A "re-imagining" of the historic Spawn series, Godslayer is set in an epic fantasy world ruled by myriad gods. It tells the story of a warrior prince named Bairn, who is cursed to hunt down and slay the gods, one by one.
American writer who writes comics, novels and animation. Some of his works include "Aria", "Savior," "Spawn" "The Dark Crystal: Creation Myths," "Godslayer" and "Kiss: Psycho Circus".
Spawn Godslayer one-shot (later turned in issue #0 of a mini-series) is an high-fantasy tragic tale of ancient Gods and love lost with a strong Michael Moorcock vibe: something like Elric meets the Hellspawn.
Nothing new here if you have ever read about the albino prince of Melnibonè or other fantasy tales, but Jay Anacleto's artworks are so good that you just can ignore the storyline and fully enjoy the ride.
I'd give the art a 5 and the story a 3, so we met at 4 stars.
This is a high fantasy tale featuring an alternate version of Spawn. There wasn't a whole lot to the story, but the prose was almost poetic. The art was fully painted and gorgeous. A race of god like beings, similar to the Greek Gods or the Gods of Asgard, dwell in a magical kingdom until Spawn the Godslayer shows up to murder them all.
The story was a bit vague, but the idea I got was that this Spawn was a warrior sent away to battle, leaving his true love behind. He was slain the battle, and then made a deal with the "devil" in order to come back. But it looks like his part of the deal is he has to slay all of the gods, probably the ones in opposition to this "devil." So basically a twist on the original Spawn origin. (Some of this was left a bit vague, so there's some guesswork involved, but I'm pretty sure that's the basic plot.)
Overall good, but just felt lacking, like there just wasn't enough story. If you're a Spawn fan, or you like dark fantasy tales with great art, you will still probably enjoy this one.
I really enjoyed the lore and it’s artistic execution, though I found the totality of the story lacking in its depth; particularly the character development at the beginning of the relationship between both characters. I’m also a but confused about who, exactly, is the narrator (though I could’ve missed it as I’m not the quickest of them all). All of that being said… I’m compelled and interested in getting more. Looking forward to the next of this line.
It feels like beautiful concept art with text added overtop in an odd way, some pannels made the story hard tonfollow as they felt overly cropped to fit into slender margins.
Spawn Godslayer is a wonderfully illustrated and well-written tale. Jay Anacleto's artwork is marvelous, not only are the action scenes beautifully rendered but the architecture of the kingdom and the detail in the warrior's armour as well. The story is engaging and you easily get pulled in. The mythology Holguin has created for this tale is interesting especially when you notice some of the religions he got his ideas from. Spawn storylines often involve a lot of hellfire and brimstone but its nice to take that idea and place it in a more calmer environment.
It is... well, EPIC!! The fast pace, deep story in a great world, the complex characters... it is just the way I think the perfect comic should be like...except for canceled, the perfect comic should not be canceled due to low sales, dammit! A friend gave it to me and I really hope I can find and buy everything that managed to get published.