|
After two
cracking Spike and Dru comic stories, expectations for All's Fair
were running high, but sadly it doesn't really live up to them.
The pair's
long history provides plenty of dramatic possibilities, and we open with one
that's been mentioned in the TV series - Spike's killing of a Slayer during
the Boxer Rebellion.
Then we
jump forward to Chicago in 1933 where the pair are visiting the World's
Fair. Also present are plenty of walking Happy Meals, a fanatical
scientist, a gateway to another dimension and the Slayer's brothers,
hellbent on revenge.
Spike and
Dru are always entertaining, even though like the writers of the television
series, Golden hasn't really got the hang of Spike's more Anglo-Saxon
expressions. To anyone on this side of the Atlantic, these can
occasionally jar - and would he really have used the expression "two
strikes against us" in 1900?
That's a
minor quibble and wouldn't really have detracted from the overall comic had
the story been better. Unfortunately, there's rather too much space
devoted to them being nasty at the World's Fair than the main
storyline. The scientist doesn't really do anything than the average
inhabitant of Sunnydale calling forth unimaginable horrors that we've all
seen before - and how his invention fitted into the overall story was
perhaps a little too obvious.
One of the
more distinctive elements of the first two Spike and Dru stories was Ryan
Sook's art. All's Fair sees Eric Powell taking over these
duties, with the result that the artwork falls a little flat in
places. There are also a couple of sloppy lettering errors which Dark
Horse really should have been picked up.
All in all,
a rather average story and artwork, and a bit of a disappointment after
Spike and Dru's previous outings.
Back
to the top
|
Writer: CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN
Pencils: ERIC POWELL
Inks: DREW GERACI
and KEITH BARNETT
Letterer: PAT BROSSEAU
Colours: GUY MAJOR
Cover: RYAN SOOK
Cover variations: art, photo
OVERALL RATING: 6/10
|
