Spawniverse Archives - 2 Generations Gaming Present: Gaming is a Gift 2024

Introduction

I wrote last week that I decided to break up my comic reviews over the month instead of trying to get them all done in one week. I reviewed DC and TMNT #1 the first week. Then, last week, I talked about the “main” titles in the Spawniverse. This week, in addition to Marvel comics, I want to talk about what I’m calling the Extended Spawniverse September 2024.

From the looks of it, Uncle Todd hired so much talent that he needed to come up with new titles to put them all on. Especially since he took over the reigns again on the main titles, they all picked up (or pitched because I’m not sure how the titles came into being) books that bear the “New *Spawn head* U” sticker on them. I, for one, welcome anything done by everyone that Uncle Todd brings on to work on his books.

Monolith 1 (of 3)

Writer: Sean Lewis, Artist: Velerio Giangiordano.

Quick Synopsis: The year is 3030. The universe is dying. Spawns answer the call to save it and fail. This pits the rest of the universe against the Spawns. Monolith gets diverted while coming back to Earth and ends up in a prison colony. Omega Spawn, fittingly known as the destroyer of worlds, rules the prison. He bides his time waiting for Monolith. When the “final Spawn” shows, Omega tries to recruit him to his cause. Gaia interferes in the showdown, telling Monolith that he can be more. Even though I said that all of the talent here worked on other Uncle Todd projects, I don’t recognize the name of this artist. But, the art fits the character and the story. I look forward to more from this artist. My verdict: Good.

Rat City

Writer: Erica Schultz, Artist: Ze Carlos.

Quick Synopsis: I only read the first issues of these books for this review. Before next month, I plan to get caught up. That way, I can follow them as they grow. While Monolith (and another one called Misery that I just learned about) are limited series, the other two look like they have issues planned through the end of the year at least. Okay, now for the synopsis. It’s 80 years in the future during World War 3 and an elite fighting force introduces us to a few characters, including the main character. Through the story, he loses his legs and they are replaced with cybernetic ones. At the end of the issue, he can’t remove them and this has something to do with good old Al Simmons. Ze Ramos brings a cool futuristic touch to this one that Monolith missed in spite of taking place in 3030. But, that makes sense since that one takes place near the end of the universe. My verdict: Decent.

Sam and Twitch Case Files

Writer: Uncle Todd with Jon Goff, Artist: Szymon Kudranski.

Quick Synopsis: They introduced Sam and Twitch as supporting characters during the early days of the main title. They became popular and released a book starring the two. Like many Image books at the time, it suffered from delays and saw an inglorious end after only 26 issues. When they announced the new U, you knew they had to include these guys in the mix. Sure enough, here they come. Sam roughs up a goon while on a case. This gets him suspended. Twitch sets out to “make it right” and finds himself on suspension, too. But, another detective calls them in to get a set of “fresh eyes” on a case that looks to be very messy. Kudranksi’s art works perfect for this title. He brings a realness and a creepiness that will serve the story well. My verdict: Good.

The Verdict

While not explicitly from this month, the books that I read for the Extended Spawniverse September 2024 all introduce the titles well. Of the three, I think that Sam and Twitch will end up being my favorite. However, Misery looks to follow the same creepy horror vibe of one of my favorite Spawn stories. So, even though that one is only 4 issues, I think I’ll enjoy the heck out of that one.

Cover shots taken from the mothership.

Introduction

We decided to mix things up this week for a couple of reasons. One, the entire family (minus Quinn and plus Aiden’s girlfriend) went to and loved Deadpool and Wolverine. Also, because of anther soft reboot, a mix up in ordering, and shelving the issues related to Blood Hunt, that left only two Marvel comics to review. Even with the TMNT and the main title missing this month, I received three books for Spawniverse August 2024.

Gunslinger 33

Writer: Uncle Todd, Artist: Carlo Barbieri. ONe of my favorite teams in the Uncle Todd stable, Uncle Todd and Barbieri deliver a well told and beautiful story. This must be what Chris meant when he said that he liked this one the best out of the Spawniverse. I saw some of this when I came on a little over a year ago. Then, the entire franchise started to become messy and disjointed. For whatever reason (I take some of the credit), Uncle Todd decided to shake things up and I’m glad he did. I enjoyed this book for the first time in months and look forward to the next few. My verdict: Good bordering on Great.

King Spawn 36

Writer: Uncle Todd, Artist: Jason Shawn Alexander and Yildiray Cinar. I felt like King Spawn suffered the most from the lag in quality in the franchise. When I came in, the story followed one of my favorite Spawn arcs in the last ten years, Dark Horror, and it hit hard. Then, all books got caught up in the war between Heaven and Hell for far too long in my opinion. But, the fallout is good. All Spawn are now human and the stakes are higher. Al finds this out the hard way and needs to go to his old buddy The Tinkerer in order to even the odds with the vamps. He also recruits an old “friend” that shows up in the final reveal. My verdict: Good. As an aside, when searching to see when I picked up Gunslinger, I found a comment from Chris about Jason Shawn Alexander’s art. He’s not a fan. I must say that I love the aesthetic for stories like this one. I think he’d also work on a Sam and Twitch title.

The Scorched 31

Writer: Layman with Uncle Todd on “Additional Script”, Artist: Dtephen Segovia. For my money, The Scorched kept its quality the best throughout. Granted, it dipped some, but for whatever reason, I love the dysfunctional adopted family that Uncle Todd put together for this title. Then, he brought Layman on to help out with this one and I completely geeked. In this one, Jessica works alone to try to take Jason Wynn out. In the process, she also finds an old “friend” and ends up running into the team again. I can’t wait to see how this pays off. My verdict: Good.

The Verdict

Spawniverse August 2024 continues the upward trend of the last few months since the reboot and restructuring of the teams. Uncle Todd took more of a central role in all of the books, which should have theoretically reduced the quality of the books. However, the time off for him and the fact that the books always echo his voice on some level, they actually improved for now. Hopefully he can keep this up for a bit.

Images taken from the mother ship.

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