Todd McFarlane’s Spawn is a comic book character with a rough history. When he first appeared people griped he was a rip-off of Spider-Man and Venom (characters McFarlane had worked on during his tenure with Marvel). Later, his book was hailed as refreshing and original. Then, toward the end of the 90’s, the excitement began to die down. Now n’ days, people associate Spawn with the worst things about comics during the 90’s. I find that assessment a bit unfair, but I won’t go into a rant about the comics in this article. No, instead, I want to talk about one of the *best* things to come out of the Spawn media frenzy: Spawn the series.

Spawn the series ran on HBO late nights from 1997 to 1999. In my honest opinion, it was an overall improvement over not only the dreadful live action film, but even the original comics from which it was derived. The comics had their ups and downs and at the beginning were much more of a superhero title; constantly pitting Spawn against super villains and making reference after reference to Rob Liefeld’s Youngblood comic. The series, on the other hand, was much less a comic book story and more decidedly a horror story. It’s presence on HBO allowed it to get away with some of the most shocking scenes ever presented by American animation and allowed the show to reach heights of nastiness which was not permitted even in the comic.

The plot followed the same story as the comic: Al Simmons, a Government assassin, was killed during a mission by his own teammates. While writhing in Hell, Simmons made a bargain with the Devil, Malebolgia, to see his wife, Wanda, one final time. In exchange, Simmons would become a Hellspawn and pledge eternal loyalty to Hell. Malebolgia conned Simmons, however, and sent him back to Earth 5 years in the future. After returning, Simmons discovers Wanda has moved on with her life, marrying his best friend, Terry, and having a daughter, Cyan. Simmons, now known as Spawn, is confused and angry over the world moving ahead in his absence and is unsure what to do next. Making matters worse, he is constantly plagued by the Violator, in the guise of a freakish Clown, who torments him and orchestrates events to keep him angry and off-balance. Every action has a consequence, though, and Spawn’s presence catches the attention of detectives Sam & Twitch, who begin to uncover a government conspiracy which ties into Jason Wynn, the man who ordered Simmons’ execution.

Spawn is most certainly *not* for kids, not only in regards to the gore and violence, but to the depth and complexity of the story-telling. The cast of characters are well-rounded and intriguing, each having their own angles. Indeed, at times, Sam & Twitch get almost more attention than the title character. There are several arcs running all at once, most of which are resolved in the third and final season. Unfortunately, the series was cancelled after setting up some new story arcs, and it doesn’t look like they’ll ever be followed up on.

Aside from the main cast, several supporting characters and villains from the comic make their way into the television series. Cogliostro, the mysterious bum, provides a creepy narration of the events of the series but doesn’t become a real player until the third season. Villains such as Chapel, Overtkill, Tony Twist and Angela are present. Chapel is handled much better here than in the comic, with his convoluted connection to Rob Liefeld’s Youngblood completely severed. While I did prefer his demise as seen in the comics (blowing his own brains out in the hopes that he’d become a Hellspawn), I found his fate in the show to be almost as entertaining. Overtkill is probably the most “comic book” villain the show has to offer, though his presence is some-what necessary, as it sets up Tony Twist’s story and his troubles with the Italian Mafia. Angela got seriously gypped, unfortunately. Shortly after her appearance in season 1, there was a problem with Neil Gaiman, the creator of the character. Gaiman wanted the rights to Angela while McFarlane didn’t want to give them up. As a result, she appears in one episode in season 1, setting up her story arc, and then never appears again. A few Angels appear in the third season, namely Jade, who replaces Angela to an extent.

The animation for Spawn the series was produced by none-other than Japan’s Mad House Studios. Mad House might be best known for their work on Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust and Perfect Blue. They have a serious talent when it comes to works of horror and gore, and they really strut their stuff with this show. People getting set on fire, blown to bits, shot through the brain and tortured by a deranged serial killer provide all the gore one could want. Yet, Spawn the series doesn’t rely solely on gratuitous gore to get the scares across. Billy Kincaid, the child killer from the comics, makes a disturbing appearance in the first season of the series. The sight of him preparing to commit horrible acts on children is enough to make anyone’s skin crawl. The series also has some serious “atmosphere” going, from the lighting to the voices. It just feels uncomfortable and creepy. Particularly the way the Violator talks to Spawn after their battle in the church.

The voice acting in this series is beyond superb and contains one of the strongest casts I’ve ever seen. Kieth David (Goliath from Disney’s Gargoyles) is casting perfection as Spawn. His voice is dark, otherworldly, angry and sad all at the same time. Another voice that really stood out to me was Robert Costanza as Sam. You might remember him best as another slovenly detective, Harvey Bullock, from Batman the Animated Series. Call it type-casting if you want, but he really is perfect for the character. The entire cast of the series is magnificent, and I could go on for pages on how great they all were, but these were the two that I really enjoyed listening to. Also, keep an eye out for the voice of Pesto from Animaniacs cursing up a storm. Hilarious.

One thing that really keeps Spawn the series from being another superhero show is that, were Spawn a superhero, he’d be the worst superhero ever. He’s very indifferent about the horrible things going on around him, especially to the bums in the alley he lives in. Episode after episode, bad guys invade the alleys and start torturing the bums left and right, all while Spawn looks on in a rather bored manner, not entering the fray until he feels like it. Spawn may wear a crazy costume, but he’s not one for heroics unless they benefit him in some way.

Spawn the series is not without its problems, though. Due to its cancellation, it remains incomplete, which can get on the nerves of many people. The dropped Angela plotline can be especially confusing if you don’t know the real world story behind it, and ends up feeling like a pointless waste of time. But my biggest complaint is that there is never a real fight between Spawn and the Violator. They have a brief skirmish in the first season, but Spawn hardly puts up a resistance. Even Cogliostro calls it “pathetic”. The Violator is rarely seen after the second season, his demon form appearing even less. The lack of a fight between the two is severely disappointing.

Spawn the series is really the best thing the Spawn franchise has to offer. It takes everything good from the comics and makes them better. If you like horror movies or animation for mature audiences (especially Devilman), then there’s a great chance you’ll enjoy this series. The show has been released on DVD and at a price to meet anyone’s budget (we’re talking under $10 bucks per season!), so it’s very easy to pick up.

Sam Kieth’s the Maxx remains my all-time favorite comic book run: 35 issues of some of the most emotionally-charged, intriguing characters and stories I’ve ever read, which were anything but the standard superhero formula. As a matter of fact, I would debate whether one can even qualify the Maxx as a superhero title at all, seeing as the only thing he shares in common with the superpowered crimefighters is a gaudy costume.

The Maxx: the animated series, run during Mtv’s “Oddities” block (along with “The Head”) was pretty much the Maxx comic book brought to vivid life, panel-for-panel. The cartoon so strictly adhered to the source material that it even went so far as to use actual artwork taken directly from the book itself, using various animation techniques to breath life into the static art. Indeed, the only moments in which the cartoon compromised accuracy was in situations involving copyright issues (like cameos from Pitt or the Savage Dragon and Mako) or where moments of additional humor were needed.

But before I continue to get ahead of myself, let me try my very best to break down the story of the Maxx for you. The Maxx is a bum who lives in a cardboard box in a dank alleyway. He wears an irremovable purple costume with big yellow claws and likes to think he is a superhero. However, in reality, he is nothing but a homeless loser who screws everything up and never actually fights crime. In his dreams, however, he roams the Outback, an astral plane where he battles wild monsters all to protect the safety of the Jungle Queen. But eventually he always awakens back in his smelly cardboard box, just the same old Maxx.

And that’s only for the first few episodes. Things change quickly with the Maxx, as characters discover more about themselves and their own personal inner-workings. It’s only a superhero/supervillain story for the first episode, which was really just the bait. The superhero action lures the audience in while the following episodes keep them hooked with emotional depth and strength of story.

His social worker, Julie Winters, is the only one who cares for him, but even her patience is limited. In reality, she is the Jungle Queen the Maxx dreams of; her inner self’s subconscious form. Complicating matters is the mysterious Mr. Gone, a serial rapist who knows the histories behind Julie and Maxx and what incident first brought them together, though neither can seem to remember what that is. Gone wishes to help Julie and Maxx learn of their origins, as he has an emotional investment in both characters, though his methods of making them remember isn’t always the most subtle. Then there’s Sarah, a nerdy average teenage girl who feels she isn’t special in anyway. Julie acts as her therapist, trying to help her work through her troubled family life. But what Sarah doesn’t know is that she’s deeply connected to Julie, the Maxx and even Mr. Gone in ways she can’t possibly imagine.

The animated series only lasted long enough to adapt the first 11 issues of the series and thus had to create an ending which wasn’t present in the comics (the Maxx’s own personal Outback and identity as revealed in the show are nothing like in the comics). Yet, even though it only gets through less than a third of the total story, what you have is one of the strongest arcs in the entire run of the comic and manages to hold together all on its own. Unfortunately, not all the answers are revealed in the show itself, but if you’re really interested, Wildstorm has released the entire 35-issue run of the series in trade paperback form. I can’t recommend them enough.

I like Batman, I like Spawn, I like the Ninja Turtles…but I don’t like them the same way I do the characters in the Maxx. They feel like real people. There are no cosmic battles or doomsday scenarios; every conflict takes place within the personal life of the character with the consequences sometimes coming down only to the loss or revelation of memories. The characters, as bizarre as they appear, are so incredibly human you can’t help but identify with them all in a way. I hate speaking so vaguely about them, but I really don’t want to ruin some of the strongest moments in the story, such as Julie’s origin; what defined her spirit animal and what made her the woman she is. It’s very tragic, very disturbing and all very real.

The Maxx isn’t all spooky and depressing all the time, though. Not by a long shot. It balances out the soap opera material with a steady dose of humor. There’s an episode (based on an issue drawn by David Feiss of Cow & Chicken fame) where the Maxx overdoses on PEZ while watching Saturday Morning cartoons and has a surreal dream sequence of the wackiest variety…yet even *that* serves a purpose to the story. The Isz, these little black gooey critters from Julie’s Outback which serve the will of Mr. Gone, are the standard outlet for comic relief, with their antics being genuinely funny. Several humorous gags featuring the Isz that weren’t present in the comic were added to the show and really do enhance it. Yet, as funny as they are, they can be damn sadistic at times, even going so far as to kill a few people.

The voice-acting for the show deserves some serious credit, as it sounds like they cast the voices within my head. Michael Haley provides a gruff, solemn voice for the Maxx, but at the same time knows when to interject a tone of humor. Barry Stigler is genuinely threatening as Mr. Gone, with a great villainous voice that still sounds “real” and not very “cartoonish”. Amy Danles breathes a terribly depressed life into Sarah, sounding like such an average, ordinary, mundane teenager she couldn’t have been cast more perfectly. Glynnis Talken’s Julie also hits the mark, sounding very strong and independent while also falling into a sense of vulnerability at just the right moments.

The animation isn’t something to really write home about. Much of the actual background artwork and even character cels were taken directly from the comic. I’d say over almost half of the artwork, really. At times, the animation can seem a bit flat or lifeless, despite how wonderful Sam Kieth’s art can be. Moments of actual animation almost feel out of place, seeming a bit too bright and full of life when compared to the dark, almost depressing appearance of the rest of the show. I suppose that’s my only qualm, though it isn’t really much of one. Well, that and the fact that the show was so short-lived.

There were a total of 13 episodes produced (14, if you count the recap episode), each at the length of 15 minutes. It’s a relatively short series and there’s absolutely *no* excuse for it not to be available on DVD, yet. Still, there are “other means” to acquire this series, and I can’t recommend it enough. There’s nothing else like it. The Maxx is disturbing, funny, exciting and sometimes very, very sad. One of the finer works of animation to come from American shores and with a comic series that’s even better.