Review: Spawn #250

Spawn #250
Written by Todd McFarlane
Art by Szymon Kudranski
Colored by Fco Plascencia
Published by Image Comics

If you are of a certain age, then I am willing to bet a stack of Batman comics that you have a few copies of Spawn #1 bagged and boarded somewhere in your collection. Written, drawn, created and owned by Todd McFarlane, Spawn sent a clear message when it debuted in 1992 that creator-owned comics were a viable alternative to working for Marvel and DC. It sold millions of copies and almost single-handedly put Image on the map as a comic book publisher.

If you discovered Image later thanks to titles like The Walking Dead, Invincible or Saga, you probably don’t realize the important place Spawn has the history of the medium. And while it doesn’t sell in nearly the numbers it used to, the story of Spawn is still going strong, as can been seen with the release this month of Spawn #250. At 250 issues with no renumbering, it makes Spawn one of the longest-running independent comics in history, just behind Dave Sim’s Cerebus.

For issue #250, McFarlane pulled out all the stops to give readers a huge, triple-sized anniversary issue. He and Kudranski, who have been the creative team on Spawn since issue #201, use the extra page count to wrap up the story of Jim Downing, who has been the focus of the book for almost 80 issues. Downing and his Spawn costume engage in what will be their final battle, with the fate of New York hanging in the balance.

As for whether Spawn #250 is any good or not, that is a classic “good news/bad news” situation.

On the one hand, if you a regular reader of Spawn and never miss an issue, you will find a lot to enjoy here. McFarlane brings the saga of Jim Downing to a very satisfying conclusion, filling the book with the kind of action and gritty storytelling you have come to expect. The book can be a bit wordy at times, and Kudranski’s art doesn’t hit the mark on each and every panel, but taken as a whole, Spawn #250 is a great payoff for longtime fans. And we get the return of Al Simmons to boot!

But if you haven’t been reading Spawn or are only vaguely aware of the current status quo, you are going to be completely, totally lost. Issue #250 is not new-reader-friendly in any way, shape or form. The “Previously” recap will be of no help, as this anniversary issue is the culmination of over five years of story and plot. If you were thinking of starting to read the title again, your best bet is to wait until next month’s Spawn Resurrection #1, which features the new creative team of Paul Jenkins and Jonboy and a whole new direction.

The Bottom Line: Spawn #250 rewards long-time readers with a great, over-sized story that will go down with some of the best Spawn comics of the series’ very long run. It is a fitting farewell to McFarlane and Kudranski and what they have managed to do on the title, each and every month, without fail. If, on the other hand, you are a lapsed Spawn reader and want to give the book another shot, wait until next month. You’ll be much happier for it, and will probably enjoy the book a whole lot more.

In a world of books being renumbered almost monthly and others being cancelled after only a handful of issues, there is something reassuring about knowing that Spawn has been there for 250 issues and will probably be there for 250 more.

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