Spawn was huge and counting how big he was, his movie and how well the figures were selling in the 90s it’s odd that it didn’t get a cartoon like other lesser known indie comics like Ultraforce did. But we did get an animated show on HBO simply called Todd McFarlane’s Spawn aimed at an adults and taking those two factors into play it’s no wonder a lot of us didn’t even know this show existed so let’s take a look back at the show that is as good as Batman: The Animated Series.
The show only lasted 18 episodes spread across three 6 episode seasons and yet it did more in its first season than most shows do in their entire run. The show is dark, and not only in tone but also in colors and that helps the bleak mood the show is aiming for really well. The origin of the hero is told perfectly and the supporting characters are all usually great. I mean who doesn’t love Sam and Twitch, two awesome fictional detectives in an already crowded space.
The show is definitely more mature so it’s not for young kids as there is plenty of violence and nudity but not only that in general the themes that the cartoon touches are more complex than any superhero show or cartoon in general. I’d say that’s what makes this show stand out since it all has substance and isn’t just 90s xtreeeme for angst sake.
The villains are all cool, some you hate and are happy to see what’s coming to them while a few others you can see how their lifes got to that point. No one here is really all that sympathetic, not even Spawn which is why he’s more of an anti-hero. The politics and scheming behind everything is interesting to follow. You can’t wait to see more and while a lot is done in so few episodes you’re still left craving for more.
Some characters could’ve been used a little bit better or at least more of before being disposed of but if it hadn’t happened maybe we wouldn’t have gotten as much as we did. It’s too bad the Angela tease never went anywhere with Jade the cute Asian Washington Post reporter taking her role sort of in season 3 but at least Jade was badass on her own.
The series was released on DVDs as 3 different movies with the last one called The Ultimate battle but while they are very serialized and the seasons flow very well together the separate episode release is the way to go. This show is simply amazing and I’m sad that we haven’t seen any other Spawn cartoon but really anything done with the franchise, hopefully something happens soon, in the meantime this underrated classic should be watched by any superhero or animation fan.
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