Spawn Episode 1: Burning Visions
This will not be like my Gargoyles articles. See, when it came to Gargoyles, I knew the show inside and out long before I started that deep dive on the series. Not the case with Spawn. My familiarity with the popular comic book character created by Comic Book artist and Venom co-creator Todd McFarlane is passing at best. I know the basic premise but most of that has been pieced together from the 1997 movie (which is terrible but I still found enjoyable for what it was) and various guest appearances in fighting games such as Soul Caliber II and more recently, Mortal Kombat 11. My point is, I’m mostly flying blind here, so, if any of you hardcore Spawn fans note that I missed something obvious, that’s probably why. Also, this probably goes without saying given that Spawn aired on HBO and Gargoyles aired as part of the Disney Afternoon, but Spawn will deal with a lot more adult themes than the last show we covered. Finally, this series will not see as frequent an update schedule as Gargoyles, mostly due to the fact that I've changed jobs since that project started and my new schedule doesn't allow me the same amount of time to get these articles written. Plus, this isn't the only project I currently have in the works. Anywho, let’s see what I’ve gotten myself into with our first episode of Spawn.
Our episode opens with a live action segment in what looks like a dungeon where a man sits at a desk drawing Spawn Comics. This is Spawn creator Todd McFarlane himself, here to give us a little intro to the proceedings. A for effort there Todd, but you don’t exactly have the same level of charisma as Rod Serling. Anywho, Todd gives us a brief intro to the show by asking us what we’d do in the place of Al Simmons (The Human Identity of our Titular Character) if offered a choice at the moment of death to live again by a mysterious voice in the darkness.
Our show begins properly in an alleyway where bearded homeless man narrator exposits that for the first time in four-hundred years, a new Hellspawn Warrior now walks the Earth. Bearded homeless man narrator remains a constant throughout this episode by the way. In another nearby alley, two journalists are about to meet with a source when the source is killed in a gruesomely animated fashion. As the hitmen slaughter one of the journalists, we see that a shadowy figure in a cape is watching from the top of a church. The remaining journalist makes a run for it, but, in a scene that even made me wince, gets a bullet in his calf for his trouble. To ensure he tells no one else, the hitmen douse the journalist with gasoline and pull out a lighter as the man begs for his life. Suddenly, a voice from the darkness is heard telling the hitman to let him go. Did you recognize the voice? You should, it’s none other than Keith David better known to my readers as Goliath. The bad guys shoot as the imposing caped figure, but to no avail and each are slaughtered in turn. I’ll give Spawn this over Gargoyles, when bad guys in this show see a large imposing figure that looks like it stepped out of a nightmare, they actually react with the appropriate level of terror as opposed to just rushing the terrible monster. The journalist, also horrified by the hellish nightmare that just slaughtered his assailants, picks up a gun and fires at the monster, Spawn warning him not to do so. The spark from the revolver ignites the gasoline and the poor son of a bitch burns to death. Seeing the man go up in flames seems to spark some sort of memories in Spawn’s head, the narration having previously told us that a Hellspawn comes to Earth devoid of their mortal memories.
This flash of his previous life seems to cause Spawn to have a breakdown. It’s here where we meet Violator, a demon from hell tasked with keeping an eye on Spawn who has taken the form of a creepy midget clown. Violator laughs his ass off at the sight of Spawn’s handiwork and giving the big bad Hellspawn props for a job well done. Spawn seems to have no memory of slaughtering those people, his head likely still a mess from having spent time in hell. The clown says that Spawn has a killer instinct which is why his boss chose him. Spawn removes his mask, seeing his own reflection and is horrified to see that his face is horribly burned and disfigured. When he finally calms down, Spawn only has one thing on his mind, someone named “Wanda.” As he tries to leave the alley, he’s stopped by Bearded Homeless Man Narrator who seems to know more about what Spawn is than he lets on, but right now, Spawn just wants the old man to get out of his way.
Back in the alley, we meet two homicide detectives named Sam Burke and Maximilian “Twitch” Williams. Sam is a bit of a tough guy, not unlike Harvey Bullock from Batman the Animated Series. Twitch is a bit more of a silent and unassuming type. Anywho, as it turns out, the hitmen who were slaughtered worked for a mobster named Tony Twist. Sam tells Twitch to find a connection with all the stiffs in the alley but not before fetching him some donuts. Only a half dozen, he’s on a diet afterall.
Later, Spawn returns to what he remembers as his home only to see that his wife, Wanda, has married his best friend Terry and together they have young daughter named Cyan. None of this seems to make sense to Spawn and he has another breakdown. The Violater returns once again to taunt Spawn in his own creepy way, adding to the creep factor by eating an ice cream cone filled with maggots. The clown tells him that the man he once was, trained government assassin Al Simmons, is dead and has been dead for five years. Spawn doesn’t believe him of course, but the clown only continues to taunt him until Spawn threatens to permanently introduce his face to his colon. Disturbingly, the threat only seems to turn Violator on.
Spawn, refusing to accept the Violator’s words, attempts to dig up his own grave, only to find his own dead body inside the casket. Spawn’s reaction is appropriate given that he’s just come face to face with his own corpse as he howls in terror and breaks down sobbing. Things get worse when the corpse comes to life and tells Spawn that he made a deal with the Demon Malebolgia. He gets to see his wife Wanda again, and in exchange, he becomes a Hellspawn Warrior, a ranking officer in the Devil’s Army. Well, now he’s seen Wanda, so it’s time to uphold his end of the bargain. Spawn reburies his body and leaves.
Meanwhile, we hear the aforementioned mobster, Tony Twist sounding none too pleased over the phone that three of his best assassins have been slaughtered in the streets. At the other end of the phone call is a man named Jason Wynne, one of the antagonists to Spawn from the comics. Wynne makes a good first impression and he’s appropriately sinister, but he’s no David Xanatos. Apparently, the Hitmen were sent by Tony to kill the journalists as a favor to Wynne and now they’re dead. Since Wynne deals in government trained assassins, Tony suspects foul play. Wynne insists that it wasn’t one of his and reminds Tony to watch his tone. Jason then calls a united states senator to inform him that the journalists have been dealt with.
Elsewhere, a group of dirty cops pull over someone they recognize as an Internal Affairs officer who ratted them out and start beating him senseless until Spawn intervenes, slaughtering two of the cops and advising the remaining one to retire, all to the utter delight of the violator.
Truth be told, I wasn’t totally sure what to expect from this new project, but so far, I like what I see. Keith David is always a great choice and he plays Spawn excellently. The show does a great job setting up the premise and some of the major players in the first episode while still leaving plenty of mystery to insure those interested will continue watching. Combine that with some absolutely stellar animation and I’d say our first foray into Spawn has proven a pleasant surprise.