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Spawn Universe
Spawn: Blood and Shadows
On the site of an ancient burial ground sits a looming gray structure whose tenants each are haunted by dark secrets they can never reveal. Overwhelmed by guilt and grief, these people have been drawn by a nameless presence, and now they hide from society in their self-made hells. At the periphery of their awareness, an entity appear -- a guardian of blood and shadows who watches ... and waits. What does this entity know about each tenant, and what are his intentions for these hopeless outcasts?
64 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
58 people want to read
About the author
Paul Jenkins
1,208Ìýbooks150ÌýfollowersPaul Jenkins is a British comic book writer. He has had much success crossing over into the American comic book market. Primarily working for Marvel Comics, he has had a big part shaping the characters of the company over the past decade.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 31, 2019
A grim weird mistery-horror tale about a building, a former asylum build on an old Indian burial ground scene of a mass slaughter by early American colonists, and its inhabitants with their dark secrets.
Nothing new here at all and the Hellspawn is just a secondary character, but some parts were really disturbing ones and Ashley Woods' awesome artworks rised for good final vote.
February 27, 2015
Now this one I liked, a lot actually. I read it right after I read "Blood and Salvation" by Alan McElroy and the same illustrator, Ashley Wood, which I was not overly impressed by. "Blood and Shadows" though, this impressed me.
The art work, again, is fantastic, I really like this style. I think it blended and enhanced the story perfectly, the colors of red, yellow and black play so well off the story and the characters. And the story, whew, that was good stuff, very grim and at times rather unsettling. I appreciated Spawn himself a lot more than in the other comic I had just read, I got more of a sense what he is about and appreciated that concept. It is unusual to have a hero/ antihero who is more of a background character but I think it works well, I would read more stories along these lines. I don't know if most of the Spawn comics work this way, I know I liked it here.
But yeah, the plot here, the story of an apartment building and its broken inhabitants, I got really pulled in. Spawn seems to be a dark series and after reading this I would pick up more and highly recommend this installment if you can find it somewhere (I found it in my husband's collection).
The art work, again, is fantastic, I really like this style. I think it blended and enhanced the story perfectly, the colors of red, yellow and black play so well off the story and the characters. And the story, whew, that was good stuff, very grim and at times rather unsettling. I appreciated Spawn himself a lot more than in the other comic I had just read, I got more of a sense what he is about and appreciated that concept. It is unusual to have a hero/ antihero who is more of a background character but I think it works well, I would read more stories along these lines. I don't know if most of the Spawn comics work this way, I know I liked it here.
But yeah, the plot here, the story of an apartment building and its broken inhabitants, I got really pulled in. Spawn seems to be a dark series and after reading this I would pick up more and highly recommend this installment if you can find it somewhere (I found it in my husband's collection).
December 22, 2024
So the big reveal is the killer is a someome who was castrated by their mother when they were younger because the mother wanted a girl. Because a demon posesses her as an adult, she kills women who have "beloved daughter" in their online profiles, as she's traumatised by this event.
This was written in 1999 but is another reductive Spawn side-story that falls into the trope of the "trans killer".
I'm hoping that this writing is a sign of the times and not representative of the Spawn to come.
Todd has an intro where he says how this story is a masterful work that can stand on its own. Granted, the artist does an interesting job of creating a very moody world, but the story is not amazing, and is definitely going for edgy. It was '99 so the edgy '90s where still alive.
This was written in 1999 but is another reductive Spawn side-story that falls into the trope of the "trans killer".
I'm hoping that this writing is a sign of the times and not representative of the Spawn to come.
Todd has an intro where he says how this story is a masterful work that can stand on its own. Granted, the artist does an interesting job of creating a very moody world, but the story is not amazing, and is definitely going for edgy. It was '99 so the edgy '90s where still alive.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 26, 2019
From 1999, a Spawn annual featuring the artwork of Ashley Wood which is really unique and interesting. The visuals fit the grisly story well about the lives of various people, harboring secrets in an old broken down building. The building, of course, is on top of a burial ground. Spawn is not even the main character in this story. Instead the hellish figure lurks around in people's lives with the guilt that they feel for wrongs done. The story is somewhat interesting and as I mentioned before, really goes well with Wood's art.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
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