Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

I've been talking to a few people - not many, but just a few - about Spawn.   I think it's either a you love it or hate it thing.   And while I just got... bored with the story not really going anywhere for a while, I'm an exception to the rule.   

Spawn is violence and rage, and ties into revenge fantasies quite nicely, but again, you either hate it or love it.   

I love it: the gore, the backstory, it all.   But it just wasn't enough to keep him going.   Then again, neither was The Punisher.   There's a reason I keep backing away and getting pulled back into The Punisher.   Sure, the one-note revenge fantasy is fun for a while, but, well, really.  I need more after so many issues of just plain revenge fantasy. 

So those pleasure centers in my brain that used to light up when I read Spawn stopped after a while, replaced by... does my brain have boredom centers?   Those lit up after a while - if they exist.

The thing is that with a new writer, and a new direction, Spawn has not only re-introduced Al Simmons - I still can't get into Jim Downing - but they've fleshed him out and given him a more clear purpose.   They've drawn in other people - his friends, his family - pulling them tighter to the plot again and making me care because of those relationship he has.   

While the homeless people he surrounded himself with at first made fine allies and friends, it wasn't anything like what was evoked with Wanda Blake, or Terry Fitzgerald, or even Wand's child Cyan.   Bringing Wanda and Terry back in is a very smart move in my opinion; as Al feels more strongly about them, so do I since I also feel this is told from his point of view.  Or you see so much of him, and he gets more developed, and I feel more strongly about him - and the people he feels most strongly about. 

Satan has killed Wanda, who was carrying Al's unborn child.   Now, Al needs to find Satan and kill him - but first he needs to find Wanda before her God-given - literally - protection runs out in hell and the demons get to her to torture Al by torturing her. 

This is all about how far he'll go to get her back.   Up to and including working with Violator. 

And this may be my favorite Spawn panel ever: