It's that time of the week again, folks!

This week it's one of my favorite single issue series.

Spawn (1992) - Todd McFarlane



Spawn was one of the original series to come out of Image Comics in it's earliest conception. The time period was a weak one for comics and comics publishers, so for Todd and his colleagues to take a plunge into founding a new company was definitely a bold move.

Spawn is a character endowed with many abilities: Superhuman strength, speed, durability and endurance; immortality, flight, various magical abilities, teleportation, shape shifting, regenerative healing factor, necroplasmic energy blasts, ressurection and empathy. He wears a symbiotic suit that has evolutionary capabilities. Spawn is a not-so-typical "Heaven vs. Hell" series that began as a super-hero tale and later evolved into an anti-hero series, which is more suited I think for a character like Spawn. Other aliases he has been referred to in the series are The One and Hellspawn. Although, in a previous life he was known as Al Simmons.

Al Simmons was a CIA agent, killed by his employer because he was witness to the corruption within the system. He is sent to Hell upon his death, where he meets the devil of this series, Malebogia. He makes a pact with Malebogia so that he can return to Earth to see his wife again. In signing this deal, he becomes what is known as a Hellspawn, one of the generals of Hell's army. He is returned to Earth with a babysitter of sorts known as the Clown (aka Violator). He attempts to see his wife one last time and discovers that she has remarried and has a child. Though it seems like only a matter of moments or days passed in his transition, Simmons has been dead for five years at this point.

Over time, Spawn meets many different characters and battles many criminals as well as supernatural entities. While he may be attempting to regain his humanity, he is still marked by the gifts he received from Malebogia. This of course brings the wrath of Heaven's forces down on him and his renegade status causes him to battle Hell's minions as well.

The first metamorphosis occurs after a near death battle with the Redeemer. At this point, the suit changes from red with a smooth cape to the more widely known black and white costume with a raggedy cape and free moving chains. Eventually, amongst the other demons he battles, he discovers the true identity of the Clown as the Violator, one of Hell's most powerful forces and one of five Hell-born demons.

The series has inspired many spin-offs; including Angela, Curse of the Spawn, Sam and Twitch and the Japanese Manga Shadows of Spawn. It was also adapted into a feature film in 1997 and an HBO animated series, lasting from 1997 to 1999. It remains one of the top 10 selling titles in the U.S. and there is rumor that McFarlane will be returning to the production process as a writer. It has also been said that if he gets a feel for it again, he may also illustrate the series again. Spawn was also recently condensed into trade paperback form, consisting of at least five volumes that I know of, with Vol. 1 already becoming a hard to find, out of print gem.

Spawn gets 4 1/2 stars out of five from me.

Stay Evil,

~D