PONDERING THE ETERNAL QUESTION

Why?

SPAWN #150-151
Written by David Hine, Brian Holguin, and Todd McFarlane
Drawn by Angel Medina and Philip Tan
Published by Image Comics

True confessions: I actually bought the first eighteen issues of SPAWN when they originally came out.

Part of that was a reaction to the times I was living in as a comics reader. Back then, the book was selling in numbers to the fanboys that these days would require having a prostitute poly-bagged with the comic. Seven digit numbers pounded the charts, and the character’s creator would go on to become more famous for using some of the money he made by making the best toys and action figures on the market, and for overspending on home run balls. At the time, however, it was purely comics, and even if I didn’t enjoy the book very much, I still picked it up, just to see what Todd McFarlane was doing with his time. He was simply the most powerful man in the business.

But eventually, after some nifty guest creators rolled through the credit box, I turned my gaze elsewhere and let the book go. My time, and my money, were required elsewhere. Occasionally, I would pick up an issue and read through it, and I felt very validated by that decision. The book became hopelessly grim, and the stories began to feel a little thinner on substance and heavier on cool-factor. Todd scaled back his involvement, eventually to the point that it seemed like he had very little to do with the book. And suddenly, Image was kind enough to plop a few issues of the title in my lap for review, so I’m back to being familiar with it again.

However, many of the problems that I described above remained. Overly grim stories. Artwork that didn’t always service the stories well when they had the potential to do something interesting. So with issue #150, McFarlane and company have cleared the decks for a new creative team and approach to the book, looking to see if it can be resuscitated. However, if you’re asking yourself if the new team and direction are any good, then you’re asking precisely the wrong question. The real question is: should the book still be being published at all?

However you feel about Todd McFarlane, you simply have to respect that he did exactly what he wanted to do all those years ago. He took control of his destiny, took ownership of his ideas, and assumed a leadership role in helping other creators do the same. SPAWN, along with SAVAGE DRAGON have become the children who have grown through puberty and become adults. However, with issue #151, Todd’s name no longer appears in the credits. I can’t help but wonder if maybe, with McFarlane stepping further away, it might have been time to put the character to rest for a while, rather than keep the book going in this manner.

That isn’t to say that Hine’s work isn’t readable. Indeed, the storyline here is actually kind of interesting, as a young boy winds up absorbing a piece of Spawn after he’s torn to pieces, and he begins turning into a Hellspawn himself. It’s a fantastic direction to take the horror-aspect of the book, and the first time in a long time that I’ve been sucked into a Spawn story.

But then my brain kicks in again. Says that seeing SPAWN turned into strictly a work-for-hire title now seems antithetical to what the book was originally about those twelve years ago. Merchandise and media tie-ins are still solid business, of course, but the trademark could be serviced by the occasional special or something that McFarlane decided to put together. I don’t know. What I do know is that it is quite a bizarre conundrum to sit here and say that the book is better than it’s been in five years and yet feel like it should have died a peaceful death. That’s why no one ever said reviewing comics would be easy.

Or that it would always make sense.

/Mason