And now, for another one-vote getter for my Final ’90s Countdown survey, and pack a lunch, it’s a long one!
Spawn (Image Comics, 1992-present)
Man oh man, where do I even start.
Arising from the mass exodus of Marvel’s top artists and Rob Liefeld, Image Comics provided these creators free reign to generate whatever new concepts their wild imaginations could conceive, and (most importantly) still have complete ownership of them. And it remains today as a powerful publisher of creator-owned work.
Now, when this whole wingding was announced, I remember thinking, “wow, this is a great opportunity to expand comics into new genres with these artists’ large audiences! Imagine a Jim Lee-drawn crime drama, or a Todd McFarlane-drawn Old West story!” Yes, I was perhaps a little…well, a lot naïve, and frankly I still think McFarlane could draw one hell of a cactus. But what we got was more superheroes.
I mean, at first, they were admittedly very popular superheroes. First out of the gate was Liefeld’s Youngblood, and despite the joshing I gave that fresh-faced youngster earlier in this piece, we had a line waiting outside the door of our shop the day of release (thanks largely to the Rob making a talk show appearance the night before). And the comic continued to sell well, and its style and storytelling had a tremendous impact on the superhero artform.
Which is a long way of introducing the subject of today’s entry, Todd McFarlane’s Spawn. Another popular debut series from Image, we didn’t have a line outside the door for this comic when it first came out, but we ordered high numbers and purt’near sold through them all. Coming off several years of illustrating Spider-Man comics, McFarlane was perhaps neck-and-neck with Jim Lee (who’d drawn X-Men books) for Most Popular Guy Who Quit Marvel, 1990s Edition. This comic just sold and sold and kept selling for a number of years, while the market was there, and even continued on through the mid-1990s market crash at slightly less-outstanding sales levels.
As you can see by the header, the comic is still being published to this very day, along with a myriad of recent-ish spin-offs (including Gunslinger Spawn, so we finally did get that western-themed McFarlane comic I was hoping for, kinda-sorta). Sales have been up and down over the decades, but have been a little strong of late, at least on the main title, which has never relaunched or rebooted or renumbered or any darn thing, issue #373 having come out just a couple of weeks back. Plus, its creator, Todd McFarlane his own self, has been involved in its production more often than not over its long life.
In general, as a writer, McFarlane make a good artist, as we all discovered during that solo Spider-Man title he did just prior to departing Marvel, and we all had our fun with his skills in that department. But, honestly, he wasn’t much worse than, say, Bill Mantlo during his more florid moments, or Chris Claremont-isms like “I…hurt,” and even John Byrne’s scripts had some real clunkers. No one is without sin, is what I’m saying, and eventually, I think, McFarlane turned into the kind of writer that the Spawn storytelling required. Nothing particularly clever or polished, but utilitarian enough to move things along at the necessary pace.
As I mentioned, McFarlane kept his hand in one way or another throughout the series, even as other hands took over the story and art, and the comic remained…artistically consistent for its still continuing lifespan. Imagine 373 issues of X-Men or Wonder Woman, all more or less under the same editorial guidance, all looking reasonably similar stylewise, the story remaining consistent and building upon itself all this time. The only comparisons in American comics would be Dave Sim’s Cerebus, and the also still-continuing Savage Dragon by Erik Larsen, both of whom did write and drawn every issue). I’ve often lamented that Liefeld didn’t keep doing Youngblood every month since that long-ago first issue. Just imagine 373 issues of Youngblood and what that would look like now. It would be bonkers beyond our wildest dreams. It would be everyone‘s favorite comic.
So, what’s the comic all about, anyway? Soldier Al Simmons, upon his murder, goes to Hell, where the demon in charge, Malebolgia, gives him a costume and powers and sends him back to Earth to serve his new master’s ends. Once there, Spawn decides to use his powers for good instead, and, well, hijinks ensue for the next 30+ years. (It’s reminiscent of the 1970s Atlas/Seaboard comic The Grim Ghost, except for the running for 30+ years part.) One gimmick is that Spawn is told he only has a limited amount of “energy” for the superpowers he now has, and once he used all those up, he gets sent back to Hell. As such, we, the readers, are given a little on-panel doodad that occasionally pops up and shows us where Spawn’s power levels are at, even though it’s never explained what each number represents and what exactly depletes what stat.
I mean, at least at first, I only read a handful of issues so I have no idea if that counter was ever explained, or refilled, or whathaveyou. In fact, I only read the first dozen issues myself, because, sure, why not, which meant I was there for the four guest-writer issues (8-11, written by Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Dave Sim, and Frank Miller, respectively). I don’t know if that was McFarlane reacting to criticisms of the writing by saying “okay, fine, here are some real writers” or what, but they were pretty good, and at least a couple of them (Moore and Gaiman) added some important pieces to the ongoing Spawn saga (even if one of those pieces, the hunter angel Angela, was eventually lost to Marvel in a whole legal/creator ownership thing that I’ll let this article explain).
As to what Spawn has been up to all this time, since I last read the character, I couldn’t tell you beyond what I know of the character’s publishing history. There were a number of spin-offs early on, including Curse of Spawn and Spawn: The DUndead, crossover adventures like Spawn/WildC.A.T.s (written by Alan Moore), multiple minis with Spawn’s nemesis Violator (also written by Moore!), and a couple of intercompany crossovers with Batman (which would happen again recently). Then, a few years ago, there was another big push to launch more Spawn series, like King Spawn and the aforementioned Gunslinger Spawn, and there’s usually three or four different Spawn series on the rack at any given time.
There are reprints a’plenty, including a series of Spawn: Origins (volume 31, coming in August, collects up to #190), and the giant Spawn Compendiums, volume 7 of which gets you up to #350). And there have been several paperbacks and hardcovers reprinting the many spin-offs and tie-ins, all in varying states of in-printness. And of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the live-action movie from 1997, and the three seasons of the HBO animated series (also starting in 1997). I feel like I keep hearing about a new Spawn movie every couple of years. Oh, and the toys. So many toys.
Spawn remains a touchstone for many former comic book readers, as I don’t know how many times someone has come in, told me “I haven’t been in a comic shop since the ’90s!” and then asked “is Spawn still coming out?” or “how much is Spawn #1 worth?” And speaking of Spawn #1, I continue to do strong trade in those, selling them almost as fast as I can get my hands on them.
Now is it all any good? Well, at least one of you voting in my poll liked it, so who am I to gainsay that? But it’s lasted all this time, through likely multiple cycles of readership. I often wonder what percentage of folks buying the comic have been reading it since buying its very first issue off the stands in 1992? Regardless, it’s had real staying power and a solid fanbase and I suspect, if we check back in thirty years from now, we’ll continue to find it on the stands. Probably at $17.99 an issue, but I don’t think it’s going anywhere.
