Introduction

Spawn 300 kind of caught me by surprise. I knew it was imminent, but there have been delays. Now that I see the Spawn Road to 300 banner, I am excited. I will spare you all the story again of how Spawn is the first comic book that made me fall in love with comics. I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned it in every Spawn review and maybe several of the non Spawn comic articles that I’ve written. I only mention it now because I said it at dinner the other day when talking about the new books that I was going to read for this article.

My family all looked at me in that slightly concerned/slightly pitying way that normies have when I go off about comic books. I understand my wife’s reaction since she’s not into nerd stuff at all. But, my kids are all interested in comic books. Heck, my oldest is right about the age I was when I first started seriously collecting. So, it hurts a bit that they don’t understand. Nevertheless, I’m excited for the Spawn Road to 300. Join me on my review of

The Good (Uncle Todd is Back for Spawn Road to 300)

Uncle Todd is writing again! – I know that the comics community is a bit divided when it comes to Todd McFarlane as a comic creator. There’s not much dissension when it comes to his toys, but some just don’t like his writing. I suppose that I can see some of it, as one of the entries in the “Bad” section will show. Still, I’m glad that he’s back and engaged in the title that made him a household name for me.

Greg Capullo is back! – At some point over the last few months, I texted Chris to say that I really wanted Greg Capullo to be involved in issue #300 in some way. Chris responded that he would be surprised if he wasn’t. Sure enough, a few days later, Uncle Todd posted something on his social media that he and Capullo were working together again. Huzzah!

Homage Covers – I missed the homage covers from earlier in Spawn’s history and it’s haunted me ever since. Once upon a time, I had a fever dream that I could collect all of the previous comics in time for #300. Circumstances have prevented that, but I did pick up quite a few of them. Sadly, the homage covers remain on the to do list as many of them are expensive.

The Bad (Okay, I see what you mean…)

These books are too talky – On the Spawn Road to 300, things have gotten a bit bumpy. These two issues are way too talky for my tastes. I don’t come to Spawn for soliloquies and deep and meaningful conversations. Spawn is my guilty pleasure of ultraviolence and scantily clad angels and demons. But, I suppose I’ll give Uncle Todd a pass. It’s been a while since he’s been able to write.

This art. Oy! – When I first started to read Spawn again, I was actually intrigued by the art. I liked the dreamy quality that it added to the story. Since, though, there have been a few issues scattered in with the more realistic art and I got spoiled. That’s the main reason that I want Capullo back. His style defined this book in my opinion.

The Ugly (Comics are supposed to be a diversion)

This story is too real – I know that I’ve said this about a few books recently, but it is true. Look, I’m not going to go all Comicsgate on you (is that what Comicsgate was all about?), but I read comics to have fun and escape from reality. The books these days are feeling a little too real. Perhaps writers are using the books as their therapy. Who knows? But, I will be happy when it is all over and we can go back to space battles and other crazy stories.

The Verdict (Spawn Road to 300 is almost everything I want)

There are some bumps in this road, as I said earlier. Overall, though, the Spawn Road to 300 has been great and I can’t wait for the actual issue to arrive in 2 months. I just hope it is more of a traditional issue than the two 1000s that DC put out. It was nice to see different takes on the character, but I want to see something absolutely insane happen in Spawn 300. I got my wish about Capullo coming back for the issue, so maybe this one will come true, too.