Spawn (comics)

Spawn
Publication information
Publisher Image Comics
First appearance Spawn #1 (May 1992)
Created by Todd McFarlane
In-story information
Alter ego Albert Francis "Al" Simmons
Species Hellspawn
Human (formerly)
Team affiliations CIA
United States Marine Corps
Force Reconnaissance
Notable aliases The One, Hellspawn
Abilities

Spawn is a fictional character, an antihero that appears in a monthly comic book of the same name published by Image Comics. Created by Todd McFarlane, the character first appeared in Spawn #1 (May 1992). Spawn was ranked 60th on Wizard magazine's list of the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, 50th on Empire magazine's list of The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters and 36th on IGN's 2011 Top 100 Comic Book Heroes.[1]

The series has spun off several other comics, including Angela, Curse of the Spawn, Sam & Twitch, and the Japanese manga Shadows of Spawn. Spawn was adapted into a 1997 feature film and portrayed by Michael Jai White, an HBO animated series lasting from 1997 until 1999, and a series of action figures whose high level of detail made McFarlane Toys known in the toy industry.[2] The character also appears in annual compilations, mini-series specials written by guest authors and artists, and numerous cross-over story-lines in other comic books.

Publication history

Spawn enjoyed considerable popularity upon its initial release in the 1990s. Comic book collecting was enjoying a marked upswing at the time, fueled by the speculator boom looking for the next hot book that would jump in value after its release.[3] McFarlane had enjoyed superstar status among comic fans with his work on Spider-Man, which had featured McFarlane's name prominently as both writer and artist. McFarlane's subsequent break with Marvel and the formation of Image Comics was seen by many as a sea-change event, changing the very way in which comics were produced. Wizard, on May 2008, rated "The Launch of Image Comics" as No.1 in the list of events that rocked the Comic Industry from 1991 to 2008.[4]

The first issue of Spawn was very popular with sales of 1.7 million copies.[5] During Spawn's second year of publication, Wizard noted that "The top dog at Image is undoubtedly Todd McFarlane's Spawn, which, without the added marketing push of fancy covers, polybagged issues, or card inserts has become the best-selling comic on a consistent basis that is currently being published."[6] Sales slumped around the time of Spawn #25, but by Spawn #45 it was again a consistently strong seller.[7]

The popularity of the franchise peaked with the 1997 Spawn feature film, the pre-release publicity for which helped make Spawn the top selling comic book for May 1997;[7] in addition, the spin-off Curse of the Spawn #9 came in at fifth best-selling for the same month.[8] However, the film was only a mild commercial success and failed to start a film franchise based on the character. A 2008 issue, Spawn #174, ranked 99th best-selling comic of the month with retail orders of 22,667.[9] In October 2008, issue #185, which marked both a new creative direction and Todd McFarlane's return to the book, sold out at the distribution level and received a second printing.[10] By issue #191 in May 2009, with estimated sales of 19,803 copies, Spawn had dropped below Top 100 titles sold monthly to comic shops as reported by Diamond Comic Distributors.[11] As of August 2010 Spawn no longer was ranked in the top 300 sales figures chart reported by Diamond Comic Distributors. On the day of its release in 2011, issue #200 sold out. This issue featured work by Greg Capullo, David Finch, Michael Golden, Jim Lee, Rob Liefeld, Marc Silvestri, Danny Miki, and Ashley Wood. A second printing was released the next month.[12] Despite its remarkable sales, it received a negative review from IGN.[13]

Fictional character biography

Origin

Albert Francis "Al" Simmons (Lt. Colonel, USMC-Ret.), born in Detroit Michigan, was a highly trained Force Recon Marine who was at his most successful point when he saved the President from an attempted assassination. He was promoted to a high level and recruited to a highly classified unit within the CIA devoted to black ops. Once there, he began to question the morality of what his agency was doing.[14]

Jason Wynn hired Bruce Stinson (codenamed Chapel), Simmons' friend and partner, to kill him. In a blazing inferno, Simmons was killed and his soul sent to Hell, because he had knowingly killed innocents while working for the CIA.[15][16]

Simmons made a deal with an evil being known as Malebolgia: in exchange for his soul, he would get to see once again his wife, Wanda. However, when Simmons returned to the human world, five years had passed, and he had been transformed into a demonic creature with little memory of his former life. After regaining his memories, he sought out his wife, only to find she had moved on and married his best friend, Terry Fitzgerald, and that they now had a daughter named Cyan.[15]

After this event, the Violator appeared, and revealed to Simmons the purpose of his resurrection. They fought, but the battle was interrupted by Malebolgia.[17]

Early history of Spawn

In his early battles Spawn faced street thugs and gangs, becoming a dark and brutal antihero, culminating in his brutal murder of a pedophile and child murderer named Billy Kincaid. As a result, he gained the attention of the detective duo of Sam Burke and Twitch Williams. It is around this time that Spawn becomes "King of Rat City", a gathering of alleys where bums and the homeless live. There he meets the bum Cogliostro, who seems to know much more about Spawn than he first lets on, and becomes his mentor.

He would also be hunted by the warrior angel, Angela, who hunted Hellspawns for sport,[15] and would soon battle the cyborg mob enforcer Overt-Kill. This confrontation almost killed Spawn, but he was able to emerge victorious. He was again hunted by Angela and would fight the angelic warrior called the Anti-Spawn a.k.a. the Redeemer who was in fact Jason Wynn.[15]

First metamorphosis

After a confrontation with the Redeemer, Spawn's suit mutated and became more advanced. Its new cape and chains were able to shape shift into different things to confuse his opponents. The cape now looked slightly ripped, and the costume had lost its red glow, having evolved to what is now black and white. Spawn's boots and gloves had also changed, having been replaced with spikes. Spawn used his new equipment to slash off the Redeemer's hand and defeat him. Spawn thought that the battle was over until he met someone more powerful than The Redeemer known as the Freak. Spawn fought with the Freak but was caught unaware by The Freak's ability to create nightmares, which he did to torture Spawn with his past. During the battle, a creature appearing to have the original appearance of Spawn fights other beings and creatures and knocks out Spawn. When Spawn awakens the creature tells him that ever since the metamorphosis the suit will feed off of souls. Spawn later finds himself in New York City. He would fight with The Curse, meet Harry Houdini who taught him about magic, and also meet Batman.

After this, Tony Twist sends a reprogrammed Overt-Kill after Terry, blaming him for the recent attacks on the mob, and Spawn is forced to reveal his identity while saving his friend. However it is a well-placed shot from Twitch Williams that brings down Overt-Kill. He would later bring back his friend Bobby after he was killed in another fight with Chapel. Spawn would be a part of Angela's trial and later traveled to the South and had an encounter with the KKK and an abusive father of two boys. When he returned to New York he was attacked by a new Redeemer. This caused his costume to evolve and defeat the Redeemer with its new-found power. After another encounter with the Curse, the suit began to go wild, and, after saving Terry from cancer, sent him to Hell, but Malebolgia sent him back with full control of the suit.

Spawn wears a living symbiotic costume, Leetha of the 7th House of K (also known as K7-Leetha). While wearing it, the host assumes a dominant role over his suit. His shroud, spikes, chains, and skulls are all part of an organism bonded to his central nervous system that will protect Spawn even if he is unconscious.[15]

War of Heaven and Hell

Battle for life

As Spawn struggled to find a way to get rid of Hell's control and regain control, he noticed that the attacks were coming from both Heaven and Hell. Due to increasing attacks, Spawn began to lose himself to evil. However thanks to the arrival of the Heap, an emissary of the Greenworld, he was able to regain his goal. Greenworld is a dimension whose power was equal to both Heaven and Hell's, which Spawn had never faced before. They gave new powers to Spawn so he could better understand the world and its people,[15] which allowed him to overcome the worst from both Heaven and Hell. Though these powers were not really known they seem to give control of all the elements around the world.

It was around this time that Spawn battled the powerful god Urizen. Spawn once stopped a cult from summoning Urizen, but this time he had been summoned by two gate opener demons named Ab and Zab. Urizen was causing massive destruction to the world and after losing a battle to him, Spawn came back and used his new abilities to use the Earth itself to swallow Urizen and imprison him.[15]

It was explained that the Greenworld had no interest in the war of Heaven and Hell, but was getting frustrated with the destruction that it brought. This caused earth "pain", and later Spawn became aware of it. Spawn did not change his powers though, but rather, "listened" to the earth, until being attacked by Urizen. After recovering, Spawn learns that the Greenworld had imbued him with a gift — which he uses to contain Urizen by splitting the ground and imprisoning him inside the earth.[15]

After his battle, Spawn learned that Malebolgia had caused Urizen's release in an attempt to start Armageddon and conquer the forces of Heaven. Spawn and Angela then journeyed to Hell to stop him. During battle, Angela managed to mortally wound Malebolgia, but gets killed by him in retaliation. Consumed with anger, Spawn takes Malebolgia's head.[15]

King of Hell

Upon killing Malebolgia, Spawn learns that Hell's throne is rightfully his, offered to him by the demon Mammon. Though he refuses the offer, Spawn eventually deliberates with his teacher Cog and decides to turn Hell into a new paradise. During this act, Cog reveals that he is in reality the biblical Cain who was the first person to go to hell, having murdered his own brother in envy. His true goal had always been to take over Hell and use a Hellspawn to do it. Having betrayed Spawn, Cog took the throne for himself, but gave his former student his human form back, a parting gift.[15]

After returning he meets a young Wiccan named Nyx. With her help he regains his suit, though he remains weaker than before due to still having a human form. However, Mammon tricks and betrays Nyx and usurps her control over Spawn's union with his suit, removing all of Spawn's past memories in the process. With no memory, Spawn wanders the Earth, and during this time releases a group of angels who are called the Forgotten and take no sides in the war between Heaven and Hell. He discovers that Mammon is a member of the Fallen who was sent to Hell.

Spawn in Armageddon

Spawn regains his memories thanks to the power of the Greenworld. His suit also evolves once more and now it seems one with his body but as time progresses, he begins to hate himself. Both Heaven and Hell have rejected him and now he sits in the back alleys, the city streets, sitting upon a stage prop in an abandoned warehouse as maggots and other horrible insects crawl inside his body. Nesting inside the empty shell that he has become where is he to go? His first thought is to return to the Dead Zone however that land is Heaven's territory and a Hellspawn is not welcomed. Immediately, upon entering Spawn is confronted by the Disciple who promptly greets Spawn by tearing his brain out and throwing his heart into the Greenworld whilst Spawn's body is thrown to Hell. Spawn is then captured and tortured by Mammon so he can understand the secrets inside him.[15]

When Spawn's heart fell to the Green World, a soul was freed, as all the souls that died within the hour Al died went into the Spawn suit (thus why Malebolgia could not control Spawn). Chris meets with his mother once more as the Man of Miracles instructed him and then he travels to hell along with Sam Burke and Twitch Williams to rescue Spawn from Mammon. Spawn escapes and when he returns to earth, Signs of Armageddon begin to appear and Spawn begins looking for a way to stop it. Spawn discovers that Wanda's twin children are responsible and he stops them from killing their entire family, but is unable to destroy them. Zera reveals that Jake is God and Katie is Satan.

Spawn finds out that the Mother removed them of their powers and positions and sent them to Earth due to their hatred of each other and constant fighting. She tells him he cannot stop Armageddon, but he has the potential to be elevated to the power of a God and preserve the human race.

He has to eat a piece of Forbidden Fruit from the Garden of Eden to gain such power. She tells Spawn he must prove himself first and has to fight against The Disciple. It is revealed that there are twelve disciples, each one representing one of Jesus’. His power is also weakened as a demon is never to enter the Garden and it has taken the form of a counter starting at 9:9:9:9. However, with guidance from Cyan he defeats all the Disciples except for the last, Judas, who Cyan tells him not to kill. He then stabs him in the heart, but the Mother gives Spawn a piece of the fruit and resurrects him. He gains a more angelic form and greater power.

He returns to Earth finding it destroyed by the Four Horsemen and all the humans dead and Angels and Demons in their place waiting to fight in the final battle. After defeating Zera he finds dead warriors of Heaven and one of them is Granny Blake having been betrayed by her faith. Spawn then battles the forces of Satan and God. He uses all the power given to him by the Mother to destroy the forces of Heaven and Hell and even all humanity. He has stopped Armageddon by taking away their armies; he is then killed by the two who then fight alone on Earth.

However, Spawn comes back and by opening himself to the power of the Mother, resurrects everyone with the knowledge of what happened. He left God and Satan to fight in their own little world and closed the doors to Heaven, Hell and Earth. He asked to be turned into a human again by the Mother, but later asked to once again become a Hellspawn.

Back in the mortal world

New clown

After a series of odd murders Spawn finds that the Clown has come back possessing the body of man named Barney Saunders. It was revealed that Saunders was having an affair with a woman named Wilma Barbara and got trapped in a garbage chute when he was trying to hide from her husband. He was there for sometime until Spawn destroyed and remade the world. He was rescued by Clown so he could use his body for himself. He then brought out the dark urges inside the tenants of an apartment building and used this to form a doorway to Hell to bring back his brothers. However, before he could form a portal Wilma showed up and his love for her allowed Saunders to take back control. He then intended to close the portal by going through it, but he took Wilma with him due to being angry over her leaving him in the chute.

Zera reappeared only her head survived and she was suspended in a jar. Spawn was summoned by a Voodoo priestess named Mambo Suzanne. Zera was attempting to take over Nyx's body and fight Spawn, but she was killed when Suzanne used their fighting as a distraction and threw her head into the streets where it was eaten by demon dogs. Nyx was freed and her and Spawn became friends again.

Ab and Zab create a hell where visitors are forced to view their deepest fears due to demons called sin eaters they feed on guilt from the visitors then making them face the evil that they had ever done. A woman who was in the house both had delusions of their fear caused by the sin eaters. They fed on the guilt giving them more power when Spawn confronted Ab and Zab he was faced with his own sin against Wanda and his unborn child. Spawn was unable to break free from the guilt and was slowly fed on by a sin eater. When Nyx interfered he was able to break a sin eater illusion. Nyx realized that he was getting more powerful. Spawn breaks all the others illusions then he comes across one who learned is Albert Simmons brother, Richard who was going through his worst sin Spawn who was still not yet recovering from all those memories as Albert Simmons.

Spawn decides to allow Richard to feel his sins. It is realized that it was Mammon (as Mr. Malefick) that put an influence on Albert Simmons and taught Albert Simmons to torture and murder small animals, attempting to make him become a servant who would feel no pity in taking a being's life. Malefick had also influenced Richard Simmons to take drugs and introduced him to the drug dealer Weasel. It was only Marc Simmons who was able to save himself from Mammon but was unable to help the others. Richard Simmons' delusion of his past climaxed with him stabbing and injuring Weasel with a knife that was given by Mammon while intoxicated with drugs. Richard calls his brothers to help him save the drug dealer's life and Albert Simmons, not wanting his brothers getting in the crime decides instead of calling an ambulance and pulls the knife from Weasel's body and kills him with it. Mammon appears sending the brothers home while he hides the drug dealer's body.

Nyx and Spawn then kill the last sin eater and Spawn discovers that Richard cannot remember his parents due to a spell placed by Mammon and Spawn goes to find out about them. He finds their home under a spell placed by Mammon keeping them there for years. His mother is not shocked by his form, but his father is. It was revealed his mother planned with Mammon to create a hellspawn stronger than the others, but his father was grief-stricken that he couldn’t stop her. He is then given a journal by his father that his mother prevented him from seeing. It revealed that his ancestor came across a hellspawn in the past known as the Gunslinger Spawn. The Tale of Two Brothers

Spawn at his prime

The comic series during the continuation from the last issue Spawn was left helpless and at a little weakened against his enemy Erskine's psychic powers,and although Spawn had psychic powers of his own he was in trouble due to Erskine's creation of a tentacle creature that had the ability of impaling his enemies. This creature also showed the features of Mammon that was coaxing. Nyx had come out of nowhere to stab the creature with a sword, but not killing the creature just stunning it to get its attention, but it was a mistake by Nyx only making herself the creatures target. Next she uses her telepathic powers to contact Marc Simmons, asking him to shoot Erskine. Erskine retaliates and ceases Marc's attack and accidentally grabbed the trigger of Marc's special gun causing the creature to disappear, while Spawn and Nyx go to the hospital where Erskine is.

Spawn is given an opportunity of whether or not whether he should cause Erskine's death. Which threatens Spawn to enter the bubble dome, a dimension if Erskine does not reveal the location of Mammon, who Spawn believed was causing the attacks. Mammon then appears only to complicate the situation and make things worse by allowing Erskine to complete his last murder, by using a devastating psychic projection of a strange woman to attack the last victim. After all that had happened Mammon confesses that it was him who taught Erskine how to use his powers. Which been shown in his recent killing. Erskine tries to commit suicide leaving behind his possessions of the doctor who he was taken care by after he was brought to the hospital. Spawn continues to attack Mammon, and ask what Mammon wanted from him. Mammon tells him that he was a special being with great divine powers.

Later a man wakes in a mortuary with no memory of who he is. Soon some doctors working on him discover he is alive and panic only to be killed by someone in a robe. The person was previously seen with Mammon and is revealed to be Morana. Severin is the man's name and he finds that he is one of the first species of vampires called the Vrykolakas. However he wants to die and Morana promises him death in return for his help. While Marc, Nyx and Spawn talk Severin appears defeats Marc and Nyx and bites Spawn to transfer his vampirism. He retreats back to Morana hoping for death, but is cursed to have to go over his last few moments repeatedly for all time.

It is revealed Cyan has been experiencing horrid visions mostly of her mother covered in blood and even Spawn's current torment. Severin's attack has caused Spawn to battle the suit in his mind. It tells him it was always in control not Al. It tells him of its anger of relinquishing his godlike powers and that Wanda had been having affairs before his death. The two fight in Spawn's mind him in his human form as the suit tells him Wanda never wanted his child soon Al gives in and gets up. Meanwhile, Mammon with Morana and his adopted mother and father Lucian and Daciana as they prepare for the next step in their plans. Cyan is having more visions that cause her to be scared of Spawn and after seeing her door in blood she opens it to find Spawn asking if he's going to kill her mom. Luckily Granny had warned Cyan and she used a knife with the old shoe lace she got from Spawn to send Spawn into an illusionary world to talk to Wanda non-violently.

Morana

There, he speaks with Wanda while they ride on a boat in a lake. He says he wanted to move on but can't. Wanda wonders if he could go if she forgave him. She says she cannot forgive Al for the death of their child, but that she still loves the man inside him. Spawn tries to take out Cyan's knife, but only pulls out his wedding ring and somehow suppresses the suit. Soon, Cyan and Nyx show up, and they get to the shore only for K7-Leetha to appear and take over Nyx. It says it has been working with Mammon from the start to build Spawn and in return would get to live on freely on earth. Now controlled by the K7, Nyx tries to kill Cyan and Wanda, but is halted by Mammon, who promises even more power if K7 still obeys his wishes. The entire group goes to a castle, where Mammon says his plan to make a perfect Hellspawn. He wanted the Rapture to occur so that Satan, God and Malebolgia would be gone, and then revealed his perfect Hellspawn was Al and Wanda's miscarried child: Morana. He chose those two due to the fact that both their families have been filled with Spawns' from previous times.

After washing herself in virgin's blood, Morana is now fully mature. She bonds with the uniform and gets ready to consume her parents' souls. With none of the most powerful magic being usable, Cyan taps into her powers and goes to the future. She talks with an old woman who gives her a message for Al. Returning, she has Spawn summon the last twelve (but most powerful) members of the Legion. They are beaten by Morana one by one. Mammon insults Al, and in turn, he disowns Morana, enraging her, which gives Cyan the chance to tell Nyx a spell to trap Mammon and Morana. It works, both demons are sealed away, and the others return home, save Al, who jumped into another dimension to be reborn as a weapon against both heaven and hell.

Endgame

Spawn passes Vickie through that reality and is soon ready to enter the human dimension. He makes his way to a certain point in the alleys (probably the spot he first returned from hell) and then blows off his head. Meanwhile, a man under the named Jim Downing, who is without his memories and is healing (unusually fast) at a hospital, wakes up. He seems to know Spawn, as he was thinking about him before his awakening. A janitor tries to make money off Jim's story and calls a lawyer. The lawyer then calls someone else and tells the janitor not to go to the papers, after which the lawyer commits suicide. Soon, a thug is paid to capture Jim. While he is talking to a nurse who prayed for his recovery, the thug attacks with a flaming skull. Jim flees while the thug causes a massive amount of damage to the hospital. Soon, the thug catches up to Jim, but Jim transforms into Spawn, kills his attacker, then escapes the burning hospital back in human form, eventually being taken in by firefighters.

He is later transported to another hospital with other patients. He later leaves and reunites with his previous nurse Sara. After remembering his first transformation, he begins to turn again. He calls to Sara, but leaves before she can see him. Meanwhile, a reporter begins to ask questions about what happened at the hospital. Wandering the city Jim is attacked and effortlessly kills his would be killers. This draws the attention of Sam and Twitch, who recognize the chaos as something Spawn may do.

After again reuniting with Sara and telling him about his transformation, he then wanders off again, only to run into Wanda Blake, Al Simmons' ex-wife. She recognizes Jim as the form Al took when he originally came back to earth, and she realizes he is a Spawn like Al.

On her advice, he travels to Rat City and finds Spawn's throne, where Spawn ruled, and is met by an angel. He ends up fighting the angel, who calls him a traitor during the fight. Fearing the angel has done something to Sara, he beats the angel and leaves. Jim finds out that a man was asking questions about him, later finding out the man was working from another man named Gilbert Sanchez.

The angel Spawn beat is later attacked by Clown who removes her wings. When Spawn returns he's sees the angel both powerless and insane and is surprised to find Freak and later Violator himself. Despite Freak's warnings Clown begins to deceive Jim and informs him that his suit is a living being but then vanishes. Clown later allows himself to be arrested by Sam and Twitch to meet the leader of a vampire group to attempt to form a unity between the leader, Clown and Spawn.

Gilbert Sanchez is later killed by other mob members for his information on the new Spawn. Spawn attempts to learn more about him, but after being assaulted uses his powers on his attacker. Jim later finds the man who had been asking Sara questions. He tracks to his family's home which is suddenly bombed killing everyone inside but Spawn. He is later able to find more mob members and questions them further and then finishing them when he's done.

Characters

Spin-offs and crossovers

Angela miniseries
In 1994 and 1995, a three-issue Angela limited series was published, written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Greg Capullo. The series along with Angela's one-shot were later reprinted in a trade paperback (ISBN 1-887279-09-1), which, as of 2005, is out-of-print.[18]
Spawn: Blood Feud
Spawn miniseries during 1995, issues 1-4. Written by Alan Moore. Drawn by Tony Daniel. Ink by Kevin Conrad.
Spawn The Impaler
Three-issue miniseries released in October 1996, inspired by the story of the Wallacian voivode Vlad Țepeș. Written by Mike Grell with art by Rob Prior.
Spawn: The Dark Ages
This series focused on Lord Covenant, a 12th Century knight killed in a holy crusade far from his homeland, who returns to Earth as a Hellspawn. As a plague of violence and turmoil cover the English countryside, the Dark Knight must choose whether to align himself with the innocent inhabitants of the once-thriving kingdom or with the malevolent forces of evil and corruption. The series ran for 28 issues. Issues 15-28 featured writer Steve Niles and artist Nat Jones.
Spawn: Blood and Salvation
A prestige-format one shot that concludes the story of Daniel Llanso, the Hellspawn featured in the first four issues of Curse of the Spawn.
Hellspawn
A relatively avant-garde spin-off comic inspired by Spawn. Darker and more atmospheric than Spawn, Hellspawn frequently dealt with disturbing subject matter. It originally featured writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Ashley Wood.
Spawn: Blood and Shadows
A Spawn prestige-format one shot released in 1999. Written by Paul Jenkins with art by Ashley Wood.
Sam & Twitch + Case Files: Sam & Twitch
A spin-off series following the crime investigations of detectives Sam Burke and Twitch Williams. Sam and Twitch ended in 2003 after 26 issues, to be followed by Case Files.
Spawn: The Undead
This series concentrates on Al Simmons. Unlike the original Spawn series, it was self-contained, single-issue stories. Written by Paul Jenkins it lasted 9 issues.
Spawn: Simony
Published in 2003 by Semic of France, McFarlane allowed the creators (Jean-François Porchero and Alex Nikolavitch) to create an original Spawn tale without using Image comics.
Shadows of Spawn
Recently released on American shores are three graphic novel compilations of the Spawn manga, known as Shadows of Spawn.
Spawn: Architects of Fear
A prestige format one-shot released in February 2008. Written by Arthur Claire with artwork by Aleksi Briclot.
The Adventures of Spawn
Cover of Spawn/Batman Polish edition. Art by Todd McFarlane.
At the San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) '06 it was announced that a new take on the Spawn mythos was in the works. This new Spawn story is known as The Adventures of Spawn and as stated by Jon Goff, a moderator on the Spawn.com Message Board and McFarlane employee, it is a re-imagining of the Spawn story that is essentially a "What If?" universe that hearkens back to classic kid-friendly Saturday morning cartoons. The story takes place in a webcomic format and has been tied into the action figure world through McFarlane Toys' Spawn Series 30.
Violator
A three issue miniseries written by Alan Moore with art by Bart Sears which focused on the conflict between Violator/Clown and Tony Twist and also featured Spawn.
Medieval Spawn / Witchblade
A three issue miniseries written by Garth Ennis. Medieval Spawn and the wielder of the Witchblade team up against Lord Cardinale, wielder of the Darkness

Dispute with Neil Gaiman

In 1993, McFarlane contracted Neil Gaiman to write Spawn #9. While doing so, Gaiman introduced the characters Cogliostro, Angela, and Medieval Spawn. All three characters were designed and co-created by Todd McFarlane and continued to be featured in the series after Gaiman's involvement, and some had tie-ins with McFarlane's toy company. Cogliostro had a prominent role in the live-action movie in 1997. McFarlane had agreed that Gaiman was a co-creator of the characters and paid him royalties for reprints, graphic novels, and action figures.[19] After a few years, he ceased the payment of royalties and gave Gaiman notice that he owned all rights to the characters, citing the copyright notice from #9 and claimed that Gaiman's work had been work-for-hire and that McFarlane was the sole owner.[20]

In 2002, Gaiman filed suit against McFarlane and, in response, McFarlane counter-sued. Gaiman had partnered with Marvel Comics to form Marvels and Miracles, LLC, which bankrolled the lawsuit.[19] The main goal was to determine the issue of ownership for another character Gaiman felt he had a stake in, Miracleman, which at the time McFarlane was believed to hold a sizable stake in after his buyout of the assets of Eclipse Comics. This issue was thrown out. Instead, the court chose to rule on the breach of contract issue, the rights of ownership, and the copyrightability of the characters from Spawn #9. Several arguments were presented by McFarlane and all were rejected, leading to a sizable judgment against McFarlane and Image Comics.[19] The matter went to appeal and the judgment was upheld in a 2003 decision.[18][20]

Gaiman's rights as co-creator and co-owner of Cogliostro, Angela, and Medieval Spawn were acknowledged.[20] The court's view was that Gaiman and McFarlane's collaboration led to each contributing half of the work.[20] Gaiman wrote the story while McFarlane illustrated the character; because of this, each held a 50% stake in the characters. Issue 9 was reprinted for the first time since the lawsuit was filed in the hardcover edition of Spawn Origins: Volume 1. In a reprint collection of the first twelve issues of Spawn, the contentious issue (along with Dave Sim's #10, featuring copyrighted character Cerebus) was excluded, but both issues have been reprinted in the hardcover and deluxe editions Spawn Origins: Volume 1. In 2012, McFarlane and Gaiman settled their dispute,[21] and Gaiman was given full ownership of Angela.[22]

Tony Twist suit

Todd McFarlane created a mob enforcer character named "Antonio 'Tony Twist' Twistelli", who McFarlane acknowledged was named after hockey player Tony Twist. Twist won a $15 million verdict in 2004 when a St. Louis, Missouri jury found Todd McFarlane Productions had profited from Twist's likeness.[23] The verdict was upheld after two appeals in June 2006, but the two later settled out of court for $5 million.[24]

Creative teams

Collected editions

Many issues of Spawn have been gathered together in various trade paperbacks collections since the mid-nineties. The original US and UK trade releases contain issue 9, but not 10 (Cerebus' appearance).

US releases

Each containing four to five issues, the original Spawn trade paperbacks started in 1995 under a different trade cover design. After the live-action 1997 movie, a new trade cover design was created, with Brent Ashe providing new covers for Books 1–7, and Ashley Wood for Books 8–12. These reissues were retitled with subtitles. The sequential trades stopped after Book 12, but several new volumes appeared in 2006–2008, collecting various story arcs. Beginning in 2009, a new series of volumes was released, collecting the "Endgame" storyline.

Spawn Collection

In 2005 the entire Spawn series began to appear in massive trade paperback releases under the title Spawn Collection, each containing (with the exception of Volume 1) approximately twenty issues. Released after the Gaiman lawsuit, these editions do not contain either Issue 9 (featuring the first appearance of Angela and Cogliostro, both created by Neil Gaiman) or Issue 10 (featuring Dave Sim's Cerebus).

Spawn Collection Volumes 1 and 2 were published in both hardcover and trade paperback formats, while Volume 3 onward were only released as trade paperbacks. As of 2009, Spawn Collection Volume 1 is currently out of print, with its fourth printing released in June 2007. In 2009 it was announced that the Spawn Collection would end with Volume 6, to be replaced by a new TBP format that includes soft- and hardcover versions, reprinting the entire Spawn series from the early issues once again (see below).

Spawn Collection Volume 1 was ranked 17 in the top 100 graphic novels for December 2005 period, with pre-order sales of 3,227.[33]

Spawn Compendium

In 2012, Spawn Compendium was released, reprinting issues #1-50 at 1136 pages in black and white. The book went to a second printing in March 2016.

Spawn Origins Collection

In 2009, a line of newly redesigned and reformatted trade paperbacks was announced, replacing the Spawn Collection line (see above) and once again collecting the early issues of Spawn. These new trades feature new cover art by Greg Capullo, recreating classic Spawn covers. In addition to the 6 issue trade paperbacks, this line features three oversized 12–13 issue hardcovers, and two large 25-issue limited slipcased deluxe editions (which come in both a standard edition and a signed and numbered edition limited to 500 copies). The 12-issue hardcover edition of Volume One was the first to reprint both Issues 9 and 10, and the 25-issue deluxe editions did as well.

Deluxe Edition

Hardcover Edition

Title Material collected Pages Publication date ISBN
Spawn: Origins Collection, Book 1 Spawn #1-12 300 March 30, 2010 978-1607061533
Spawn: Origins Collection, Book 2 Spawn #13-25 328 November 2, 2010 978-1607062288
Spawn: Origins Collection, Book 3 Spawn #26-37 328 March 8, 2011 978-1607062370
Spawn: Origins Collection, Book 4 Spawn #38-50 325 September 27, 2011 978-1607064374
Spawn: Origins Collection, Book 5 Spawn #51-62 325 January 3, 2012 978-1607062431
Spawn: Origins Collection, Book 6 Spawn #63-75 325 May 1, 2012 978-1607065302
Spawn: Origins Collection, Book 7 Spawn #76-87 320 September 18, 2012 978-1607065869
Spawn: Origins Collection, Book 8 Spawn #88-100 368 April 9, 2013 978-1607066750
Spawn: Origins Collection, Book 9 Spawn #101-112 384 September 10, 2013 978-1607067764
Spawn: Origins Collection, Book 10[35] Spawn #113-125 352 October 11, 2016 978-1632159069

UK releases

These releases were originally published in fifteen 5–6–issue volumes in the UK by Titan Books, with titles named by religious theme. The following books contained original series issues 1–82, with the exception of the previously mentioned Issue 10.

South African releases

Originally published by a South African publisher named Battle Axe Press in the early 1990s. Only the first 10 issues were published due to legal matters. The comic book prints were released on standard paper as opposed to the original glossy paper from Image comics.

Spin-off trade paperback collections

Several Spawn-related mini-series have been collected in TPB editions.

One-shot editions

Spin-off hardcover collection

A few Spawn-related mini-series have been collected in HC editions.

Curse of the Spawn

Most of the Curse of the Spawn – spin-off series has been collected in TPB editions.

In other media

Television

Film

Video games

Spawn has starred in several video games:

Merchandising

Music

In 2011, Spawn was featured in the tenth episode of the ScrewAttack series Death Battle, where he fought and defeated Kratos from God of War.[46]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Heroes: (40-21)". IGN. May 5, 2011
  2. ↑ Nama, Adilifu (1 October 2011). Super Black: American Pop Culture and Black Superheroes. University of Texas Press. p. 136. ISBN 978-0-292-74252-9.
  3. ↑ Miller, John Jackson. "X-Men #1, One Piece, and world records", The Comics Chronicles, November 16, 2010.
  4. ↑ Rossen, Jake (May 2008). "50 Events That Rocked Comics". Wizard Magazine #200.
  5. ↑ "Todd McFarlane - Complete Biography". Spawn.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-15. Retrieved 2008-03-07.
  6. ↑ "Wizard Market Watch". Wizard (22). June 1993. pp. 134–5.
  7. 1 2 Pearson, Lars (August 1997). "Spawn's Scorching". Wizard (72). p. 141.
  8. ↑ "Wizard Top 100". Wizard (72). August 1997. p. 142.
  9. ↑ "Top 300 Comics Actual—January 2008". icv2.com. Retrieved 2008-03-07.
  10. ↑ "McFarlane-Portacio Spawn Sells Out". Newsarama.com. Retrieved 2009-12-29.
  11. ↑ "Comic Book Sales Figures for April 2009". Newsarama.com. Retrieved 2009-12-29.
  12. ↑ "Spawn #200 Sells Out in One Day - Comic Book Resources". Comicbookresources.com. Retrieved 2011-01-13.
  13. ↑ "Spawn #200 - Review". IGN.com. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
  14. ↑ Nelson, Victoria (8 May 2012). Gothicka: Vampire Heroes, Human Gods, and the New Supernatural. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. pp. 103–104. ISBN 978-0-674-06540-6.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 M. Keith Booker (ed.). Encyclopedia of Comic Books and Graphic Novels. ABC-CLIO. pp. 583–585. ISBN 978-0-313-35746-6.
  16. ↑ Boyd, Todd (30 October 2008). African Americans and Popular Culture [3 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. p. 174. ISBN 978-0-313-06408-1.
  17. ↑ Duncan, Randy; Smith, Matthew J. (January 2013). Icons of the American Comic Book: From Captain America to Wonder Woman. ABC-CLIO. p. 503. ISBN 978-0-313-39923-7.
  18. 1 2 Wagner, Hank; Golden, Christopher; Bissette, Stephen R. (28 October 2008). Prince of Stories: The Many Worlds of Neil Gaiman. St. Martin's Press. pp. 239–252. ISBN 978-1-4299-6178-3.
  19. 1 2 3 "Points of Articulation: KIMOTA! Neil Gaiman vs. Todd McFarlane". OAFEnet. 2003-07-17.
  20. 1 2 3 4 "Points of Articulation: KIMOTA! Neil Gaiman vs. Todd McFarlane, part 2". OAFEnet. 2004-09-01.
  21. ↑ "Gaiman & McFarlane Settle Suit on Medieval Spawn, Angela - CBR". Comicbookresources.com. 2012-01-30. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  22. ↑ "TODD MCFARLANE Reacts to the Marvel/ANGELA Situation". Newsarama.com. 2013-03-25. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  23. ↑ CBC Arts (2004-12-20). "Todd McFarlane Productions files for bankruptcy". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
  24. ↑ "Appeals court upholds $15M verdict for Twist". Stlouis.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  25. 1 2 3 "[EXCLUSIVE!] McFARLANE REUNITES WITH 'SPAWN'". Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on 2008-06-07. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  26. ↑ "The Pro Logs Extra: Will Carlton". ComicBuzz. 2012-03-21. Archived from the original on 2012-05-11. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  27. ↑ "Jonathan David Goff". Comic Book DB. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  28. ↑ "Paul Jenkins". Comic Book DB. 1965-12-06. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  29. ↑ "Spawn (1992) #27". Comic Book DB. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  30. 1 2 "Spawn (1992) #32". Comic Book DB. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  31. ↑ "June 2010". MaggieThompson.com. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  32. ↑ "Spawn (1992) #11". Comic Book DB. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  33. ↑ "Top 100 Graphic Novels Actual—December 2005". icv2.com. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
  34. ↑ Greg Capullo. Spawn: Origins Collection Deluxe Edition Volume 4 Signed & Numbered (Spawn Origins Collections). Amazon.co.uk. ISBN 9781607068327. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  35. ↑ "Spawn: Origins Collection, Book 10 HC | Releases". Image Comics. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  36. ↑ "Hellspawn Collection | Spawn Comic Books". SpawnWorld. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  37. ↑ "Awards for "Spawn"". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-08-23.
  38. ↑ "Spawn Animated Series Coming Back to Life". TMP International/ Spawn.com. 2004-05-12. Retrieved 2007-08-23.
  39. ↑ "As Once-Dead Heroes Go, He's Tough to Beat - latimes". Articles.latimes.com. 2012-02-11. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  40. ↑ "Michael Jai White is first Black comic superhero to star on the movie screen in 'Spawn.'". Jet magazine. September 22, 1997. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  41. ↑ "Todd McFarlane here….Unedited and Uncensored! AMA! : IAmA". Reddit.com. 2015-02-11. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  42. ↑ "Todd McFarlane gives Spawn film reboot update | EW.com". Ew.com. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  43. ↑ http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/new-spawn-movie-works-todd-mcfarlane-blumhouse-1023407
  44. ↑ Varanini, Giancarlo (2003-01-14). "Link, Spawn, Heihachi confirmed for Soul Calibur II". GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-07-31.
  45. ↑ "The Dark Saga". Iced Earth. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
  46. ↑ "Kratos VS Spawn - DEATH BATTLE! - ScrewAttack!". Youtube.com. Retrieved 2011-04-11.
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