Spawn: Difference between revisions

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'''''Spawn''''' is a [[Comic Book]] telling the story of commando [[Hitman Withwith a Heart|Al Simmons]], who is betrayed by CIA spook [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|Jason Wynn]] and murdered by [[Bash Brothers|his friend and teammate]] [[Nineties Anti -Hero|Chapel]] (later [[Retcon|retconned]] as Priest, a [[Distaff Counterpart]] of Chapel). The character first appeared in ''Malibu Sun #13'' (May 1992), created by [[Todd McFarlane]].

After his death, Al meets a devil named Malebolgia, and his [[The Dragon|Dragon]] Violator (who goes disguised as a clown in the mortal realm). He makes a [[Deal Withwith the Devil]] in an attempt to go back to his "loving" wife Wanda. He comes back as a [[Nineties Anti -Hero]] with a living costume and Green Goo powers, powerful but finite, and must use those powers to increase the army of Hell and train as one of its lieutenants, called (Hell')Spawns, as Malebolgia, [[The Man Behind the Man|Mammon]], and [[Big Bad|Satan]] prepare for the Apocalypse. He finds a [[Mentor]] named Cogliostro, {{spoiler|a retired Spawn}} who fills the role of [[The Obi -Wan]] and [[All Powerful Bystander]].

Unsure of his past life and having trouble with his costume changing and becoming wild all the time, Spawn starts to interact with former cops [[Those Two Guys|Sam and Twitch]], and finds out Mammon sent [[Catchphrase Spouting Duo|Ab and Zab]] to release a soul-destroying demon that makes its enemies [[Deader Than Dead]]. After turning it into [[Sealed Evil in Aa Can]], Spawn [[Hand Wave|handwaves]]a his way back to Hell and, with the help of Angela, kills Malebolgia ({{spoiler|Angela actually performs a [[Heroic Sacrifice]]}}).

[[You Kill It, You Bought It|It turns him into the lord of (that piece) of Hell]], but he refuses to take Malebolgia's mantle and goes on fighting evil on Earth, with little success. His position is eventually robbed by {{spoiler|Cogliostro, who performs a [[Face Heel Turn]] and reveals himself to be [[Cain and Abel|Cain]].}}

Suddenly, the whole story suffers a [[Snap Back]] and Spawn is revealed to be {{spoiler|not just Al Simmons, but actually a mix of thousands of souls that died at the same time Al had}}. Spawn fights both Heaven and Hell as an independent warrior during the Apocalypse, and at the last minute, he manages to re-create the world. But in doing so, he discovers that, as Al, he {{spoiler|intentionally caused his pregnant wife's miscarriage by ''punching her in the chest''. Additionally, she was planning to finally leave before he died}}. It turns out that {{spoiler|his [[Trauma -Induced Amnesia|amnesia]] and [[Self -Inflicted Hell|current form]] were actually subconsciously caused by his [[Self -Inflicted Hell|unresolved guilt]], ''not'' by Malebolgia. He then retreats to the alleys to live out the rest of his life as [[The Atoner]], having [[Bittersweet Ending|saved everyone but himself]]. Since then, his universe has [[Growing the Beard|evolved into]] more of an [[Gothic Punk]]-focused [[World Half Empty]]}}. Al Simmons himself {{spoiler|seemingly commits suicide, and the [[Legacy Character|mantle of Spawn is passed on]] to a man named [[And Now for Someone Completely Different|Jim Downing]] while Simmons makes another [[Deal Withwith the Devil]] and becomes [[Rogue Protagonist|Omega Spawn]].}} However as of 250 Al Simmons returns from the dead and retakes back the Spawn mantle as well as the Resurrection retcons everything between his time as a hellspawn and his suicide that fact that he was a wife beater as that was a lie by the demons to get him into suicide as well Moranna being retconned into his unborn son who was stillborn rather than he himself aborted. Spawn Resurrection also retcons the man of miracles out of continuity along with the arcs that involve him with God now a good guy and the supreme creator as well as his suit being made from his victims. Wanda had been killed and Al comes back as spawn to take vengeance fought Satan and becomes the protector of Humanity.

While ''Spawn'' was really popular during the [[Dark Age]], holding the title of best-selling independent comic for 15 years, the writing was full of [[Retcon|Retcons]]s and [[Snap Back|SnapBacks]]s. Spawn's Power Counter that informed the reader of how much Green Goo energy he had left before he had to return to Hell was also abandoned after a few issues, angering many fans. It's definitely gotten [[Growing the Beard|much better]] over the years. There were definite cases of [[Schedule Slip]], but far less so that most of the initial Image Comics (as of January 2010, 196 issues will have been released in 211 months, missing only 15).

''Spawn'' is also [[The Merch]], as McFarlane Toys became popular for being skillfully detailed (and, according to some people, for using higher-quality material) and made the creator a fortune selling hundreds of toys, costumes, clothing, related comics, tatoostattoos, Spawnmobiles (actually, those are just for show) and bumper stickers, amongstamong others. Additionally, the Spawn toyline had a massive impact on the toy industry, starting the careers of the Four Horsemen and other sculptors who introduced greater detail and articulation into mainstream superhero toys (even though the Spawn toys were notoriously unarticulated).

* [[Anti -Hero]]: Type III or Type IV, [[Depending Onon the Writer]].

* [[Batman Gambit]]: In the HBO Animated Series. During the final season, it's revealed that Malebolgia never intended to use Al Simmons to lead hells army on earth, {{spoiler|but as a sperm donor to impregnate Wanda with a demon seed. He knew Al Simmons would give into temptation and find a way to mate with his ex-wife. He does so by making himself look like Terry, Wanda's current husband.}}

* [[Black and Grey Morality]]: Spawn's morality is questionable, but clearly better than Hell. [[Word of God]] says that heaven was made intentionally ambiguous. Their final agenda is good, but they recognize that to stand up to the forces of hell they have to recruit people capable of being just as ruthless. In the audio commentary of the TV show Todd McFarlane compared the ideal heaven and hell going to war as consisting of AtillaAttila the Hun fighting church bingo ladies. The comic, paralleling this, confirmed that heaven had successfully recruited AtillaAttila at some point (mostly to keep Hell from getting him).

* [[Color Me Black]]: On one occasion Spawn used his power to turn a Ku Klux Klan leader black, leaving him to be lynched by his own men.

* [[Contract Onon the Hitman]]: Rebelling against [[Hell]] will have this effect.

* [[Dead Guy Puppet]]: The spinoffspin-off ''The Violator'' features a disturbing series of scenes in which The Violator uses the corpse of a former Cosa Nostra member as a puppet.

{{quote| '''Twitch''': Just checking some details. How's the chili dog?<br />

'''[[Fat Bastard|Sam]]''': A little light on the onions.<br />

* [[Deal Withwith the Devil]]

* [[Eat Me]]: "[[Verb This|EAT THIS!]]" *[[Audible Sharpness|SHINK]]*

* [[Expy]]: [[Spider -Man|Venom]] (another McFarlane creation) with [[Ghost Rider]]'s [[Chain Pain|chains]] and a [[Badass Cape|big scary cape]].

* [[Female Angel, Male Demon]]

* [[Five -Bad Band]]: Violator and his brothers, prior to Violator's banishentbanishment anyway.

* [[God Is Evil|God Is A]] [[Jerkass Gods|Jerkass]] : Prior to the retcon, God was just as bad as Satan.

* [[Glowing Eyes of Doom]]: Most demons have [[Red Eyes, Take Warning|red eyes]], Spawn has green eyes as a way of differentiating between demons and hellspawn.

* [[Heartbroken Badass]]: BIG TIME. Poor Spawn.Even More so after Wanda died.

* [[Hero Stole My Bike]]: In the film, Spawn rides off on a bike as the owner runs out of a bar running angrily after him.

* [[Lawyer -Friendly Cameo]]: Subverted, and got McFarlane into deep shit later on.

* [[Licked Byby the Dog]]: [[Tear Jerker|His wife and best friend don't recognize Al, but his dog does]].

* [[Light Is Not Good]]: The demons of Hell are [[Obviously Evil]], but [[God]] and the angels aren't exactly nice guys, either. However Resurrection Retcons God into a good guy

* [[Like a Badass Out of Hell]]: All the frickenfrickin' time!

* [[Love Makes You Evil]]: It's the reason Al strikes a [[Deal Withwith the Devil]].

* [[Meaningful Name]]: Malebolgia. Named after the circle of fraud in [[The Divine Comedy|Dante's Inferno]]. Fitting considering how well it turns out to make a deal with him.

* [[Mind Screw]]: The many [[Retcon|Retcons]]s and [[Snap Back|Snap Backs]]s.

* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]: Violator, and [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast/Demons Or Angels|most names here]].

* [[Nineties Anti -Hero]]: Actually played with. Spawn is an asshole, yeah, but he's a fair bit more complex than that, especially in the latter part of the comics and the HBO series. A lot of the latter's beginning is devoted to establishing ''why'' he's an asshole, as a matter of fact.

* [[The Obi -Wan]]: Cogliostro. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]]: "All right, [[Star Wars|Yoda]]."

{{quote| '''[[Go Mad Fromfrom the Revelation|Chapel]]''': He looked at me with those green eyes... that cloak...<br />

* [[One -Winged Angel]]: Clown transforms into the huge, demonic Violator for physical fights with Spawn.

* [[Resurrected for Aa Job]]

* [[Shout -Out]]: Early in the comics, Spawn is hanging out with two homeless men in an alley, one's named Frank, the other Alan. [[Frank Miller|Frank's drinking Miller brand beer]], and [[Alan Moore|Alan's drinking Moore brand beer.]] Alan also has an epic beard, like someone we know.

** The effects of the war mask, at least in the HBO series, are possibly a reference to ''[[Jo Jos Bizarre Adventure (Manga)|Jo JosJoJo's Bizarre Adventure]],'' where a similar mask results in vampires.

* [[Ugly Guy, Hot Wife]]: Twitch and his wife Helen is a very straightforward example. Not that the difference in appearances seems to ever have put a damper on their passion - [[Massive -Numbered Siblings|They have seven children.]]

* [[Variable -Length Chain]]

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