A Dark Place, Part Two is the second issue of the Spike: A Dark Place comic book series. Written by Victor Gischler and illustrated by Paul Lee, it was originally published on September 19, 2012 by Dark Horse Comics.
Synopsis[]
Spike, traveling with a crew of cockroach-like aliens and stranded demons, is headed back from the dark side of the moon to... Sunnydale. If you're a vampire on a walkabout who wants to gain some perspective and get over a girl (psst... it's Buffy), it might not be the best idea to return to the nostalgia-filled hometown you helped her destroy. But if you don't have a choice, maybe the best hope is to find another way to put out the old flame...
- Spike heads back to Sunnydale![1]
Summary[]
The Sturgeon demons that hijacked Spike's ship threaten to throw him out the airlock. During his last cigarette, Spike gets to talk to his captors, who reveal they are heading to Sunnydale to retrieve shards of the broken Seed of Wonder. They were in Sunnydale during the battle when the Seed was broken and had hopped onto a giant demon hoping to get away. It flew into outer space, and they managed to steer it to the moon, which is why they ended up there. Spike bluffs and tells them he can help them find the shards much faster, so they spare him.
At the Sunnydale crater, the demons lead Spike into the underground caverns, while the bugs stay behind. Sebastian hops to escape with a cunning plan. After drawing the guard's attention, he spits fire at it and sets it ablaze. The other bugs quickly jump in.
Meanwhile, Spike leads the demons to the chamber where the Seed used to be, but there are no more shards. The demons accuses Spike of tricking them, but he says someone must have beat them to it. A succubus shows herself and says she too came there to find the shards, hoping they would allow her to travel to her home-world. The demons don't believe her and a fight breaks out, in which Spike and the woman, with the help of the escaped bugs, manage to kill the demons.
Spike and the succubus — named Morgan — introduce themselves to each other and she reveals that many demons came in to try and scoop up shards, but they are all gone now. In this moment, they are interrupted by the arrival of Pearl and Nash.
Continuity[]
- The story is set between Spike's appearances in Apart (of Me), Part Two and Death and Consequences, Part Three.
- Spike and the demons mention the repercussions of destroying the Seed of Wonder in Last Gleaming, Part Four.
- Willow's warning of the loss of magic heavily affecting demons and others in Freefall, Part One is further enforced.
- Spike notes that the majority of places he lived in were "dark places." Spike himself had described finding a place that was "dark and dank" when he moved out of Xander's basement in "A New Man."
- Spike has another flashback of his departure of San Francisco in Apart (of Me), Part Three.
- Pearl and Nash were last seen in Family Reunion, Part Three.
Appearances[]
Individuals[]
Organizations and titles[]
- Slayer (Only in flashbacks)
Species[]
- Bug crew
- Demon
- Half-demon
- Human (Only in flashbacks)
- Vampire
Events[]
Locations[]
- Moon
- Outer space
- Sunnydale
- Seed chamber
- Magic Box (Only mentioned)
- Revello Drive (Only mentioned)
Objects[]
- Seed of Wonder (Only mentioned)
- Soul (Only mentioned)
- Spike's ship
Death count[]
- Two sturgeon demons, killed by Spike.
- Frog demon, electrocuted by the bug crew.
Behind the scenes[]
Distribution[]
- A Dark Place, Part Two was the 138th best selling comic issue in its publishing month, with 16,589 sales in September 2012 at comic specialty stores.[2]
Collections[]
Pop culture references[]
- Spike states the demons went "all Captain Ahab," an allusion to the captain in Moby Dick.
- Spike likens the sturgeon demon to Mr. Limpet, a talking fish in the 1964 movie The Incredible Mr. Limpet.
- Spike refers to Pearl and Nash as "the Flowers in the Attic," a joke over incestuous siblings in 1979 novel Flowers in the Attic.
Gallery[]
Covers[]
Cover artwork[]
Preview[]
Quotes[]
Sebastian: "Do you still not understand? After all this time? Our worth is not measured by what we need, but how much we are needed. And Master Spike needs us." |
Spike: "Family. Home. Those words mean something different when you're walking around with a soul buzzing in your chest. Same world. Same people. But nothing's the same. Home. When's the last time I've had one? Hideouts, sure. Lairs. Dark places. So here's our boy trying to figure it all out in the steaming hole that used to be Sunnydale. All this debris used to be a town. People, lives. Home? I thought a soul would free a fellow. It doesn't. It ties you to a place, to people, in a way chains never could. No amount of distance or time can break those chains." |
Morgan: "Men. Always want to do it the hard way." |
Morgan: "Whoever you are, thanks for saving me." |
Spike: "Save you? Well, I don't know about that. The deadliest catch hits, you hit back. That's just the math." |
Spike: "Well... if it isn't the Flowers in the Attic." |
References[]
- ↑ "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Spike #2 (Jenny Frison cover)." Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved on April 1, 2022.
- ↑ "Top 300 Comics Actual--September 2012." ICv2, October 8, 2012.