Spawnography

How is a manga contest tied to a series of murders spread across the United States? How is the number one suspect a boy who can't leave the safety of his hermetically sealed room? What lasting effects did the four horsemen of "Armageddon" have on the world despite Al Simmons remaking it? Well, it all goes back to Mammon! But that just means George and Pierce will have to dig into what that means for Spawn and Nyx. This week's recommendation is to get into the greatest rock band of all-time, The Ramones. 'Nuff said.  You can always checkout George's music - La Cigarette at coolbutrude.com and Witch Crisis.  If you are looking to engage even more with the Spawnmunity, check out the always wonderful RE: Spawn podcast and TinySpawny's Let's Talk Spawn.  Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

Hey there Hellspawn! We're back with another guest! This time we have Mark Zovak aka TinySpawny with us and we're talking about his favorite Spawn, Gunslinger! We also take a bit of time at the top to talk to Mark about his Spawn journey, the state of the Spawnmunity and his recently launched YouTube show Let's Talk Spawn!  This week's recommendations are, of course, Mark's show Let's Talk Spawn, the People's Pop Punk band Career Day and Louisville thrasher's Belushi Speed Ball. You can always checkout George's music - La Cigarette at coolbutrude.com and Witch Crisis.  If you are looking to engage even more with the Spawnmunity, check out the always wonderful RE: Spawn podcast and TinySpawny's Let's Talk Spawn.  Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

We wrap up this Simmons family reunion and it has some dire consequences for at least one characters. Mammon continues to exert his influence as David Hine and Brian Haberlin look to backfill some of Al's story to help build to an eventual payoff. Overall, it kind of works but we'll get into it of course.  This week's recommendations are to check ot the latest season of The Boys and on a more somber note, to hug your pets a little tighter this week. We don't get them forever but we are blessed to get them as long as we do. You can always checkout George's music - La Cigarette at coolbutrude.com and Witch Crisis.  If you are looking to engage even more with the Spawnmunity, check out the always wonderful RE: Spawn podcast and TinySpawny's Let's Talk Spawn.  Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

We knew Al Simmons had one brother but David Hine imagines a world where, get this, Al had two brothers. More of Al's history is revealed! But is this a result of how Al rebuilt the world? Is this another one of Mammon's manipulations? We've been told that Mammon has been pulling the strings for quite some time and here Hine and Brian Haberlin begin to scratch the surface of that mystery.  This week's recommendations are the documentary Trekkies (available on YouTube), a loving portrait at fandom and fan culture in a time before smartphones and social media, as well as Colorado-based emo band, A Place for Owls. Check out "Do I Feel at Home Here?" You can always checkout George's music - La Cigarette at coolbutrude.com and Witch Crisis.  If you are looking to engage even more with the Spawnmunity, check out the always wonderful RE: Spawn podcast and TinySpawny's Let's Talk Spawn.  Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

Hey there, Hellspawn! This episode will see us wrap up "The Voice Hearers" and the return of Clown and then catch up with Nyx as David Hine and Brian Haberlin keep doing the Yeoman's work of putting pieces back on the board after Spawn's ostensible boardwipe back in "Armageddon." Overall, the results are pretty solid even if some of the subject matter (namely, the somewhat sterotypical depiction of Voodoo) can get  a bit iffy.  We know this is a slightly longer one than usual so if you are looking to get right to the talk about the issues, you can cut to about 30 minutes in. (Sorry for the long intro!) This week's recommendations are British punks' Lambrini Girls (check out "Cult of Celebrity") and Chicago emos tenmonthsummer (check out "Destiny Bond") as well as a pair of Transformers films, the classic 1986 animated flick and the more recent animated endeavourt Transformers One. Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

What does the world larger world look like in Spawn's reimaginined reality? Why does one apartment building seem to be the root of all evil? What pieces are coming back into the equation from the past? Why did George and Pierce play FMK with Muppets? All thse questiosn will be answered and more!  This week's recommendations are Abruptio which you can easily find on Tubi, as well as the Wolfman/Perez run of Teen Titans! And for those who like a bit of hardcore-tinged pop punk or vice verse, Standoffish!  As always you can check out George's band, La Cigarette, at coolbutrude.com. Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

Armageddon is over and we've got a doozy of a couple of issues for you this week. First, an epilogue of sorts for the last mega arc that really paints Al in a pretty precarious light which feels like a bit of an odd move this late into the book's run. (We are aware it's likely a feint but taking the story as read, it is a bit concerning.) Then we get the origin story for a cool action figure: Mandarin Spawn. It draws on some pretty worn tropes but the art is really great. For this episode, a trigger warning for some discussion of violence against women, problematic depictions of disabled people and domestic abuse.  This week's recommendations are to check out some Zamrock, a genre that emerged in the 70s in Zambia that fused traditional African music with the popular rock music of the time to create something wholly unique and diferent. Ngozi Family is a great band to start with. You should also check out Philadelphia's lovely indie rockers, Hop Along and their record "Bark Your Head Off, Dog." It's a few years old but it still hits.  As always you can check out George's band, La Cigarette, at coolbutrude.com. Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

We have reached the end of "Armageddon!" but is this really an ending or simply a new beginning? Only time will tell. That said, Philip Tan and David Hine really rip out all the stops here. One thing that is impressive is how often they've forced us to reevaluate where their work stands within the Spawn mythos. This arc ends up representing a bit of a fulcrum point and it's exciting to see where we'll go from here.  This week's recommendations are Matt Johnson of Nirvanna the Band the Show fame's 2023 film Blackberry and and the incredible comic HEADLOPPER by Andrew Maclean. Both are pretty singular works by singular talents in their respective mediums and you should check them out. And as always you can check out George's band, La Cigarette, at coolbutrude.com. Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!  

Armageddon rages on and the stakes keep getting higher! The four horsemen of the apocalypse come to play! Granny Blake gets raptured! Spawn takes on Jesus' disciples! David Hine and the art team are really upping the ante! This week's recommendations are "Heaven and Hell" by Dio and the latest flick from Sam Raimi (a favorite around these parts) Send Help. As always you can check out Geroge's band, La Cigarette, at coolbutrude.com. Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

Jakie and Katie's true nature is revealed! We get some truly cathartic moments from just about the whole cast! The art team finds some level of cinsitency and we definitely feel the sort of Yeoman's work that David Hine is being tasked to do. We extend that to comics critics in general as well.This is a tough industry and when someone is able to make something fun and readable (even if they have to drop a bit of continuity along the way) that is something to be celebrated. This week's recommendations are to check out Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men if you haven't already. They announced they will be ending their run but they are a big influence on this show and many others. Thank you Jay and Miles! And more existentially, find a way to disconnect from the daily grind. Try to reset a bit . Find a reason to relax your mind. Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

A bonkers arc continues! George and Pierce debate the reception to this era of Spawn as Philip Tan and the art team as well as writer David Hine are still finding their footing. That said, there are some wild moments - we get closer to understanding the twins, see how Spawn has grown with his new understanding of his existence and get some really nice characterization between Spaw, Sam and Twitch. Comics should make you want to read the next one and this one certainly does!  This week's first recommendation from George is the incredible math rock duo Angine de Poitrine's KEXP session. As one of the comments on the video says, "Finally, Music 2 has dropped." On the comics side, Pierce recommends the work of Matt Kindt and David Lapham generally but more specifically, their new book Knight City from Dark Horse Comics. It's a meta mystery superhero book that feels like a throwback while still feeling new.  Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

We are firmly in the David Hine era the times they are a'changin' especially as we get deeper into a run that has yet to have a clear direction or identity. The mystery of the twins deepens, we meet some of the legion of spirits that make up Spawn, Spawn fights Kali, the goddess of destruction and the art goes through a bit of a rough patch with a veritable army of inkers and colorists. This arc doesn't technically have a name in the issues themselves but if "Armageddon" is a good enough title for the Spawn Reading Order then it's good enough for us.  This week's recommendations are many! George's band, La Cigarette, has a new single out on coolbutrude.com called "The American Blues." (Unsurprisingly, it rips.) She also recommends that y'all check out the flicks of Jordan Peele and Josie Reisman's incredible Stan Lee biography "True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee." On a similar note, Pierce recommends you check out Sean Howe's excellent "Marvel Comics: The Untold Story." Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

Last episode was a milestone for Spawn and this episode is a milestone for us! We've made it to episode 100 so we are finishing out the "Thamuz" arc before headingstraight into Armageddon! We are definitely entering an interesting era of the book and as a result some of the discussion does get a little bit fraught but its all in support of the continued analysis of the book. This week's recommendations are the Wonder Man TV show, Marvel Cosmic Invasion and 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

We've made it to another milestone and this one ushers in the David Hine and Philip Tan era. George and Pierce get into a little bit of a retrospective of the Holguin and Medina run but are pleasantly surprised by Hine and Tan's first outing with our favorite Hellspawn. will it last? Only time will tell! This week's recommendations are Zeke's album Lords of the Highway and nouns' album still. Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

Sometimes, even your humble Spawnographers can't parse a story and "Howl" happens to be one of those. But then we dive into "Random Patterns," an arc that certainly earns its title. It's an interesting era for Spawn and his creative team to say the least and your hosts will get into it. This week's most important recommendation is to get involved with your local community. We only have each other so do what you can to help your neighbors especially if they are in the crosshairs of this corrupt administration. But a secondary one as a break from the horrors of daily life is to checkout Dropout TV - some of the funniest people doing the funniest things on the planet.  Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

We are back to the main Spawn title with an arc that doesn't leave us scrataching our heads necessarily but does make us question the ramp up to #150 on some level. Todd, Holguin and Medina are clearly looking to expand the mythos and build up Mammon but the story itself feels like a little less than the sum of its parts.  This week's recommendations are the excellent Youtube channel Animalogic  which is all about our natual world and the fuzzy friends that live in it as well as the incredibly interesting podcast Art Astra that investigating the intersection between "space studies and the humanities in popular culture with the aim of highlighting opportunities for people from all walks of life to participate in and get excited about space."  Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

This episode we wrap up the first arc of Marc Andreyko and Scott Morse's Case Files: Sam & Twitch and prove that even when you think you completely understand an arc, sometimes you don't. The show starts off with a some talk about upcoming movies like Street Fighter and Masters of the Universe so feel free to skip tot eh 30 minute mark to get right into discussion of the book. As we noted last episode, Andreyko and Morse take a non-traditional approach to this story and it manages to pull the wool over our eyes really effectively. In classic Spawnography fashion, we start out a little bit cold on it as a whole but warm up considerably as we discuss it.  This week's recommendations are the legendary Tank Girl (the comic and the film) as well as Kyle Baker and company's  Plastic Man - both available wherever you get comics, probably. Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

We're back with another slight diversion from the main Spawn title as we dive into Marc Andreyko and Scott Morse's Case Files: Sam & Twitch . We're only covering this first arc (for now) and we find our hispid hero Twitch Williams in a bit of a predicament. Told in 3 timelines unfolding simultaneously, it seems the events of the first two have landed Twitch in jail in the third! It takes us a little while to wrap our heads around the best way to cover the form, but we get there!  This week's recommendations are to check out George's new band La Cigarette and their first single "Born to Die (World is a Fuck)" at coolbutrude.com as well as to check out the films of the recently departed Rob Reiner. Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

It's a knockdown, drag out fight between Redeemer and Spawn with Nyx caught right in the middle. But there's more at play. Have the trio played right into Mammon's hands? What exactly is Mammon's plan anyway? Will Nyx regret the deal she made with an unassuming demon? We will get into all of it!  This week's recommendations are Nocturnals by Dan Brereton and a trio of titles by Matt Emmons - The Council of Frogs, Those That Inherit the Earth and The Gardener. Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

We've got a fun one this week. Al is in a coma and Nyx ventures into Hell to save her friend Thea's soul. She has rejected Mammon's overtures to deliver the Spawn to him. But the new demon lord she's made a deal with may not be exactly what he seems. Plus Redeemer is back! This week's first recommendation is to quit using generative AI! It's bad for the planet and bad for your brain! Our second recommendation is an incredible video essay by matttt called "How manga broke the US comic industry." It is a really fascinating deep dive into how manga gained a foothold in the US and a must-watch for any comics and manga fan. Our third recommendation, piggybacking off the second one, is kind of a lay-up but if you haven't read Katsuhiro Otomo's groundbreaking AKIRA in full, you should. Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

Spawn continueshis struggles against the Clown/Jason Wynn hybrid that has been terrorizing him and the people of New York but we're getting the feeling that we've seen some of this stuff before. Holguin and McFarlance seem to be going back the well with some of their ideas so despite some interesting machincations with Nyx the arc isn't as impactful as it feels like it could have been. A big knock against this era of Spawn is it's inconsistency and that definitely rears its head here. We'll get into it.  This week's recommendations are to go outside (I think we've recommended this before but it's always a good reminder) and Spike Lee's 2000s classic, Inside Man. Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

The Clown and Jason Wynn team-up continues as two of Spawn's biggest foes are taking over New York, starting with the hero's old haunt - Rat City! Meanwhile Nyx is still dedicated to saving her friend's soul and it looks like she'll have to get involved with Mammon to do it.  This week's recommendations are the Thin Lizzy albums Thunder & Lightning and IJohnny the Fox. We also recommend the excellent "Bad Boy" t-shirt by Chloe Brailsford on ithaspockets.gay. Proceeds from the shirt go to funding that site's Operations Lead, Jake. You can check out more of Chloe's work at @chloe.in.pink. Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

In these two issues, Spawn finds himself dealing with the one guy who just won't stay gone: the Violator. Pratfall kicks things off with the Clown stirring up trouble the way only he can -  needling Al in all the right (and wrong) places to get a rise out of him. Then Gentleman Caller turns the screws even tighter, as the Violator takes aim at the people around Al, testing how far Spawn will go to keep his darker impulses in check as he begins to exert his influence even more at the citizens of New York through the vessel of Jason Wynn! This week's recommendations are the latest amalagam mashups on the Marvel and DC apps specifically DC/MARVEL: The Flash/Fantastic Four by Jeremy Adams and Adrian Guiterrez and Thor/Shazam by Al Ewing and Jethro Morales as well as the big tunes of Cheap Death, specifically the song "Mutant League Football." Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

Todd McFarlane and Brian Holguin give us a ghost story this time around as we check back in with Max Williams, Twitch's son, in the aftermath of his indoctrination into a vampire cult. Is is lost forever? Can the secrets of Marston house free his from his fate? Can Spawn find some way to redeem his friend's son? We'll get into it!  Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

Al tries to make his escape but Clown has other plans. With the villain infecting much of Manhattan during a blackout, our buddy Spawn is kind of on the ropes. Is this his new reality? Stuck between human and Hellspawn? Meanwhile, Nyx contemplates her deal with Mammon. Could it bring back her long lost friend? Is Mammon playing at something bigger? We'll get into it! This week's recommendations are to go outside! And also to get involved with your local community fridge or food bank! A better world is possible. If you need help finding these things, reach out and we can help! Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!  

Spawn is trapped between waking life and nightmare as hallucinations and fractured memories blur his grip on reality. But what does Nyx have to do with this and what's her motive? Has Twitch figured out Spawn's identity? Can Al resolve his past with Major Forsburg? We'll get into it!  This week's recommendations are Stuart Gordon's From Beyond and Joe Dante's Gremlins 2.  Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

"Salvation Road" wraps up in this episode as Wanda and Terry deal with finding out that Al's grave has been dug up and wrestle with what his ghostly presence means in their relationship. Nyx plays Wendy Darling and stitches the amnesiac Al back to Spawn. Jason Wynn has got his groove back thanks to Clown. But is it the real Clown or a hallucination? Can Al trust Nyx? What's in this for her? Will Terry, Wanda, Sam, Twitch or anyone who has crossed paths with Al Simmons ever be happy?! We'll get into it! This week's recommendations are to watch old episodes of Love Connection to immerse yourself in a little bit of what human connection was like before the dawn of the internet and to check out Tina Romero's directorial debut Queens of the Dead, a queer zombie romp that is a love letter to her father George Romero's work. Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

Al Simmons is back from Hell — but this time, he's human? Things are certainly not as they seem. Powerless, disoriented, and haunted by his past, Spawn begins a fragile journey of rediscovery on the streets of New York. From a jail cell to ghostly alleys that Al feels compelled to visit, and a fateful meeting with the myserious Nyx, is there a road to redemption lying in wait for Al Simmons? George and Pierce will get into it! This week's recommendations are to reengage with a hobby that brought you joy in the past but has fallen by the wayside and to listen to The Starting Line's new record Eternal Youth.  Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

"A Season in Hell" concludes and the world is quickly changing for Spawn and Al Simmons. Promised the ability to remake Hell in his own image, it seems that Al has really just been a pawn in the plans of his newest big bad - Cogliostro?! Now stripped of his hellish legacy, Al has returned to Earth without his "shadow." What does that mean for the world famous government assassin? George and Pierce will get into it. This week's recommendations are Immortal X-Men by Kieron Gillen and Lucas Werneck and for the history buffs out there, Tutankhamun's Trumpet by Toby Wilkinson which relays Egyptian history through the analysis of the objects buried with the king. Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

Spawn and Redeemer face off! Their battle in the desert pushes Spawn to his limits — body and soul — as old sins and buried guilt claw their way back to the surface. Wounded and dragged toward Hell, Spawn is forced to confront visions of his past life, his marriage, and the lies that forged his damnation. These issues dive deep into identity, faith, and destiny — asking whether Spawn can truly escape what Hell made him, or if he's doomed to become it. We'll get into it! This week's recommendations are Uncanny X-Force by Rick Remender, Esad Ribic & Jerome Opena as well as a reminder to  hug your huggables - the people and animals in your life that make it all worth living.  Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

What's happening, Hellspawn? This week, we have a very special episode for you. We are taking a little break from the saga of Al Simmons in the early 2000s to talk to Chris Killian and Andrew Sanders, the writers of the recently announced Spawn Universe title, "I Saw Santa." We'll get into their history with Spawn and Todd McFarlane as well as dig into how they approached writing this books and how it fits into Spawn's world. With art by Thomas Nachlik, "I Saw Santa" is a classic holiday horror story about a serial killer with an obsession with a certain red-suited man and how Spawn, and Santa himself, handle it. If "I Saw Santa" sounds like the kind of book you would dig, we urge you to preorder it at your local comic book shop. The Final Order Cutoff (FOC) is Monday, November 3, 2025. The issue is scheduled to arrive in comic shops on Wednesday, November 26, 2025. So get your orders in ASAP! (Especially if you want that sweet Greg Capullo cover!) Don't know where you local comic shop is? Check out Comic Shop Locator or shoot us an email and we are happy to help you out! This week's recommendations run the gamut! Check out the latest from Paul Thomas Anderson One Battle After Another and if you want a different flavor of Leonardo DiCaprio, check out Fox's Fun House. Our esteemed guests have a number of comic recommendations by some of their Image Comics peers: Doug Wagner's comics - Plastic, The Hard Place & Gun Candy,
Geoff Johns & Ivan Reiz "Hyde Street,"
Tony Fleecs, Trish Forester and Tone Rodriguez' "Feral,"
and Mike Carey & Jonathan Wayshak's "Cul-De-Sac." You can find Chris and Andrew on their respective Instagrams: @ckcomedy and @andrew_sanders_writer  Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

Hey there Hellspawn! We're finishing up in Japan as Spawn faces ghosts, demons, and an ancient curse in "The Bridge, Part 2." As Ben Nakadai uncovers the mysterious Box of Eden — and falls right into Mammon's trap, opening a door between worlds that won't easily be closed. Back in New York, "Consequences" brings us a turning point: Spawn clashes with Cogliostro over how far he'll go to reshape the world, while a young man named Eddie Frank takes a deadly path that leads to his rebirth as the new Redeemer. Two issues that bridge the supernatural and the moral — and set the stage for Spawn's next dark chapter. This week's recommendations are FX's Alien Earth tv show and then a couple of bigger ones than just some fun media we've been consuming. We are living in tough times. Find a way to get involved with your local immigrant community in some small way. And similarly, show up for your friends who make art.  Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

We're wrapping up "The Kingdom" and starting up a new arc! (I know it's weird but if you don't like it, start your own podcast.) A content warning for self-harm and suicidal ideation in this episode! Spawn #113 wraps up the "Kingdom" arc with a tense showdown in Central Park. Spawn battles the vampire cult while Twitch nearly makes a tragic choice—until Spawn steps in. The Hell-gate is destroyed, Twitch's son is saved (though changed forever), and Mammon quietly hints that bigger dangers are coming. Then Spawn #114 kicks off a brand-new mystery in Japan, where a man named Ben Nakadai is haunted by visions of a legendary bridge and a family curse. With Mammon weaving his manipulative tales and Spawn drawn into the mix, the stage is set for a fresh, eerie chapter in Spawn's saga. Our recommendations this week are James Gunn's Peacemaker on HBO and Matt aFraction & Jorge Jimenez' recently released Batman ongoing. Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!  

"The Kingdom" continues! Spawn versus Simon Pure and his hordes of Christian vampires! Absorbing the sins of all New Yorkers, he purifies the city and robs the zealots of their targets, forcing their crusade to a standstill. With the help of the demons Ab and Zab, Spawn rescues Twitch's son, Max and confronts the Kingdom head-on. But his victory comes at a cost, leaving him burdened with unimaginable darkness and standing further apart from both Heaven and Hell! We'll get into it! This week's recommendations are to interrogate the thing within you that is keeping you from being the person you want to be as well as Zach Cregger's excellent flick, Weapons.  Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

"The Kingdom" continues! Simon Pure and his army of Christian vampires are out for blood! But George and Pierce are liking how this story is unfolding as McFarlane, Holguin and Medina are bringing some interesting depth to Spawn's world by involving side characters and finding a new style for the previously established visual langauge of the book. This week's recommendations are the lovely kitty Instagram of Gumbus as well as the comic book work of indie creator Ian Cinco. Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!  

We're back! The #SummerofHellspawn is over and we've got vampires. More specifically, we've got some of those Heaven vampires and the return of George's favorite character, Wolfram! But who exactly is Simon Pure? And what fate will befall Twitch Williams' son Max and his new friend, Dawn? We'll get into it! This week's recommendations are Thin Lizzy's Thunder & Lightning and the boxing anime Megalobox.  Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

The grand finale of Hellspawn is here and with it, the #SummerofHellspawn comes to a close! In this episode, George and Pierce get into Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith's haunting conclusion to the series (despite the fact that they didn't seem to think it was ending just yet). There are a lot of heavy themes as there have been throughout so a light trigger warning for our discussion surrounding abuse and self harm. With Eden's haunting accusations of Spawn and Hel's relentless orchestrations, the finale doesn't shy away from exploring loss, responsibility, and the nature of power. It's a moving farewell wrapped in beautiful, unsettling art and it leaves you haunted in the best possible way. Apologies in advance to anyone that doesn't want to hear us argue about the Fantastic Four. Skip ahead to 26:56 for discussion of the issues. This week's recommendations are Jack Kirby comics (just any of them) as well as Patrick Horvath's Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees  and Deniz Camp & Javier Rodriguez' Absolute Martian Manhunter. Comics are good, y'all, and you should read as many of them as (in)humanly possible. Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

The final arc of Hellspawn begins here! George and Pierce begin with some chatter about Fantastic Four but then we dive into what turns out to be a couple of breezy issues of Hellspawn. It's clear the team doesn't quite know yet that they are nearing the end of their run but it's interesting to see how the book has evolved and how it fits into the larger Spawn mythos. As always, a hearty trigger warning for some discussion of selfharm. It is kind of inevitable in this book. Sorry! This week's recommendations are to go see Fantastic Four if you haven't already, watch Abel Ferrara's 1990 crime noir masterpiece King of New York  starring Christopher Walken and to go do one of your favorite things. Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

George and Pierce get into another couple of issues of Hellspawn because it is, in fact, the #SummerofHellspawn. No one has used that hastag and no one will again. In these two issues, we're going to finish things up with Cy-Gor, seemingly finishing things up with Mike Moran (?) and see what's in store with Eden, the woman who was left in a bathtub previously.  As with many of these episodes, trigger warnings for self harm, forced birth and extreme violence if you read these comics. We won't talk about the violence much but the rest we have to at least mention. This week's recommendations are the show Taskmaster, the film Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys and Wong Kar-Wai's Days of Being Wild. Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!  

Ben Templesmith joins the fray as the #SummerofHellspawn continues! As with many of the previous episodes, we'd be remiss not to give a trigger warning for some of the content in these issues and the discussion of them surrounding self-harm.  That said, Steve Niles is clearly trying to set this book on a slightly different path than its been on to this point while Ashley Wood and Templesmith are seemingly trying to be cognizant about bringing a cohesive look to the book as Wood transitions off of it. But we've got Cy-Gor. We've got Mike Moran. We've got Scary Larry and we've got Spawn so we're here for it. The first of this week's recommendations are Dan Jones' "The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England." This book focuses on the Plantagenet dynasty, which ruled England before the Tudors. If you're a Game of Thrones fan, you might dig it. Our other recommendations are the films Night of the Comet, a super campy and fun 80s sci-fi horror flick, Repo Man, maybe the best Emilio Estevez movie(?) and the Coen Brothers' debut Blood Simple. Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

We are halfway through the #SummerofHellspawn! There's a lot to cover in these two issues! Trigger warning abound to for self-harm especially in these two issues! Issue #7 offers a surreal psychological portrait of Spawn's fractured identity, with dreamlike, unsettling visuals as Sam & Twitch strike a secret deal with Mike Moran and John Damascus tortures a broken Jason Wynn. Then, in issue #8, Spawn confronts a twisted abomination from his past—Cy‑Gor reprogrammed into a killing machine—and also attempts to save Eden, an abused woman who tragically chooses to end her life. We've got existential dread and horror in spades! This week's recommendations are Marvel's latest Disney+ show, Ironheart, and for the films aficionados out there, the video essays of Patrick H. Willems. For something Spawn-adjacent, Pierce highly recommends the videos about the Exagerrated Cities of 90s Cinema and the classic about Trains. Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!      

Hey there Hellspawn! We're back with another two issues of the 2000s edgiest Spawn spinoff, Hellspawn. Chatrooms are buzzing about the existence of Spawn and George and Pierce will dive deeper into Brian Michael Bendis and Ashley Wood's darker interpratation of the world of Rat City. But how does this fit into the the grand anarrative of the war between Heaven and Hell? Why don't these angels looks like the ones we've seen before? And who is Mike Moran? Is he really Miracleman? (And who the hell is Miracleman anyway?  This week's recommendations are to identify something in your life that is holding you back and trim it out. A little less existentially, George and Pierce both have some t-shrit recs for you. Pierce recommends you check out screenprinter extraordinaire Zach Merrill's ACTION TEES. Zach makes really incredible comic book inspired pieces of art and hand screen prints limited runs of those designs. Follow him ASAP to stay informed about the next drop. George is a fan of Meth Syndicate for some weird kooky designs. Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

Summer of Hellspawn continues! And with it, another heavy trigger warning for discussions of selfharm and racism. This week, Brian Michael Bendis and Ashley Wood get a little assist from the legend Bill Sienkiewicz as the creative team dives deeper into the depths of depravity. They finish up the fight against Clown and then investigate the insidious ways that evil persists in our every day lives through pundits with platforms who seek to divide everyday people. Is this just a darker take on the "Spawn Across America" arc? Not quite. Does it improve upon it? George and Pierce will get into it. This week's recommendations are to drink some water, to read David Pepose and Davide Tinto's new Speed Racer book from Mad Cave Studios (issue number 1 drops on July 30!) and for anyone in New York or visiting New York to visit the wonderful comic shop/record store Vinyl Fantasy in Brooklyn. Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!  

The Summer of Hellspawn is here! For the next two months, we will be covering the entirety of Hellspawn by Brian Michael Bendis, Ashley Wood, Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith before returning to our regular Spawn coverage. Before we go any further, we do was to issue a pretty heavy trigger warning for this book and a lighter trigger warning for our discussions of it. If you are affected by depictions and discussions of self-harm, sexual violence and violence against women, you may want to skip these episodes. Hellspawn is definitely more of an R-rated book compared to the main Spawn title's more PG-13 approach. In this episode, George and Pierce will talk quite a bit about the career and ongoing legacy of Brian Michael Bendis, how Ashley Wood has become a fan favorite Spawn artist, what we mean when we talk about "vibes comics" and how Hellspawn represents a new direction for a character that maybe needed a bit of redefinition 10 years into his existence. This week's recommendations are to listen to John Prine, to get outside and move your body and also to play Final Fantasy 9. Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

Overtkill's back and he's better than ever! For Spawnie this year, Overtkill's here!  (^Obviously, that should be sung to the tune of the Hess truck jingle) But Overtkill is back and he's brought along a new writer for a couple of issues, horror aficionado, Steve Niles. You might be familiar with his work on 30 Days of Night, Batman and Kick-Ass but George and Pierce will dig into how well his work fits into the Spawn universe. We'll also take a brief look back at Curse of the Spawn #23 and #24 and how those issues fit into this era. Along the way, diversions include Jonathan Hickman's Imperial, daring to ask the question 'is Jesus Christ the Original Hellspawn?' and the first three Metallica albums. Plus, we got a letter!  This week's recommendations are A Night of Revelry by Havivah Saltz, a lesbian fairytale comic about a knight and a jester falling in love, West Hollywood Monster Squad by Sina Grace & Bradley Clayton, in which a group of high schoolers get more than they bargained for when the drag show they're attending is attacked by monsters. And also the lovely new record from London post-rock collective, Caroline called Caroline 2. Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

This week, we've got a trio of stories that aim to refocus the main Spawn title after the events of the #100 milestone. Who and what is Spawn after the death of Malebolgia? What does he stand for? What is his place in the world? Is his humanity just a distant memory? This definitely feels like a retread of similar stories - namely, the "Spawn Across America" arc some 70 issues ago - but with Holguin on board, the stories do have a bit of a different feel. As always, George and Pierce will get into it and along the way, they'll discuss Holguin's exploration of hopelessness in the world of Spawn, fetid fascinations with fascism in fiction and outside of it as well as where The Town Called Malice finds itself post-Urizen. This week's recommendations are to check out the comics of Scott Bustillo and Rodney Rodis' Bustillo Publishing. Their books are rooted in the world of Tokusatsu. With a spotlight on Kaiju, alien heroes, and demi-gods, their stories blend mythology and science fiction into high-octane adventures. We would also love for you to check out Aquaman: Yo-Ho-Hold Onto Your Hook by Josh Trujillo with artists Niky Lelapi, Andrew Drilon, and Bradley Clayton. It launches in July on DC Universe Infinite. Lastly, we'd like to highlight Chris Gethard's Laughing Together, a new initiative from Wellness Together that aims to expand and innovate the mental health movement through increasing awareness, advocacy, and access via student-based workshops and professional development programs. You can find out more here. Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

Time to take a detour into a weird little artifact in Spawn publishing history, "Spawn: Simony." Originally published in French by the company that put out the main Spawn comics in France, it eventually got an English translation. Is this exactly where it fits in continuity? Uh, sure! Is this some underrated gem? Uh, probably not! But your humble Spawnographers will do their duty while also talking about the similarities to Robocop and the Fifth Element, reminiscing about DC Comics in the EB Games era and which X-Men are queer. This week's recommendations are to carve out some time for your friends and check in on them amidst everything going on in the world and on a lighter note, Dynamite Entertainment's Captain Planet by enemy of the pod, David Pepose and Emmanuel Casallos. Get it at your local comic shop!  Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

And we are back to our regularly scheduled Spawn programming! Thanks again to Todd McFarlane for joining us last episode!  This episode we say goodbye to Greg Capullo and hello to new series regular artist, Angel Medina. Spawn hangs out with Granny Blake to decompress after the recent events of the comic and we get acquainted with the beginnings of this new era of Spawn. We'll get into some personal religious traumas, tried to start a rap beef with Drake - you know, the usual. This week, we have two recommendations. Number one is to listen to music that pumps you up and makes you feel something. For George lately, that's Author & Punisher and HEALTH. Number two is to make the thing you want to make the best way you can make it and/or collaborate with other human beings to make your ideas a reality. Make art. This is and always will be an anti-AI podcast.  Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

We've covered 100 issues of Spawn and now we get to talk to the man himself, Todd McFarlane! We had a great conversation about Todd's approach to the book, how the book evolved over those first 100 issues, the secrets behind the Harry Houdini arc and a little bit of what Todd might have done differently.  Many thanks to Todd for joining us and his team for helping set up this opportunity. This week's recommendation is a simple one, read some Spawn! Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!

We have made it to a milestone! Issue 100! This marks the culmination of the first era of Spawn and it is a doozy! Will Al confront Malebolgia? What's going on with Wanda and Terry? Can Spawn find redemption? All of this and more awaits and George and Pierce dig into the issue. Plus we talk about some of our favorite comics fights and how this milestone issue stacks up against the past ones. This week's recommendations are to find something to care about enough that you actually take steps to do it as well as 2 documentaries - the 2004 Against Me! documentary "We're Never Going Home" (which is thankfully available on YouTube) and the 1999 documentary by Chris Smith called "American Movie." Thanks to Freesound for being a great resource for our intro atmosphere and sound effects. Thanks to Blake Whitlow for the always useful Spawn Reading Order. Thank YOU for listening!