Review: SPAWN #299
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Todd McFarlane
Artist: Jason Shawn Alexander
Letters: Tom Orzechowski
Colors:
Reviewed by: Carl Bryan
Summary
“WAR TO 300 – The Rapture – Heaven’s answer to the mythic Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are called into action. These eternal warriors are tasked with eliminating the plague called humanity from the face of the Earth! And if that means that Spawn is caught in the crossfire, then so be it!
The Rapture,The Redeemer and a host of other enemies think they have Spawn cornered as he is called into action to protect reporter Marc Rosen. You cannot say that Spawn didn’t give the Redeemer a chance to fix things. Issue #300 should shed light on this exchange.
After a battle that weakens Spawn, he transports Marc away from the fray. Frustrated that he cannot help Spawn immediately, an irritated Marc continues to research files that Spawn has provided. Much to Al Simmon’s consternation, Marc is extremely pissed at Spawn. Marc accuses Spawn of initiating this war between Heaven and Hell and both entities destroying humanity in the cross fire.
Nyx and Jessica find themselves putting some pieces to the puzzle together as well. And they call on an old friend to help find Spawn so they can help him. However, is this a friend to Spawn or a foe?
Spawn pays a visit to a “media demon” to find out the motivation behind his wife’s murder. And we are teased at the role of Heaven, Hell, and all in between in how Spawn lost his wife Wanda.
Positives
McFarlane’s writing has never been stronger and the march towards issue #300 is not lacking. One can see that this is an important artistic milestone as well as story line as the readers need all of their questions answered (Who killed Wanda? Why was Wanda killed? Will Al Simmons ever be human again?). The end frame is haunting!
I have never seen a more powerful Al Simmons as he made short work of the Redeemer in this issue. I don’t know the relationship with the Redeemer, however, Simmons obviously feels that he could work on his behalf. However, this is one torn character!
Speaking of cover art, is everyone picking up the homages that McFarlane is providing to his run on Spiderman? Check out McFarlane’s Spiderman #298 and Spawn #298. McFarlane’s pays homage a lot with his Spawn character and Spidey and the Easter Egg of covers continue to mount up.
Negatives
McFarlane is marching us to Issue #300 and he knows his long term fans are with him. However, there needs to be a big payoff for the longest independent comic ever! There is plenty to be excited about in terms of guest artists and authors.
To celebrate, legendary artists TODD McFARLANE and GREG CAPULLO return with ALL-NEW interior pencils, with additional art provided by JASON SHAWN ALEXANDER, J. SCOTT CAMPBELL, and JEROME OPEÑA, a cavalcade of celebratory covers, and additional writing by SCOTT SNYDER!
Can McFarlane pull this off? Let’s hope so! Sometimes a lot of cooks in the kitchen can kill the stew.
Verdict
This issue serves as a catapult for a couple of new entities in the world of Al Simmons… Nyx and The Rapture. Hat’s off to Todd McFarlane for keeping this character relevant while increasing the supporting cast of characters. It takes a lot to develop a playground and the “Todd Father” has done that and more!
