Spawnography

Jim Downing and Clown have had a pretty contentious relationship to this point but in the aftermath of Hel's attack on Sam and Twitch's subsequent chat with Spawn, they finally get on the same page. Clown catches Jim up on this whole Hellspawn thing and explains why their continued partnerhsip will be beneficial. We'll see how long that lasts. This week's recommendations are to get into the spooky...

The chains keep moving and this is a pretty breezy one, all things considered! By limiting the cast, Todd and company have been able to pare down the story to its essential parts and that's fairly refreshing. Twitch and Jim are facing off, Rowand is dealing with the aftermath of his faceoff with Hel and thankfully, Marc Rosen is nowhere in sight.  This week's recommendations are the excellent anim...

First, we have a couple of letters to cover which is always fun! Thanks to E and Chris for writing in! But then we are back in the Jim Downing era and maybe we are just still riding high on Spawn: Godslayer but these two issues are actually pretty propulsive and fun!  This week's recommendations are to wear earplugs when you see live music! Protect your hearing! And to check out the ghost story co...

Our look at Brian Holguin's Spawn: Godlsayer comes to an end and we are hoenstly sad to be finished with it. This was a really ambitious and exciting work that proves that there are any number of stories that can be told within the world of Spawn. Holguin was a unique talent who left an indelible mark on the franchise and the character. It's a shame that we don't have even more work from him.  Thi...

Our heroes Bairn and Dromo seek out their next adventure in the aftermath of the Urshrek saga and now Neva's deal with the entity that turned Bairn into the Godlsayer takes centerstage. We get into some of the ways that Holguin plays with classic myth and storytelling tropes but takes the time to make them his own through the lens of Spawn. And as is often the case with our show, we wax nostalgic...

With Dromo's help, Bairn the mighy Godslayer heads off to face Urshrek, the Winter King! But does he have the power to face the cannibal god? Who is the Summer King that seems to be Urshrek's opposite and what are his plans? And since being slain, what designs does Neva, Bairn's lover and the vessel for the goddess Llyra, have on returnig to her mortal form? Brian Holguin and Philip Tan are really...

Brian Holguin Appreciation Month continues and Spawn:Godslayer continues to rock harder than a wizard painted on the side of van. No, seriously. This book is such a fun amalgam of what makes Spawn great, what makes Brian Holguin great and how riffing on classic stories and archetypes with new characters can be a really enlightening way to revisit and reaxamine those themes. Philip Tan joins the bo...

We were extremely sad to hear of Brian Holguin's recent passing so we are taking a break from our regular programming to dive into one of his most interesting works within the Spawn Universe: "Spawn: Godslayer." This is a non-canon, high fantasy take on the Spawn mythos we know and love and it showcases so much of what made Brian Holguin a pillar of what Spawn was, is and always will be. This epis...

We're wrapping up this arc and Jim Downing's Spawn journey continues as he reckons with becoming a celebrity and something of a miracle worker. The mysterious, villainous Bludd sends three ancient vampires to test Jim's powers, forcing him into a brutal fight where he discovers just how powerful and unpredictable he can be. Still struggling with his identity and mysterious past, Jim becomes increa...

We're moving the chains of this plot forward but despite the progress coming at something of a snails pace, we had a good time with these issues. Szymon Kudranski's art is the real standout but it's to see the book settling into a more mdoern rhythm and not fighting with itself over what it wants to be. And what it wants to be right now is a horror-tinged procedural drama with no easily likeable c...

Omega Spawn is in the rearview (for now) and for once it feels like the Jim Downing era has a meaningful direction. Szymon Kudranski joins the book and contributes mightily to the change in tone and atmosphere. There is more to Jim than meets the eye and the Unholy Trinity that Clown mentioned issues ago is really starting to take shape. It seems that new writer Will Carlton really has an idea of...

The road to 200 finally ends but we've only been with Jim Downing a mere 16 issues and his story already seems to be getting sideswiped. What's Image United? Who is Omega Spawn? Robert Kirkman wrote AND drew part of this issue?!? We'll get into it! This week's recommendations are to make some art (even if it's bad!), support the local businesses you love because (unfortunately, they likely won't b...

"Endgame" is over but the real mystery is just beginning! Or is it? The book seems to be biding time before a big anniversary issue but will that lead to some big reveal? It's hard to see the vision at this point. Redeemer pays a visit to Jim's girlfriend (?) Sara and Khary Randolph joins the fray on art, delivering a particularly standout issue. But Spawn seems to be getting a bit lost in the shu...

"Endgame" comes to an, well, end. But Jim Downing's story is just beginning! Or has it not really started? It's a little hard to say. Adding to the cavalcade of artists that have joined the book over the course of this arc, Rob Liefeld joins the fray! Will every mystery be revealed by the end of "Endgame?" Will be get a greater understanding of Jim Downing and his place in the Spawn universe? Will...

This arc has been a rollercoaster. While the early issues showed some promise, there seem to be factors outside the story (staffing, deadlines etc.) that are affecting the book itself. Jim Downing is struggling to gain a foothold. The creative team is struggling to do more than retrace Al Simmon's steps in so many ways. And the art is a bit of a mess despite bringing Greg Capullo back into the fol...

The Freak is back! In any really meaningful way? Not quite but it's always fun to see Jim interact with another one of Al's rogue's gallery. but therein lies the problem, this arc hasn't introduced much for Jim that isn't already Al's outside of a secret, seemingly government experiment and a new crime boss. There are a lot of interesting ideas being thrown around overall but it's tough to see the...

"Endgame" trudges on and your humble hosts are starting to lose a little bit of faith in the direction that Spawn and its creative team are taking. It's hard not to be a little bit frustrated with a book that is clearly struggling with finding a new identity in the wake of handing the book over to a new main character. But it's not all bad! And it can't get worse... can it? This week's recommendat...

Todd and the gang continue to go back to basics as the mystery of Jim Downing continues! We've got talking head newscasters! We've got questions! We've got no answers (yet)! And we've got the power meter! We've also got some pretty impressive work by Whilce Portacio. You could accuse of of "bageling" a bit here but we take the time to really diginto what work's about these issues as the questions...

Al Simmons is dead! Long live Al Simmons! Todd is back in the saddle and there's a new Hellspawn in town - Jim Downing. We're also seeing some familiar faces back on the creative team as well as newcomer to the title, Whilce Portacio. But can this title handle a major change to the status quo given the awkward handoff from the last writer? George and Pierce will get into it.  This week's recommend...

This is it! The end of Spawn.... until the next issue! But at the very least, David Hine's run is over and we have some feelings. This was, overall, a pretty interesting era and Hine is a writer who definitely had a different take on our hellish hero than folks in the past. There is an argument to be made that this is the second best era of the book to this point due to how it expands the mythos b...

More and more secrets are revealed! Who is Morana and what is her connection to Al? What's up with Cyan's connection to something super natural? Is Al a good person as his run winds down? We'll get into all of it and more! This week's recommendations are the Amazon adaptaion of Lord of the Flies as well as 2000s indie rock band, Gatsby's American Dream's record Volcano,  which weirdly enough has a...

Things are getting dicey as Al Simmons winds down his initial run! Can he reconcile with Wanda? How does Cyan play into this? Was Mammon behind everything? What's up with Morana? We'll get into it! This week's recommendations are to be kinder to yourself but also to check out one of Geroge's favorite podcasts "The Worst of All Possible Words." Meanwhile, Pierce recommends the incredible tunes of J...

Welcome to George's niche interests explored episode! We're getting into vampiric lore and World War I history as David Hine, Brian Haberlin and company push the mystery at the center of this run forward while backfilling some interesting details along the way. What does all of this mean for Spawn and Al Simmons? How is Mammon really involved? How deep does this all go? We'll get into it. This wee...

How is a manga contest tied to a series of murders spread across the United States? How is the number one suspect a boy who can't leave the safety of his hermetically sealed room? What lasting effects did the four horsemen of "Armageddon" have on the world despite Al Simmons remaking it? Well, it all goes back to Mammon! But that just means George and Pierce will have to dig into what that means f...

Hey there Hellspawn! We're back with another guest! This time we have Mark Zovak aka TinySpawny with us and we're talking about his favorite Spawn, Gunslinger! We also take a bit of time at the top to talk to Mark about his Spawn journey, the state of the Spawnmunity and his recently launched YouTube show Let's Talk Spawn!  This week's recommendations are, of course, Mark's show Let's Talk Spawn ,...