100 Greatest Superhero Stories Ever
By Steve Lam
Image Courtesy of HBO
#56. Todd McFarlane’s Spawn Season 1–3
Medium
Animated Television Series
Release Dates
May 16, 1997–May 28, 1999
Credits
Created By: Todd McFarlane
Developed By: Alan B. McElroy
Cast: Keith David as Al Simmons / Spawn, Richard Dysart as Cogliostro, Michael Nicolosi as Clown / Violator, James hanes as Violator / Over-Kill, Dominique Jennings as Wanda Blake, Jennifer Jason Leigh as Lilly, Victor Love as Terry Fitzgerald (Ep. 1–12) / Bobby (Ep. 1–12), Michael Beach as Terry Fitzgerald (Ep. 15–17) / Bobby (Ep. 15–17), Kath Soucie as Cyan Fitzgerald, James Keane as Tony Twist / Sam Burke, Michael McShane as Maximilian “Twitch” Williams, Gareb, John Rafter Lee as Jason Wynn, Denis Poirier as Merrick / Bounty Hunter / Angela, Ronny Cox as Senator Scott McMillan / Billy Kincaid, Victor Brandt as Chief Banks, Ming-Na as Lisa Wu / Jade, Ruben Santiago-Hudson as Jess Chapel, Robert Forster as Major Forseberg, James Hong as General Soon / Zhang Lao, Debbi Morgan as Granny Blake
The Reason It’s Great
When your endeavor to move an awesome property to another medium doesn’t pan out (yes, I’m looking at you, the live-action film version of Spawn), you try another medium that has the direct involvement of the creator himself—Todd McFarlane.
To that end, fans got Todd McFarlane’s Spawn—a tour de force of storytelling without shying away from the violence and gore that was and is the hallmark of the monumental comic. The series debuted on HBO (where else could it have debuted in the 1990s?) and was met with critical and fan acclaim.
The series lasted for three short seasons. And when I mean short, I mean only six episodes per year. Hey, it’s all about quality over quantity. To this day, Todd McFarlane’s Spawn remains as one of the top animated comic book series of all time.