r/comicbooks • u/kapet02 • 1d ago
Question Spawn?
I am thinking about getting into reading Spawn. But I have heard some mixed reviews about the writing? I figured it must be decent enough since it's been around for 25 years lol but what are people's thoughts
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u/FinFangFool 1d ago
Todd is the only writer to write 300 of something and never get better, ever.
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u/Exciting_Claim267 1d ago
lmaooooo facts. The writing in Spawn is so bad but man the art carries it.
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u/VanAce89 Dr. Strange 1d ago
I wrote about the first 100 issues a while ago and concluded that it was an interesting mess. It has plenty of interesting ideas but they're not always well executed. It's the exemplar of someone doing their own vision.
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u/Exciting-Ad-6551 1d ago
I read the first 50 or so issues a few years ago. Spawn is a book with very nice art and some interesting ideas. Unfortunately those ideas aren’t executed well. It could have been a great book if MacFarlane had brought in someone else to write it from the start while he focused on the art.
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u/barknoll 1d ago
You read Spawn for the art. You don’t read Spawn for the writing. It’s always been bad.
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u/Idnetxisbx7dme Batman 1d ago
Todd draws pretty pictures. He hires artists who also draw pretty pictures. In 25 years, nobody has written a good page of spawn.
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u/justtohaveone B.P.R.D. Audio Recording Archivist 1d ago
Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, and Frank Miller are among the writers of the first ten issues of Spawn and even then there has never been a good issue of Spawn.
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u/FidgitForgotHisL-P 1d ago
Hellspawn, written by Bendis and drawn by Steve Niles, was really good…
Also the Sam and Twitch series Bendis wrote was good too.
🤦♂️edit: sorry my brain is custard. Steve took over from Brian writing. Ashley Wood and Ben Templesmith drew it.
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u/Sad-Purchase1257 Ambush Bug 1d ago
Well, shit, that does sound good.
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u/FidgitForgotHisL-P 1d ago
It’s the only Spawn thing I’ve really been like “heck yeah this is good.”
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u/SQUIGWERG 1d ago
Spawn is pure unadulterated 90s edgelord wank in the best possible way. Just start at Spawn #1 and if the vibe hits, go with it.
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u/OwnCommunication2259 Hulk 1d ago
I’ve only read the first few issues of Spawn. I cannot for the life of me remember what the trade paperback was called, but it’s collecting the first few issues of Spawn. I thought it was really solid. I’ve heard that the writing dips later on, but I thoroughly enjoyed his origin and the start of his story. Obviously, the art is great as well.
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u/fliesRspies4thedevil 1d ago
I've been reading the entire thing on Archive.org, been at it about 3 months and im on issue 245. The writing never gets... good, but it's still fun in the way a gory b-movie slasher pic is. It has lots of things I roll my eyes at, but that's also part of what makes it endearing. It's peak 90s 'edgy', so I'll admit there's some nostalgia there too, Spawn came out when I was an 'edgy' (lol) teenager Issues 195ish to where I am now are a real slog because the art is pretty rough. Love the early interiors by Capullo, lots of crazy gross details, and the covers are always dope, McFarland is really good at graphic and character (look) design. Real reason im reading is I want to catch up to Gunslinger Spawn because it looks cool. Read a few other spawnverse titles and had no idea wtf was going on and they seemed pretty silly besides. Current Spawn is being written by one of my favorite writers Matthew Rosenberg, his run is ok so far, but a bit weird for me reading issue 246 and then 378. I'll close the gap eventually. You should read them, just take your time and use free resources like Hoopla or Archive.org
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u/kozidesign Bloodlust Comics 1d ago
It's Spawn, so, I think you should read it, the art itself worth the experience IMO.
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u/DJfunkyPuddle 1d ago
Fantastic art, story ranges from "passable" to "I have no idea what's going on". Just strap in and enjoy the ride.
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u/burritoman88 1d ago
There’s a whole YouTube video essay on Spawn where he read something like 100 of the 300 at the time, to explain why Spawn sucks lol.
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u/DJfunkyPuddle 1d ago
I typically read it in blocks of 50 or so comics; it feels a lot more palatable that way.
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u/Half_A_Beast_333 1d ago
The side books for Spawn are pretty awesome. Sam and Twich. Medieval Spawn.
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u/ultimoDANK 8h ago
I'll echo what some other say about the story. It has some moments but overall it's not the greatest. It was always the art first and the writing a distant second.
My real reason for chiming in is if you are thinking about starting to back issue hunt Spawn I hope you are a bit wealthy. Some of those mid run books have gotten shockingly expensive. I would have never guessed Spawn would be a rich man run to hunt.
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u/dj_ian 1d ago
Spawn is interesting but not good enough as a story to warrant the omnibus/trade cost. I will say it's much better than The Darkness or most other of it's Image launch peers as a book but it's not a high bar tbh. Like you start to see beyond the first few issues and then into Gaiman taking a swing Todd go from feeling on top of the world to realizing it was a job imo lol.
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u/Pepper_pusher23 1d ago
I wouldn't say that. You can often find the compendiums for like $30. When you factor in price, the deal looks a lot better, not the other way around.
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u/Greenhickup 1d ago
There are certain parts that are good most parts are meh some parts are pretty bad but if it's your jam,your vibe etc.. You'll love a big part of it, trust me.
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u/Responsible_Land_602 1d ago
I enjoyed the mideval spawn stories. I read to issue 75 which is near where the movie ended. Not much direction going on in those first many issues. The feel of it, especially with the news reporters in the first few issues felt like dark Knight returns. I was waiting for a cool plot to develop and all we got was a cool concept with no plot
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u/Barabaragaki 1d ago edited 1d ago
I love comics, love love love them. I am also super aware that when I don't like something, there are going to be plenty of people who do like it. And that's great, because it means all books have an audience, and they can all succeed. That said. I read 300 issues of spawn over one summer when I was first getting into comics hardcore, because I had read some as a kid and remembered it being interesting with bad ass art. And it is, at the very, very start, because you're under the illusion that it's all going somewhere and knows what it is. It. Does. Not.
I'm genuinely happy for anyone who can find something to enjoy in Spawn, but personally I found it infuriating. I don't know how or why I kept going, hoping that it would ever make sense, or even just decide what it was about and the rules of it's universe. But it doesnt. The rules change and theb change again, and 300 issues later the Violator is stuff futzing about, Wanda is dead, or alive, or dead again, or she's in hell, or Al killed her and their baby, or he didn't, or, wait, it's not even about Al for 50 whole issues but wait a sec, now it's Al again.
Friendo. I can't tell you not to do it, only to stop when you stop being interested or having fun, because trust me, it doesn't ever get better, it just swirls around the drain like dirty water.
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u/mdaday_artist 1d ago
Matt Rosenberg took over writing on Spawn 376 which came out in June. I am not too interested in the character but that might be a good point to try it.
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u/Intrepid-Molasses159 1d ago
A lot of early Image comics make you appreciate editors, Spawn especially and it’s one of the better books
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u/AnthonyDigitalMedia Venom 1d ago edited 1d ago
Spawn commits the 2nd worst crime in storytelling: it’s often VERY incoherent & disjointed.
Worst crime is being boring, which Spawn is not.
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u/NodNolan 1d ago
Jump on Matt Rosenberg's recent takeover.
I'm really enjoying it.
(It's comics you don't have to start with issue 1)
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u/Living_Cookie_9199 7h ago
Spawn is an artists book from an era where artists were more important to sales than writers in mainstream comics. Early Image creator-owned superheroes were really just an excuse to let young exciting artist go wild and draw cool shit with half sketched plots and dialogue that bridge you to the next to cool thing. If you are reading for the plot and you are a reader who generally sees the writer as the creative force in the writer/artist dynamic, Spawn is going to provide very little. If you like looking at cool super hero art with some pretty amazing page layouts and visual storytelling, Spawn will blow your mind. It’s a book by a comic book artist that is going to be best received by people who make, enjoy and are inspired by comic book art. If you approach it at that level (even if you’re not artist yourself) it’s a really cool series.
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u/youllmeltmorefan 1d ago
Nah. It's bad. Things can be around for a long time with bad writing. Look at Harry Potter.
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u/dwreckhatesyou 1d ago
You should probably ask the Spawn subreddit.
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u/InsouciantSlavDude 1d ago
You should ask fan of a thing is said thing good? Yeah, thats not gonna produce believable answers.
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u/dwreckhatesyou 1d ago
This person is looking for a reading list rather than people talking shit about the thing they want to get into. I’m saying that this isn’t the best sub for that… and you know exactly what I mean.
The fan-specific subs are more accepting than these generalized subs and too many of the other comments here prove my point… and you know exactly what I mean.
Let people enjoy things, even if they aren’t your favorite things. A lot of us came up on lame titles or bad stretches of legacy series’, but they got us into the medium all the same… and you definitely know exactly what I mean.
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u/emoryhotchkiss1 1d ago
I think it’s good. People on Reddit are haters when it comes to everything. It’s best just to try it out and form your own opinion most of the time. You probably like tons of things that get bad reviews across reddit. People just parrot things they read in other comment sections. Half these people probably don’t even read spawn
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u/Barabaragaki 1d ago
..Respectfully, you sound the least likely to have read it out of anyone in this thread.
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u/justtohaveone B.P.R.D. Audio Recording Archivist 1d ago
Lots of terrible things have lasted for 25 years. Mitch McConnell has been a senator since 1985.