King Spawn #23 // Review
Yoko’s got brains. (Lots of them.) And since all of those brains are under the control of Yoko....all of those brains hate Spawn just as much as she does. Spawn killed Yoko’s murderer. He might have thought that he was freeing her. He was quite wrong. Now, things are hopelessly messed up, as witnessed in King Spawn #23. Writer Sean Lewis continues a deeply complex plot with the aid of additional scripting by Spawn creator Todd McFarlane. Art is summoned to the page through the work of Kevin Keane. Color coats the visuals under the power of Ivan Nunes.
Yoko and the ghosts that she’s devoured have all formed into a single union that has a very deep hatred of Spawn. Too bad he happens to be there right in front of them all. Spawn is very powerful. There are a lot of attacks that an army of ghosts could mount that wouldn’t amount to much. So they shatter. The shards shoot themselves at Spawn and dive into every part of his body. He can feel their pain now. The pain is positively overwhelming. Spawn’s been through a lot over the decades. There’s no way he’s going to go through this without a few more scars.
Lewis finds a fresh spin on a traditional combat between magical entities. The central conflict is compelling. Yoko manages to seem like a very sympathetic villain, which is quite an accomplishment on Lewis’s part, considering the fact that she’s had substantially less time on the comics page than Spawn. The characterization of the hero as being someone who is more familiar with physical combat is an interesting one. Spawn’s military training would be the type of thing that would have had an emotional component. In light of this, the idea of attacking him with other people's pain is actually kind of clever.
Keane manages a really sharp execution of spectral combat. There's a real visceral component to it that keeps it all grounded. It feels like a palpable horror-based exchange between powerful forces and at least one earthbound cop. Spawn rests somewhere in the middle. The contrast between the different forces isn't quite as vivid as it could be. But the brutality of the conflict that presents itself makes a hell of an impression. Yoko is a really beautiful antihero. The undying determination in the bloodstains spatter the visage of a woman who still manages to hold onto some sense of innocence through it all. It's a very chilling look.
The basic conflict that's going on doesn't really have a whole lot of weight. However, the emotional gravity of everything that's going on does. And that's really all that's needed for a powerful horror fantasy comic book. As long as there's enough pole on the page between the different compelling supernatural forces, everything works. Still, it would be nice if things were delivered to the page in a way that felt a little bit more defined between villain, hero, and hero’s cop accomplice.
