Spawn indulges in some old-school action even as his Universe continues to expand in Spawn #320. Written by Todd McFarlane. Drawn by Carlo Barberi. Colored by Jay David Ramos. Lettered by Tom Orzechowski.
Spawn #320 might be a better pilot for Spawn’s Universe than Spawn’s Universe #1 was.
Leaping to the aid of his cybernetic gorilla ally Cy-Gor, “Prime” Spawn Al Simmons is wrapping up some plot thread from that introductory one-shot. Namely his rescue of Cy-Gor from the clutches of Jericho and the facing down of another returning villain, the Soul Crusher. The results are some pretty engaging, classic Image action, but along the fringes, Todd McFarlane continues to flesh out this new Universe. In a bunch of weird and unexpected ways.
Starting with the obvious draw, Spawn #320 is functional and fun Spawn storytelling. There is a weird villain, deeply embedded in some kind of governmental power structure and Al’s gotta punch him. We even get some trademark overwritten narration and a cameo from Wanda as a celestial madonna! Sometimes the most basic things are the most fun things and Spawn usually, reliably, falls into that category.
Better still, artists Carlo Barberi and Jay David Ramos really go for the gusto here in terms of visuals. Focused mainly on the issue-long battle of attrition between Spawn and Soul Crusher, Barberi and colorist Ramos stage the constant push and pull of the battle in interesting ways. Pinging the anti-hero and villain across a few settings and making full use of both Spawn and Soul Crusher’s power-sets. There is a particularly fun bit with those chains that kids love wherein Spawn wears down Soul Crusher’s armor with his cape, but then lashes out with the chains, bent at sharp angles like Darksied’s dreaded Omega Beam Sanction. Again, it’s not groundbreaking stuff, but it’s certainly a lot of damn fun on panel.
But the secret necroplasmic sauce of Spawn #320 is Todd’s genuinely fun world-building happening at the borders of this battle. Fleshing out The Hole in reality (which is constantly spilling demons AND angels) and the real-world repercussions the Dead Zones that have sprung up in its wake have wrought on the world, Spawn #320 finally gives us a pretty clear picture of the still looming Universe. Using the ever-present trio of newscasters and some directed third-person narration away from Al and Cy-Gor to frame the overarching narrative still being scaffolded between the titles.
We don’t get any more looks at the incoming cast, but it is really nice to see that McFarlane is following through on his promise to make Spawn the “center” of a whole line. He needs a big story hook in order to do that, and thankfully both The Hole and the Dead Zones provide him, and the rest of the writer’s room, with two! I still wonder how well these ideas will work out of McFarlane’s hands or even how much work has been done to thread them into the incoming debuts, but the scope and intention of it are still intriguing enough. As both a single issue and a promise for what’s to come.
Spawn #320 clearly has ambitions beyond itself, but still takes the time to still be a fun single issue of Spawn. That speaks well toward the quality of the incoming Universe of titles, both as single titles and efforts in this new umbrella of different books. Hopefully, Todd and the other creative teams can keep their eyes on the ball, but if anything, Spawn #320 still stands as a fun time at the spinner-rack.
Zachary Jenkins runs ComicsXF and is a co-host on the podcast “Battle of the Atom.” Shocking everyone, he has a full and vibrant life outside of all this.
