Spawn #308
Recap
“EMBERS OF FATE” Al Simmons has seen the future.Now, the terrible consequences of his actions in SPAWN #300 and #301 will have a ripple effect that leads toward annihilation. His every victory and every defeat change his fate, and the fate of the world.Superstar creative team TODD McFARLANE & PHILIP TAN kick off the next epic era of SPAWN!
Review
The Spawn universe continues to just get bigger and bigger as we return back to the current timeline in Spawn #308. With the different Hellspawn continuing to find their place on Earth within the ongoing battle between Hell and Heaven’s Angels, Al and his closest allies take the offensive to push once again push the series in an exciting direction.
While I was a bit taken aback with the timing of the previous 2-issue time-jumping story introducing a particularly badass character named Raptor to the series, Spawn #308 feels like the story finds its footing very quickly picking up where we left off. It was a brief detour, but now that we are back in the fight and Al is leading the charge, it’s more exciting than ever to see all the different Hellspawn returning back to the forefront.
McFarlane has been fearlessly taking the series into a fresh new era after the groundbreaking issue #300 and it doesn’t seem to be letting up anytime soon. As a longtime reader, it’s uniquely thrilling to see McFarlane wielding the rich lore of the series and putting a new spin on it. The expansion of a superhero-type universe where there are many different Hellspawn at play has opened up a lot of doors that Spawn #308 makes great use of.
If the inclusion of Medieval Spawn isn’t enough to get you pumped while reading Spawn #308 then the introduction of the Gunslinger Spawn is sure to do the trick. I think its a smart move to use such strong characters and build the world out more and it doesn’t do so at the cost of accessibility. If you don’t know where the Gunslinger Spawn originated and want to read more, it won’t take long to go back and discover Spawn #174 and #175. It’s part of the joy of reading comics and McFarlane and company have tapped into that with this recent execution.
While I admittedly do still miss the work of Jason Shawn Alexander on the Spawn series, it’s been interesting to see different artists coming in like Tan and for this issue, Ken Lashley. There are a few splash pages that are sure to impress and the design is plenty strong. But I felt like some of the darkness had been lost in the more superhero inspired layouts. This has allowed Orzechowski to really come through on letters in a unique way while Stiegerwald’s letters especially help the splash pages to really pop. I understand it all fits within this new direction, but I hope to see more of a horror influence take shape. Cog and his scheming does more than just provide insightful dialogue though, it helps to provide an opportunity for the visuals to do something different.
With the battle on Earth just getting more expansive by the issue, Spawn #308 continues the development with a strong sense of pacing and understanding of lore. It maintains the great momentum from issue #300 and is undoubtedly a lot of fun for longtime readers getting to see so many characters coming back. The ominous cliffhanger at the end may not be the most insightful, but it’s hard to deny that something crazy is just around the corner.
Final Thoughts
With the battle on Earth just getting more expansive by the issue, Spawn #308 continues developing the fresh new superhero-inspired direction with a strong sense of pacing and understanding of lore.
Spawn #308: The Greatest ‘Hell-Hounds’
- Writing - 9.5/109.5/10
- Storyline - 10/1010/10
- Art - 9/109/10
- Color - 9/109/10
- Cover Art - 9.5/109.5/10