King Spawn #44. // Review
There’s a little boy watching a kids’ TV show on a monitor in the dark. It’s a big command center-style set-up that has way more screens that a kid his age needs. Meanwhile there are a couple of guys discussing matters in the next room. The kid needs to be protected. One of them (Terry) is shouting at the other. “Are you out of your mind?” The other is wearing a ridiculously long, red cape. His eyes are glowing green. They come to an understanding in King Spawn #44. Writer Rory McConville continues his story with artist Yildiray Çinar and colorist Ivan Nunes.
The kid approaches the two of them. He’s hungry. ANd there just might be pizza waiting for him. It’s exactly what he’s asked for. And there’s something that isn’t exactly quite right about the fact that he’s just able to get it as quickly as he is, but the kid’s been through a lot already and forcing him to deal with his trauma isn’t going to be helping anyone out at all. Spawn has got other issues to deal with. There’s been a mass shooter at a mall in New Jersey. The shooter was dressed...like Spawn...
McConville moves a few different plot elements through an isssue with various scenes of diversified moods. The overall rhythm of the plot seems a bit patchwork. But the tension seems interesting enough to keep the pages turning. There's kind of a lot going on. And it doesn't necessarily all connect up in a way that necessarily feel all that satisfying. But the author is clearly throwing a lot of things together that will pay off as the issues proceed. Time will tell whether or not it will all come together, but McConville definitely has a very clear path for all of the moving plot elements that he’s working with in this latest issue.
Cinar doesn't have much of a chance to really deliver the percussion of action. Most of what's going on this issue is ted drama. And the drama does make the page in a stylish way that feels suitably tense. But there was something about it that doesn't quite fit. There's something about it that doesn't quite hit. Maybe it's the fact that the drama and question seems to be skirting around any direct confrontation outside of a few isolated moments. One major showdown at a mall aside, this is all just rising action and increasing tension. Cinar does a good job of delivering it to the page, though...and Nunes works with the color pallet of the series quite well as shocks of bright color strike out over a stylish darkness amidst that ever-present glowing green that is synonymous with the title character.
Taken in larger context, the action in this issue does seem to be moving forward quite well with the overall rhythm and mood of the ongoing Spawn saga. McConville he is doing our striking the good job of bringing it all to the patient away that feels like it could actually bleed to somewhere that might result in some kind of character development for everybody involved. But it's hard to tell at this stage. There is a lot of repetition in the Spawn saga. It’s entirely possible that this is just another bang-up between more thoughtful moments in the series.
