Comics
Review: ‘Spike’ #2
Following the events of “Spike: A Dark Place” #1, lovesick Spike is on his way back from the dark side of the moon and headed straight to Sunnydale with his crew of oversized alien-cockroach minions, and stranded demons. Returning to the place he helped the girl he’s hung-up on destroying might not be the best cure for Buffy heartache. Or perhaps, facing his troubles in the hometown where it all began is what this mopey vampire needs to finally move on.
WRITTEN BY: Victor Gischler
ART BY: Paul Lee
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics
After Spike’s blimp is overtaken by a gang of fish-like space demons, his loyal squad of bugs begin plotting his rescue. The relationship between Master Spike and his minions is quite interesting due to how one sided it seems to be. Their worth is not measured by what they need but by how much they are needed. And Master Spike needs them. Unsurprisingly, some bugs have their doubts about Spike’s feelings. “[…] When we help Master Spike, we are helping our own.” “[…] But sometimes I wonder if Master Spike feels the same about us.” Their loyalty is just so unbelievably endearing considering how Spike treats them.
Part Two of Spike’s advenutre functions as a build-up for what’s to come in the miniseries. Even though there’s not a whole lot of plot development, this issue introduces a new (seemingly generic and unoriginal) badass female character thst could mean many things for Spike and his love life (much to the chagrin of Spuffy Shippers).
This installment doesn’t live up to the last, but it at least humanizes this souled Spike in a way that past writers have never done before. Spike is built-up and smacked down by his romantic, or toxic, relationships with women. And now that he’s on his own, trying to “live” with his new soul, maybe he can finally develop as a character defined only by himself and not others.
Victor Gischler nails the voice of Spike, whose TV-verse swagger just drips off of him with every piece of dialogue. The art, by Paul Lee on pencils and Andy Owens on inks, helps tremendously in painting that cool image of Spike on paper. Unfortunately, where Lee excels at drawing Spike to look identical to James Marsters, the bug/fish-like alien demons from space are almost a little too comical to be taken seriously. It’s not hard to understand why this mini-series is a hit-or-miss among the Buffy fandom, but the unfolding story runs so smoothly, it makes up for the ridiculousness of the plot.
3/5 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.
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