spawn

A CIA agent killed by his own boss for witnessing his corruption, Simmons was sent to hell. To see his wife one more time, he made a deal with the demon Malebolgia to become an undead “hellspawn.” Spawn has tried to retain his own humanity while finding a way out of Malebolgia’s control and battling a variety of enemies, both supernatural and mafia-related.

Largely due to the popularity McFarlane accumulated illustrating Marvel Comics’ Spider-Man, Spawn became an instant sales sensation and perhaps the most popular comic book character owned by a third company since Marvel and DC dominated the market in the 1960s.

The series has spun-off several other comics, including Angela, Curse of the Spawn, Sam & Twitch and the Japanese manga Shadows of Spawn. Spawn was adapted into a 1997 feature film, an HBO animated series lasting from 1997 until 1999 and a series of action figures whose unprecedented detail made McFarlane Toys a toy industry giant.

Spawn’s popularity has since cooled and creators other than McFarlane have been responsible for the monthly series—a source of criticism as McFarlane and others left Marvel in the belief that creators should own and control their own characters. Still, the monthly series continues, becoming, along with Savage Dragon, one of the two original Image titles still published.

Character history

Military background

Al Simmons was a highly decorated member of the Secret Service (notably saving the President in an attempted assassination) and the CIA. After being murdered in a foreign country by his superior Jason Wynn, Simmons is sent to hell because of his life as an assassin. Making a deal with the devil, Simmons agrees to become a Hellspawn and serve Malebolgia if he is allowed to see his wife, Wanda, one last time. Malebolgia returns Simmons to the living realm, but with only the barest of memory, a badly burned body, and a watch dog, the Clown. Simmons is unaware that five years have passed. His wife has married his best friend, Terry Fitzgerald, and the two have a daughter, Cyan.

His life over, Simmons has two choices before him: follow Malebolgia, or renounce the devil. The two choices come in the form of Clown, a diminutive, portly, disgusting minor demon (who can transform into the huge, fanged, clawed Violator), and Cogliostro (Cog), an apparently homeless old man who knows more about Simmons (whom both call Spawn) and his situation than even he knows.

After death

Spawn arrives on Earth in a daze, off-balance and disoriented. He has only vague recollections of his past and how he came to be. He knows his name was Al Simmons and that he died. He knows he made a deal with the devil to come back. Spawn returns to a world alien to him, he's lost five years. He finds that his best friend Terry and his ex-wife Wanda are married and have a daughter named Cyan. Spawn's first few adventures are very antihero in nature. He takes down street gangs and organized crime, but in a fairly brutal fashion. He kills a pedophillic serial killer. He fights an angel that was sent to kill him, and lives. As this occurs, he takes over the alleys that comprise "Rat City" and befriends the bums within it. His power is vast, and an odd bum named Cogliostro seems to know a lot about him.

Spawn's early battles take a huge toll on him. His first big test is against the mob enforcer, OvertKill, and it is an encounter he barely survives. Spawn narrowly escapes defeat at the hands of Angela, an angel who hunts Hellspawn. He is also nearly annihilated by the heavenly warrior known as The Anti-Spawn/Redeemer I, who unknown to him was his former boss Jason Wynn. His fight against The Curse goes far better, and he not only defeats him but makes an example of him by nailing him to the wall of the alleys as a warning to those who come into his territory.

Along the way he meets up with the magician, Harry Houdini, and learns a lot about magic and illusion while helping him save the world. He also has a run in with Batman who has come to New York and after a brief tussle the two join forces to stop a psychotic woman from using the bums of Rat City as the brains for her army of cybernetic warrior and stop a missile from destroying the city. Batman's parting gift was a batarang to the face. Bobby helps fix the wound by stiching it shut with a shoelace. After this, Antonio "Tony Twist" Twistelli mistakenly pegs Terry as the culprit behind the Violator's mob-targeted killing spree. He sends a rebuilt and reprogrammed OvertKill, fresh from an embarrassing defeat in a crossover, after Fitzgerald forcing Spawn to protect his friend and eventually revealing his true identity to Terry. Only a single shot from Twitch's gun, going through OvertKill's ear and disrupting his programming saves the day as the mafia supersoldier heads off to find Badrock.

In a crossover with Youngblood, Chapel returns to find Al in the alleys and kills his friend Bobby. Chapel has decided he got a raw deal and blows his own head off in front of Spawn so that he can go to Hell and possibly take over. Al uses his powers to bring Bobby back to life. He's then caught up in Angela's trial in the Angela miniseries and goes to Heaven where his suit begins to freak out since it knows its behind enemy lines. This leaves his suit practically dead when he returns to Earth, in the heart of the Deep South. He has an encounter with the KKK and well as "helps" Eddie and Andy Frank with their abusive father while in Georgia. His return to New York was not pleasant. Spawn's encounter with a new Redeemer would not go well as this one was significantly more powerful than the last and his friend Bobby was taken away for study as his resurrection was noted as the first of its kind, a necroplasmic transferral. Spawn would attack a bastion of Heaven in the guise of a skyscraper to try to goad Heaven into returning his friend and the Redeemer would appear again to face him. His powers were seriously waning and his suit was acting erratically.

The first metamorphosis

After a nearly fatal encounter with the Redeemer, Spawn's costume evolved into a more advanced form. The formerly immaculate cape became ragged and shredded, and his costume lost its red coloring and became pure black and white. Spawn's gloves and boots also morphed, becoming heavily armored and covered with spikes. Spawn's costume was now much more powerful, and the cape and chains were capable of shapeshifting to a much greater degree. Spawn's costume lopped the hand off Redeemer's arm by itself during their second encounter, while Spawn simply watched.

Later, during an encounter with the Curse, Spawn's costume was surgically removed from his body. When the two were reunited, Spawn found that the costume was going wild, attempting to take control of him and use him for its own purposes. Spawn mentally wrestled with the costume for weeks, being warned by Cogliostro that prolonged use of his powers while the costume was in this state would result in it returning to Hell, dragging Spawn along with it. When Spawn decided to use his powers to cure Wanda's husband Terry Fitzgerald of his cancer, the costume responded the way Cog had warned it would.

Trapped in Hell, Spawn fought desperate battles against the denizens of the various circles of Hell, finally arriving at the foot of Malebolgia's throne. Malebolgia gloated that Spawn was becoming everything he'd hoped, and returned him to Earth. Spawn retained mastery of his costume, but was shaken by Malebolgia's taunts.

After issue 50

Spawn struggled to find a way to free himself from Hell's control and recapture his humanity. Attacks from both Heaven and Hell were coming faster and faster, and Spawn was on the verge of losing himself to the violence and the evil. Salvation arrived in the form of a mound of festering garbage - The Heap, an emissary of the Greenworld, a power equal to Heaven and Hell that Spawn had never encountered before. They endowed him with a host of new abilities that would enable him to overcome the worst both Heaven and Hell had to offer.

While these powers are not directly described, they appear to give Spawn control over all the elements and other aspects of the natural world. It was explained to him that the Greenworld did not care for the war of Heaven and Hell, but were growing increasingly agitated by the destruction brought about. They inflicted on him the pains of the Earth, and when he returned Spawn became "aware" of the world. Spawn did not utilize his powers however, other than listening to the Earth, until he was impaled on the pole of a large sign by the dark god Urizen (named after the tyrannical creator-figure in the personal mythology of Romantic poet–artist William Blake). Urizen was wreaking havoc on the world, and the Greenworld imbued him with a "gift" which, after recovering thanks to Angela, Spawn uses to contain Urizen. Spawn splits the ground open and imprisons Urizen within the Earth.

The new king of Hell

After defeating Urizen, Spawn learns that the dark god's release was orchestrated by Malebolgia, as part of an elaborate scheme to take total control of all the kingdoms of Hell. Having failed spectacularly, Malebolgia's power is at its lowest ebb. With the help of Angela, Spawn is able to return to Hell and finally destroy his demon master, although Angela's life is lost in the process. Though offered Malebolgia's crown by the sinister Mammon, Spawn declines both it and an offer to enter the gates of Heaven. Spawn instead turns his efforts towards stemming the torment of humanity and defeating the evil that exists on Earth.

Overwhelmed by the darkness on Earth, Spawn turns to his old mentor, Cogliostro, with a new plan. He will accept the crown of Hell, and then remake it, turning it from a dark realm of evil into a new paradise that will sweep away all sorrow and sadness on the Earth. No sooner do Spawn and Cog embark on this plan, then they are drawn into the lowest reaches of Hell, where Cog betrays Spawn during a moment of weakness, taking the crown of Hell for himself. Cog uses his newfound power to return Spawn to earth, apparently alive and well, back in the body of Al Simmons.

Spawn reborn

Wandering the Earth in a daze, Al Simmons is confronted by a young witch named Nyx. With Nyx's help, Al is reunited with his shadowy alter-ego, and Spawn is reborn on Earth. Seemingly human, with a human's frailty and vulnerability, when not shrouded in his costume, Spawn has lost much of his power, but continues with his mission to right the wrongs of the world and seek out peace of mind for himself. However, Mammon continues to plot against him from the shadows. After tempting and betraying Nyx, Mammon gains her magical power over the union between Al Simmons and Spawn, and uses it to rob Al of all of his memories. Al wanders the Earth, searching for something he feels, but cannot remember. During this wandering, Al unwittingly unleashes a band of rogue angels known as the Forgotten Ones, angels who refused to take sides during the Fall, siding neither with God nor with the Devil. Al learns that Mammon is one of the Forgotten Ones, and is far more powerful than Malebolgia ever was.

Armageddon

With the aid of the Greenworld, Spawn regains his lost memories, and something more. His costume metamorphoses again, seemingly becoming one with his necroplasmic body. Spawn is captured by Mammon and his demonic minions, and tortured horribly so that the secrets his body contains can be revealed. Spawn's discarded heart, torn from his chest in an earlier battle with the Disciple, Heaven's Warrior, transforms into a young boy named Chris. Chris, together with Sam and Twitch, rescue Spawn from Mammon's clutches and return him to Earth. Spawn learns that thousands of human souls are contained within his body, each one capable of being summoned in the form of a Hellspawn. As signs of the End of Days wreak havoc across the world, Spawn must find a way to stave off Armageddon, and learn the true nature of Heaven, Hell, and the Earth.

Spawn learns that Wanda's twin children are the ones responsible for Armageddon. The twins, who have been displaying destructive and sadistic tendancies for months now, attempt to murder their entire family, when Spawn arrives to stop them. Spawn is unable to destroy the twins, and the unexpected arrival of Zera, the Queen of the Seraphim, reveals the awful truth - Jake Fitzgerald is God, and Katie Fitzgerald is Satan.

It is revealed that both God and Satan were removed from their respective kingdoms and reincarnated as human children by the all-powerful being known as Mother. Mother is the creator of the universe and all its worlds, and God and Satan are two of her many children. She regards them as disappointments, being consumed with destructive hatred towards one another. Mother, who has aided Spawn in the past under the guises of Kali, the Keeper of the Greenworld, and the Man of Miracles, warns Spawn that he alone has the potential to rise above God and Satan, and preserve the human race. She also warns that Armageddon cannot be stopped - it is Earth's destiny.

Spawn is entered into one last final test to prove if he is worthy to preserve the human race: The Disciple. Before his final test, the Mother told Spawn to trust Cyan because she is "wise beyond her years". She also reveals that The Disciple is actually the guard of the portal to the Garden of Eden, where Spawn must eat the Forbidden Fruit in order to save humanity. After Spawn blasts The Disciple into Eden and killed him, it is revealed that there are acually 11 more Disciples, who are based off the Twelve Apostles. Also, because Hellspawns are never meant to enter into the Garden of Eden, Spawn's life will fade away the longer he is in the garden. This is shown through a video game like counter, which Cyan sees through a laptop. With the help of Cyan and the souls within him, Spawn fights each of The Disciples, killing them off one by one as the counter continues to drop to zero. Until the final Disciple left is Judas, whom Spawn is about to kill. However, Cyan yells to Spawn to not kill him. Spawn, listening to what the Mother said and trusting Cyan, did not deal the final blow to Judas. Then Judas stabs Spawn through the heart and his counter reaches zero.

Powers

Original powers

Spawn's body is quite dense, weighing over four hundred pounds, and is composed completely of necroplasm. This gives him super strength and durability. While he still has internal organs, they are non-functional, and their damage/destruction does not hinder Spawn in the least. These organs re-appear when he magically regenerates his wounds. This may be due to Spawn's inability to let go of his human self, retaining his human organs even though he no longer requires them.

Spawn wears a living symbiotic costume, Leetha of the 7th House of K (aka: K7-Leetha). While wearing it the host assumes a dominant role over his suit. His cape, spikes, chains, and skulls are all part of an organism bonded to his central nervous system that will protect Spawn even if he is unconscious. Violator once said the suits feed on souls. This is true, as the suit is a K7 model which is one of the pureblood breeds that siphons the souls of those it kills and sends them straight to Hell to bolster Malebolgia's army. The K7 model is a stronger, more refined symbiote which makes this Spawn stronger than many that came before him and some that have come after him such as Billy Kincaid who was once bonded to the less powerful K2-Myrlu. While it is not known exactly what effect the consumption of souls has on the hellspawn's uniform it is likely that it helps the suit evolve over time. Violator was obviously upset that Spawn not only had the power to regenerate (called "The Gift") but that his suit was able to move to a higher necrostate at a completely unprecedented pace. There are nine different necro-states, during which time the suit goes into a dormant hibernation stage to mutate and evolve. When it awakens it is more powerful and if the suit evolves faster than the host's ability to control his suit then the suit will assume the dominant role.

The true source of the costume is the necroplasm in Spawn's body, which it feeds off of. It is possible for Spawn to draw this energy back when he needs it, using it to power his abilities without draining his own reserves. The costume can also feed off evil energy from the physical world, feeding off the ambient evil of people, animals (mainly carrion insects, but also wolves and bats) and even certain parts of the city.

Spawn has vast magical powers. In the issues before issue #50, Spawn had a limited power supply or "9999". Each time Spawn used his energy, the counter would drain. Because of this reason, he relied primarily on his costume's natural abilities in fights. Other than the counter, the only limit was Spawn's imagination. Though he always tried not to expend a lot of magic, he has been shown using it for a variety of effects including resurrecting the dead, firing blasts of necroplasmic energy, teleportation, shapeshifting, and curing the sick. Although the power meter has not been shown in the comics for some time, it has been stated that the meter continues to decrease even after Malebolgia's defeat.

Spawn still retains the military training and weapons expertise from his days as a soldier and thus frequently uses guns as an alternative to his magic.

Other powers

Spawn has an ability to "feel" or "sense" misery, pain and hatred as a gift/punishment given to him by The Keeper, an agent of the Emerald Parliament of Greenworld. He is aware, even subconsciously when someone is attacked or murdered because he has gained a further affinity with the creatures of the night and shadows and through them experiences the anguish of all mankind. Spawn typically travels in the shadows, even "flying" on occasion. He is often described as notoriously difficult to spot, often only caught out of the corner of one's eye as just a streak of red (his cape). Spawn can also transform into a swarm of bats and transports from place to place. He has done this on several occasions. Recently, Spawn has shown that he contains an unknown number of lost souls who can share his Hellspawn abilities that are collectively known as The Legion. Detective Twitch theorized that the souls that Spawn carries are those that died during the same hour that Al Simmons was killed, and that there could be as many as 6,000 souls within him. It seems that the power from these souls is the reason Spawn was uncontrollable by Malebolgia, and often referred to as "The One". With the help of a young Spawn (Christopher) he is able to summon them to aid him in his quest to stop Armageddon.

Weaknesses

Almost unstoppable, Spawn is unable to die outside of a patch of alley known as "The Deadzone" unless beheaded by a weapon of heaven. The "Deadzone" is the small patch of Earth that is Heaven's domain. In that small stretch of alley, Spawn has no power... thus making him an ordinary person. Spawn has, however, used this area to perform an exorcism, but the few times he has ventured there, the results were nearly fatal. Aside from divine wrath, Spawn can regenerate (given a considerable expenditure of energy) and recover from virtually any injury, including massive organ damage, and even partial dismemberment.

• Decapitation - Supposed to be the only way to definitively kill some Hellspawn.
• Heavenly Forged Weapons, such as Angelic Lances, Whips, Daggers, etc.
• Celestial Fire - Such as that wielded by The Redeemers and The Disciple
• Wiccan Magic - Such as that used by Nyx but he has to be willing to submit to it.
• Heaven - His presence in Heaven, or in safe-zones of Heaven weaken him and his costume because of his nature as a hellborn warrior.
• Greenworld - He has no power in the ethereal realm of Greenworld

Appearance

• Skin: African-American as Al Simmons, black with a white stripe as The Hellspawn (Necroplasm)
• Eye Color: green (glowing) as The Hellspawn, brown as Al Simmons
• Costume: Black Armor (usually all over, but the head piece is a mask and is often removed) with "M" shaped white stripe on chest and backside, red cloak, skull emblems, and chains. After having his memory wiped by Mammon, who has been revealed as the true owner of the Hellspawn's suit, the suit has morphed again, taking on a more organic appearance. The suit is capable of evolving and there is no telling how it may change over time or how powerful it may become.

Characters

Current characters

• Spawn/Al Simmons - Main character.
• Mammon - A Forgotten One. One of the major Lords of Hell and the primary antagonist in the series.
• Man of Miracles - A mystery man that offers guidance to Spawn. One incarnation of the Mother
• Christopher - A boy whose soul was sealed within Spawn's heart. He has taken the form of a young Hellspawn and uses his powers to help Spawn. He is the key to The Legion, the one who actually releases them from Spawn.
• Sam Burke - Detective, partner of Twitch.
• Twitch Williams - Detective, partner of Sam.
• Zera - The queen of the Seraphim. Utterly insane.
• The Disciple - Heaven's greatest warrior, and predecessor to The Redeemer.
• Thamuz - A demonic Master of Torture who has vowed to unravel the secrets kept by Spawn.
• Kali - A dark goddess who battles against Spawn. Another incarnation of the Mother
• The Forgotten Ones - Angelic creatures who did not choose sides in the Biblical Fall, and were banished by God.
• Wanda Blake - Al Simmons's ex-wife. She kept her maiden name both times, much to her grandmother's dismay.
• Terry Fitzgerald - Wanda's husband/Al Simmons' former best friend.
• Cyan Fitzgerald - Wanda and Terry's daughter.
• Katie Fitzgerald - One of Wanda and Terry's miracle twins. Issue #158 revealed that Katie was literally evil incarnate, as she was actually Satan.
• Jake Fitzgerald - One of Wanda and Terry's miracle twins. Issue #158 revealed that Jake was none other than God himself!
• Granny Blake - Mary Blake, Wanda's grandmother. A woman of great faith and wisdom, and one of the few humans that Al has confided in since he returned from Hell.
• The Mother - The Mother is the creator of the universe and all the worlds within it. She is neither male nor female but is referred to as Mother by Jake and Katie (God and Satan). It was her that removed God and Satan from their thrones while she attempted to unify mankind, and also her that impregnated Wanda with their human forms.

Other characters

• Nyx - A witch that helped Al Simmons regain his Hellspawn powers, only to betray him so that she could journey to Hell to save the soul of a friend. She appears to be attuned to Greenworld
• Cogliostro/Cain - Spawn's former mentor and guide/current master of the eighth circle of Hell
• The Heap - Formerly Eddie Beckett, now a walking Heap, an agent of Greenworld of trash and earth animated by necroplasm.
• The Redeemer - A holy opposite to the Hellspawn, created by the Star Chamber.
• Tiffany - A warrior-angel that replaced Angela in the hunt for Spawn. A member of an angelic host known as the Amazon Warriors.
• Jessica Priest - Former CIA agent/Al Simmons' killer
• Chapel - Bruce Stinson. Mercenary, Assassin, American Hero. Former CIA agent/member of Youngblood. Helped to kill Al Simmons, his best friend. Retconned after Rob Liefeld left Image Comics.
• Antonio Twistelli - "Tony Twist" the infamous mafia don of New York City. He's been making a play for the top and seeks to inherit the power of Don Bartino. Cruel, ruthless and smarter than he looks. Oversaw both mafia supersoldier projects. With Spawn and Violator causing so many problems in New York, his plans for advancement look in jeopardy.
• OvertKill - Seemingly unstoppable cyborg who fought Spawn to a stand still early in his career. Was defeated by a simple systems malfunction. Each time he's dismantled he comes back stronger and more dangerous than before.
• Tremor - The predecessor of OvertKill. He is a failed prototype for the Mafia Supersolider. The process turned him into a cybernetic monster resembling a large demon, and for this he continues to wage his own personal war on the mob. Depending on his mood Spawn can't be sure if he will be a friend or a foe when Tremor comes calling.
• The Curse - Phillip Krahn. Excentric billionaire, religious zealot and one of Spawn's deadliest enemies.
• Cy-Gor - A cybernetic mesh of metal and ape but with a human brain. This government project knows no control nor pleasure except for the taste of blood.
• Clown/Violator - A tormentor of Spawn, pushing him to use his powers for the benefit of Hell
• Ab and Zab - Minor opener-demons who serve the Lord of Hell. They've been both Spawn's enemy as well as minions and there's just some things about being on Earth they can't get enough of... cigarettes, guns, booze, babes and any other vice you can think of.
• Urizen - The Dark God, Leveler of Hope and Destroyer of Dreams.

Deceased

While death is rarely final in Spawn Continuity, some characters are more dead than others.

• Malebolgia - Former master of the eighth circle of Hell. Decapitated by Spawn
• Angela - An angelic bounty-hunter sent against Spawn who later befriended him. She was impaled with her own sword by Malebolgia, who would die by Spawn's hands shortly afterwards.
• Jason Wynn - Former CIA director/Al Simmons' superior that gave the order to kill him. Ruthless, cold and at one point, one of the most powerful men on the planet. Currently presumed dead as The Violator has taken residence in his body.
• Billy Kincaid - A child-killer who was in turn killed by Spawn. He went on to serve as a lackey of Malebolgia and has returned from Hell multiple times to wreak havoc. He was stopped once by Spawn and most recently by young Christopher.
• The Freak- An escapee from a mental asylum with multiple personalities. He's a sadistic murderer who believes his own delusions. Freak's tangled with Spawn and The Violator, and stole the bag of necroplasm that turned Eddie Beckett into The Heap. He currently resides in Hell.

Appearances in other media

• Spawn has starred in several video games, notably Namco's 2003 action adventure Spawn: Armageddon (Xbox, PlayStation 2, and GameCube). His first appearance was in a SNES Spawn game, with other video games including Spawn: The Eternal (1997) for the PlayStation which was poorly received, and Spawn: In the Demon's Hand (2000) for the Sega Dreamcast which did moderately well.
• Spawn appears as a special guest character in the Xbox version of the 2003 video game Soul Calibur II. This game's storyline is that Malebolgia sending Spawn back in time to retrieve the cursed blade Soul Edge from the Azure Knight Nightmare.
• In 1997, a film adaptation starring Michael Jai White and John Leguizamo was released.
• At the time of the release of the 1997 movie Spawn made several commercials for Taco Bell .
• Spawn made his animated debut in the critically acclaimed HBO miniseries Todd McFarlane's Spawn. Spawn was voiced by Keith David, who also voiced Goliath on the animated series Gargoyles. The series won two Emmy's (one in 1998 and another in 1999). A new animated series, which will be a reboot of sorts, is currently in the works.
• Heavy Metal band Iced Earth released the Spawn-based concept album The Dark Saga in 1996, with cover art by Greg Capullo and Todd McFarlane (although only McFarlane is credited). Due to legal issues, Iced Earth could not use the names of the characters in the songs.
• In Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure by Nippon Ichi, a puppet that is sent to Cornelia called Nightspawn or DarkKnight greatly resembles Spawn. There is also a fictional comic series called "Spoon," obviously a parody of Spawn.
• In a particular Powerpuff Girls episode, Buttercup is reading a comic of a superhero named Spore (who was an obvious parody of Spawn). The only differences were his cape was green, his costume was slightly altered, and instead of chains he used razor wire Later, in that same episode, Buttercup and her sisters become versions of their favorite superheroes. Buttercup changes into Mange, a being who only travels and fights at night who resembles both Spawn and Spore.
• In Dave Sim's graphic novel Cerebus, during the Latter Days story arc, the title character creates an alternate identity as a demon called Spore, a parody of Spawn.
• In the Archie Comics Sonic the Hedgehog series, he appeared in two panels in the Sonic/Image crossover.

Shadows of Spawn

Recently released on American shores are three graphic novel compilations of the Spawn Manga which is known as Shadows of Spawn. This manga series takes several elements of the original comic, but puts different twists on the story. Al Simmons is not the star of the Spawn Manga, in fact, Simmons himself has yet to appear in it. The star of the series is a young man named Ken Kurosawa, a Japanese-American, who is a street thug who hires himself out for money in order to care for his younger sister, who was very sickly before the time of his death. He was known by the nickname double K. After promising his sister to be with her for her birthday, Ken is murdered by his latest clients after he ends his contract with them. Seven years later, Ken is brought back as a Hellspawn. (It is heavily implied that Ken returned to Earth at the exact same time as did Al Simmons, as many events in the manga seem to directly take off from events in the original comic book.) Like Al Simmons, Kurosawa initially has no memories of his previous life, and is confronted in short order (almost immediately after awakening on Earth as a Hellspawn, in fact) by the Clown. Clown briefly leaves the manga, replaced by a fairie-like creature calling herself Beelzebub. He returns as the Violator, however he is much smaller, as one of his arms is cut off from his body while the primary body is trapped for a time in Clown form, and becomes the entire body of a smaller version of himself, imbued with a reduced amount of his full power.

The new Spawn, living in California, holes up in an abandoned church. He discovers his sister has overcome her sickliness and is slowly becoming a major star in hollywood as a teen actress. His greatest desire since his rebirth is to protect her. Ironically, she is now the target of many supernatural creatures because of that very desire.

The Manga also introduces three other Spawns who are also active, and who have been on Earth for some time. The first is actually a Spawn introduced in the McFarlane toyline, Zombie Spawn, who has been "alive" for about five hundred years, doing his best to resist Malebolgia and give as much grief as possible to the lord of the eighth circle of Hell. A female spawn from the 19th century is also introduced, as is a creature which may or may not be a wolf, resurrected and transformed into a 'werewolf' Spawn. Unlike Kurosawa and Simmons, these Spawns do not wear the now iconic armor which is associated with the character, though the female pirate spawn and the werewolf spawn both have markings on their face which are the same as those on the cowl of the Spawn mask. The Zombie Spawn does not wear any version of the markings or armor at all.

There are several references to the Al Simmons incarnation of the character, who is implied to be active simultaneously with Kurosawa. There are, however, no references to the 'Youngbloods' a group of heroes that Image comics produced, and which Simmons was mistakenly believed to be by at least three to six people in the beginnings of the American comic. Simmons himself, however, has not appeared in any way in the manga yet, although Malbolgia has been shown. A new angel is introduced in the Manga as well: Mikaela, who appeared to be designed in homage to Angela.

To date, only three volumes have been released thus far of the manga, and it is unknown how far along the series actually got. However, if Kurosawa, Mangler (the were-wolf Spawn), Cheveyo (the zombie Spawn), and Caleb (the female pirate Spawn) are still active in the Manga into the present day, it can be assumed that the Manga is not intended to have any direct relationship with the normal comic continuity. However, if the three of them should appear in the future in the American comic, then it is likely that they (and any future Hellspawn intended to appear in future volumes of the translated Manga) likely never returend to Earth again after being pulled back to Hell.

One other key difference between the original comic and the manga version of Spawn, was that the Hellspawns in the Manga are said to not die off completely and return to Hell, as was supposedly going to happen to Simmons at first, but rather they would be recharged and sent back to Earth, potentially losing more and more of themselves as each time happened, supposedly growing ever stronger, but also becoming just flat out evil, or else simply losing touch with that which made them originally wish to return to life to begin with. Cheveyo is the eldest active Spawn out of the four in the Manga, and Simmons himself, as he is five hundred years old. This is another key difference, because in the American book, A Spawn is only born once every four hundred years and they lose power eventually, but none of them are supposed to be able to live the full four hundred years between each birth, let alone a century past it. Since Kurosawa is brought back to Earth seven years after his death, he apparently is 'born' as a Spawn literally simultaneously with Al Simmons, as, again, events in the American comic book, at least partially, had an effect on a character in the manga (namely Clown/Violator), and thus the Spawn manga may be viewed to be an alternate universe that has unofficial, but still partially visible ties to the original material.

The Adventures of Spawn

At the San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) '06 it was announced that a new take on the Spawn mythos was in the works. This new Spawn story is known as The Adventures of Spawn and as stated by Jon Goff, a moderator on the Spawn.com Message Board and McFarlane employee, it is a reimagining of the Spawn story that is essentially a "What If?" universe that hearkens back to classic kid-friendly Saturday morning cartoons. The story takes place in a webcomic format and has been tied into the action-figure world through McFarlane Toys' Spawn Series 30, The Adventures of Spawn which will feature Spawn X, The Redeemer, Codename: Cy-gor, OvertKill the Destroyer, Tiffany the Amazon, Omega Spawn and the Collector's Club Exclusive, Lord Mammon.

Popularity

Spawn enjoyed a considerable amount of popularity in the 1990s, which was a notable feat for a non DC and non Marvel character. From 1994-95 on Spawn was very popular, and part of this was possibly due to the widespread popularity of McFarlane Toys, which expanded beyond specialty stores, and the toys were sold in major department stores as well as Toys "R" Us and KB Toys. This gave the title a boost, and brought it to the attention of both younger audiences and older toy collectors who were exposed to the toys.

When this popularity ended is impossible to place, at least in regards to any one date. In general, Spawn's popularity peaked with the 1997 Spawn feature film. The character's popularity began to slowly decline after this, until he largely dropped off the "mainstream" radar in 1998-1999. The comic book's sales have been in steady decline, though it continues to be published today. Still, figures produced by McFarlane Toys continue to remain very popular, mostly due to their tremendous detailing.

Most recently, the hype around Spawn #150 allowed the issue to sell-out very quickly as a new creative team was brought on board and fan interest in the book has again picked up, but the book is still critically panned in most circles.

Legal dispute

In 1993, McFarlane contracted Neil Gaiman (as well as other recognized authors like Frank Miller and Dave Sim) to write one issue of his Spawn series. While doing so, Gaiman introduced the characters Cogliostro, Angela, and Medieval Spawn. All three characters continued to be featured prominently in the series after Gaiman's involvement, and had many tie-ins with McFarlane's toy company. Cogliostro had a prominent role in the live-action movie in 1997. McFarlane had agreed that Gaiman was a co-creator of the characters and paid him royalties for reprints, graphic novels and action figures. After a few years he ceased the payment of royalties and gave Gaiman notice that he owned all rights to the characters, citing the copyright notice from Issue 7 and claimed that Gaiman's work had been work-for-hire and that McFarlane was the sole owner. In 2002, Gaiman filed suit against McFarlane and in response Todd counter-sued. Gaiman had partnered with Marvel Comics to form Marvels and Miracles, LLC which bankrolled the lawsuit. The main goal was to determine the issue of ownership for another character Gaiman felt he had a stake in, Miracleman, which at the time McFarlane was believed to hold a sizeable stake in after his buyout of the assets of Eclipse comics. This issue was thrown out. Instead the court chose to rule on the breach of contract issue, the rights of ownership and the copyrightability of the characters from Issue 7. Several different arguments were presented by McFarlane, and all were rejected leading to a sizeable judgement against McFarlane and Image Comics. The matter went to appeal and the judgement was upheld in a 2003 decision. Gaiman's rights as co-creator and co-owner of Cog, Angela and Medieval Spawn were acknowledged. The court's view was that Gaiman and McFarlane's collaboration led to each contributing half of the work. Gaiman wrote the story, McFarlane illustrated the character and because of this each held a 50% stake in the characters. The fallout of this lawsuit is still unclear and the issue of Miracleman is yet to be resolved. In a recent reprint collection of the first twelve issues of Spawn, the contentious issue was excluded.

Guest authors

Spawn - The Series

• 8 "In Heaven" - Alan Moore
• 9 "Angela" - Neil Gaiman
• 10 "Crossing Over" - Dave Sim
• 11 "Home" - Frank Miller
• 16 "Reflections - Part One" - Grant Morrison
• 17 "Reflections - Part Two" - Grant Morrison
• 18 "Reflections - Part Three" - Grant Morrison
• 37 "The Freak" - Alan Moore

References

1. MAMMON APPEARS IN NEW SPAWN VIDEO GAME

External links

• Spawn.com - Official Spawn website
• Image Comics - Official Image Comics website
• Toonopedia
• Spawn® Armageddon - Namco/Spawn® Armageddon
• Now Playing Magazine - Interview with Todd McFarlane about the animated series