As the middle child of a 5 part series, this book is succeeds very well. It has the right amount of exposition, action and scheming to keep the story going and the reader interested. It begins in 1953 where Spike accidentally saves Perl and her brother from a fish demon. There is even a cameo by an old Buffy friend that was nice. Andy Owens’ colors set the tone for the memories and make it simple to keep the two times separate. Victor Gischler, who wrote the script, has the characters banter for a bit then the inevitable fight over the Seed Shards begins. Spike, Morgan and the bugs escape to their spaceship and go into orbit.
It is at this point that I almost stopped reading. In my review of the first issue I stated that I was not a big fan of Spike in Space. It seems like a contrivance now though. An easy escape where no demon can follow. It takes the urgency out of the moment . The tension is gone and we are left with a brooding Spike and scheming bugs. The bugs, who I thought were for comic relief at first, begin to come into their own. They are completely devoted to Spike. And when Spike decides to help Morgan find a new Hellmouth, The bugs realize that the biggest threat to Spike is Spike.
In the end, this book is a good transition and lead in to the final two issues. I can’t wait to see how this resolves itself. It is my wish that this series does well and that there are more to come. Spike is one of my favorite pop culture characters and would do well in his own book
