'Spawn: The Animated Series' Talkback (Spoilers)

[Bird Boy]

Synopsis: Al Simmons made a deal with the devil, a deal that would let him return to earth to see his wife. Little did he know the cruel trick that Hell has instore for him. Follow Al, also known as Spawn, as he tries to regain his footing in a strange new world, and as he becomes entangled in a plot between Heaven and Hell.

Comments?

Related:
Toon Zone Presents "Todd McFarlane's Spawn"
"Spawn: The Animated Series - 10th Anniversary Edition" DVD Talkback 9Spoilers)

[Tim Drake]

I've heard really good things about this. I just recieved season two of Spawn as a present. I've never seen it before though, so I really want to wait till I can get ahold of season 1. Has anyone seen Spawn and wanna give me a little synopsis and review of the series??

[Nightwing]

I thought the series overall was pretty cool. But I'm not a fan of it's comic. I've never read it. But I've heard from a few of it's hardcore comic fans that it didn't live up to the comic. So if you're a first time viewer of Spawn in general, I think you'll like it. It's nice and dark.

And let's not forget Spawn is voiced by the legendary Gargoyle named Goliath!

[Clayface]

Well, i've been a reader of Spawn since issue number one. The series itself has gone through many make-overs throughout the years, so to say the animated show "doesn't live up to" the comic is, IMO, an unfair statement. I've got the animated show on VHS (too many other new DVDs to but before I start replacing my VHS collection!), and I enjoyed it immensely. As Nightwing said, its dark and moody, and I always like that in a cartoon.

[Nightwing]

Well that's certainly a relief. I hate it when I like a show, but fans of the shows previous form hate it because of changes or what have you. Plus I liked the show, myself!

One aspect of the show I thought was fascinating, but I didn't understand was one it's interpretation of Heaven and Hell, and good and evil (which, knowing me, is my favorite aspect of fiction). I didn't see enough of it to understand it, but at one point of of Spawn's friends tells him those who run Heaven are "just as bad" as those in Hell, or something to that effect. That confused me and I wanted to learn more. Then the show just disappeared....

[Clayface]

Originally posted by Nightwing

One aspect of the show I thought was fascinating, but I didn't understand was one it's interpretation of Heaven and Hell, and good and evil (which, knowing me, is my favorite aspect of fiction). I didn't see enough of it to understand it, but at one point of of Spawn's friends tells him those who run Heaven are "just as bad" as those in Hell, or something to that effect. That confused me and I wanted to learn more. Then the show just disappeared....

Well, I'm not sure how well I can explain this, but here it goes. There's probably a bit of spoiler material here for anyone that hasn't watched the cartoon or read the comics, so there's your warning for ya.

Spoiler:

Basically, in the comics (and I think this is where they were headed in the show), you've got this war going on between heaven and hell. But both sides are depicted as soldiers in a war - both sides are equally as brutal, and both sides just use humans. Both sides are basically only concerned about the numbers - how many souls can we collect before the great war?And in the comic we not only see Hell treating humans badly, but we see Heaven doing some downright questionable things. For most of the comic series, we always knew Spawn was special, and that both sides wanted him. The reasons have changed more times than you can count though. In the most recent plot twists, we see Spawn renounce all ties with both sides, and find that he's now playing for Earth/Mother Nature. He's decided both Heaven and Hell are equally as bad to the humans, and has taken on the role of protector of the earth and its inhabitants. The current storyline reminds me a lot of the orignal Swamp Thing comic. If anyone out there followed it to the end, you'd recognize the parallels.

[Nightwing]

Thanks for the info Clayface, I appreciate it. That sure is interesting, although I do have some objections to how I see things (but few).

Mama pajama! Everyone, Clayface is at post 206! Now if you're an old board veteran, you know this means I have to archive him. We've done it to A LOT of boards before, but never to actual posters, so uh....let us know if it's painfull! LOL

I'm kidding. Thanks for the run down though. That's somethin else. Wars are depicted as bad and hellish, yet in Spawn that's what is waiting for you at the pearly gates, in a way. What a clever spin on things....

[Clayface]

Originally posted by Nightwing
Thanks for the info Clayface, I appreciate it.

You're welcome!

Mama pajama! Everyone, Clayface is at post 206! Now if you're an old board veteran, you know this means I have to archive him. We've done it to A LOT of boards before, but never to actual posters, so uh....let us know if it's painfull! LOL

I'm at post 206? Well, look at that, I really am! Guess its time I made a "I'm at post 200!" thread! LOL!
Archivin' me? Yeah, go ahead and try it! You can't get rid of me that easily! I'll just come back like I always have! BWUHAHAHAHAH!!!

I'm kidding. Thanks for the run down though. That's somethin else. Wars are depicted as bad and hellish, yet in Spawn that's what is waiting for you at the pearly gates, in a way. What a clever spin on things....

Yeah, its an interesting take on things, and interesting commentary on the bible and what it has to say about the supposed coming Armegeddon. But that's a whole different post!

[killercroc]

Originally posted by Nightwing


And let's not forget Spawn is voiced by the legendary Gargoyle named Goliath!

NW-I somehow missed out on Gargoyles. I assume that's what you're talking about. Is it that good? and is it still being aired somewhere.

[The Mad Hatter]

You missed out on Gargoyles? Man, you missed a darn good show! Even though it was made by Disney, you would never have guessed just by looking at it... it could be fairly violent, and often delt with pretty heavy issues. The show was easily as dark as Fox-era B:TAS.

Anyway, I liked it. The creator wove a ludicrously in-depth special mythology for the whole thing that only got deeper and deeper as the series went on. Most of the characters were full of depth, especially Goliath (as he had to deal with losing his home, protecting those who fear or hate him, trying to get over betrayal from his beloved) and David Zanatos (a Lex Luthorish type... but one could never tell when he was manipulating things for his own benefit or manipulating things to do genuine good). And the series followed a continuity... so essentially the entire series told one huge story.

I think the only thing that keeps this show from being held in the same regard as B:TAS is the unfortunate Goliath Chronicles. This was the Saturday Morning cartoon Disney did that continued after the 65 weekday episodes left off... but they managed to run off the creator and did it without him. Man, did these episodes suck.

Toon Disney shows re-runs of Gargoyles, though I've heard that they've been badly edited. Also, getting into the show considering the continuity can be a pain... but TD shows the eps in order, and I think they're about to reset to #1 again.

[Phishman]

Toon Disney does a horrible job with them. I hear that Canadian channel (Family I think it's called) airs them unedited, meaning we get to see the infamous gun episode without all those edits. As for Spawn TAS, I found it to be an interesting series. The animation really didn't pick up until season two, but the stories were good. It moved faster than it's comic counterpart anyways.

[James Harvey]

Comments?

I was rooting through my DVDs, desperate for something to watch, and decided to put in all three seasons of the HBO Spawn series.

So, what do you think worked and what tanked?

I thought the first season was good, but not great. The animation was good but had some low pointshere and there. Then again, what series doesn't? When the series progressed into it's second season did the show get better. Second season may very well be the highlight of the show so far. I'd love to see the loose ends from the third season wrapped up.

Comments?

There's also discussion about the Spawn movie Here.

[Cogliostro]

I loved the second and third season. I have yet to see the first. I think it was a great way to show the true darkness of the world of Spawn. I would recommend it to everyone that wants to watch a dark cartoon. Todd has yet to decide if he will do the fourth season, he said he will decide after Spawn 2 (The movie) is over...

[James Harvey]

In a weird coincidence, Teletoon (The Canadian Animation Channel) has started to rerun the series Fri- Mon at 10:30pm (ET). Any Canucks here gonna watch it? We can discuss it here!

[czyznyck99]

I think the series was good, considering that there were only three seasons of six episodes. I agree that there a few threads that weren't closed at the end of the third season.

What really sparked my interest about this show was its dark nature. Spawn doesn't know who he is or was or what he'll become, and he can't accept any of those views. He forever remains in an alley, a metaphor for the passage between good and evil, where both heaven and hell resort to the other's methods to try to win.

More Spawn would work for me, I can't afford HBO so I bought the VHS copies when I had the chance.

Later.

[Zero Signal]

I thought the show was great. I'd never had a chance to read many of the comics, so I knew little about it going in. Certain things just kind of ended abruptly, but other than that it was probably in my top 20 or so favorite animated shows.

[James Harvey]

The series does start off a bit rocky, but episode #2 is a favorite of mine. It has a nice, but brief, showdown between Spawn and the Violator in satanic form. Some quick action and some nice voice work. That episode aired last night on TELETOON. I just love how the episodes ends.

"How indeed."

[GoufCustom]

What do you guys think about Spawn:TAS?

[Evil Dr. Reef]

It was pretty cool, from the first four or five episodes I saw of it.

[James Harvey]

The series had a mediocre first season, but it quickly picked up in the second and third season with some spectacular animation. The new angular and sleek look really helped push the series along. That, and the pace picked up considerably and the stories got more interesting. The third season brought a lot of interesting characters into the mix, and gave Spawn an actual love interest. I'm still hoping they do that Spawn DTV to tie up the loose ends from the third season.