Spawn #308 Review

by Wes Greer on July 28, 2020

Writer – Todd McFarlane
Pencils – Ken Lashley
Ink - Todd McFarlane & Ken Lashley
Letters - Tom Orzechowski




I can not tell you guys how excited I am to be covering Spawn here on the site now. Spawn was one of the first comics I got into outside of Batman and Spiderman when I was younger, and I have a very special place in my heart for this series. It’s not often comic fans get to jump in on a character, let alone a publisher from the ground floor like I was able to with Spawn and Image Comics and I’ve grown right alongside the character for over 300 issues. I’m overly excited and I hope you guys enjoy my coverage of the series.

Since Spawn #300, we have really seen Spawn kind of transforming back into a more superhero type of character and story and I am actually glad to see it. I loved everything Todd was doing with Jason Shawn Alexander and trying to bring a more horror based comic to life but with Spawn, there is so much more to him than that and the series started off more as a anti-hero story so its nice to bring him back around. In the last couple issues, McFarlane has been laying a bit of a foundation for what looks to be one of the greatest battles we have seen Al Simmons go into and we’ve also seen Spawn get a few allies to join his fight which has really been something exciting to see and has opened the character up a bit more having to work with former frien-emies.This issue really picks up a bit faster than the last couple and really gets the reader excited, building off the events of the last issue and bringing back some fan favorite Hell Spawns we have not seen in a while. McFarlane does an excellent job keeping everything at a steady pace in this new issue without going over or under like we have seen before in issues and this is honestly one of my favorite issues I have read in quite a while.  This issue not only celebrates the history of the series with bringing back fan favorites from across the history of the series but also is just a fun and exciting story to read and reminds me of why I fell in love with this series in the first place. If you thought Todd was slacking on excitement recently, the dragon has been awoken and he is firing on all cylinders now.

This issue also brings in the talent of known Marvel Comics artist Ken Lashley who like McFarlane, had a long time run doing Spiderman and comes over to lend his talent to Spawn. The visuals of this issue really change things up, giving us a completely different visual from the last arc that was done by Philip Tan. Usually when this happens, it really bugs me because it kind of throws off the feel of the story for me but for this issue it is welcomed and really fits in with the more exciting action of this story. The art really helps sell the excitement in this issue and makes it feel fresh and new all around. All of the character designs by Lashley are beautiful and feel of the early Spawn world while giving a more modern feel to them. I do feel however that the art of this issue resembles the style of a Marvel book almost a little more than I would like but having McFarlane on inks I think really helped keep it from going full Marvel style book and keeps it in the Image style of things. The panel work is all great and we do get treated to a couple really beautiful splash pages. The colors of this issue also really change the mood of the visuals with more vivid and bright colors used but for the most part the settings and the story call for it vs the last couple issues where they needed to be darker. Everything is colored beautifully, and the detail work is all top tier helping bring a more realistic tone to the art. For the lettering of this issue everything is clean and crisp and very easily read. I did however notice there were a few issues with typos in the speech in the beginning of the issue. I don’t know if these were noticed and fixed, but it did make the speech a little confusing and I had to piece the speech together myself.

Overall, this issue really checks all the boxes that make up a fun and exciting comic issue. McFarlane celebrates long time readers bringing back familiar faces and setting up for what I hope to be one of the most exciting battles in Spawns history and keeps everything moving at a steady and exciting pace. The artwork is excellent and while bringing in a more Marvel style feel, helps bring an exciting story to life and appeals to the readers eyes. Everything about this issue works and really is just a great time from start to finish and leaves us excited to see what’s next for Spawn. Spawn #308 is available now so make sure you head over to your local shop and pick it up before it flies off the shelf. If you live in an area effected by the current Covid-19 pandemic, you can also purchase this issue via digital download from your preferred digital retailer. Make sure you guys let me know what you thought of the issue by leaving your comments down below!

=Wes Greer
 

Our Score:

8/10

A Look Inside