McFarlane, Todd
AVERAGE REVIEW SCORE:
3 out of 5
(3 books)
TOP PICK:
Spawn: Transformation
Spawn: Confrontation
(Art by Todd McFarlane, Mark Pennington, Marc Silvestri and Batt & Billy Tan)
Book 5. Terry Fitzgerald finds himself the focus of a manhunt by the police, the FBI, the CIA and the Mafia, who all believe he has wronged their group in some way. However, it is Terry's dead former best friend Al Simmons, now known as Spawn, who is secretly behind everything. To save Terry, Spawn must finally step into the limelight and confront his enemies openly, before his actions doom those he cares about the most.
To begin with, much of this book is overly-wordy and pretty convoluted in its plotting. With all of the various antagonists on the hunt for Terry Fitzgerald, it rapildy becomes difficult to tell who's who and which agenda they're working for.
However, I have to say that things improve vastly when Spawn finally springs into action and his public debut, laying claim to the alleys of New York as under his protection, was such a triumphant moment for the character that it redeemed many of the book's early flaws. That said, it feels pretty weird for Spawn's "Here I am!" moment to come as far into the series as book five.
3 out of 5
Spawn: Retribution
(Art by Todd McFarlane and Greg Capullo)
Book 6. As Spawn tries to define his role as king of New York's alleys, he finds himself attacked by The Curse, a religious zealot intent on turning the homeless denizens of those alleys against their Hellspawn protector. Spawn is then forced to confront his ex-wife and learn how far from Al Simmons he's fallen before undertaking a road trip across America, dealing out justice to child-beaters and the Ku Klux Klan.
There's definitely some good stuff here, with the themes and narrative of Spawn trying to figure out who he is now that he accepts he can't return of Al Simmons' life being particularly engaging. It's also always nice to see the KKK being shown as fat, stupid and pathetic, with justice and vengeance their just-desserts.
Unfortunately, this book is just far too fragmented in its storytelling, with plotlines that go nowhere and narrative jumps that come out of that self-same nowhere. It certainly doesn't help that these stories have been interwoven with those of other Image Comics series, so that huge chunks of Spawn's story happens elsewhere and we're just left with a brief text box to explain to us things like why the main character is suddenly in Alabama and is badly weakened. In short, there's no narrative cohesion to this book, so the good elements never get chance to really shine.
3 out of 5
Spawn: Transformation
(Art by Todd McFarlane and Greg Capullo)
Book 7. Returning to New York City, Spawn finds that his symbiotic costume has evolved into a new and more deadly form. He is then forced to take the fight to the agents of Heaven when they kidnap one of his friends, as well as having to fend off the machinations of the unlikely allies Jason Wynn and the Violator.
This is the best Spawn book I've read so far, with the best core narrative carried across the volume. In particular I liked seeing Spawn fighting against the angels, who believe he's an agent of Hell, but his concern for his friend and his treatment of a particular old lady shows his true heroic colours. On top of all this, some of the plotlines which had been stagnating suddenly develop a bit of momentum here too.
Despite all the positive elements, I still felt that this book fell far short of its potential. It's definitely not a good thing that, at book seven, this series only just feels like it's beginning to get up to speed. Also, it's hilarious the lengths McFarlane goes to in the art to avoid drawing anyone's feet.
3 out of 5
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Image Comics (here)