Western critics have also directed significant praise towards Spike. In his review of "Cowboy Bebop", Anime News Network's Mike Crandol praised the character portrayals, especially Spike's, stating that "Spike's character in particular runs the gamut from goofy to blasé to teeth-gnashing tough; he is one of most three-dimensional anime leads in recent memory." Christi of THEM Anime Review 4.0 complimented Spike's story arc in the series, saying that "the underlying theme of Spike Spiegel and his motivations for what he does is absolutely intriguing." DVDTalk's Kyle Mills called Spike the epitome of a good lead protagonist, referring to him as "composed, always cool, and is essentially the ultimate badass", although his true nature is gradually shown throughout the series. In an article in "The Atlantic", writer Alex Suskind was positive about Spike's portrayal and development, saying that the word "cool" was the most apt way of describing him and referring to him as "a space-age samurai-cum-Marlboro Man". Richard Eisenbeis of Kotaku, writing a retrospective on the series, praised the relationship between Spike and Faye, especially the way it evolved through the series without overt verbal expressions of affection.