REVIEW: Spawn #10

Story: Dave Sim
Art: Todd McFarlane
Colors: Steve Oliff, Reuben Rude, and Olyoptics
Letters: Tom Orzechowski
Review: Art Bee

Spawn #10 is one of my favorite issues in the series and one of my most cherished of comics. It has little monetary value, but to me it is a classic that will always have a valuable spot in my memories.
This issue is a special collaboration between Dave Sim, creator of Cerebus, and Todd McFarlane. They have come together for a special message and an even more special slap. There will be more on this later.

This issue picks up right after the introduction of Angela and her confrontation with Spawn. At the end of #9, Angela has fled leaving behind her relic staff which Spawn unintelligently picks up and activates. This action whisks our beloved antihero to another plane of existence where he finds himself torn between his two halves: Al Simmons and Spawn. During this adventure, Spawn is constantly repeating the phrase, “I am not Spawn”. This is strange and confusing but it does make sense later. 

Spawn #10 is a complete slap to the faces of Marvel and DC comics. On page 5 we see comic creators lined up in chains with hoods over their heads symbolizing the loss of their identities due to signing away their creators’ rights. Then, on pages 6 and 7 we find a large dungeon cell with the arms of several recognizable characters sticking out, reaching for freedom, including Batman, Doc Ock, The Hulk, The Joker, etc. Those creations were from someone’s imagination and signed away to either Marvel or DC for nothing more than a job. Superman makes an appearance in a shadowy cameo referred to only as, “He-who-came-first”, but it is evident it’s Superman. All of these superheroes grant Spawn their power, a.k.a. the power that they were denied: freedom.

At the middle of the issue Cerebus comes to Spawn and helps guide him out of the limbo in which he is entrapped. This is a clever little scheme to help tie together the imagery in the beginning of the issue and what is to come. We find that, “I am not Spawn”, is Spawn but also Al Simmons. The reason, “I am not Spawn”, is used links Todd McFarlane to his creation; for they will always be a part of each other.

This issue was significant to McFarlane’s career because it marks the end of the legal disputes with him and the others that left Marvel and founded Image Comics, where creators own and control their own creations.
Yay for Image!

P.S. The artwork was purposely not brought up, because I am a complete fanboy of McFarlane and could never admit any wrong in his work even if I saw it. The artwork is utterly kick ass in this issue. Especially the black and white portions with Cerebus!
See, there I go. I need to stop myself or this will be 1000 words of why I love McFarlane’s artwork.