Spawn

[Toxin45]

The scorched 15 and unwanted violence 2 is out

[tabo61]

Great Scorched issue.

[HellsRider]

Catching up a fair bit with a few posts coming one after another. First up, the latest main book issue will be followed by thoughts on Unwanted Violence, and finally, a Year 2 6-month check-in with King Spawn.

Spawn # 338 - A really solid issue that covers a ton of ground and sets up the potentiality of Downing and Nyx working with Al down the road along with future big bads at the level of God/Satan. The issue is largely focused on Nyx as it recounts her past, her first meeting with Al, working with Jessica during the Downing era, and how she came to be an agent of the Greenworld being given the rank of Scion following her death at the hands of Cogliostro. In addition, we get the door blown open regarding how the Greenworld works as we are introduced to the Emerald Parliament, Downing's involvement along with his reservations about Greenworld's plans, and Nyx losing faith in Al. The issue ends as Downing and Nyx report after recent events as they are informed of Gaia's whereabouts. It turns out that Spawn's explosion in 300/301 didn't just affect time but dimensions as well as Gaia has been trying to keep at bay certain characters that have been locked away by the Mother of Existence - Gaia, God, and Satan being other children that the mother has also birthed - and so while Gaia is dealing with that, the rest of the Greenworld members pledge an active stance so that another explosion like that can't happen while preserving their existence and laying waste to everything else.

I don't know if Carlo Barberi has ever done a fantasy book before, looking at Comicvine it seems not, but I think he'd fit right at home in that genre as the issue has that sorcery/fantasy feel to it. I also think a book idea is right there with a Priest/Nyx book that can pull an Arrow of covering their past adventures as humans during the Downing era to their present situation with powers. Hope that is something that can happen. As for the issue itself, it fits neatly with what has been going on. It was a nice catch-up with Downing to see what was going on with the character and expanding on the Greenworld is the best thing the issue does. We do have some retconning going on as the Keeper is now his own character who previously was Man of Miracles and in actuality the Mother of Creation during the Hine run so I do find it funny that we are revisiting the same concept, now Mother of Existence, with a few tweaks. The book positions threats at the power levels of God/Satan/Gaia to come which is really interesting as I'm curious what that would even look like and the idea of breaking dimensions is something that I hope they can really run with. Nyx and Downing are certainly trying to do the right thing, but their reservations will likely be tested as the Greenworld takes more aggressive actions. What does this mean with the whole Kingslayer stuff going on in King Spawn? A lot of interesting questions to think about that hopefully will have satisfying answers in the issues to come.

[Toxin45]

Catching up a fair bit with a few posts coming one after another. First up, the latest main book issue will be followed by thoughts on Unwanted Violence, and finally, a Year 2 6-month check-in with King Spawn.

Spawn # 338 - A really solid issue that covers a ton of ground and sets up the potentiality of Downing and Nyx working with Al down the road along with future big bads at the level of God/Satan. The issue is largely focused on Nyx as it recounts her past, her first meeting with Al, working with Jessica during the Downing era, and how she came to be an agent of the Greenworld being given the rank of Scion following her death at the hands of Cogliostro. In addition, we get the door blown open regarding how the Greenworld works as we are introduced to the Emerald Parliament, Downing's involvement along with his reservations about Greenworld's plans, and Nyx losing faith in Al. The issue ends as Downing and Nyx report after recent events as they are informed of Gaia's whereabouts. It turns out that Spawn's explosion in 300/301 didn't just affect time but dimensions as well as Gaia has been trying to keep at bay certain characters that have been locked away by the Mother of Existence - Gaia, God, and Satan being other children that the mother has also birthed - and so while Gaia is dealing with that, the rest of the Greenworld members pledge an active stance so that another explosion like that can't happen while preserving their existence and laying waste to everything else.

I don't know if Carlo Barberi has ever done a fantasy book before, looking at Comicvine it seems not, but I think he'd fit right at home in that genre as the issue has that sorcery/fantasy feel to it. I also think a book idea is right there with a Priest/Nyx book that can pull an Arrow of covering their past adventures as humans during the Downing era to their present situation with powers. Hope that is something that can happen. As for the issue itself, it fits neatly with what has been going on. It was a nice catch-up with Downing to see what was going on with the character and expanding on the Greenworld is the best thing the issue does. We do have some retconning going on as the Keeper is now his own character who previously was Man of Miracles and in actuality the Mother of Creation during the Hine run so I do find it funny that we are revisiting the same concept, now Mother of Existence, with a few tweaks. The book positions threats at the power levels of God/Satan/Gaia to come which is really interesting as I'm curious what that would even look like and the idea of breaking dimensions is something that I hope they can really run with. Nyx and Downing are certainly trying to do the right thing, but their reservations will likely be tested as the Greenworld takes more aggressive actions. What does this mean with the whole Kingslayer stuff going on in King Spawn? A lot of interesting questions to think about that hopefully will have satisfying answers in the issues to come.

We have scorched for that dude there is gonna be a she-spawn series coming so we might learn more about Jessica there also teasing a focus series.
A the rest of mother’s children will likely be arc or major recurring villains for some and Allie’s for some.
The keeper being separate from Gaia is weird urizen also returns in scorched said to be god even fears.

Seems like from the previews is now spawn and haunt going to heaven while sinn goes back to hell.

King spawn has Sam and twitch team up with al to investigate exodus I also got a comicvine account using it to update spawn comics and other stuff

[HellsRider]

Soooo Unwanted Violence turned out to be a whole lot of nothing, but nice art though. Much like other Todd projects, the art is the real reason for getting this miniseries as the art by Mike Del Mundo is striking, at times disgusting in a good way, and I even liked the use of lighting. That said, the story here isn't really about anything - as the closest to a small Freak story it doesn't satisfy especially when the second issue largely downplays him to the point that it feels like he shouldn't even be in the book, as a Universe book it doesn't add anything to it as Spawn and the other characters are after files all of the time so the moment that was what Freak was searching for I didn't really care for his part of the story plus a flat conclusion to that doesn't help, and as a potential social commentary where the second issue really leans on Al standing his ground after a little girl got hurt during a BLM protest, it doesn't have the teeth for it as Al's stance is hypocritical by his own admission due to the mission he sent Freak on and Al's concern wasn't what the protestors or cops were there for in the first place but that a little girl got hurt and the second Al found out she was fine he just leaves. The use of children - with the mission Freak was on before Spawn interrupted him, the little girl getting hurt, and the mission Spawn puts Freak on - feels done more for shock value than anything else. Compared to something like King Spawn which had a single shocking moment in its first issue which involved children and grew into something more, the use here loses its meaning due to its overuse.

It just feels like Todd may have had some social commentary in mind, but just didn't go all the way with it and as a result, this has no business being 2 double-sized issues - effectively 4 regular-sized issues - given the story we have. Remove the entire Freak stuff and Marc and do something similar to say the Spawn The Undead series or stories of the past where it focuses on the human aspect - the little girl and her family in a one-shot that could be double-sized - possibly being impacted by Spawn's public appearance in issues 293-294 that is emboldened to protest like Al wanted humanity to do and Al helps them out unbeknownst to the family that he is Al/Spawn. I mean we tend to forget that one of his powers is that he can shapeshift. Maybe he relates to them revealing possibly a time in his past when he did something similar and how his experiences since then have changed. The protest happens which can still work as a BLM protest, the girl still gets hurt, but Al stands his ground for her and the message and reveals that he is Al/Spawn to the shock of everyone in say the hailstorm of bullets scene when the smoke clears which has the added effect of pushing the powers that be that Al can be anywhere pushing for a more public outcry. The little girl is okay and Al makes a final point to end the issue you can see how he gains more of the public wave going into his interviews in issue 301 bearing in mind this is a story set after 300 but before 301. I'm thinking of a story similar to that of Christopher Priest's Deathstroke #11 from several years back which touched on social justice in Chicago with the increasing murder rate. I know Spawn as a whole has put the social stuff on a surface level, like with the newscasters for instance, and Spawn vs. the KKK from way back in the day is the closest the series ever got to bringing things like race up outright, but I just feel like this was a chance to doing something like that again, that still makes sense in the larger story of Al having the humans support his message, and still tell this human story that the series has long gotten away from. That said, as a showcase for Del Mundo, Unwanted Violence does that job really well as he is the star and honestly I'd like to see what he can do on one of the main Universe books like say The Scorched with its huge cast of characters that can make that series really stand out visually. His Freak is disgusting and ghoulish in a great way, the way he shows the struggle in the faces of the officers trying to move Al is captured perfectly, Al's calmness throughout issue 2 can even be threatening especially as things escalate, and the use of colors by Del Mundo and Marco D'Alfonso really do a solid job, especially in terms of lighting and where the different light sources are coming from throughout the 2 issues. In the end, while Unwanted Violence is a solid spotlight on Del Mundo, the story leaves a lot of potential on the table to the point that by the time I finished reading and re-reading this, it just left me with a feeling of "that's it?" and unsure why this had to even come out given the story that it is. If Todd is really thinking of having this year other mini-series, one-shots, and even other ongoing books, I think it's best he courts other writers for them even if he still has to put his "Additional Dialogue" in them.

[Toxin45]

Soooo Unwanted Violence turned out to be a whole lot of nothing, but nice art though. Much like other Todd projects, the art is the real reason for getting this miniseries as the art by Mike Del Mundo is striking, at times disgusting in a good way, and I even liked the use of lighting. That said, the story here isn't really about anything - as the closest to a small Freak story it doesn't satisfy especially when the second issue largely downplays him to the point that it feels like he shouldn't even be in the book, as a Universe book it doesn't add anything to it as Spawn and the other characters are after files all of the time so the moment that was what Freak was searching for I didn't really care for his part of the story plus a flat conclusion to that doesn't help, and as a potential social commentary where the second issue really leans on Al standing his ground after a little girl got hurt during a BLM protest, it doesn't have the teeth for it as Al's stance is hypocritical by his own admission due to the mission he sent Freak on and Al's concern wasn't what the protestors or cops were there for in the first place but that a little girl got hurt and the second Al found out she was fine he just leaves. The use of children - with the mission Freak was on before Spawn interrupted him, the little girl getting hurt, and the mission Spawn puts Freak on - feels done more for shock value than anything else. Compared to something like King Spawn which had a single shocking moment in its first issue which involved children and grew into something more, the use here loses its meaning due to its overuse.

It just feels like Todd may have had some social commentary in mind, but just didn't go all the way with it and as a result, this has no business being 2 double-sized issues - effectively 4 regular-sized issues - given the story we have. Remove the entire Freak stuff and Marc and do something similar to say the Spawn The Undead series or stories of the past where it focuses on the human aspect - the little girl and her family in a one-shot that could be double-sized - possibly being impacted by Spawn's public appearance in issues 293-294 that is emboldened to protest like Al wanted humanity to do and Al helps them out unbeknownst to the family that he is Al/Spawn. I mean we tend to forget that one of his powers is that he can shapeshift. Maybe he relates to them revealing possibly a time in his past when he did something similar and how his experiences since then have changed. The protest happens which can still work as a BLM protest, the girl still gets hurt, but Al stands his ground for her and the message and reveals that he is Al/Spawn to the shock of everyone in say the hailstorm of bullets scene when the smoke clears which has the added effect of pushing the powers that be that Al can be anywhere pushing for a more public outcry. The little girl is okay and Al makes a final point to end the issue you can see how he gains more of the public wave going into his interviews in issue 301 bearing in mind this is a story set after 300 but before 301. I'm thinking of a story similar to that of Christopher Priest's Deathstroke #11 from several years back which touched on social justice in Chicago with the increasing murder rate. I know Spawn as a whole has put the social stuff on a surface level, like with the newscasters for instance, and Spawn vs. the KKK from way back in the day is the closest the series ever got to bringing things like race up outright, but I just feel like this was a chance to doing something like that again, that still makes sense in the larger story of Al having the humans support his message, and still tell this human story that the series has long gotten away from. That said, as a showcase for Del Mundo, Unwanted Violence does that job really well as he is the star and honestly I'd like to see what he can do on one of the main Universe books like say The Scorched with its huge cast of characters that can make that series really stand out visually. His Freak is disgusting and ghoulish in a great way, the way he shows the struggle in the faces of the officers trying to move Al is captured perfectly, Al's calmness throughout issue 2 can even be threatening especially as things escalate, and the use of colors by Del Mundo and Marco D'Alfonso really do a solid job, especially in terms of lighting and where the different light sources are coming from throughout the 2 issues. In the end, while Unwanted Violence is a solid spotlight on Del Mundo, the story leaves a lot of potential on the table to the point that by the time I finished reading and re-reading this, it just left me with a feeling of "that's it?" and unsure why this had to even come out given the story that it is. If Todd is really thinking of having this year other mini-series, one-shots, and even other ongoing books, I think it's best he courts other writers for them even if he still has to put his "Additional Dialogue" in them.

well this was called unwanted violence so al didn't need to cause trouble until the girl was alright and freak was just getting information on some enemies.

btw what about king spawn? we have sam and twitch back.

also https://mcfarlane.com/publishing/spawn-339/

Spawn takes haunt to heaven whil sinn continues his journey in hell.

also king spawn 20 preview coming on march 1st.

https://mcfarlane.com/publishing/king-spawn-20/

spawn catches up on exodus associates with sam and twitch.

[HellsRider]

Catching up on King Spawn and wrapping up the third arc.

King Spawn #17 & 18 - Picking up where we last left off in Hell, Brimstone convinces Disruptor and the rest of the Court to take him back to Earth in exchange for his help in getting Wanda's soul. Meanwhile on Earth, Al and Terry investigate a seemingly abandoned building as Al reveals that he was looking into Psalms' resurgence a few issues back and found out that all of the graves of the kids that died in the first arc have been marked and that all of the families of those kids have gone missing. Terry continues to have his doubts regarding Al when they find all of the families dead as we are told that rogue members of Psalms are responsible. They split up and Al encounters a brand new character - Behemoth. They do battle as Terry and another person looks on. Behemoth disappears out of nowhere and issue 17 ends as Oracle and the Kingslayer arrive demanding answers as to who is responsible for the death of the Kingslayer's mother. Issue 18 opens with another one-sided fight between Al and Kingslayer as Oracle reveals that Al's actions in opening even a little bit of a Dead Zone have caused more harm on Earth as Oracle warns that the longer Al takes in deciding in choosing his wife or the closing of the Dead Zones the worse Earth will be for it. Al then tries to track down Terry who was taken by the other individual from the last issue revealed to be Jericho. Terry fights back and the issue/arc ends as Spawn arrives, sends Jericho away, and Al vows to give them the most vicious king of Hell they have ever seen.

Year 2 6 months in - I remember someone writing here and I'm unsure if it is in relation to this book or the main book, but the comment was how Spawn wasn't really written with a trade-first mentality before as things happened from month to month but now it is which I know some feel is an overall Image problem, and this arc really feels like things slowed down a lot from the first 12 issues. Where the first arc introduced Psalms, the return of Billy Kincaid, the reveal of Disruptor, and the possibility of Wanda coming back and the second arc introduced the Court of Priests, the Godthrone, Greenworld coming into play, Al confirming that Wanda could, in fact, be brought back or at the very least she is a part of something much bigger that makes Al take on the Godthrone, the third arc feels all over the place that doesn't really stand on its own feet like the previous arcs did. We get two issues in this arc where not much happened - issues 14 & 18 imo - and especially issue #18 made me wonder if I was missing pages with how fast that issue went for an arc closer. Basically, the whole arc is setup for what is to come which doesn't feel like a satisfying read on its own right now - Brimstone coming to Earth, something with the Offering in Heaven, Psalms and the Behemoth, the short-lived group that Clown put together, Terry's mistrust of Al continues, Oracle and Kingslayer are still around, and Wanda maybe coming back - and considering the most recent issues have largely sidestepped all of this in favor of a Sam & Twitch story involving brains and the Exodus Foundation that is bringing back a long-standing character it makes me worried we are losing focus.

[Toxin45]

Catching up on King Spawn and wrapping up the third arc.

King Spawn #17 & 18 - Picking up where we last left off in Hell, Brimstone convinces Disruptor and the rest of the Court to take him back to Earth in exchange for his help in getting Wanda's soul. Meanwhile on Earth, Al and Terry investigate a seemingly abandoned building as Al reveals that he was looking into Psalms' resurgence a few issues back and found out that all of the graves of the kids that died in the first arc have been marked and that all of the families of those kids have gone missing. Terry continues to have his doubts regarding Al when they find all of the families dead as we are told that rogue members of Psalms are responsible. They split up and Al encounters a brand new character - Behemoth. They do battle as Terry and another person looks on. Behemoth disappears out of nowhere and issue 17 ends as Oracle and the Kingslayer arrive demanding answers as to who is responsible for the death of the Kingslayer's mother. Issue 18 opens with another one-sided fight between Al and Kingslayer as Oracle reveals that Al's actions in opening even a little bit of a Dead Zone have caused more harm on Earth as Oracle warns that the longer Al takes in deciding in choosing his wife or the closing of the Dead Zones the worse Earth will be for it. Al then tries to track down Terry who was taken by the other individual from the last issue revealed to be Jericho. Terry fights back and the issue/arc ends as Spawn arrives, sends Jericho away, and Al vows to give them the most vicious king of Hell they have ever seen.

Year 2 6 months in - I remember someone writing here and I'm unsure if it is in relation to this book or the main book, but the comment was how Spawn wasn't really written with a trade-first mentality before as things happened from month to month but now it is which I know some feel is an overall Image problem, and this arc really feels like things slowed down a lot from the first 12 issues. Where the first arc introduced Psalms, the return of Billy Kincaid, the reveal of Disruptor, and the possibility of Wanda coming back and the second arc introduced the Court of Priests, the Godthrone, Greenworld coming into play, Al confirming that Wanda could, in fact, be brought back or at the very least she is a part of something much bigger that makes Al take on the Godthrone, the third arc feels all over the place that doesn't really stand on its own feet like the previous arcs did. We get two issues in this arc where not much happened - issues 14 & 18 imo - and especially issue #18 made me wonder if I was missing pages with how fast that issue went for an arc closer. Basically, the whole arc is setup for what is to come which doesn't feel like a satisfying read on its own right now - Brimstone coming to Earth, something with the Offering in Heaven, Psalms and the Behemoth, the short-lived group that Clown put together, Terry's mistrust of Al continues, Oracle and Kingslayer are still around, and Wanda maybe coming back - and considering the most recent issues have largely sidestepped all of this in favor of a Sam & Twitch story involving brains and the Exodus Foundation that is bringing back a long-standing character it makes me worried we are losing focus.

nah it is just you it seems like spawn 339 is gonna focus on spawn and haunt in heaven. Like King Spawn is just detective comics and action comics for spawn

[Toxin45]

https://mcfarlane.com/publishing/gunslinger-18/

gunslinger 18 preview

[Toxin45]

spawn 339 is out now

[Toxin45]

gunslinger 18 and scorched 16 is out

[tabo61]

Awesome covers.

[HellsRider]

Having read Spawn #339, I'm curious for those that have read the original Haunt series if they ever touched on the origin of the Haunt suit? I'm curious to see where upcoming issues expand on Haunt, what that can mean for the Kilgore brothers, and if maybe that can open up some new capabilities. Solid issue, though, with Cog's continuing journey in a changed Hell while Haunt and Spawn go to Heaven to both a) find a cure for Haunt's poison and b) obtain a weapon that can be used to weaken Sinn.

[Toxin45]

Having read Spawn #339, I'm curious for those that have read the original Haunt series if they ever touched on the origin of the Haunt suit? I'm curious to see where upcoming issues expand on Haunt, what that can mean for the Kilgore brothers, and if maybe that can open up some new capabilities. Solid issue, though, with Cog's continuing journey in a changed Hell while Haunt and Spawn go to Heaven to both a) find a cure for Haunt's poison and b) obtain a weapon that can be used to weaken Sinn.

Yep plus new characters and robo angels time is different. Also gaia is god and satan’s mom as seen in scorched 16

[Toxin45]

https://mcfarlane.com/publishing/spawn-340/
spawn 340 preview