King Spawn #27 Review

 

Writer: Todd McFarlane

Artists: Javi Fernandez & Kevin Keane

Colorist: Ivan Nunes

Letterer: Andworld Design

Cover Artists: Dan Panosian; Don Aguillo

Publisher: Image

Price: $2.99

Release Date: November 1, 2023

 

Spawn doesn’t want Cogliostro on Hell’s Throne. So he asked the Visage to send him there. She did so after warning that he could never return. What battles will Spawn wage in his new home? Let's leap into King Spawn #27 and find out!

 

Story

Al’s past flashes before his eyes as he falls. Powerless to halt his descent, doubts assault him. Questions probe his memory. Why did Hell choose him? What made Al Simmons worthy of returning from the dead?

 

Rage formed him. He tried to ignore what his father taught him. Ultimately, he became what he hated. The military valued his rage. Jason Wynn wished he could find more killers like Al. But Wanda paid for his talent. Al couldn't protect her from himself.

 

In King Spawn #27, Spawn travels to an area forbidden to symbiotes. Before he can accomplish his goal, he must endure testing. Is he just another lost soul striving to protect others? Or does Al Simmons belong in Hell?

 

Art

Spawn falls through a white abyss. Javi Fernandez & Kevin Keane spin memories like shards of glass, revealing childhood abuse, schoolyard fights, death on the battlefield, and meeting Wanda. Tentacles greet Al's entrance to Hell. A face filled with eyes and teeth looms. Scorpions, spiders, and other insects infest this Valley Of The Shadow. If Al Simmons fears Death in King Spawn #27, he doesn’t show it.

 

Spawn's crimson suit and cape paint a trail of pink like a brush across a virgin canvas. At the heart of the green fires, white stars burn in his eyes. Ivan Nunes uses red to amplify a limited palette for Al's memories. He enhances characters, objects, and backgrounds with highlighting, shading, and texturing. Gray smoke surrounds Spawn in the darkness. Yet the fractured floor reflects light, and the tentacled creature glows with unwelcome vitality.

 

Yellow uppercase letters glow within brown narrative boxes as Todd McFarlane retells Al’s origins in King Spawn #27. Andworld Design helps us hear the impact as Spawn hits Hell’s stone floor. The tentacled monster speaks white letters into cloudy black balloons. Spawn responds with his signature-styled balloons. His words are big, black, and beautiful. Yet the color of a stressed word reminds us of his eyes. Does Spawn’s final utterance suggest a link with Gaia? Or is it just the anger that drives him?

 

Thanks to Image Comics and Todd McFarlane Productions for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

Who are we? Where do we belong? Spawn must wrestle with such questions and accept his destiny in King Spawn #27.

 

Rating 9/10

 

For another cover see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Gunslinger Spawn #25 Review

 

Writer: Todd McFarlane

Artist: Dexter Soy

Inker: Adelso Corona

Colorist: Ivan Nunes

Letterer: Tom Orzechowski

Cover Artists: Dan Panosian; Kevin Keane

Publisher: Image

Price: 2.99

Release Date: October 25, 2023

 

Gunslinger hungers for vengeance, leaving a trail of blood in his wake. Who's his latest target? Let’s leap into Gunslinger Spawn #25 and find out!

 

Story

Truckers work nights for little pay. They’re tireless and loyal, but why? A flaming steed brings one eighteen-wheeler to a halt. When Gunslinger questions him, the trucker admits the truth. He knew what he was transporting.

 

Javier's next target? The depot. Gunslinger slips inside the warehouse and tosses something on the boss's desk. The object startles the man, giving Gunslinger time to garrot him. Or at least question him. But then footsteps sound. So the hellspawn leaves to attend to the man’s workers. But don’t worry, Boss Man! Gunslinger will return!

 

Gunslinger Spawn #25 unreels at a furious pace. Those who hurt his sister Amy will pay. Forsaking his friend Taylor and his shaman Waya, Javier treads a dark road. Yet the darkness doesn’t drown the hellspawn’s soul. Gunslinger uses brains more than weapons to achieve his ends. The guilty must pay. Yet—for the most part—it's by their own hands.

 

Gunslinger Spawn Figure available at McFarlane.com

 

 

Art

Dexter Soy and Adelso Corona avoid double-page spreads and splash pages, delivering detailed, photorealistic art. Changing camera angles captures the energy without jarring the reader. Javier crouches in the shadows while an overweight boss strongarms someone on the phone. Panels focus on the action: knives thud into wood and flesh, feet race down hallways, Javier pulls his gun, and his eyes glow as he says, "I'll be back." Be warned. If King Spawn #26 got your pulse racing three weeks ago, Gunslinger #25 could push your galloping heart into the danger zone!

 

Gunslinger's knife gleams. Every ripple and skull on the hellspawn’s outfit shows. Wherever Javier's boots take him—inside the dark cab, into the dim warehouse, or inside the illuminated Boss Man’s office—Ivan Nunes' shading and highlighting get there first. Darkness and silhouettes enhance drama and tone down the flying blood. Even the details—Post-It Notes on a filing cabinet, books on a floating shelf, a slice of pizza in a cardboard box, or a can of soda—breathe life into this deadly tale,

 

Tom Orzechowski delivers easy-to-read dialogue in stylized balloons in Gunslinger Spawn #25. While the yellow words in brown boxes are slightly smaller, Todd McFarlane's concise narrative won't tax readers. Sparse sound effects accentuate the action as Javier evens the scales. But will achieving his revenge sate Javier's hunger?

 

Final Thoughts

While Javier bathes his gloves in blood, Gunslinger Spawn #25 puts those who treat our planet callously in the crosshairs.

 

Rating 9.8/10

 

For another cover see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

 

Gunslinger Spawn #23 Review

 

Writer: Todd McFarlane

Artist: Brett Booth

Inker: Adelso Corona & Corey King

Colorist: Ivan Nunes

Letterer: Tom Orzechowski

Cover Artists: Fede Mele; Kevin Keane

Publisher: Image

Price: 2.99

Release Date: August 9, 2023

 

When we last saw our heroes, Violator had gored Gunslinger, and Clown kicked his daughter Dakota into a chasm. Can either survive? Let’s fall into Gunslinger Spawn #23 and find out! 

 

 

Clown & Violator in Spawn #14 (1993)

 

 

Story

Todd McFarlane enlightens us on how the pit on Omega Island relates to Clown's nemesis Cogliostro, aka Sinn. He also reminds us why Clown wants to tick Gunslinger off Spawn's list of allies. His aims are tactical but also personal and harken back to a Banquet Gone Wrong earlier in this series.

 

On the surface, Violator slings Gunslinger off his tusks before leading a charge against the suffering spawn. Javier's friend Taylor arrives to claim a piece of the action. Yet the heart of this story beats in the dark pit: a battle of wills between a Machiavellian father and his headstrong child. 

 

Violator toy available at McFarlane.com

 

 

While family drama slashes through the pit in Gunslinger Spawn #23,  some dialogue and narrative need sharpening. The sentence "Dakota and her catch near their descent" induces head-scratching. A Clown balloon tells us: "I need won't you anymore." When Dakota gets personal, she talks about choosing. Then in the next panel, she says she went without choosing her destination. Taylor got on Gunslinger's case in issue #21 because the illiterate cowboy from ages past had never heard of dinosaurs. Yet, when Dakota suggests to Gunslinger that one of her tiny dinosaurs can transform into a steed, Taylor asks, "You're saying that thing turns into a horse?"

 

"Um, Taylor? What'd you ride in on, buddy?"

 

Still, there's much more to like than dislike in Gunslinger Spawn #23, such as Taylor's return, Gunslinger's rejuvenation, and Dakota's aching hunger for familial affection. My favorite sentence compares shrieking to the baying of injured dogs, which relates to one of Gunslinger's abilities. Best of all: fans learn how darling Dakota forged her affinity with dinosaurs. That alone is worth the price of admission for Mr. Clown's Wild Ride!

 

 

Todd McFarlane shares Dakota's First Appearance

 

 

Art

Brett Booth conveys realism and roughness to Gunslinger Spawn #23. Aided by inkers Adelso Corona & Corey King, dinosaurs and the Violator ignite the big-budget thrills of the Jurassic Park movies. Claws slash, gunfire flashes, blood flies, and hellspawn eyes burn. Momentous action shakes the compound on Omega Island, while at the bottom of the "near-bottomless" pit, light transfixes Dakota from a crack in the wall.

 

A few moments don't quite gel with the narrative. After hitting the bottom of the pit head-first, Clown stands, unbothered, in the next panel. Then Dakota hurls him to the floor again. Although he's struck from a far less height, this fall elicits a pained response. Up top, the narrator claims the minions are in a frenzy. While their eyes glow and innumerable incisors glisten, they're just peering into the pit. Later, the narrator states they surround Gunslinger, yet all we see are individual close-ups. The end—when they see the sun through openings in walls, doesn't marry with the poster-worthy double-page opening battle of issue #21. Hopefully, the next issue will finally unleash the clash of the spawn-titans. 

 

 

Gunslinger Spawn Figure available at McFarlane.com

 

 

 

As this review's length has tested your patience, I'll forego a detailed analysis of coloring and lettering. Ivan Nunes' vivid and luminous photorealism elevates Gunslinger Spawn #23, while Tom Orzechowski ensures that dialogue balloons and narrative boxes are pleasing to the eye and easy to read. Sound effects help you feel the energy coursing through this prehistoric and hellish adventure. One final shout-out: Dakota relates her dinosaur-handling origins via narrative boxes colored somewhere between magenta and brown. It's an eye-catching shade that sets the white letters off beautifully.

 

Final Thoughts

Amid the battle that rocks Omega Island, Gunslinger Spawn #23 examines the tragedy of dysfunctional families. Ironically, a monster’s unexpected act of caring has the final word.

 

Rating 9.2/10

 

To view another cover see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.