Spawn #291: Untold Tales

While we knew that Spawn was just one of many Hellspawns, we rarely got any background details on the other Spawns. Now we finally learned about the first Hellspawn and how important they actually were (as well as a shoutout to Malebogia). That the Spawns were the merging of Heaven & Hells powers is a somewhat cliché twist that works. Namely, because we know Heaven has the Redeemer/Anti-Spawn. This also explains the Hellspawns notorious lack of desire to actually serve Hell. Something we assumed was just because of individuality they maintained rather than a mix of that an inherent neutrality.

While there is A LOT of lore being dumped on us this time around it made sense given Marc’s ignorance. The amazing art also helps offset this by being a sight to behold. Returning to more traditional art rather than super stylized. Spawn, in particular, returning to his traditional appearance. They continue to use color and heavy blacks to keep the mysterious atmosphere while making everything stand out. Most importantly, things don’t come off flat as they did infamously in the last issue.

On the downside, while this new retcon/lore is interesting it brings previous events into a new light. Namely, Hellspawns were originally said to have been created by Malebogia and Mammon. Though now it seems Malebogia simply found and began mass producing them. This in itself is interesting though it makes Malebogia seem far less important in hindsight.