Spike vs. Dracula #4

The penultimate chapter of IDW's Spike vs. Dracula brings the vampire rivalry to the canals of Venice, and cover artist Joe Corroney makes the most of the moody setting — a pale, hat-wearing Spike shares a gondola with a dark-haired woman, both clutching glasses of deep red wine beneath a brooding crimson sky and the shadow of an arched bridge. It's an unusually atmospheric image for a supernatural slugfest, trading raw aggression for dangerous glamour and the suggestion that not every confrontation requires fangs. With Peter David scripting and Joe Corroney and Mike Ratera handling interior art, "Ciao Time" looks to be a stylish 2006 highlight of this five-issue showdown.