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Spawn: Rise, Fall, and the crap in between.
cybersoldier1981
Posts: 2,501 Arc User
Many years ago, I was at the local baseball field during the Summer Youth League games. I had just finished my game a while back and was enjoying the spoils of athletics- free soda and chips. I struck up a conversation with another boy about my age, and the topic was X-Men... and how even then, I thought Wolverine wasn't 'all that'. This young fellow asked me if I'd ever heard of 'Spawn'... and I said no. He darted away and came back a few minutes later with a stack of Spawn comics- and, in a surprisingly charitable move, said "I've already read all these, you can have 'em. You'll like it!" I thanked him, he went on his way later. He didn't explain much.
I suppose for a 12-year-old, Spawn was pretty cool. I hadn't seen anything like him- there was no comic shop in my hometown, and the local drug store only sold 'mainstream headliners'. Of course, they -did- sell Spawn, so I managed to catch a good bit.
So now, here's my review of the entire history of Spawn. Most people already know who the character is- he pretty much dominated the 1990's. He had a really awful movie that makes me want to take a staplegun to my eyes. He also had an animated series that deviated from the comics significantly- and wasn't really that bad.
What it was:
Al Simmons, one of the world's deadliest soldiers, dies and goes to Hell. In exchange for serving in Hell's army, he's offered powers. His only request is that he be returned to his wife. Unfortunately, time is imperceptible in Hell, so he actually comes back to earth 5 years later. His wife is remarried to his best friend and they have a child together. On top of that, he looks like someone lit him on fire and beat him out with a pair of football cleats. He does, however, have 'costume' that is actually a symbiote. While on earth, he meets demons and other supernatural monsters- as well as more mundane, yet no less horrifying enemies. His power is finite- measured by a counter. If he depletes it, he dies. He's stuck between Heaven and Hell- and neither side wants anything good for him.
This was different- at least for me. Here was a 'dark' hero that was working toward redemption. Not 'used to be a bad guy and quit cold turkey to be a good guy'. There was no mistake up front- this was going to be a journey of redemption and it was going to be one hell of a ride (pun intended). Not to mention, despite how 'badass' he was at face value- he couldn't throw it all out there- Spawn had to rely on other skills to prevent his power from depleting. Over time, Spawn learns who he was- and believe me, he deserved Hell. Spawn's journey teaches him that he was not, in fact, a victim- but was a wretched, abusive, and sickening person.
All of that above is enough to sell the title- sure, other heroes were similar, but this was something fresh and interesting. Sadly, it didn't turn out so well.
What it turned into:
Incoherent, absurd, and nothing more than bizarre-looking pictures of ugly people.
What the Hell happened?
A lot of theories on this. The entire company, Image, wasn't really a good idea. Basically, someone said 'We don't need Editors!'. So Todd McFarlane shows up with 5 of the same drawing and spearheads this voyage into the toilet. However, in the end he got to make overpriced, immobile, and smelly action figures- so I guess he got the last laugh.
Now, what happened to Spawn, specifically? Well, my own theory is a bit less 'company' and more 'setting'. Spawn was the poster child for Image comics. It also goes without saying- most people know Spawn and Savage Dragon as Image characters- and not much else. It's a sad fact- that comics universe lacked any real diversity. How is this a problem?
Ask someone what Spawn's powers were and they'll say 'Chains and .... something...?'. That's because throughout the series, Spawn popped up with a new ability every month that served no purpose other than to dig the writer out of a corner. I'm not one to say 'superheroes should never change', but there's no reason they should sprout random, unrelated powers every time they encounter a more dangerous foe- that's not progression, that's just bad writing. That all being said, if Spawn existed in a comic universe with multiple other heroes and villains, there'd be no need for him to have the whole bag of abilities- someone else could cross over and help him. However, when your entire comic 'universe' has about 5 super heroes and the most egotistical writers and artists behind them... that's not possible. So, the natural reaction is to just give the guy every power, ever- just to drive the story forward.
Another thing that drove me away was that while there were many 'Spawns', Al Simmons was a SUPER SPECIAL SPAWN. I like to call this the 'Head Start Advantage'- the character that is 'awesome' because the thing he has is somehow more awesome than all the others by default. It's very often seen in Anime. Al Simmons was a Spawn that was front-loaded and pre-packaged to be far more important than all the others before him. Now, I'm not saying that heroes should be no different than their peers- but what I am saying is that if you're going to write a story about badass cowboy gunslingers, it's really hard for me to be impressed by the hero if he's only winning because 'he has a super special pistol better than everyone else' rather than being skilled and overcoming challenges. That's the 'Head Start Advantage Hero'. When you stack the deck for the guy, just to validate what makes him exceptional among his peers- he loses some of his coolness.
The Lore behind the Spawn series is sort of Christian-ish, but you can't help but wonder why it clashes with the theology. In truth, there is no religious mythos that mesh well with it. The entire lore of the series seems to be based off the loosest and most bizarrely incoherent understanding of Heaven and Hell, like Diablo if it were written by Gary Busey. Despite having several spinoffs that were in the 'history' of Spawn, none of them ever flesh out any kind of understandable history that meshes with the main series.
In conclusion, I'd like to say that Spawn could have been amazing. He's sort of like some of the characters I see roleplayed- I see and say "Oh, that's a cool idea!", and then I watch the person playing this cool concept doing a terrible job of representing the concept- sort of like if someone made a Batman vs. Superman and cast Ben Affleck to play Batman.
I often wonder how Spawn would have fared with DC. I could easily picture him clashing with Etrigan or seeking assistance and lore secrets from John Constantine. Perhaps even taking him so far as to pit him against Superman and exploit that 'magic' vulnerability. In the right universe, he could have shined and been balanced. Not to mention, DC's history of 'passing the mantle' could have worked perfectly with Spawn's original concept over the years by casting a wide variety of 'bad guys seeking redemption' in the title role.
Even Marvel could have done him some justice- Perhaps Dr. Strange knows secrets of the Hell-Spawn and has defeated them before, or Ghost Rider finds that the Hell Spawn is an infernal 'response' to the Spirit of Vengeance? No one knows, but one thing is certain:
The worst thing to happen to Spawn, was the people who owned him.
Just my opinion.
I suppose for a 12-year-old, Spawn was pretty cool. I hadn't seen anything like him- there was no comic shop in my hometown, and the local drug store only sold 'mainstream headliners'. Of course, they -did- sell Spawn, so I managed to catch a good bit.
So now, here's my review of the entire history of Spawn. Most people already know who the character is- he pretty much dominated the 1990's. He had a really awful movie that makes me want to take a staplegun to my eyes. He also had an animated series that deviated from the comics significantly- and wasn't really that bad.
What it was:
Al Simmons, one of the world's deadliest soldiers, dies and goes to Hell. In exchange for serving in Hell's army, he's offered powers. His only request is that he be returned to his wife. Unfortunately, time is imperceptible in Hell, so he actually comes back to earth 5 years later. His wife is remarried to his best friend and they have a child together. On top of that, he looks like someone lit him on fire and beat him out with a pair of football cleats. He does, however, have 'costume' that is actually a symbiote. While on earth, he meets demons and other supernatural monsters- as well as more mundane, yet no less horrifying enemies. His power is finite- measured by a counter. If he depletes it, he dies. He's stuck between Heaven and Hell- and neither side wants anything good for him.
This was different- at least for me. Here was a 'dark' hero that was working toward redemption. Not 'used to be a bad guy and quit cold turkey to be a good guy'. There was no mistake up front- this was going to be a journey of redemption and it was going to be one hell of a ride (pun intended). Not to mention, despite how 'badass' he was at face value- he couldn't throw it all out there- Spawn had to rely on other skills to prevent his power from depleting. Over time, Spawn learns who he was- and believe me, he deserved Hell. Spawn's journey teaches him that he was not, in fact, a victim- but was a wretched, abusive, and sickening person.
All of that above is enough to sell the title- sure, other heroes were similar, but this was something fresh and interesting. Sadly, it didn't turn out so well.
What it turned into:
Incoherent, absurd, and nothing more than bizarre-looking pictures of ugly people.
What the Hell happened?
A lot of theories on this. The entire company, Image, wasn't really a good idea. Basically, someone said 'We don't need Editors!'. So Todd McFarlane shows up with 5 of the same drawing and spearheads this voyage into the toilet. However, in the end he got to make overpriced, immobile, and smelly action figures- so I guess he got the last laugh.
Now, what happened to Spawn, specifically? Well, my own theory is a bit less 'company' and more 'setting'. Spawn was the poster child for Image comics. It also goes without saying- most people know Spawn and Savage Dragon as Image characters- and not much else. It's a sad fact- that comics universe lacked any real diversity. How is this a problem?
Ask someone what Spawn's powers were and they'll say 'Chains and .... something...?'. That's because throughout the series, Spawn popped up with a new ability every month that served no purpose other than to dig the writer out of a corner. I'm not one to say 'superheroes should never change', but there's no reason they should sprout random, unrelated powers every time they encounter a more dangerous foe- that's not progression, that's just bad writing. That all being said, if Spawn existed in a comic universe with multiple other heroes and villains, there'd be no need for him to have the whole bag of abilities- someone else could cross over and help him. However, when your entire comic 'universe' has about 5 super heroes and the most egotistical writers and artists behind them... that's not possible. So, the natural reaction is to just give the guy every power, ever- just to drive the story forward.
Another thing that drove me away was that while there were many 'Spawns', Al Simmons was a SUPER SPECIAL SPAWN. I like to call this the 'Head Start Advantage'- the character that is 'awesome' because the thing he has is somehow more awesome than all the others by default. It's very often seen in Anime. Al Simmons was a Spawn that was front-loaded and pre-packaged to be far more important than all the others before him. Now, I'm not saying that heroes should be no different than their peers- but what I am saying is that if you're going to write a story about badass cowboy gunslingers, it's really hard for me to be impressed by the hero if he's only winning because 'he has a super special pistol better than everyone else' rather than being skilled and overcoming challenges. That's the 'Head Start Advantage Hero'. When you stack the deck for the guy, just to validate what makes him exceptional among his peers- he loses some of his coolness.
The Lore behind the Spawn series is sort of Christian-ish, but you can't help but wonder why it clashes with the theology. In truth, there is no religious mythos that mesh well with it. The entire lore of the series seems to be based off the loosest and most bizarrely incoherent understanding of Heaven and Hell, like Diablo if it were written by Gary Busey. Despite having several spinoffs that were in the 'history' of Spawn, none of them ever flesh out any kind of understandable history that meshes with the main series.
In conclusion, I'd like to say that Spawn could have been amazing. He's sort of like some of the characters I see roleplayed- I see and say "Oh, that's a cool idea!", and then I watch the person playing this cool concept doing a terrible job of representing the concept- sort of like if someone made a Batman vs. Superman and cast Ben Affleck to play Batman.
I often wonder how Spawn would have fared with DC. I could easily picture him clashing with Etrigan or seeking assistance and lore secrets from John Constantine. Perhaps even taking him so far as to pit him against Superman and exploit that 'magic' vulnerability. In the right universe, he could have shined and been balanced. Not to mention, DC's history of 'passing the mantle' could have worked perfectly with Spawn's original concept over the years by casting a wide variety of 'bad guys seeking redemption' in the title role.
Even Marvel could have done him some justice- Perhaps Dr. Strange knows secrets of the Hell-Spawn and has defeated them before, or Ghost Rider finds that the Hell Spawn is an infernal 'response' to the Spirit of Vengeance? No one knows, but one thing is certain:
The worst thing to happen to Spawn, was the people who owned him.
Just my opinion.
Post edited by cybersoldier1981 on
0
Comments
Al Simmons was based on a real person, Todd's college roommate Al Simmons. The only similarities were the name, the fact that they were both black, and the fact that real-life Al Simmons was in ROTC in college (but did not pursue a military career later - he did it primarily because a scholarship was involved).
The real Al is a nice guy, too - when my wife first saw him at SDCC back in the late '90s, the Image people were tossing swag into the crowd, and she was missing out because she's short. So Al called her up to the table after all the throwing was done, and gave her a Spawn baseball hat he'd just autographed. (The next year, he gave her an autographed packaged Hot Wheels Spawn funnycar, and got her McFarlane Toys Rob Zombie statuette to Rob for an autograph because there was no way we could catch him between his panels.)
I think part of what contributed to the downfall was that Todd had this great basic idea for a character - but then didn't have the imagination to do much more with it. He didn't even have the imagination to give his character his own name, but had to swipe one from a friend. And one of Image's other ideas, besides not needing an editor, was that artists didn't need writers. If there'd been a good writer involved, Spawn could have been an amazing title, with a major presence even today. With the artist doing the "writing", however, it devolved into a series of splash panels.
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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According to wikipedia, it wasn't the only name he swiped. Tony Twist was a hockey player.
Also, I'm so tired and dumb right now I was looking for the 'like' button on your post. I need some sleep.
I thought Image had a few 'just writers' that started the company, though...? I've been wrong.
Something cool though, Angela form Spawn has made her way to MARVEL via Guardians of the Galaxy. So we can see how SOMEONE (thought not Spawn) fromt he Spawn comic will fair in Marvel.
Fixed that for you.
Wait? Whaaaa..?
It failed because it got diluted and it got that way pretty fast. Spawn takes over hell! World apocalypse!
They also should have had their comics share a universe! Instead it was more IMAGE COMIC with universes split into their respective studios.
Then he stopped drawing it!
Preferred CyberForce myself, but thought it got better later on.
I always thought that Image's problems was the writing. IE: there was none.
But then, I never liked McFarlane's works.
And the whole Image comic universe, at least for me, felt like a one big fanfic.
But Todd's career had really started to take off, and he was busy, so we "settled" for George Perez instead. It was a decision we happily lived with (everyone *loved* the cover of the BBB), but the idea of a Todd McFarlane Doctor D. is interesting to think about.
George almost did the cover of Day of the Destroyer as well, but ICE fell down with payments to him, and we got the very serviceable Ben Dunn cover instead.
As for Todd's work; I have a soft spot for it, even if the writing is pretty awful. I collected early issues of Spawn, but quit after a year or so.
They changed that up now...with Invincible.
VARIANT
"Nearly all men can withstand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."
-Abraham Lincoln-
I just found out from a search that Todd designed Spawn when he was 16 years old:
http://www.comicbookresources.com/prev_img.php?disp=img&pid=1349886199
A thought - was Spawn the original Blackredder? Worth thinking about in Club Caprice.
I genuinely like how Scott IRL is like Thundrax in CO; he just knows everyone, that's cool.
So I thought about this. My conclusion is Doctor Destroyer would've been a Blackredder.
More action at Champions Online Comics @ http://co-comics.webs.com
No.
Aside of that Spawn has white accents breaking his color scheme, he's not even the first one:
As for Spawn, it really looks like a very juvenile character idea, something written very early.
Or later, but by Liefield. Sorry, I couldn't resist. :biggrin:
Spider-Man is actually red and blue.
Also that picture of Spawn is great, looks like he's taking care of a wedgie. :P
Anyway, this pic shows another thing what is wrong with Spawn as a concept. Even his visuals are not so original recycled idea.
Actually, when you look at Spawn his costume looks like slapped together from whatever was in creators mind. His head is Spider-Man, hic cloak and tights and chains doesn't even fit together.
It was a very juvenile creation.
Also, it's a living costume? Right. Totally not like Venom. Not at all.
If I had to point at two comic titles being the best example what was wrong in the nineties, I'd pick Spawn and Youngblood. Always.
The covers? Yeah, let's see...
And then...
And lastly:
Actually, it would seem he pays homage to other comic covers... he drew? I think it was intentional, sort of a 'nod' to old work. You can't be stupid enough to make something like this and no one notice...
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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See? It's obvious:
Todd and Bane share a problem they both just cant get Venom out thar system
Nepht and Dr Deflecto on primus
They all thought I was out of the game....But I'm holding all the lockboxes now..
I'll......FOAM FINGER YOUR BACK!
Image DID unify their universe for Image United!
SPOILER: Spawn- Al Simmons- is the villain. For whatever reason. Also, it was terrible.
The idea behind it? All the artists draw their own creation. Just as one could expect from these egotistical tool-bags, it failed miserably. Missed deadlines. No direction.
It was honestly so bad, that if it were printed on toilet paper, I'd throw it in the trash and wipe my butt with a sock.
Yep, I know that, but for Spider-Man it wasn't the case. It really just depends on who was penciling and/or inking him. Some just illustrate him with a darker blue. If it was meant to be black, then pictures like these would never fly:
Man that Spidermobile was epic. :biggrin:
I doubt that, because he went out of his way to copy the style of the logo as well, like the Hulk, Spider-Man and Batman covers.
It's just a bad idea.
Repeating covers as a kind of homage is cool, many of these, like first Superman's Action Comics, 'Nam or Batman's The Killing Joke were repeated in homages. It's a kind of tribute.
What is strange is when you are paying homage to yourself and original comics weren't even that famous, to begin with.
And he did it twice with this Torment Spiderman cover:
I'm really happy that Todd McFarlane no longer does comic books. His potato-face people were terrible. Unlike Liefield he actually CAN draw, but it does little good since everything drawn in his style is hideous.
I was happy when he finally stopped drawing Peter Parker and Mary Jane.
Oh, and his Felix the Cat drawn everywhere where he could, on books read by characters, on donut boxes, hiding in backgrounds. Whether it's needed or not.
Seriously, it's a book about Peter Parker/Al Simmons, not about artists fetish about this one cartoon character. :rolleyes:
Personally I like his work I'm a fan of the dirty sketchiness of it though if I'm being picky Greg Capullo dose it better and his Creech character is far more interesting than spawn.
As some one else said the problem with Spawn was it got overly diluted/complicated and the new spawn that replaced the Al spawn was just a nail in the coffin for my own reading.