Spike: Old Times
# Spike: Old Times

Spike: Old Times is a comic based on the Angel television series.

## Story description

Spike struggles to protect a man from Halfrek, a vengeance demon who has wronged Spike in the past; she in fact had been the object of his unrequited crush.

## Writing and artwork

### Cultural references

* Boris Karloff: William is given a last name in this comic: Pratt. William Henry Pratt is the birth name of legendary actor Boris Karloff, who built his career on horror movies.

## Continuity

* This story explains why Spike and Halfrek appear to recognize each other in "Older and Far Away". In the TV series, both Halfrek and Cecily are played by the same actress, Kali Rocha.
* A number of fans mistakenly assume this takes place in Angel season 5 because Spike appears in Los Angeles, and therefore do not believe it can fit into the continuity of the Buffyverse. Writer Peter David posted in the Newsarama forums regarding this issue:

   Okay, here's the thing: IDW has the rights to do Angel and Spike comics, but not BtVS. However Mutant Enemy was willing to bend slightly on using Halfrek since she was so pivotal in Spike's origin, and also because they really liked the story concept. But we had to be deliberately vague as to when in continuity it actually occurred. My feeling was that it had to be set at some point in the sixth season between when Hallie and Spike first saw each other at the party and the point at which they basically gave each other dirty looks at the Magic Box later on that year. So we have to presume that at some point, Spike felt like stirring up some mischief with Angel and headed out to LA, where he accidentally bumped into Halfrek. My guess would be right after Xander's wedding imploded.

### Canonical issues

Angel comics such as this one are not usually considered by fans as canonical. Some fans consider them stories from the imaginations of authors and artists, while other fans consider them as taking place in an alternative fictional reality. However unlike fan fiction, overviews summarizing their story, written early in the writing process, were "approved" by both Fox and Joss Whedon (or his office), and the books were therefore later published as officially Buffy merchandise.

