Tired of his resistance, Spawn is sent to Compound 8. A special facility that breaks even the toughest of men. Little do they know this too is part of his master plan…
Spawn #286
Writer: Todd McFarlane
Artist: Jason Shawn Alexander
Cover Artist: Todd McFarlane
Cover Colors 2: Moreno DiNisio
Cover Colors 3: Frank Martin
Cover Colors 4: Matthew Wilson
Cover Colors 5: Owen Gieni
Cover Colors 6: Annalisa Leoni
Cover Colors 7: Nikos Koutsis
Cover Colors 8: Jean-Francois Beaulieu
Colorist: Jose Villarrubia
Letters: Tom Orzechowski
Publisher: Image Comics
What You Need to Know:
Since his ill-fated trip to Japan, Spawn has been working on a new plan. A way to get close to and presumably take down Demons who hold high positions of power. First he made his presence known publically and now he’s gotten himself sent deeper and deeper into the prison system. Landing himself in Compound 8, a special prison for special inmates where even the toughest are broken. Those poor people have no idea what they’re in for…
What You’ll Find Out:
Picking up immediately where we left off, we find Spawn in the Sector 8 Prison yard. Surrounded, naked, and at the “mercy” of his fellow inmates. But before anyone can do anything, the biggest Inmate, Boss-Man, steps forward. If the others wanted to do anything to Spawn, they’d have to do it after he got through with him first. His lackey prodding the others all the while knowing he was protected by the Boss-Man. We find out his lackey’s name is Jerome and that nobody in the prison actually likes him. That Boss-Man is the only thing keeping him safe. He’s called by Boss-Man who takes Spawn inside after ordering a guard to give them thirty minutes of privacy. Knowing the Warden brought Spawn here specifically so Big-Man and the other inmates could have their way with him. Boss-Man begins to talk big and say that Spawn may have been tough outside of prison but he was nothing here. That Spawn will do anything and everything he tells him. With Spawn already naked, Jerome decides to turn off the lights. Boss-Man prepares to rape Spawn when he’s grabbed and thrown across the room. Breaking four ribs and shutting him up. Summoning his costume in full force, Spawn moves on to deal with Jerome. Jerome begins cowering in fear but Spawn isn’t in the mood to play games. Prompting Jerome to drop the act and reveal he’s a Demon and knows who Spawn is. But Spawn assures him that he’s nothing like he used to be.
Spawn cares little for Jerome or his Boss and gives them two options. Option A, Boss-Man and Jerome go outside and lie, ensuring that they keep their position of power. Option B, he can tell them Spawn is in charge. In which case, they’ll be dead before the end of the weak because nobody fears them any longer. Spawn assures him that behind closed doors, he’s the top dog and Jerome agrees to go with his plan for now. Unfortunately for Jerome, Spawn doesn’t like that and says he’ll need to send a stronger message. That night, Boss-Man notes that the rest of the prison believe their lie and for Jerome to stop worrying. But Jerome, who knows the real gravity of the situation, is trying to plan their next move. Boss-Man says he’ll sort it out in the morning and lays down in his bed. But his sheets aren’t really his sheets…they’re Spawns cape. Boss-Man fights against it but his efforts are in vain as he’s pulled inside of it…
The next day we find out that Boss-Man had hung himself. Jerome, understandably, is pissed at Spawn for his actions. That someone’s gonna get revenge on him at some point. Spawn then reveals that’s what he wants. That when they do, he’ll finally know who and where they are. That he’s using himself as bait. But then he diverts it to Jerome who he wants to know had him sent to prison in the first place. Because now Spawn is the only one who can protect Jerome. That if anyone tells him who Spawn really is, he’ll ruin the plan of whoever sent him to prison on top of outing the forces of Hell to humanity. Spawn promises to protect him from Demons if they turn on him and gets the name “Gideon”. Unfortunately for Jerome, without Boss-Man around the other inmates are fully intending on exacting their revenge on him. He asks Spawn for help but he simply says he’d only protect him from the forces of Hell. Seemingly abandoning him to the same fate Jerome intended to let Spawn endure.
With their plan foiled and Boss-Man dead, the Secret Agent chooses to send him to yet another place that might break him. Walking for twenty minutes into an even deeper portion of the facility. The Secret Agent notes that Spawn must be really important as he’s been getting calls from all types of Divisions he’s never even heard of. Telling them they’ve dealt with “situations” like Spawn before when we’re treated to a view of a disturbing laboratory. He admits they haven’t always been successful but to protect the US, they use every option available to them. Going on to say that Spawn might have an old acquaintance here to keep him company. Leading Spawn to their oldest subject, the mangled and forgotten remains of Overt-Kill.
What Just Happened?
Overt-Kill is back and it only took 181 chapters after being decapitated back in Spawn 105 to do so. Though from the looks of him, he had gotten repaired at some point before being sealed within Compound 8 like Spawn is now. We know more about Spawn’s plan and given how everything has gone so far, I can imagine Overt-Kill has a part to play in this.
Between the return of Cogliostro, Medieval Spawn, and now Overt-Kill it’s like the parts of Spawn that were trapped behind legal red tape are finally making a return. Granted, seeing Overt-Kill as a shell of his former self is pretty bad. But at least we got to see him at all.
The art remains awesomely dramatic and the assortment of covers was quite nice to see. Especially since they were done as part of Image Colorist Appreciation.
Rating: 9/10
Final Thought: Seeing such a classic Spawn villain makes me excited to see what other oldies return. Maybe one of the Demon’s Spawn is after is Violator…Only time will tell and I can’t wait to see it.
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