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Spawn Collection #1

Spawn Collection, Vol. 1

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Witness the power of pure McFarlane with this essential collection of comics that have been out of print for 10 years The first issues of McFarlane's smash hit Spawn are here in a brand new collection - bigger and badder than ever This collection includes issues #1-8, 11, & 12, featuring the pulse-pounding art of the master himself, Todd McFarlane

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 4, 2005

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About the author

Todd McFarlane

1,834 books441 followers
Todd McFarlane is a Canadian comic book artist, writer, toy manufacturer/designer, and media entrepreneur who is best known as the creator of the epic occult fantasy series Spawn.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, McFarlane became a comic book superstar due to his work on Marvel Comics' Spider-Man franchise. In 1992, he helped form Image Comics, pulling the occult anti-hero character Spawn from his high school portfolio and updating him for the 1990s. Spawn was one of America's most popular heroes in the 1990's and encouraged a trend in creator-owned comic book properties.

In recent years, McFarlane has illustrated comic books less often, focusing on entrepreneurial efforts, such as McFarlane Toys and Todd McFarlane Entertainment, a film and animation studio.

In September, 2006, it was announced that McFarlane will be the Art Director of the newly formed 38 Studios, formerly Green Monster Games, founded by Curt Schilling.

McFarlane used to be co-owner of National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers but sold his shares to Daryl Katz. He's also a high-profile collector of history-making baseballs.

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5 stars
610 (37%)
4 stars
566 (34%)
3 stars
324 (19%)
2 stars
96 (5%)
1 star
35 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews
Profile Image for Greg Strandberg.
Author 94 books97 followers
November 26, 2014
I read these back in middle school and into high school. I went to Cosmic Comics one day and heard the clerk talking about these new Image comics. Spawn #1 was expensive, around $2.99, but I got it. And I got all the rest. Boy, I wish I didn't take those posters out!

These are excellent reads. I like how the story evolved even after McFarlane left and other writers and artists came in. I liked all the weird and fascinating characters introduced, even in the later issues, like the 60s and 70s.

I stopped reading Spawn around #100, although I may have a few issues up to around 120.

Good stuff, a real interesting and wonderful era in modern comic history.
Profile Image for Ill D.
Author 0 books8,595 followers
June 18, 2018
Spawn! Spawn! Spawn!

I remember reading this exact collection about ten years ago. I really enjoyed it then and while time and experience have left me increasingly jaded, cynical, and uncompromisingly closed-minded there’s still a whole lot to find positive about Spawn in the here and now. While certainly not at the Olympian level of say Watchmen or Dark Knight Returns, Todd McFarlane’s nightmare world fantasy creation still has a lot going for it and definitely deserves the accolade: seminal. Sure, not all is glittering gold but varnish still feels fresh (almost) thirty years down the road.

A lot of good can be said of character development so let’s start there. Much like my beloved Punisher (only Ennis/Aaron runs plz), even though we’re thrust into the sequentially illustrated world of the ostensibly otherworldly realm of the comic, Frank Castle and his hell-spawned counterpart both retain a particularly visceral high level of believability. Even from underneath the opaque cowl of this anti-anti hero, Al Simmons can be seen to exhibit a strong sense of verisimilitude via expertly drawn illustrations of his face. Eliciting sympathy (and hopefully a dash of empathy) we are able to connect to his fully human side as shades of betrayal, vengeance, anger, and a whole host of emotions riddle their way across the pages.

Equally well developed characters which mostly feature ancillaries including: Simmons’ ex-wife Wanda, her new husband Terri, the bumbling detectives Sam and Twitch, and many more do a stupendous job to flesh out the world that McFarlane has built. Toss in a highly detailed reduplication of the New York cityscape and the story gets even more bodied. Only bogged down by verbose verbiage and duly (un-)necessary repetitions (“Hey! We gotta sell more comics,” they say) most everything clicks overall.

The action is great. And the dialogue, while a little underwhelming at times, generally moves the story along at a solid pace. So even with the occasional pitfalls and minor detriments that haven’t quite held up so well, McFarlane has crafted a story that feels sturdily grown from extant sources as well as his own (surprisingly thoughtful) original concoctions.

Did I mention that Alan Moore, Frank Miller, and Neil Gaiman (well not this collection due to a little copyright snare) all showed up on this too? While not their best works, still intriguing contributions to the Spawn mythos have been made.

Overall: still a worthy read almost three decades down the road.
Profile Image for Stephen.
1,516 reviews12.3k followers
July 10, 2010
3.5 stars. I loved the concept of Spawn both as a hero and as a series. An anti-hero whose powers, though formidable, are finite and we get to watch the powers run down as the series progresses. It was also nice to see a successful independent comic that could compete with the big boys.
Profile Image for Anna.
512 reviews79 followers
July 10, 2018
It was a pain to get through. I was hoping for, well, maybe not a new favourite series but at least something good and gripping since I've heard so much about "Spawn" - mostly how awesome it is, how unique, how cool. Point is: it wasn't. Volume 1 felt incredibly dated (I know it's from the early 90s but there are comics which have aged much, much better), the narrative was tedious and the story not particularly interesting. Perhaps it was simply a very poor beginning and "Spawn" gets better later but do I want to give it another chance? I'm not sure.
Profile Image for James.
2,567 reviews76 followers
May 31, 2020
3.25 stars. I’ve always knew who Spawn was, knew about that older movie and the gist of his back ground, just never read any of his books. So when this book came into my part time gig, I figured I’d get it and check it out. Pretty solid stuff. Todd’s art is great and the writing is solid. This could have gotten a higher score but issues #8 and #11 got a little wonky. But I look forward to reading the next volume as there where some things that had been building up throughout this book that looks like will all come to a head in the next book.
Profile Image for Sean.
10 reviews1 follower
April 19, 2012
While I haven't read every issue of "Spawn", I was into the series in high school and my early college days. I just picked this "collection" to signify that I've read a good chunk of the run. I think I started around Issue 60 (or so) and got pretty close to Issue 100. I've read some random other issues here and there as well.

The movie is TERRIBLE. Avoid it at all costs. I'm hoping someone comes along and reboots it.

But the comic is pretty amazing. Some of the best artwork out there, and the story is fantastic.

I also highly recommend the spinoffs. Sam and Twitch is fantastic, and the other Spawn storylines (it's late and I'm tired, but I'm pretty sure they're called Spawn: Dark Ages and something else) were pretty badass as well.
Profile Image for Christopher.
354 reviews61 followers
July 26, 2015
Spawn isn't a comic I trust myself to rate fairly one way or the other. I read these back when the series first started in '92 and loved it. Loved it.

I still love the premise, but am not sure how quickly I would overlook the flaws in dialogue or ham-fisted problem solving if I had come to this in my mid-thirties with a clean slate. But I may have also allowed the art and ideas to wash over the rough areas. I just don't know. So this is 4 stars from teenager me. Adult me is just along for the nostalgia.
Profile Image for Jay Rox.
58 reviews1 follower
April 18, 2017
FOR VIDEO REVIEW CLICK HERE - https://youtu.be/QNdx7-6OoRQ .. its the perfect place to start reading Spawn this has great Mcfarlene art. its a story about a former mercenary who has come back from the dead to watch his wife move on with her life with out him. he's cought in the middle of a lot of shady business all while trying to remember who he was & figure out why hi's here. this has a few different writters so some issues are a lot more dialogue heavy wish can ruin the pasting at times but its a good read overall . I give this a - 8/10
Profile Image for ირაკლი სულაძე.
236 reviews12 followers
August 18, 2017
Actually finished all the volumes...
ძალიან საინტერესო ტიპია სპაუნი. მომენტებში (განსაკუთრებით ძველ ნომრებში) სენდმენს წააგავს. არის პერსონაჟი, რომელიც ანტი-გმირია, ჩვეულებრივი ხალხისგან გამორჩეული და რაღაც დოზით აღმატებული, მაგრამ არა გამაღიზიანებელი. იმდენი რამეა სპაუნზე დაწერილი და თან ისეთი ხალხი წერდა (მაკფარლენი, გეიმანი, მილერი და სხვები), რომ ძალიან დაიხუნძლა ისტორიებით, თუმცა ყველაზე შთამბეჭდავი, ალბათ მაინც სადღაც შუაწელზეა, როცა არმაგედონის თემა შემოდის და ასე თუ ისე სპაუნის ვინაობაც იხსნება. მოკლედ, Image Comics - ს სიღრმისეული გაცნობა სპაუნით ნაღდად ღირს. თუ არა და ბეტმენთან რომ აქვს პატარა ნომერი, ცალკე ისიც კანფეტია.
Profile Image for Edwin Piston.
117 reviews12 followers
February 6, 2021
Conocía al personaje solo de vista, y de saber que existe la película de 1997 (horrible película).
La verdad que me sorprendieron varias cosas, principalmente lo visceral que llega a ser con unas cosas que no esperaría encontrar en un comic. Está interesante.
Profile Image for Omar Zambrano.
476 reviews19 followers
August 7, 2020
Hace más de 15 años conocí a spawn y ahora siento que viajo por el tiempo, en especial porque no podía conseguirla en forma ordenada.. Vamos a ver si puedo leer todo lo que me faltó leer en esa juventud. Spawn es sádico y su historia que ronda un infierno, ángeles, asesinos y sobre todo mucha violencia lo vuelven un cómic un poco diferente
Profile Image for Aguilar Elliot.
16 reviews
February 8, 2012
More amazing than a spiderman. More incredible than a hulk… SPAWN is one of the seminal comic books of the 90s. Conjured from the mind of Todd McFarlane, it’s an explosion of creativity, bursting with energy that bounces off the pages. Someone could be illiterate and still love it as a visual masterpiece. What Dante is to poetry, is what McFarlane is to illustrative art.

The story revolves around Al Simmons who is more or less a good guy in the eyes of society, a dutiful soldier, a Captain America type who dies and goes to hell because of the copious amounts of blood he spilled during his days as a soldier, always following the orders of the powers that be and never really thinking for himself. In Hell, Al makes a deal with the devil Malebolgia to come back to life on earth, so he can see his beloved wife again, but (there’s always a “but” with the devil) he has to assume the role of Hellspawn (aka Hell’s pawn) – a super powered corpse looking entity of demonic force. And in a cruel, twisted joke, Malebolgia returns him to earth five years after his death, only to find his wife now has a kid and is married to his former best friend. Oh the drama!

Bewildered, confused, perplexed as to what his purpose/mission really is; Spawn spends much of his time in the back alley slums of New York City, his own fortress of solitude, trying to figure out what’s happening with his life, trying to resist the forces (good and evil) tugging him back and forth, while serving as a kind of hero, a kind of protector, a kind of king to the homeless and downtrodden. Armed with limited unlimited power, he can do pretty much anything – heal diseases, resurrect the dead, beat the crap out of evil monster things, BUT the more he uses his awesome powers, the more it drains his life force, and eventually will return him to Hell, and thus begin his duties as Malebolgia’s general in the wars against heaven. So he has to be careful about when he chooses to fight, which to me is a cool paradox for a hero to have to pick and choose when he can use his crazy awesome powers for the good.

So many interesting characters arise from the shadows of this series: Angela – a badass, renegade angel, at first foe, and then friend to Spawn; The Redeemer – an evil, ruthless bastard forced by heaven to do the work of good, essentially the opposite of Spawn; The Violator – a joker like demon clown, charged with keeping tabs on Spawn; John Sansker aka Heartless John – a vampire’s vampire, and so many more.

Enjoyed this series very much. It forever has a place in my pantheon of kick ass comics, right alongside Alan Moore’s V for Vendetta, and Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns.
Profile Image for RoChe Montoya.
Author 9 books15 followers
June 15, 2015
Ok so I guess this collection has 1-8 and 11 and 12 but not 9 and 10, can't remember if those are absolutely necessary to the story line, it has been too long. But how can you not like the Todd McFarlane original. There is even homage to his awesome Spider-man run on his 1st cover of Spawn. So you get to know this new Hell Spawn, Al Simmons and what he is supposed to do, be the devil's general, but he don't wanna. One of the stories is how the hero goes after a child killer and well does what a hell spawn would do. If you like adult type scenarios with awesome comic book art and an anti-hero with badass enemies, then Spawn is your comic.
Profile Image for Nate Deprey.
1,231 reviews8 followers
February 7, 2018
Todd McFarlane's art is one of the few things I like about comics in the 1990s. It's evocative and an amazing balance of hyper real and over the top that makes my heart sing. His art is so good it helped create an independent comics revolution with the formation of Image Comics along with six other artists. But as great as an artist and visual story teller as McFarlane is he is not a writer and ultimately that holds this collection back. Even with Frank Miller coming in at the end what is really needed is another voice at the beginning to get this story off on the right footing and separate it from good to great.
60 reviews1 follower
September 3, 2018
I've actually read this once before in the individual issues but I miss doing so so I went back and reread absolutely had a blast. Absolutely love the dark anti-hero more than the average this is your superhero good guy because there's usually a lot more complexities I like the darker atmosphere especially when humor is introduced because then adds a nice contrast instead of just your Plain Jane this is your good guy this is your bad guy and they're going to fight scenario the plot twists and the complexities of these types of stories I've always been more attracted to me. thoroughly enjoyed reading this over again.
Profile Image for Fugo Feedback.
4,950 reviews168 followers
July 20, 2015
Leído en su inmensa mayoría, y no sé si en su totalidad, de las viejas y queridas revistitas de Vid que supieron estar de saldos en algún verano marplatense de década y pico atrás. Spawn estará lejos de ser un comic perfecto, pero sí muy ideal para leer en la playa entre mate y mate, o entre pispeada y pispeada a las vecinas de sombrilla. Lástima que perdí como diez números prestándoselos a un amigo que volví a ver una sola vez en la vida.
Cualquiera de estos años me pongo en campaña para recuperarlo.
Profile Image for Shinyfox.
253 reviews16 followers
October 26, 2012
My boyfriend recommended this to me and I'm glad he did. I'm not a comic-book girl. I grew up with chapter books and was never introduced to comics until a few months ago when the Avengers craze hit and I picked up a few. Then I was handed this and told to read it. I was skeptical but once I started reading I found it was hard for me to put it down. "just one more page" turned into ten and then twenty! I enjoyed the characters and the plot and it was very intriguing, if a tiny bit gruesome at times. I can't wait to get my hands on the second volume!
Profile Image for Tomas.
463 reviews9 followers
September 22, 2015
This was my first contact with the Spawn and I will continue reading because I want to know what happens next. I grew quite fond of Al. He is a really nice character but I usually do not like this pseudo-christian mythical story plots : Devil here, Angels there, ...I really doubt that there will be less of this stuff here. Art was very 90's which does not bother me at all. So overall I enjoyed quite a bit
Profile Image for Mitch Romig.
65 reviews
February 23, 2017
This was my favorite thing as a kid. Others may disagree, but I think it holds up. It's heavy on atmosphere and light on actual story, but it still feels epic. The guest writers do a good job telling single issue stories while still moving things forward.
Profile Image for Coleman Concannon.
67 reviews10 followers
April 4, 2013
art=incredibly caricatured 90s style. Obvious McFarlane artist>writer: slow development/poor dialogue.
Profile Image for Little Timmy.
7,301 reviews58 followers
January 21, 2016
A darker hero than most. While the story is above average it's the fantastic McFarlane art that makes this book above the regular comics. Very recommended
Profile Image for Ясен.
68 reviews2 followers
August 25, 2016
Един от най-великите антигерои в историята на комиксите!
Profile Image for Jedhua.
688 reviews57 followers
March 2, 2018
ESTIMATED DNF RATING: {1/5 star to 1.5+/5 stars}

STANDARDIZED RATING: <1/5 stars>
Profile Image for Jer Clarke.
35 reviews4 followers
November 11, 2020
Overall Spawn is pretty trash, and it's hard to recommend someone get into it now, but it has a very special place in my heart because it was the first series I got the trades for and read with dedication (back in ~2000, at the age of 17). Actual hero books were a real turn off, with all their history and nonsense, and starting at Spawn #1 and working up was a really fun experience.

This first set, especially, was pretty spectacular, and after re-reading my old trades as well as further issues up past the 50s, I can attest that the start was absolutely the best part. It gets weird and really uneven after that, with a lot of shark jumping and other BS.

The guest issues in this book, specifically Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore, are particularly awesome, and played a big part in making me fall in love with this book. Angela is an absurd character design, but the concept of violent angels that hunt hellspawn is too good to pass up.

All in all, it was a revolution at the time it came out, and there's a lot to love in Spawn, even if it is trash at the end of the day.
Profile Image for Erik.
10 reviews1 follower
December 2, 2020
This is a special book for me in that it is one that helped me learn to read. When I was held back in the second grade because I could not read this was one of the books that I picked up that could turn my interest towards something that held words. The main reason I did not learn to read had to do with working alcoholic parents but when they tell you that your child is being retained because they cannot read, they start to pay attention. Literacy for young adults is very important, there is no way for someone with no literacy to truly be able to flourish in this world.
This weird comic book was that; about a murdered super soldier who is resurrected by a King of hell to become a Hell Spawn. This is not appropriate reading for a 7-year-old, there are highly adult situations and bad language. If you put a cool superhero on a rack in a 7/11 an illiterate kid might pick it up for the cool pictures and then enter into a journey that will take them into the world of literature.
Profile Image for Jack "THATLegoRobber" Brown.
53 reviews
August 5, 2025
8.5/10

Hell Yeah!

Such a great introduction to the character of Spawn (Al Simmons), really digs deep into his character and gives some lore into other Hellspawns and other residents of Hell like The Vindicator.

The art style perfectly matches the character, just love how Spawn is just aura farming in every panel. That one panel of Spawn draped in weapons was sick, I just love the idea of Spawn using guns while having extremely OP abilities that he can't use cause it has limited usage.

Spawn being friends with the homeless in the alley makes for some wholesome moments in a rather dark comic line, especially when he sticks up and defends them. Speaking of dark, Kincaid is next level evil and entirely deserved what Spawn did to him even if he didn't stay dead for long.

The side characters could be a bit more interesting as I just think they're a bit bland but I'm mainly here for Spawn so its not a massive problem for me.
Profile Image for Mr. Stick.
411 reviews
March 31, 2025
"I'M A POET AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW IT. BETTER YET... I'M THE VIOLATOR! AND IF I DON'T KILL YOU TODAY... I'LL TRY-IT-LATER!"
- Violator

The first eight issues are crowded with often laughable dialog. Lengthy, brooding inner-monologs reminiscent of Batman. But, super edgy and fresh art.
By issues ten and eleven, the story catches up to the art quality. Spawn finally starts remembering who he was and why he's dead/not-dead... undead?
I was partial to the last issue with Spawn and his homeless buddies drinking by the fire, singing the Flintstone's theme song.
For me, this is just a reminder of snortin' pixie sticks and wearing MC Hammer pants in the early nineties. A trip back to sixth grade.
Not awful. Slow. Really good at the end. Three stars.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews

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