The Road to Hell...
Article by Bindi Lavelle

Is paved with good intentions so they say, for Al Simmons this statement has never been truer.

As a CIA Assassin, Al Simmons racked up the highest ever kill score and as a result, when he died Simmons went to hell. In hell Simmons agrees to lead Hell’s army if he can see his wife, Wanda again.

Naturally the devil Malvogen, screws Simmons over; dumping him four years into the future with few memories of his life or death. Unfortunately being A Hell Spawn means he also has to regularly fight the forces of Heaven and anyone else who wants a piece.

In the mid-nineties Spawn was American’s best selling comic. No small feat considering Spawn was a comic dealing with some very grey terrain on a large scale, released by (then) industry new comers, Image and created by former Marvel Comics golden boy Todd MacFarlane, following his legendary quitting.

Spawn has changed the collectible toy/action figure scene too. Through the success of the Spawn comic and action figures, Todd MacFarlane was able to build his own toy empire, merchandising everything from the NFL to Labyrinth and even Elvis.

The universe of the comic has grown massively over the years since its release; taking the apart the original components and exploring them individually, in depth. We have neo-noir cops Sam and Twitch investigating Spawn, his allies and enemies in a dry, matter of fact way, with a notable absence of the supernatural. At the other end of the spectrum is Medieval Spawn, which takes the original idea and shoves some Frank Frazeta into it. And others which build upon MacFarlane’s solid concept of doing the wrong thing for the right reason.

What makes this story so captivating is that Simmons, amongst the chaos remains sincere; all his actions are done with nothing but good intentions. He continues to battle the complications laid before him in nothing short if a heroic manner. The concept itself allows for a lot of conflict, which combined with a rich array of exotic characteristics makes for a great read.

Spawn in a truly worthy conclusion to Superheroes from Hell because of its content and influence (it’s just a shame the movie sucked).