Todd McFarlane's Spawn

About nine months ago I acquainted myself with a 90s cult-classic action cartoon called Gargoyles, which for a time ran alongside the venerable X Men: Animated Series in syndication. It was gothic and cool, and it managed to accomplish a few fantastic moments. Ultimately though I found the series promising and admirable, but flawed. However, as soon as Gargoyles ended its initial run in early 1997, a new series began whose premise apparently was "let's take the best things about Gargoyles (modern gothic disposition, alienation themes, et. al.), and make them ten times better." They even went so far as to pluck from Gargoyles its most powerful asset: the glorious voice acting of Keith David, who plays the lead in both shows.

The "action cartoon" is a genre very near and dear to my heart, but it is also the single genre I am most exhaustively discerning with. You could argue I'm very accepting and forgiving towards sitcoms and adult cartoons, but I have the strictest standards for action cartoons. I have major qualms with even my top favorites in the ilk. My collection is riddled with the DVD corpses of shows that failed to impress. So I hope you will take me seriously when I say with confidence that Spawn is one of the greatest action cartoons I have ever seen. It consistently impressed me and frequently left me stunned.

Spawn

Spawn is the story of a Government assasin who, upon death, strikes a deal with the devil to return to life, in the hope of seeing his wife again. But the devil has his own intentions, and sends Spawn back to humanity as a grotesque corpse, estranged from his wife and imbued with superhuman strength with which to do his master's bidding. Spawn deals with the existential fallout of his new life in the gutters and status as a living monster, while Hell subtley compels him to fulfill his duty of reaping souls (by killing people) so as to embolden Hell's army for the final battle against Heaven.

Unlike the haphazard Hollywood hot mess that was the Spawn live action film, Todd McFarlane's Spawn had perpetual involvmenet from the comics' creator, and valued story over glitz. The show was bankrolled by HBO, and features all the beautiful artisan craftsmanship you would expect from them. Also in line with HBO's code of conduct, this is perhaps the first action cartoon I've seen that is unambiguously aimed at adults, with gruesome blood-covered murder scenes and ricocheting swear words all around. Even a little bit of nudity. While these things aren't necessary for a good action cartoon, they're much appreciated, and help embellish the strength of atmosphere and integrity in Todd McFarlane's Spawn.

The animation is beyond divine, with an utter ocean of neo-noir gloom and a staggering supply of gorgeous, slow-panning cinema-worthy shots of grim city skylines and dark alleys. Perhaps to its deepest credit, the story remains focused and maintains an overarching sense of consequence. There's nothing I value more highly in this type of show than a focus on story of episodic considerations, andeven when Spawn verges on episodic it is always engorged on the bigger picture in the end.

The religious subtext of a battle between Heaven & Hell are calm and understated enough to be deeply inticing without boiling over into the hokey. It's not unlike how Neon Genesis Evangelion implied some sort of heavenly confrontation without ever showing us a bearded guy in a robe sending monsters off to fight. Also like Evangelion, it boasts some highly decent and compelling themes.

Issues

I have only two qualms with this show. The chief flaw of this series is that such an astounding program was given so little time to grow. Granted, these three 6-episode seasons were able to accomplish an incredible bit (it's 9 hours of content, after all), and the series ends at a decent cut-off point. But there's so much more story left to tell. Granted, it may have been a mercy killing, I've heard the later issues of the Spawn comic devolve into a bit of a mess. But with such good writers here on the show, I suspect they could have sorted out any wanderlust from the comic. Such a succinct and well-handled show? Imagine what they could have done with 40 episodes. Or 60.

The other blemish is the trajectory of season 2, which was a bit of a misstep. While it housed many important moments, it focused more on Fitgerald (the least interesting character) and demoted Spawn to secondary main characters status -- observing from the shadows and only ocassionally interfering. But season one and three are both immaculate, and season two is excellent, if not strictly flawless.

But I digress. Spawn is an immaculately-written, beyond impeccably animated, and intelligently intriguing show, as well as one of the most ceaselessly well-made action cartoons ever comitted to the screen. I know we're a bit out of season, but it's also a perfect spooky show for the halloween month. Be sure to watch it with the lights off, the intros in season two and three are chalk full of the deadly old school cool from Beyond Bizzare & ilk.