King Spawn #19 (Feb 1, 2023) | Guess Who’s Back?

Writer: Sean Lewis
Artists: Thomas Nachlik & Von Randal
Publisher: Image Comics
Release Date: February 1, 2023
Cover Price: $2.99

I bought the latest issue of King Spawn on Wednesday. Here is my short review.

---

My Thoughts

This issue begins a new story arc. It also features the return of two beloved characters who first appeared in Spawn #1 back in May 1992. That’s right, Detectives Sam Burke and Maximilian “Twitch” Williams are back and it is a very welcome return.

People are going missing in New York City. There have been some grisly deaths where the victim’s body is found missing its brain. Has Victor Frankenstein made the long journey over the Atlantic Ocean, or is it an animated Herbert West returning from the dead? Sam and Twitch are on the case and their initial investigation leads them to the Exodus Foundation whose business card was found at the latest crime scene.

SPAWN Comics Flying High!

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.