The Gentle Madness of Spawn Collection: 2009

Spawn #188: Part 4
Jan 2009
The final page with the re-emergence of the Spawn power meter and it is going backward. The story: In the aftermath of the hospital fire, confusion reigns as patients are relocated to other facilities. Meanwhile, the Clown begins to set his plan in motion. Sara lets Jim crash at her place, and as he tries to piece together what happened at the hospital, the dark power welling inside him makes itself known once again.

Savage Dragon #144
Jan 2009
Spawn appeared in two panels among a mass of other characters. Nothing distinctive.

Spawn #189: Part 5
Feb 2009
Does the page looks familiar? And in this issue: the symbiote finally takes over Jim as its host. The full-fledged Spawn goes out on his first mission. He inadvertently comes across two rival gangs in the midst of a battle. Although it appears accidental, outside forces have driven Jim to this spot.

The Clown recruits his very first soldier into his army. He believes there has been a giant void created from the death of Al Simmons' Spawn, and it must be filled.

Spawn #190: Part 6
Mar 2009
Memories of the good old days as the throne is reoccupied.

Jim met Wanda who reminded him that he appeared back in #3. Wanda's memory is however a bit suspect, the beautiful mutt is clearly on the left of her and not the right and Jim is in a prone position, not foetal.

While gathering information for a story on the displaced patients from the hospital fire, reporter Marc Rosenthal makes a unique discovery. Meanwhile, detectives Sam and Twitch come to some of their own shocking conclusions in the wake of the gang fight in a warehouse.

Jim grows increasingly frustrated by the lack of answers on his true identity, but everything changes in a chance encounter with Wanda. While she can't put a name with his face, she remembers him fainting on her porch many years ago. She also recognises the green glimmer in his eyes, and sends him to the alleys for answers.

There, Jim is led to Al Simmons' old throne; the costume seeps out of his bullet wound, covering him. As Jim tries to make sense of it all, an Angel greets him as one of her own.

Spawn #191: Part 7
Apr 2009
Brian Holguin name disappeared from the credit as a joint-writer.

A rebellious angel mistakes Spawn as one of God's elite, but quickly recognises his identity as one who has betrayed her heavenly leader. A battle ensues between the two, as Spawn continues his struggle to find answers.

After an unannounced visit from a suspicious man, Sara warns Jim of the potential danger they're in. Jim stakes the angel to the wall and returns to Sara's aid with plans of questioning the angel later.

Back at Sara's apartment, Jim has an altercation with the mysterious agent who has been watching him, thus learning the identity of the man who hired the agent to do so. Determined to find answers to his questions, Jim returns to the alleys to finish what he started; but will soon discover someone beat him to do it...

Found an image in this issue that is designed for forum users.

Spawn #192: Part 8
Jun 2009
Clown's recruit hunts down a previously unknown player, but hits a snag along the way, wreaking havoc on a group of menacing vampires.

Jim returns to the alleyways to find the once restrained angel missing. Disappointed at yet another loss of information, Jim begins to leave, but finds the delirious angel crouched in a corner, stripped of her wings. The Freak, who returns to deliver a stark message, cuts their conversation short.

Between antagonising Jim, the Freak lets him in on a little secret - his "diseased" body isn't something that can be cured. He's bound to the costume.

Adding more fuel to the fire, Violator enters to satisfy an agenda of his own.

Angel going bonkers with wings shredded? Not to worry, an angel becomes a human once the wings are removed.

Spawn #193: Part 9
Jul 2009
Greg Capullo pencilled this issue.

Jim learns more about his costume's origins and questions the motives of the Violator. Aggravated, Violator leaves to find "another" in the alley, leading to a staged confrontation with Clown. Clown emerges as the victor of the bogus battle, and poses as Jim's ally. He abruptly leaves the alley leaving Jim more confused than he was before.

The Virginian detectives try to pinpoint connections in the suicide case of estate lawyer, Bill Winston, but keep hitting a roadblock in New York City.

Meanwhile, detectives Sam and Twitch follow up on another possible connection to the Nortego gang. An unexpected run-in with Clown leads to a tiring foot race for Sam and a desired trip to jail for Clown. Once in jail, Clown finds Claudio, and delivers a message to him loud and clear.

Spawn #194: Part 10
Jul 2009
Whilce Portacio again returns as the penciller.

An overzealous Sanchez reveals too much to Nortego's gang, getting himself in much worse trouble than ever expected.

In the quest for information on his identity, Jim learns to harness his newfound power to work to his advantage.

Across town, Clown and Claudio make an escape from the prison under Sam and Twitch's watch. In the meantime, Detectives Craig and Linda make a unique discovery regarding the murder weapon used in the case of Bill Winton's suicide.

Marc slowly begins piecing the cases involving the miracle patients together. To his surprise, he's not the only one who's interested in these strange occurrences.

After receiving crucial information from the man at the bar, Jim tracks down Benny, to finish the conversation they started outside Sara's apartment. Before he's able to get answers, the house explodes, leaving our new hero in jeopardy.

Spawn #195: Part 11
Oct 2009
And attached as a bonus feature is Part 4 of 4 of Image United #0.

A spat between Sam Burke and Detective Rowland uncovers a connection between suicide victim, Bill Winston, and gang leader Carlos Nortego. Meanwhile, Jim miraculously survives the unexpected explosion at Benny Vicari's home.

Marc pays Sara a visit to interview her about the hospital fire, but is much more interested in Jim's take. After a brief exchange with Jim, and an interruption by Sara, Marc and Sara's friend, Judy leave to let Sara and Jim cool off.

Judy is mistaken for Sara in a kidnapping, and Jim learns to summon his new power to save her. He finally gets answers when one of the kidnappersgives him the name of someone connected to his past. Fueled with rage, Jim send sthe thug plummeting to his cement grave.

Haunt #2
Nov 2009
'Haunt', a collaboration between Robert Kirkman and Todd McFarlane appeared five months back in July. Written by Kirkman and illustrated by Ryan Ottley, this spawnalike spidermanesque superbeing has been gaining quite a following. And in #3, both Kirkman and McFarlane mentioned the possibilities of a Spawn/Haunt crossover. Anyway, I was waiting for the TPB so I appreciate Batboy 13 (USA) alerting me to the image of a bong in page 20, a water pipe decorated with the logo of Spawn.

Image United #1
Nov 2009
Image United is a six-issue mini-series that combined the various founders of Image Comics with Robert Kirkman as the Writer. Aside from the introductory page, Spawn...Jim Downing the Spawn that is, actually appeared only in page 23 and he resembles his predecessor Al Simmons more than he does himself in the Spawn main series.

A common marketing ploy is the issuance of several covers of the same issue, my cover features an aesthetic surgeon calendar girl but aside from her, there is also a very much in demand cover of Spawn.

And the chief resident bad guy in this whole series is our much maligned and yet beloved hero Al Simmons. But Omega Spawn? Seriously? There is no better villiany name aside from Omega Spawn? And is Cogliostro the Alpha Spawn?