HBO’s three-season dark fantasy TV show might technically be a comic book adaptation, but it’s perfect for people who hate the comic book TV and movie genres. Although I personally love comic books and their adaptations, I can understand why some people are tired of seeing them everywhere.
The market is oversaturated with stories of overpowered superheroes trying to take down the bad guy and billionaire vigilantes who don’t play by the rules. The heroes often propped up as the pinnacle of good are morally dubious when you think about them for longer than a minute. What’s more, comic book stories can get very copy-and-paste at times, feeling derivative instead of creative.
Luckily, the HBO TV show Spawn* ***is the perfect solution to superhero fatigue. The animated TV show ran from 1997 to 1999, with Keith David voicing the character. Although the series is technically based on an Image Comics story, it will be perfect for folks who want a fresh story that goes beyond the bounds of superheroes and human vigilantes.
The premise of Todd McFarlane’s *Spawn *is much more in line with an epic, dark fantasy than it is a superhero story. Al Simmons, an assassin, dies and makes a literal deal with the devil, Malebolgia, to come back to life. In exchange for a second life, he agrees to become a hellspawn in Malebolgia’s army. What he doesn’t know is that he’s about to be caught in a war between Heaven and Hell. The war between Heaven and Hell is a fantasy staple, appearing in everything from Paradise Lost to Hazbin Hotel. It’s much rarer in comic book stories, though.
Like all Faustian bargains, the evil lord follows through on the agreement with a big twist. Al Simmons gets to see his wife again, but not as himself. He is brought back five years after his death as Spawn in a rotting, decrepit body that’s filled with maggots and smelling of death. This trick falls right in line with folklore trickster gods who show up in fantasy, like Reynard in The Magicians and Eugenides in the Queen’s Thief series.
What’s more, most of the fights Spawn gets into in the animated series root back to this deeply fantastical Heaven and Hell premise. Spawn is supposed to be committing acts of violence, but he’s not doing enough. However, he still poses a threat to the balance of good and evil, as does every other member of the army. As such, Hell sends other agents of evil to hunt him down and lure him to the dark side. Meanwhile, Heaven is trying to kill Spawn to get an edge on the underworld.
A few big comics lean into this type of storyline, like Lucifer or Ghost Rider, but both of those storylines feel much more at home in the fantasy genre, too. If you didn’t know they were comic book stories first, you could easily get through them without realizing they are connected to comic books.
The *Spawn *animated TV show rejects many of the things that make superhero stories beloved. Rather than feeling clean and polished, it’s gritty and disgusting. The animation is packed with gore that feels like it’s pulled from a horror movie. The story embraces gothic horror elements instead of typical superhero conventions. It feels more similar to Castlevania or Dracula than it does to any mainstream comics, besides maybe Hellblazer.
The main character doesn’t align with any of the good, evil, or antihero categories. It also feels extremely distinct from gritty superhero stories like Batman or The Punisher. *Spawn *doesn’t feel like a guy in a costume who’s out there fighting crime as a vigilante. His abilities come from dark magic and necroplasm. Plus, he doesn’t feel bound by humanity. On top of everything else, Spawn feels deeply personal to Todd McFarlane. Even though it has live-action adaptations and potential new series on the way, the show feels isolated rather than an extension of a larger comic book universe like Marvel or DC. Truly, the Spawn animated TV show will feel fresh and entertaining in a sea of other superhero stories.
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1997 - 1999-00-00