I freaking love Spike so of course I am going to read this mini series. He's in space and the leader of bugs. I am HERE for this. ( )

It wasn't a bad sequence, per se, but it left a lot to be desired. I'm gonna miss the bugs, I think. The whole story seemed kinda rushed and pointless except for two things: getting rid of his ride and making him face how he's lying to himself. ( )

This really was the best of the best. It hit all my buttons and was a perfect Spike story. ( )

Review posted on http://diamondlovestoread.blogspot.com

I am a huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan. When it comes to comics and graphic novels there is nothing that has monopolized my collection more than Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Spike, and Angel. I have all the Omnibus, Season 8, and Season 9. I have been a little behind with season 9 of Buffy but had read enough to understand this story of Spike in the timeline.
Spike is one of my favorite characters of Buffyverse. Even on the show, Marsters’ characterization of Spike was so deep, making him flawed yet lovable in a way that completely differed from Angel. I always secretly vied for Spike and Buffy too, and his anguish was always something that I sympathized with. I felt he never really got enough credit for actually going to regain his soul to prove to Buffy he was a “man.” Angel never did anything like that, and no one besides Buffy really understood the significance of what Spike did when he purposefully gained a soul.
Anyways, onto the story-- I felt that the really had Spike down-pat. Like most readers I was leery when IDW had Spike and it was never really completely spot on—then I was also leery when Dark Horse took Spike, but since I knew they did a FAB job with Buffy and Angel & Faith I had confidence. I’m so glad to see that my intuition was right. It has never felt more like Spike than in this story. I loved his introspection and his personality was not watered down. I also liked the bugs and their storyline. It felt really almost like I was reading a version of a script made for television. I haven’t felt that a story arc could be synced into television very often with the Buffy comics. Even Whedon admitted that Season 8 had liberties taken simply because they could, in the comic-universe. This, on the other hand, wasn’t exaggerated or “comically comic” (hehe). I felt it really resonated with me. If you are a Spike fan I highly suggest it.
Ok, I loved it. Why 4 stars then instead of 5? The girl really bothered me. In fact, I despised her. I guess I felt the same way as Spike’s bug legion. I just didn’t like her and she wasn’t someone that truly fit into the Buffyverse, in my opinion. Eh, I don’t know.
( )

3 going on 3 & 1/2 stars. this is a slight entry, designed to bridge a gap, and it shows a bit. should be a fine one, there's Spike in the spaceship with the bugs which is always fun, with his cheekbones intact (nice artwork) so bonus, gone all broody about his last encounter with the Slayer which is amusing (i mean, does this inevitably happen to everyone who takes up with Buffy?). there's this succubus that comes along, see, a Spike flashback, and a trip to Easter Island. and some insight into minor villains Pearl and Nash. and i'm very fond of the Spike-end SF elements this story embraces; Spike just feels right in a spaceship, with sympathetic cockroach minions. that works for me. so what's not to love, right?

but the whole deal with the succubus seems artificial and a bit tedious, Spike himself seems a bit of a cardboard figure (just between us, i think the author has no feel for the character), and the bug gets the really poignant moments (though Seb as the hero was an excellent excursion, still a bit of a problem). as narrative it's all exposition, and somehow along the way Spike becomes a bystander in his own story. which seems slight and contrived, just a plot device really to get Spike to the right spot (meeting up with Angel) to join up with both halves of season 9 now in progress. altogether, i can't help wondering idly how IDW might have chosen to lay this one out. so, workmanlike job, but to half-quote Willow, i think this book's only filler. ( )