Spawn 1: Creation

Spawn (US) #1

by Todd McFarlane

This graphic novel, from independent US comic "Spawn", tells of Al Simmons who has been to hell and back - literally. After his violent death he descended into one of the infernal netherworlds, but five years on he finds himself alive once more - with demonic powers.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Fantasy, Comic Book, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics

128 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1995

About the author

Todd McFarlane is a Canadian comic book artist, writer, toy manufacturer/designer, and media entrepreneur who is best known as the creator of the epic occult fantasy series Spawn.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, McFarlane became a comic book superstar due to his work on Marvel Comics' Spider-Man franchise. In 1992, he helped form Image Comics, pulling the occult anti-hero character Spawn from his high school portfolio and updating him for the 1990s. Spawn was one of America's most popular heroes in the 1990's and encouraged a trend in creator-owned comic book properties.

In recent years, McFarlane has illustrated comic books less often, focusing on entrepreneurial efforts, such as McFarlane Toys and Todd McFarlane Entertainment, a film and animation studio.

In September, 2006, it was announced that McFarlane will be the Art Director of the newly formed 38 Studios, formerly Green Monster Games, founded by Curt Schilling.

McFarlane used to be co-owner of National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers but sold his shares to Daryl Katz. He's also a high-profile collector of history-making baseballs.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had always been familiar with Spawn, but I never actually read a Spawn comic until recently. After experiencing extreme superhero fatigue thanks to the sheer amount of lackluster content both Marvel and DC have been spewing out as of late, I decided to read a third-party comic characters like Spawn to change things up a bit. This was the perfect opportunity for me to learn about a character I had only ever known by name and not much else.

Clearly, I had been missing out on a great comic book series all this time.

Spawn Book 1: Beginnings chronicles Al Simmons' first few days as the newly resurrected Hellspawn (Spawn for short), an agent of Satan whose soul had been traded for the chance to reunite with his wife one last time. Spawn's orders are to kill the evil scum of the Earth in order to grow Satan's army for the eventual clash between Heaven and Hell. In this new tortured life, Spawn is tormented by what he has become, haunted by the few choices he has as a soldier of Hell. Does he kill the evildoers of the world and inadvertently help Satan grow in power? Or does he stand idly by and watch as evil consumes the world, knowing he has the power to stop it while choosing to let it go unpunished? This inner conflict makes Spawn a great character to work with, and his pain shows tremendously in just a few short issues.

What's uniquely cool about Spawn is how violent and gory it can be without being overly gruesome just for the sake of shock value. This allows our hero to actually kill people who deserve to die! I love Spider-Man and Batman and all, but sometimes it really irks me that they don't just put an end to some villains once and for all (like the Green Goblin or the Joker respectively). Spawn doesn't take any shit, which is refreshing to see in a hero (or in his case, anti-hero). Spawn is comparable to the Punisher in that regard, but with the added bonus of having super powers.

Apart from the story being entertaining, the artwork is worthy of high praise. Every page jumps out at you with vibrant colors and fantastic illustrations. Spawn comics are the embodiment of what comic books should look like, as they are lively, colorful, action-packed, and finely detailed. I don't like the direction in which most contemporary comic book art has gone in recent years, for it either looks too cartoonish and childish, or tries to be photo realistic and hardly looks like a comic book at all. If you're looking for stellar comic artwork, you'll find it here in spades.

Anyone who is new to Spawn will want to start here. You'll get a cool origin story in addition to some great action that work together to create a new world of comic books unlike anything from Marvel or DC. You'll definitely be left wanting more of the character and stories, which is why I can't wait to dive right into some more Spawn comics! With my disdain gradually mounting towards the current state of Marvel and DC comics and movies, I'm glad I found an outsider from the mainstream like Spawn in which to take solace.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slow start but a good one.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

The '90's, when everything was extreme.

[Imogen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bunch of these came into the store at once so I was like, ok, sure, I remember how excited I was when I was little and these started coming out, I will re-assess them. See there was this comic shop in downtown Clinton that closed eventually but right around when I was old enough to leave my street, ride my bike downtown, the whole fiasco with McFarlane and Marvel and starting Image happened, which was very mysterious because I was a kid who liked reading and who liked comics but who wasn't really interested enough to, like, read comic nerd magazines, or anything, which meant that mostly people would tell me, like, "McFarlane wanted to do a totally awesome revision of Spider-Man but Marvel's run by these old men who wouldn't let him so he said Fine, fuck you guys, and went and started his own company with his friends and now he's making his Pure Artistic Statement, man," and I'd nod and go Coooooooool.

I remember that Ty used to go to that comic shop and he had this enormous stack under the counter of comics that were on hold for him, that he was gonna buy someday, and it just blew my mind because I was like Whoa. You are some kinda mover/shaker in downtown Clinton, to have the comic guy hold that many comics for you. Then we went to my house and played Mortal Kombat on Genesis.

Anyway, these comics are fine. I mean, they're great, sure, it's exciting, the writing is hackneyed and kind of hokey but so what when the art is this intense, you know? So I'm glad I own this. I read the first seven collections in a day and a half, so I can't really differentiate the first from the others. As it goes on the writing is totally repetitive and you're like, JESUS, JUST TELL US MORE ABOUT HELL, because those are the best parts, but instead he just keeps wrapping the plot tighter and tighter around itself. But I was like, y'know, I couldn't watch Buffy or whatever because the writing was too clever, and I love the Resident Evil movies, which have some of the dumbest writing in history- surely I can handle some repetitive comic book writing. And I could! I could handle it, just, after about thirty issues, I wasn't excited about handling it.

Also the bad guys are kind of dumb.

[Donald Armfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learned some cool stuff about author from last page. He has showcasings of McGuire's 70th home run ball and Sosa's 66th. He also part ownership of NHL Edmonton Oilers Hockey Club.

Spawn is one of those characters I'd want to be. Minus the devils spawn. Those chains and ability to heal. This comic has kinda the movie synopsis. With The Violator trying to turn Spawn evil. They added Billy Kincaid. The deranged Ice Cream truck driver.

Could of did without the news broadcast scenes Excellent At Its Best.

[Kevin Nantel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well yeah
Spawn
Todd is such an amazing artist. I think 4 stars went for the art alone. Though the writing might not be the finest, the story still captivates me. Nothing says "cool" like a black and red anti hero with green glowing fiery eyes, chains and studs and a sick ass wicked cape. So yeah. Spawn. What would you expect

[read it twice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Explosive beginning and a origin story for a hero with a difference.The story hints at more coming twists. Very grim and dark. Will take it slow.

[Wombo Combo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone talks about how Spawn is edgy, but no one ever mentions how goofy and fun it is.

This is one of those things where if you take it 100% serious and try to judge it as a masterpiece of literature, you will end up disappointed, but if you go in expecting to have a fun time, you will. I mean, the story is basically that the devil is pranking Spawn. Spawn sells his soul to the devil to see his wife again, so the devil makes Spawn forget who his wife is. Spawn remembers who his wife is, so he wants to take off his goofy costume to see her, but his body's all rotten. When Spawn tries to transform into his old self, a black man, the devil makes it so that he can only turn into a blonde white guy. It's just goofy as heck and I love it.

The art is great, but then again, I've always loved McFarlane's art, which goes back to me reading older issues of Spiderman growing up. Everything McFarlane draws is so exaggerated and over the top. Each page is full of life. I really loved the colors for his art as well.

The worst thing about the book is the actual writing. Some of the narration is too wordy and unnecessary, and I find it kind of odd that McFarlane doesn't just let his art speak for itself. Also, I could've done without all of the tons of references to lesser Image characters like the Youngbloods and Savage Dragon. Sometimes, McFarlane will have villains rambling to themselves about their evil plans, which is kind of nonsensical, though like I've said, if you're expecting a fun saturday morning cartoon kind of thing (albeit much darker) you've found it.

Spawn's fun. If I were a comics reader in the 90s, I'd much rather read this than a lot of what the big 2 were putting out. Heck, I'd rather read this than a lot of stuff that's coming out now, but that's just because it's so much fun.

[Shevek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pese a quien pese, Spawn es una serie muy relevante dentro de la historia norteamericana. En su día tuvo un impacto e influencia tremendos y, aunque esto se haya diluido en la actualidad, el mero hecho de seguir en activo ya es digno de destacar. El cómic en sí es una macarrada hipermusculada y pretendidamente molona. El dibujo, aun siendo inverosímil anatómicamente y teniendo todos los peores tics de la época, funciona a la perfección para el personaje y la historia que se cuenta. No se puede decir lo mismo del guion y los diálogos, que son verborreicos y artificiales a más no poder.

[McKenzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Artwork, as I expected, was great, and so was the early digital colouring. Though I feel supporting character set up was a bit underwhelming, particularly for Violator and the 2 detectives. Opening 4 part story "Questions" could have perhaps been a 3 parter, but overall solid 90s extreme. Only thing that hasnt aged well is all the references to other image comics characters like Youngblood members and Savage Dragon because it expects you to know who they are.

[Tony Hactavish · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not just the horror, the art, the story and the action that i love about Spawn but also the social criticism.

[Francisco Pardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic artwork and storyline. So much better than the film. Will be moving onto all the others in sequence.

[Uzair W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Todd McFarlane makes me cum in my trousers

[Nicholas Fossum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing beginning to a character I've been wanting to read for so long

[Joshua Sloan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Todd McFarlane is a talented illustrator with no taste and very little to say.

[Emily Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Spawn: Book 1, Todd McFarlane introduces us to Spawn, a creation from hell. Lt. Colonel Al Simmons died as an assassin for the United States and bargained his way back into this world in order to be with his wife. Unfortunately, the result of the bargain was that he lost his entire essence as he knew it, including his body and his memories, and become Spawn. As in instrument of a demon, Spawn must decide how he will spend the reminder of his second life and how he will use the newfound powers that he has. Will he destroy evil human beings, delivering them to the hands of the demon who created him, or he will he allow them to continue to kill and do evil on earth? An interesting concept for a superhero, and immediately bringing into question which acts are good and which are evil.

Take, for example, Spawn’s decision to let his wife, Wanda Blake, continue her happy life with her new husband, Terry. Instead of causing her further unhappiness, Spawn decides to avoid the impossible task of convincing his former wife that he is her dead husband. Is it right for him to allow her to continue to think that her husband is dead? Is it his right to disrupt her life? The moral ambiguity of the situation is complicated by the fact that now Wanda has a child, something that Al Simmons could not provide for her. Not only does Spawn have to cope with the fact that he was replaced, he also has to come to terms with the fact that as a human being, he was infertile. Most men do not accept such news easily.

Also called into question is the morality of governmental control over the people and the machinations of the criminal justice system. In bits and pieces, Spawn begins to remember his former life as an assassin, and how he disagreed with his boss, Jason Wynn, and some of his tactics, including intrusive files the CIA kept of civilians. Spawn remembers that as Simmons, they butted heads, but he did not always pursue when he felt that a wrong had been committed.

The story of Billy Kincaid demonstrates the corruption of both politics and the criminal justice system. Kincaid was convicted of killing a senator’s daughter in a most gruesome way, and is freed after a short time as a result of a legal technicality. No one doubts his guilt, just the legality of his imprisonment.

As the storyline progresses, and it turns out that not only is Kincaid a serial murderer of children, he is also a pawn of governmental evil. Multiple parties express frustration at not being able to keep Kincaid incarcerated. Detective Sam Burke and his sidekick, Twitch, express frustration at trying to find justice within the strictures of the law. The men suggest that the very laws that were meant to protect citizens from being unjustly imprisoned and punished for wrongdoing were allowing the innocent to be harmed by criminals. Defense attorneys, manipulating the laws, make prosecuting attorneys and law enforcement personnel helpless.

By showing Spawn, a vigilante who does not have to answer to the law, as more effective at punishing criminals than police officers, McFarlane asks some powerful questions about the judicial system.

Also of note in Spawn are the grisly illustrations. The demons, with bodies that look more supernatural human, are quite haunting. In addition, by using many panels that isolate body parts, blood splatters, and other smaller parts of the entire scene, McFarlane zooms in on a piece of the action and manages to make it scarier. He does well to draw by the idea that what the imagination pictures is more frightening than the gore that can be created by pencil or before a camera lens.

Spawn: Book 1 establishes not only the origin of Spawn and his troubles, but also makes way for an epic war of good and evil. A very entertaining read.

[Lomu Noir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Viejo recopilatorio español con estética de libro antiguo.

[Kapitol Tank · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cinco issues con el comienzo de este clásico de los 90s. El germen de la mejor línea de figuras estaba acá.

[Laural · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spawn is cool. But...I like really thought provoking stuff that gets me thinking about it for days, and Spawn didn't do it for me. The art is too commercial, too clean, too un-soulwrenching for me as well. None of that would bother me, except that I felt like Spawn was trying to be somewhat intellectual, and was not. I may be wrong. I usually expect alot of intellectual stimulation from what I read, maybe too much. I read through to book seven, because of its significance in the comic book world, but I wouldn't read it again, or continue reading more in the series.

[Fugo Feedback · Rating 3 out of 5]

En su momento estuve cerca de comprarme esta edición española porque los números mexicanos estaban jodidos de conseguir pero no lo hice porque salía casi el doble.
Creo que después pude leer esta misma edición pero finalmente la conseguí de Vid, que con su horrible traducción y todo, era una linda edición.
Estos primeros issues no son lo mejor de la serie pero sí son buenos marcando la estética que nos vamos a encontrar. Vale la pena volver a ellos cada tanto.

[Brent · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read these stories back when they first came out, amid all the Todd McFarlene/Image, hype/controversy. I understand and appreciate there importance in the world of comic books.
Rereading them today however just didn't do anything for me.

[Yves · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Spawn, when it came out in the 90s. Now, it's just ok. It's still superbly drawn, but the story is just too simplistic for my taste these days. Still, I'll cherish this comic as one of those that turned me into a serious collector.

[Devowasright · Rating 4 out of 5]

i found these used and picked them up, as i never read the whole series when they came out.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spawn #1 - 5
Really good.