It has been just over a year since Todd McFarlane released Spawn’s Universe #1 which heralded the addition of three new monthly Spawn titles to the original Spawn comic. We now have Spawn, King Spawn, Gunslinger Spawn and The Scorched. McFarlane is writing Gunslinger Spawn and drawing occasional covers for some of the comics. Spawn is currently being written by Irish writer Rory McConnville who has been writing for the British weekly comic 2000 AD. American writer Sean Lewis is writing the remaining two titles, King Spawn and The Scorched.
It’s difficult to get hold of accurate sales figures for comics these days. But from what I’ve read online or heard in interviews, all four Spawn titles are regularly in the monthly top sellers. It appears that McFarlane’s efforts have really paid off with not only the new titles selling well but also the flagship Spawn comic receiving a substantial lift in sales. Before issue #300 of Spawn was released in September 2019, the comic was shifting around just 15,000 issues a month. Now it’s said to be closer to 45,000, a huge increase which is matched by each of the new Spawn titles.
I’m late to Spawn comics. I’m not sure why but I didn’t read Spawn back when it was first released over 30 years ago. If memory serves me well, I was deep into the Vertigo titles at the time, comics like HellbIazer, Sandman, Doom Patrol and The Invisibles. I started reading Spawn after it hit isse #300 and I’m now reading all four Spawn monthly comics. The art is consistently high quality with McFarlane ensuring each of the comics has a top tier artist. I’ve been impressed by the writing, too. Sure, it’s not Shakespeare but I’m enjoying the stories and most importantly having fun reading them.
Another positive is Image Comics and Todd McFarlane’s decision to keep the comics at the $2.99 price point. With Marvel and DC’s monthly comics currently priced between $3.99 to $5.99–Action Comics, Batman and Detective Comics are all $4.99 as of writing this–the indie comics market offers the best value and quite often better stories and art than the so-called “Big Two.”
Gunslinger Spawn issue #12 came out today. I’m planning on making a video review after I get home from work tonight. So is the comic still good a year into its run? I think so and comic fans appear to agree. I think Gunslinger is the best seller out of the four Spawn titles, but they are very close. Brett Booth has been producing some seriously stunning art on the book and it reads like Todd McFarlane is really enjoying writing it. I recommend it if you are intersted in what the Spawn comics are like these days.
Thanks so much for reading!
-Wakizashi, *never thought I would become a Spawn fan but here I am.*
Wakizashi's Reviews 
I’ve been a long term Spawn fan, bar a few breaks here and there, and I’ve been really enjoying the new Spawn’s Universe books as well. The stories and art have all been so good, especially Gunslinger Spawn. McFarlane has done a fantastic job in getting this expanded Spawn world of comics up and running. The fact he’s also keep the price down in these competitive times is another plus point. I’ve been enjoying you review’s and videos as well, keep up the great work. There are loads of collected editions of the older Spawn comics now, so there’s plenty to choose from if you want to catch up with the rich history of Spawn.
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Thanks Paul. It’s good to hear from a long term fan that the new Spawn comics are so enjoyable. You know the history of the characters and you must have seen so many stories explored before now. Can I ask if any of it feels a bit stale, like you’ve been here before? It must be difficult not to repeat things with such a long running series. Also is there a particular story arc or sequence of issues that you recommend as essential reading? I enjoyed the two issues in which the original Gunslinger Spawn made his first appearance.
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Hi, yeah, there’s been up’s and downs with Spawn over the years, but it’s one of those characters that always seems to draw me back. I had a break for a while and started reading with #300, so that’s a good place to get up to speed with current arcs. The new Spawn’s Universe books do treat water sometimes as there’s not always a lot of story to spread between them – especially The Scorched – but overall I think these are really good times for Spawn fans/ I’d certainly recommend going back to the start and reading Spawns origin. That first appearance of Gunslinger is a great story as well!
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The Scorched has been the weakest of the four, in my opinion. But saying that, there is still a lot to like in it. The $2.99 cover price actually keeps me from dropping it, although the recent focus on She Spawn was good. Yes, I’ve been reading since #300. I will check out some of the earlier runs. Thanks for your reply, mate. 🙂
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Glad this new stuff is working out for you. My experience with the beginning of Spawn really left me cold so I know I won’t be even thinking about trying it.
And it is nice to see a comic publisher keeping their prices down….
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The cover price is a real selling point! Great marketing because it’s working.
I keep up with quite a few comic review sites and King Spawn & Gunslinger Spawn often pop up in their Best of the Week posts. The other two titles not very much. I got into comics for the art, so I’m really digging the Spawn books. I’m also feeling a bit like a teenager again It’s official, Bookstooge, Spawn comics make you feel young again!😉
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Going through a midlife crisis? Don’t worry, it happens to us all…
😉
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Probably 😎
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Very glad to see you’re enjoying these. My first thought when you mentioned all the titles was about saturating a market, but if you’re enjoying both story and art, well, that’s all that matters. And keeping the price on the lower end of the scale is very cool, indeed.
The cover for issue 12 of Gunslinger Spawn reminds me of some old anime series I watched, though I can’t recall what it was. I think there was a tall main character with a red cape and tall hat who had a huge gun and walked the desert sands. Trigun, maybe? Actually, after a bit of web searching it appears I’m seeing a mix of Trigun with the gun and cape and Helllsing with the red hat. 🙂
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I’ve seen some of the Hellsing anime but I don’t know Trigun. *A quick search later and I see what you mean. “Set on the fictional planet known as No Man’s Land, the plot follows Vash the Stampede, a famous gunman who is constantly fighting bounty hunters seeking to obtain the immense bounty on his head.”-from the Wikipedia page on Trigun.
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