Okay, now before I *hopefully* go see The Dark Knight sometime today, I'd like to take this as a moment to try and give some recognition to one of the comic book superheroes who has slipped out of the major comic spotlight. He was the best selling comic book back in the 90's *man, I wish I was older back then- the 90s were like, the calm before the storm of war and stupidity*

... I'm talkin' about Spawn, man!

This guy has been and always will be my favorite super hero, or anti-hero depending on how you look at him. The thing I love so much about Spawn is that it takes on a different perspective for comic books. The Spawn comics are not your run of the mill comics, and Spawn is not your run of the mill superhero, either.

While most superheros found their origins with radio activity *though personally I'd think you'd just end up like that toxic waste guy in Robocop* or toxic waste, Spawn probably had the worst of the bunch. Al Simmons was an agent for the goverment, but then he was brutually murdered by his partner, Chapel in the line of duty. His own boss, Jaso Wyne, had ordered his death *and a covert one at that*.

Things really start to suck for Al Simmons when he finds himself in the bowels of ###### itself, with Malebolgia, the leader of the 8th circl of ######, waiting for him. The bargain he proposes is simple- join him and lead his army of fellow [heck]spawn, and he can see his wife Wanda again... Al Simmons, confused and grieved beyond words, says yes.

Of course, he never read the fine print.

Al Simmons awakes back on Earth, but no longer as Al Simmons, but The [heck]spawn. But everything has been taken from him- he's been dead for 4 years, and his wife has in fact married another man in his wake- Terry Fitzergerald- another one of his friends! That, plus being stripped of his humanity and left in the middle of the alleys without direction except for some vile clown who is anything but funny- the Violator.

Enraged, confused, and without purpose or identity, Spawn quickly calls it quits on his deal with Malebolgia and makes what little use he can out of his new form, defending the homeless in the back alleys of New York for thugs, mafia, and all sorts of outrageous evils in between, from the cyborg assasin Overtkill hired by Jason Wynn to permanently kill Al Simmons to child murderer Billy Kincaid. Of course, things eventually elevated in Spawn- once Malebolgia figures out Spawn ain't gonna play his game, he simply takes the route of killing him, and soon Spawn has to deal with both demons AND angels who all want him dead. And just awhile back they concluded the Armegeddon saga where Spawn confronted both God and Satan so he could save humanity- and at the heart of this, all Spawn wants is to be human again- a hope that has so far eluded him even when it seemed like he already was.

Todd Mcfarlene is a genius in my opinion. Yes, I know Spawn has faded from the center spotlight, but it's still a very original comic series in my opinion- sure, it's defintiley not for everyon, having both swearing, violence, and blood/gore, but I still love it. Spawn is a believable character who you can and will feel sorry for many times in the comics- he goes from being a **** one moment to being a poor soul who is struggling just to maintain what little humanity he has left in him.

And once again, the thing I really love about Spawn is that underneath all that good and evil, there is a very strong message worth listening to. Qouthe Todd McFarlene *I'm writing this from the inside of my Spawn DVD case XD* :

"The main premise of Spawn is the fact we need to be the masters of our own destiny. We are all capable of both great acts of kindness and compassion as well as hideous acts of terror and evil depending on the situation we are thrown into. In the end, it is our actions and decisions that define who and what we are.

In subsequent stories for both the comic books and animated series, as well as hopefully in further movie sequels *there have been rumors of both another Spawn movie- and I'll admit it's nowhere near as good as some superhero flix like the Batman ones, but I still love it as a fan- and animated series circulating around, but here he is refering to the old movie and animated series back in the 90's*, we will see the evolution of a man's maturity, who although he will never be purely good, will continue to act on raw emotions, make mistakes and have to deal with the consequences."

There is a lot to Spawn, and maybe you're not convinced, but I shall remain a fan for life. With a terrific story, a believable character who is just as flawed as any of us, and some deeper meanings behind all of it, it's hard not to become a fan of Spawn. Besides, who can deny kick-awesome art like this?

But I've blabbered enough. Has a gud dai!

Some inappropriate language removed - Nukora