Whatever Happened to Spawn?

Actually... he really sucks IMO. He was cool when he first started but the whole "angels and demons" aspect has been done to death! It got old too quickly. The major problem with these old image characters is that they were overly too powerful. Witchblade, Darkness, Spawn, Pitt(a virtual doomsday) you name it, they were just too much. They're most popular characters now a days are they're simplest like Ripclaw, Magdalena, Invincible and Savage Dragon has always been one of they're best. Batman has always been more popular than Superman and the same goes for Wolverine versus Pheonix.

But i'm still damn proud to have the Spawn videogame for the SNES!!! That game kicked major ass!!! Loved his HBO series too. As for McFarlen, he's an idiot for thinking that his new "concept" will sell on screen. Bound to fail!!!

I know him but I don't actually KNOW him

@BmanHall

As a Superman fan (one of few, it seems!) something about your statement intrigued me.

"if somebody is so powerful that can't be stopped; then what's the point?"

Maybe I'm niave, or ill-informed, but when a character like Batman, or Spider-man, takes on a tough challenge . . . from an intellectual standpoint, do you really think there's any chance he's going to fail, and be killed off? Any more chance then there is for Supes?

For myself, I like the morality studies that "over-powered" characters can sometimes provide. Though I was never a big Spawn fan - the angels, demons, king of hell thing was just too much for me. The story too often felt like it was trying to beat you over the head with how dark, and edgy, and cool it was, for my taste.

dellamorte1872- Story wise, The MAXX was outstanding!!! It couldn't do no wrong and IMO, i'm sad PITT never had that cool of a story to tell cause i loved the character and most importantly, Dale Keown's ART!!!

BmanHall- GREAT point about Spider-man!!! It is indeed what makes him stand out from every other hero!!!

OptionFour- "when a character like Batman, or Spider-man, takes on a tough challenge . . . from an intellectual standpoint, do you really think there's any chance he's going to fail, and be killed off?"

Actually, it has nothing to do with the possibility that he won't come out victorious. It has to do with the fact that he'll have to find something else than Invulnerability and Monumental Strenght to get out of his bend. That's what's intriguing. In regards to Superman, they had to come up with a way for him to loose his powers like Kryptonite, but then that makes him so lame that mere mortals can kick his ass. Honest to god, i'm sick and tired of hearing about Kryptonite being his only weakness. Thank god for magic... if only that wasn't as lamely portrayed in his books as much as Kryptonite is. Of course i never read EVERY book on supes since there is sometimes more than 4 books per month but still...

@BmanHall, and Shaman

Aw, cool. I think I see what you're both saying. I suppose more correctly I should say I'm a fan of Superman's potential, since I think poor writing has taken more than a few strips off of him in the last ten years. Just my opinion, but if they're going to elevate him to god-like levels physically, then he needs to appear less often, and fight god-like threats when he does.
What Shaman mentions (sometimes up to four books per month) is a huge mistake, I think. Small doses work better. Sure, make him god-like - but then give him a moral conviction that says people have to struggle in order to overcome, and have to overcome in order to grow strong. Have him love humanity enough to let us suffer once in a while. Knock him down to a single, quarterly book of his own with occassional special appearances in other DC titles. It is, after all, the imperfections that make a character interesting.

I know it'll never happen since he's a cash cow for DC, but a guy can hope!

Edit: Just editing to say that I think treating him as I mention above would also turn the feeling of "Oh, don't worry - Superman'll fix it, and everything will be fine" into a feeling of "Damn, we must be pretty deep in the shit if Superman has shown up!"

wow, great thread. this sreally brought up excellent debat topics, and some incredibly thought out commentary. i think the best part is people delving into why they love these characters and story's as apposed to try ing to say who is better. (my dad can beat ou your dad type b.s.)

I think that the beauty of comics are that they are just stories. tales of iconic character that all of us can relate to in some form or another. We can all relate to spider man being one of the best hero's of the modern age by knowing that we all ahave aspects of ourselves that face insurmountable odds at times. spider man reminds us of how, no matter what, maybe we can't overcome but we will find a way. i don't like to think of spiderman as the superman of marvel, i'd rather think of him as green lantern. both characters have incredible powers, weaknesses, trials, and tribulations. and both can overcome through sheer will of spirit. that's the beauty of the story, the story itself.

in the same spirit, i'd compare superman to magneto. (hang on, i know that i'm comparing one of the greatest hero's with aguably THE greatest villain.)but the both of them are so powerfull that yes, they are gods. But, as hurcules, perseus, achilles, and even kevin smith (yeah dogma) show us. even gods can be brought down.

i guess what i'm trying to say is that spawn was awesome. granted the whole angels and demons story was beaten to death in the 90's. doestent mean that the stories of heaven and hell haven's been told for, oh i don't know, the last two thousand years or so. and that's just one religion. (please, don't think i'm trying to start a religious debate.) the story of superman has been told for almost the last century alone. but like all good stories, they go through rough times and do need to be rebooted. i.e. old/new testement, the crisis story lines, brend new day, etc. i hope that spawn does get retold. i hopw it happens over and over again just like all the rest of the stories. they become a part of our history, part of us. just as we evolve and become part of it.

now, just like bmanHall, thanks for the thread. enjoy, have fun, and keep telling tales.

KEROSENE- Thing is whit Spawn, it's already been retold so many times that not are most of us tired of hearing the story, we're tired of seeing it rebooted LOL :P But the character's coolness is undisputed, you gotta give him that :) I'd honestly prefer seeing a female point of view on that character. Now that would be a nice twist :))

Shaman--I think OptionFour's concept for superman, "Damn, we must be pretty deep in the shit if Superman has shown up!" is what Mcfarland is trying to do with his new Spawn movie pitch.

He's realized his mistake with Spawn and he's trying to further humanize the Spawn story to make it more relatable to us and the common viewer. Like Option said about Supes, he's taking Spawn out of the human story and would probably only bring him in when the proverbial shit hath hit the fan.

Although, when I think about what I've read about Mcfarland's pitch idea, it makes me think that he would be making Spawn a lowly plot device. You know, when there's no way the main character's going to get out of this one, boom! Writer's loop--here comes Spawn!

Well in the last reboot of his character's story, he gave the powers to a new guy... i'm saying it would have been more "original/different" to give it to a girl.

And as for his new pitch, that's not really what it sounded like. Spawn would be THE ONLY super powered being in the story, lurking in the alleys of the city and the story would revolve around other characters. Well that's not SPAWN. I wouldn't mind a Sam and Twitch story but they hardly need Spawn in there. Spawn was made to fight angels and demons and anything less would be a waste. I'm not saying it would be cool to have another over the top action movie like the last one, but the ulternative doesn't sound any better. Would you like a Superman story that revolved around Olsen but all you'd see of superman is Jimmy's point of view which quite frankly isn't much. You'd see blue and red flashes here and there. A few lives saved but no details. I dunno, it all seems like a waste to me. Why bother?

Nope, Hulk and Blade whent down that doggy road already, it is such a lame concept. Am i the only one that's also tired of animal family movies??? MVP, Beethoven, Tobby etc!!! GODDAMN THEY SUCK!!! Get a clue Hollywood!!! But Stewart Little kicked ass!!!

LOL Oh hey, what ever happened to the article you posted up??? I had put cool condorman pics and stuff!!!