Payback- Part One
Credits: Todd McFarlane (story, pencils, & inks), Tom Orzechowski, (letters and edits), Terry Fitzgerald (story consultant), Steve Oliff, Reuben Rude, & Olyoptics (colors)
Summary: The Mafia investigates the murders of several organized crime figures. One of the homeless implicates Spawn in the murders. Mobster Tony Twist has cyborg assassin Overt-Kill sent from Italy. Overt-Kill fights Spawn in a warehouse, where the battle is a draw. Overt-Kill’s sensors are damaged, leading him to believe Spawn is dead. Spawn, unwilling to waste more of his power, travels to an army base to stockpile weapons.
Spawntinuity: This is the first comic book appearance of Overt-Kill, who was created (as "Overkill") by Todd McFarlane and Rob Liefeld as part of a Stan Lee video series about comics. Spawn’s chains begin acting on their own accord for the first time. Wanda’s daughter Cyan is described as fifteen months old. Overt-Kill claims that he’s faced Youngblood in the past and mistakes Spawn for a member.
Spawn vs. Lawyers: Mobster Tony Twist also debuts this issue, although it looks like he hasn’t been given a name yet. Twist is named after a hockey player who later successfully sued McFarlane after seeing the character on the HBO series.
The Big Names: The full list of “Creator’s Choice” guest writers is announced. Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Dave Sim, and Frank Miller will all write future issues of the series.
Spawn Stuff: Spawn and Image t-shirts, “Spawntastic Apparel,” are advertised on the back cover.
Review: Was there a point to Violator killing random mobsters in the early issues? Probably not, but after a few months it seems like McFarlane’s decided to go somewhere with the idea. The HBO series also adapted this storyline, although in the cartoon, “Overkill” (maybe his name sounded too stupid when spoken out loud) is sent after Spawn when he kills a few Mafia hitmen who were loaned to all-purpose bad guy, Jason Wynn. Spawn does kill two hitmen in this issue, but only after he discovers them shooting random homeless people to “send a message.” Everything in the book is ridiculously over-the-top. The hitmen “reward” the junkie who points them towards Spawn by killing him, they kill additional homeless to draw more attention, Spawn kills them (with no remorse, naturally), and then Overt-Kill shows up for a fight. Because this isn’t 1992 enough, Spawn poses with a full armory of strapped-on weapons and guns on the final splash page. I wouldn’t mind all of the outrageousness if McFarlane didn’t seem to be taking it so seriously. Throughout the entire issue, characters recite tired dialogue like, “Always preying on the weak. Let’s see how you deal with death warmed over. Show yourself…if you dare.” Everyone is relentlessly humorless, except for a few of the “wacky” mob bosses. How can you put a character called “Overt-Kill” in your comic without acknowledging a tiny element of self-parody?
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