. YNLTPA is about realizing the monsters raised you,” previews Senior Group Editor Heather Antos. “Working with Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly on this series has been a dream in the darkest possible way. They’ve built a story that’s layered, brutal, and deeply emotional, and every issue gives artist Heather Vaughan opportunities to push the art into places that feel both haunting and deeply personal. Some horror comics will keep you up at night…this is one that will stick with you for years to come.”
The first issue of You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive goes on sale October 14, 2026! Make sure to pre-order at your local comic shop by September to guarantee a copy.
Exclusively check out the various covers for Issue #1 down below.
IDW Publishing’s horror imprint IDW DARK features comics like A Quiet Place: Storm Warning, Smile: For the Camera, The Exorcism at 1600 Penn, Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees, The Twilight Zone, Event Horizon: Dark Descent & Event Horizon: Inferno, and more.
You must be logged in to post a comment.