Line #18 YMMV/Spawn


1	* AudienceAlienatingEra: Pretty much everything between Spawn [[spoiler:killing Malebolgia]] — especially the immediate aftermath where he teamed up with Ab and Zab and fought vampires and British cannibals — and ''Resurrection''. Some readers recommend to newcomers that they simply [[FanonDiscontinuity skip from]] [[spoiler:Al's suicide]] straight to ''Resurrection'' for this very reason.
2	* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt:
3	** It's widely agreed the comic worked because average storytelling was hugely augmented by Todd [=McFarlane=]'s pencils.
4	** Many also think the book took another step up when Greg Capullo took over; the most popular era of the book, including a number of iconic cover images, was during Greg's tenure on pencils. Ther is also Jason Shawn Alexander and Brent Booth.
5	* BrokenBase: The 101-250 Issues and even before has most people debate which era is the best.
6	* CatharsisFactor: [[spoiler:Spawn finally killing Malebolgia after everything he did is sweet though he came back from the dead during the downing arc, and seeing [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters Jason Wynn]] having his criminal empire destroyed before being strangled to death by Jim (in human form, [[YouHaveFailedMe ensuring Wynn won't get any reward in Hell]]) manages to be even sweeter.Sadly Wynn comes back as Disruptor]]
7	* CompleteMonster: See [[Monster/{{Spawn}} here]].
8	* CreepyAwesome:
9	** Probably a large part in what makes Spawn such an appealing character.
10	** The Violator is one of the most disturbing villains in comic book history, but that's partly why he's so beloved and iconic.
11	* EnsembleDarkhorse: Burkles and Twitch, to the point they ended up with their own comic. Also Gunslinger Spawn is one of the most popular spawns that are not Al Simmons even later become a recurring character with his own spin-off series.
12	** speaking of other hellspawns there is also Medieval Spawn who is beloved espcailly when he comes back in the present poessing Marc Rosen and becoming a member of the Scorched.Jessica Priest showing up in the comic and becoming She-Spawn the leader of the scorched is also well received.
13	** Redeemer is also popular from an antagonist to becoming a member of the Scorched.
14	** Among the other supporting Cast Nyx the Wiccan,Granny Blake,Taylor Barlett,Focus,Soul Crusher 2,Andy Frank,Bootsy,and Bobby are popular on their own right.
15	** For the Rogue Gallery we have Curse,Freak,Overtkill,Tremor,Tiffany,Urizen,Omega Spawn,Plague Spawn,Forsaken,Cy-gor,Raven Spawn,Necro Cop,Mandarin,and Nightmare Spawn.
16	** For spin-offs Curse of the Spawn,The Dark Ages,Godslayer, and even the Shadows of Spawn manga also has a cult following.
17	* EvilIsCool: Many Spawn villains could count such as Violator,Malebolgia,Mammon,Sinn,Disruptor,and many more.
18	* FanonDiscontinuity: Even before ''[[AuthorsSavingThrow Resurrection]]'' made it all straight up CanonDiscontinuity, it wasn't uncommon for readers to say everything after [[spoiler:Spawn killed Malebolgia]] didn't happen and just pretend the series ended there. Thought it got VindicatedByHistory in current times.
19	* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The franchise is pretty big in Japan. There was a manga adaptation, Spawn was the first GuestFighter from a Western franchise to appear in ''[[VideoGame/SoulSeries Soul Calibur]]'', ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' artist Kazuma Kaneko [[https://www.reddit.com/r/Spawn/comments/ol6qxv/spawn_homage_in_shin_megami_tensei/ based his design for Zaou-Gongen on the character]], and an early story arc of the ''Manga/YuGiOh'' manga was one big homage to the character.
20	* GrowingTheBeard: Like other Image LongRunner, ''ComicBook/TheSavageDragon'', the earliest issues are considered the weakest.
21	* HilariousInHindsight: Twitch's first name is Max. And since his partner is named Sam, [[Franchise/SamAndMax it evokes another New York police duo]].
22	* JerkassWoobie: Al Simmons, the main character himself. He ended up this way because he died, was sent to Hell for murdering innocents and being an abusive husband and got his powers from making a deal with a demon. In other media, people have been labelled asshole victims for less and the comic does everything in it's power to remind you that Al [[SelfInflictedHell brought his situation on himself]]… but you'll feel for him anyways, if only because [[TheAtoner he's so desperately trying to make it right]]. The abuse h the inc was retconned as a fake memory and he was the death of Wanda making him more vengeful than ever.
23	* LoveToHate: Mammon. He's such a smug, thoroughly detestable prick, but he displays a certain cunning and penchant for manipulation that just makes hating him for it satisfying. Also Violator the Clown,Malebolgia,Wynn/Disruptor,and Sinn/Cogliostro.
24	* MainstreamObscurity: Despite being one of the most iconic characters of the 1990s, actual familiarity with anything about Spawn besides his character design and the grim-and-gritty tone of his stories is very low. Even general comic book fans tend to struggle with any specifics. This extends to his RoguesGallery; most people might recognize Clown/Violator as being his ArchEnemy (and maybe Jason Wynn and Malebogia thanks to the 1997 movie) but any other foe would probably just draw a blank with people.
25	* NightmareFuel: Almost everything in the comic. Even some of the ''regular'' humans are scary just to look at.
26	* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: God Post-''Resurrection''. Prior to that, the story took GodIsEvil / GodAndSatanAreBothJerks to a borderline offensive extreme that [[TooBleakStoppedCaring made the setting feel hopeless]]. After ''Resurrection'', GodIsGood and '''very''' all-loving and [[spoiler:Their plot-initiating pep talk with Spawn]] makes Them effectively the embodiment of the series' [[GrowingTheBeard ultimate beard growth]] and transition to AWorldHalfFull.
27	** Jim Downing got this in his recent appearances when he stopped being spawn and joined the Green World.
28	* TearJerker: Granny Blake's revelation about God during the Armageddon arc. After a lifetime of praying to God as a faithful follower, she is finally raptured to Heaven and sees a vision of her deceased husband and all of her loved ones. God then promptly gives her back her sight, shows her the horrors of Heaven and his plans for Armageddon, chews her out for her New Testament beliefs about him, and swiftly turns her into one of his angel soldiers. Later Al finds her nearly dead on the battlefield ruins and listens to her last pleading words of faith in a better life.
29	* TooBleakStoppedCaring: The earliest issues and the AudienceAlienatingEra [[spoiler:post-Malebolgia's defeat]] are both marked by this trope. [[CrapsackWorld Everything is awful]], Heaven and Hell both suck, disgusting shock value everywhere, and sympathetic characters are few and far in between. It's no coincidence that the comic's [[GrowingTheBeard beard-growth]] seems to coincide with it becoming (relatively speaking) much LighterAndSofter, as the characters become more sympathetic, God and Heaven are retconned into being good, the gore and shock value is toned back massively, and the world in general is shifted into more of AWorldHalfFull.
30	* TheWoobie: Almmost all characters like Cyan losing her mother thanks to violator and Marc Rosen losing his girlfriend to demons.

Context YMMV / Spawn