If you are a Buffy or Angel fan, or more precisely a Spike fan, and you haven’t managed to get a hold of a copy of Spike Old Times, keep trying!

Whether you’re a comic book fan or not this is just a good book, plain and simple. It’s 48 full color pages, written by Peter David and illustrated by Fernando Goni. I was impressed, and happily surprised, with the illustrator’s ability to capture the expressions and attitudes of the characters from Buffy. Peter David has done the same with the dialogue and storyline.

Spike looks like Spike, he talks like Spike, and he battles demons and teases the ladies just like Spike. The author has done an excellent job of giving the story a very Whedonesque look and feel. Old Times delves into the story between William and Cecily, or rather Spike and Halfrek, and gives the reader a chance to see both the heroic and the villainous side of Spike. You gotta love ‘em both, right?

Spike Old Wounds and Spike Lost and Found, also illustrated by Fernando Goni, but written by Scott Tipton, were released in February and April (2006). Both are the same format and style as Old Times, except the stories place Spike in the world of the Angel TV series instead of in the Buffy world.

Currently, I’m waiting for Old Wounds and Lost and Found to come in the mail… any day now. I’ll let you know how Spike stacks up!

Cover Art by Fernando Goni
David, Peter, Goni, Fernando. Spike Old Times. IDW Publishing/Impact Studios, August 2005.