Mind Games Credits: Todd McFarlane & Julia Simmons (story), Tony Daniel (pencils), Kevin Conrad (inks), Tom Orzechowski (letters), Todd Broeker and Roy Young (colors)
Summary: A mysterious man named Chris kills a security guard and breaks into a secluded mansion. Chris watches the video diary of Frederick Willheim, a doctor who began neurology experiments after his wife Anna grew ill. The government learned of his research and hired him to work on its Cybernetic Simian Project, which grafted human intelligence and cybernetics to apes. Chris explores the mansion and soon finds himself a victim of Cy-Gor. Meanwhile, Cagliostro talks Spawn out of killing Jason Wynn before he learns all of the answers. Spawn visits Granny Blake, who asks him to protect the family from the “demon” that visited Wanda.
Spawntinuity: Spawn digs the guns he stole from the Army out of the garbage. He claims they’re right where he left them, even though he couldn’t find them in “The Hunt” storyline or Blood Feud miniseries. Cagliostro reveals that people within the government set up President Reagan’s assassination attempt. When Al Simmons saved him, he became too high-profile to be terminated, so he was brought into Jason Wynn’s employ. Granny Blake’s first name is revealed as Rosemary.
Spawn Stuff: Pressman has released a Spawn board game. Apparently, an option called “Memories” can prevent Spawn from reaching his destination, which is a nice connection to the comic book.
Review: God help me…Cy-Gor. This begins Spawn’s bi-weekly stretch, which was supposed to pick up the pace and develop the Cy-Gor storyline while setting up the pieces for Spawn #50. The bi-weekly schedule means Tony Daniel now alternates art chores with Greg Capullo. Daniel really begins to depart from reality and embrace cartooning during this run, which occasionally works, but often comes across as rushed as his Blood Feud art. I remember the book getting just dire during this run, and that’s coming from a young reader who thought most of the previous issues were pretty entertaining. From what I remember, Cy-Gor, who gets issue after issue of a slow build, doesn’t even confront Spawn when the arc is over. He disappears for months and only reappears, essentially as an afterthought, several issues later. And what is Cy-Gor anyway? I’ve mentioned earlier that McFarlane had an odd aversion to introducing characters from the toy line into the book, but for some reason he singled out Cy-Gor for a starring role. The guy who’s convinced his superhero book should move closer and closer to urban horror every month, who’s produced line after line of monster and zombie toys, chooses his cyborg ape action figure as Spawn’s new nemesis? You’ve got to wonder what he was thinking.
Ah, Cy-Gor. I remember this story arc, since it's the point finally I gave up on Spawn. I was already growing antsy about the plot moving too slowly, since to my 11-year-old mind, it was the supernatural elements, the war between hell and heaven, that were the book's real selling point. A slow buildup to a cyborg gorilla, apparently presented in complete earnest, killed my interest utterly.
ReplyDeleteThis was the beginning of the end for me too. From what I remember in this period things were getting way too cheesy. There was Cy-Gor, a Christmas issue and Spawn meeting a comic book fan in short succession. And nitpicky as this may be, but Spawn never wearing his mask really bugged me for some reason. I tried to stay on until #50 but I think I just got bored of it in an issue where The Curse dissected Spawn. Funny thing is that storyline wasn't even that bad I just remember making a decision that 'In my mind The Curse killed Spawn. The end."
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to believe that I gave up on the series so quickly since I was a big fan and I bought a lot of the toys. Now as an adult I watched 24 and Prison Break for years after the show's prime