DrSpengler
12-28-2005, 03:15 PM
I think I'm one of the 9 people on this planet that still reads Spawn. So, of course, I picked up the first volume of the Spawn manga by Juzo Tokoro I never knew existed until last week.
I was expecting it to be utter garbage good for a few laughs; a Japanese re-imagining of the Spawn character like that god-awful Spider-Man manga from the 70's.
MUCH to my surprise it was actually very good!
The story takes place in LA at the same time as the American Spawn comic. Tokoro does an excellent job weaving his stories and use of the American characters around the events of the American series.
Spawn in this series is a guy named Ken Kurosawa who was a thug in LA, using the money he stole to care for his sickly little sister. He pissed off his gang when he threated to ditch them and got blown to smitherines.
Malebolgia brought him back to life in a bargain to see his sister again. Of course, just like the Al Simmons, Ken was brought back years later only to see that his siter has moved on and become a successful actress.
The Violator shows up to give him some coaching but quickly leaves to go deal with "something over in New York". A fairy-like demon called Beezelbub (or "Bee") takes over in the Clown's absence.
Clown shows back up again later with lots of references to Spawn #4 (they did a good job weaving that story into the manga).
I like the concept of the Ken Hellspawn the way they explain it. He's Al Simmons' back-up in case Simmons doesn't work out. My only problem with Ken is that he looks EXACTLY THE SAME as Simmons. When he goes into battle this armor sprouts out all over his body, which is cool since it makes him look different from Simmons, but when not in conflict the two can't be told apart.
The art's great and the characters brought over from the American comics (Clown, Tremor, Malebolgia) all look just like McFarlane's designs with only a little manga-style simplifying their looks.
If Spawn fans exist anymore I recommend they check the first volume out.
I was expecting it to be utter garbage good for a few laughs; a Japanese re-imagining of the Spawn character like that god-awful Spider-Man manga from the 70's.
MUCH to my surprise it was actually very good!
The story takes place in LA at the same time as the American Spawn comic. Tokoro does an excellent job weaving his stories and use of the American characters around the events of the American series.
Spawn in this series is a guy named Ken Kurosawa who was a thug in LA, using the money he stole to care for his sickly little sister. He pissed off his gang when he threated to ditch them and got blown to smitherines.
Malebolgia brought him back to life in a bargain to see his sister again. Of course, just like the Al Simmons, Ken was brought back years later only to see that his siter has moved on and become a successful actress.
The Violator shows up to give him some coaching but quickly leaves to go deal with "something over in New York". A fairy-like demon called Beezelbub (or "Bee") takes over in the Clown's absence.
Clown shows back up again later with lots of references to Spawn #4 (they did a good job weaving that story into the manga).
I like the concept of the Ken Hellspawn the way they explain it. He's Al Simmons' back-up in case Simmons doesn't work out. My only problem with Ken is that he looks EXACTLY THE SAME as Simmons. When he goes into battle this armor sprouts out all over his body, which is cool since it makes him look different from Simmons, but when not in conflict the two can't be told apart.
The art's great and the characters brought over from the American comics (Clown, Tremor, Malebolgia) all look just like McFarlane's designs with only a little manga-style simplifying their looks.
If Spawn fans exist anymore I recommend they check the first volume out.