Originally Posted by
HellsRider
Alright catching up a bit more on the universe books with a Year One writeup on The Scorched coming soon. Btw as two other ideas when it comes to DC/Spawn crossovers, I can easily see Jonah Hex/Gunslinger Spawn on an adventure and if Demon Knights are ever brought back do something cool with Medieval Spawn. Thinking a bit further, I can see Haunt in the Wildcat side of things for some reason or Justice League Dark with little back and forth between Deadman and Kurt but maybe its just me. Speaking of Haunt, I wish Todd would re-release the trades/make them more available on Haunt now that he is in the Spawn Universe proper just for folks that want to know more about him though I know the writer and artist switch that the Haunt series had didn't go over well but it'd be nice to have.
Spawn #335 - We pick up where we last left off with the reveal of Downing's partner. She reveals how she died and how Al has lost his way putting everyone in danger. Downing and his partner decide to go into Al's mind to extract information on the whereabouts of the Dead Zone powers. As this is going on, Kurt Kilgore looks on and Marc is trying to call Jessica to get The Scorched to help out Al. Meanwhile, at Omega Island, the fight rages on as Sinn and his forces are overpowering Clown's forces though Clown's minions and Dakota from Gunslinger Spawn (for some reason) are holding a bit of their own. Realizing that the situation is quickly becoming dire, Clown calls Jericho in a hail-mary move to get help. The end of the issue comes as the move pays off and Sinn comes face to face with The Forsaken and his identity is revealed. While disappointing that we didn't dive much deeper into the many questions the reveal at the end of the last issue had, I thought this was a good issue that largely focused on the Omega Island battle. Made sense that Clown would call for a big backup given how things went with Gunslinger and that backup being Forsaken and who he actually is made sense and I liked it. How much of a fight Forsaken can be against Sinn though, given Al beat Forsaken previously by himself, remains to be seen. We are also heading to a collision course with Downing's team versus The Scorched which on the one hand feels odd given that feels like something that should happen in The Scorched book and on the other hand Haunt is a part of both teams just like Marc and yet Marc is giving Haunt the cold shoulder for whatever reason and again not a fan of the Marc side of the story. Should be interesting, though, to see how things progress.
King Spawn #15 & 16 - Issue 15 started with a red flag for me with an overly long speech by Clown that the Spawn series loves to do from time to time and after a rather talky and meh issue 14, the last thing I needed from the start of issue 15 was an opening like this though Clown reveals it was Wanda that sent him which is interesting. We then move to Clown's group fighting the Court of Priests and a bit of Clown and Spawn action until Al realizes that Psalms 137 is causing havoc. Terry and the person he called at the end of the last issue, Redeemer, try to stop it all while Terry tells Redeemer that Al has gone crazy. The issue ends as Spawn and Redeemer stop Psalms' attack, Redeemer warns Al of the future he has seen, and we find out that Spawn needs two more pieces to join his side, and as he leaves Clown believes he has won. Issue 16 sees Al at the Dead Zones taunting those on either side to come to him when we are introduced to two new characters - Brimstone a Hell soldier and The Offering a Heaven soldier the latter of which is hunting Black Azrael still stuck in Heaven and warns Al that they are coming for him too. We then see a few points from The Scorched book - Soul Crusher in Limbo and the Sin Devourers with The Scorched (suggesting the end of The Scorched's Year One is ahead of this book) - when we are moved to the Court with Al as Al has created a small crack in the Dead Zone with the plan being the Court finding Wanda and in exchange they get the throne of Hell. We then cut to Terry who is making a list of people he can trust when Al comes in and tells Terry about a mission they did when Al was alive in the 80s that ultimately is about how Al played both sides to get out alive and says that is what he has been doing as he sent the Court to a suicide mission and had to make Terry believe that Al was going AWOL and while it seems they have reconciled there is still a bit of doubt from Terry. The issue ends as Disruptor finds Brimstone.
We are two issues away from the end of this arc that has been a who has been manipulating who arc which feels like it gained more steam in issue 16 with Al revealing to Terry what he has been really doing. Time will tell, though, how things really will play out, especially with Al needing two more pieces to join his side as I found issue 15 okay and issue 16 a step better and it was nice to have Javi back on art duties who looks to be back for the rest of the arc. A question of how Al is even capable of creating a crack in the Dead Zone as he did despite the fact that he supposedly doesn't have those powers per the main book and is a big part of that book's arc right now and why he didn't have the Court just tell him the crack they came through that Disruptor mentioned at the end of the first arc is beyond me. Hope that is something that is touched on further given what Brimstone said to Disruptor at the end of issue 16 because it creates a massive plothole if it is just left as is from a Universe perspective.