REVIEW: ‘Spawn: Unwanted Violence,’ Issue #1

Spawn: Unwanted Violence #1 is written by Todd McFarlane, illustrated by Mike del Mundo, colored by del Mundo with Marco D’Alfonso, and lettered by Tom Orzechowski with Andworld Design. It’s published by Image Comics. Over the years, Al Simmons has faced many obstacles as Spawn. He’s battled the forces of Heaven and Hell, and he’s encountered Dark Knights and traveled across universes. Yet one constant remains his often obsessive pursuit of justice.

That pursuit leads him to track down the twisted demon, Freak, who takes a perverse joy in tormenting the guilty. Spawn sends Freak on a mission that leads to a small town — where protests are taking place, and a young mother is caught in the middle of chaos.

Reading through Unwanted Violence, I felt…conflicted. Spawn has never been the type of character to shy away from the horrors of the world. One of his earliest issues even featured him delivering bloody retribution unto a child abuser. But in trying to tackle current issues such as corporate greed and the Black Lives Matter movement, McFarlane misses the mark. His writing style, which has given the world of Spawn the tragic bombast that’s allowed the character to survive for thirty years, feels somewhat hollow in this issue, especially in the opening pages with a monologue about Eve. I’d have preferred for a Black writer to handle this story, especially as Spawn is a Black man and would have some pointed thoughts about today’s current events.

The real draw of Unwanted Violence is del Mundo’s art. It’s absolutely gorgeous and, at the same time, horrifying. Bodies are riddled with bullets, sending blood flying everywhere. Freak looks like he walked out of your darkest nightmare: rotting flesh and milky white eyes wrapped in mummy-like bandages. But as always, the main draw is Spawn himself. del Mundo never misses a chance to draw the hellish antihero standing on a rooftop or walking out of the shadows, his red cape flowing around him like a fountain of fire.

What makes del Mundo’s art sing is the color work that he and D’Alfonso put into it. A scene in Peru is the perfect example of this, with the sun shining down on residents as they go about their business. In contrast, the bunker where Spawn makes his headquarters is perpetually locked in shadows, with the only color coming from the reds in Spawn’s suit as he transforms.

And then there’s the lettering. Both Orzechowski and Andworld Design have been a large part of the Spawn books, but here they take their game to a new level. When somebody shouts “RUN!” that one word literally takes up the entirety of a panel — leaping out at the reader in bright red. The narrative captions also take a shift, as they are now black, white, and literally in the reader’s face.

Spawn: Unwanted Violence #1 boasts the gorgeous, bloody art that defines a Spawn story but comes up short when attempting to tackle depth. McFarlane may have had good intentions with this story, but he should have left the execution to a writer capable of handling it.

Spawn: Unwanted Violence #1 is available now wherever comics are sold.