Hellspawn: The Ashley Wood Collection

The collection features Hellspawn issues #1-10, a cover gallery, a new never-before-seen cover from Ashley himself, as well as tons of behind the scenes extras! Plus: great writing from fan favorites Brian Michael Bendis and Steve Niles.

VOYA

For being the first ten issues of a series, this graphic novel expects a lot out of its readers. Hellspawn are part of the Army of Hell, except for Al Simmons, who refuses to be part of hell or heaven, choosing instead to live in the alleys of "Rat City," meting out his own justice to the humans. This story has a lot going on and is told in different methods. First a bum tells the beginnings of Hellspawn to another bum, then there is a chatroom conversation between believers of Hellspawn, and Hellspawn stories appear in each issue/chapter. Clown is on earth, turning despair into destruction and suicide. Hellspawn miss stopping him in the first few instances, but finally show him the ghosts of his killings, which destroys him. Next Hellspawn deal with government conspiracy and misdirected people. Originally published individually beginning in 2000, the issues combine into an intriguing work, requiring readers already to know that myths of Spawn and Hellspawn are not prominent in the story until halfway. The stories deal with pornography, racist ministers, suicide, abduction, and government conspiracy. Although the individual stories are interesting and well written, they are not cohesive. The artwork is the prominent feature. Wood creates an experimental look using muted tones that emphasize grays with hints of color. The artwork provides the expression and emotion of the stories-not the writing. This horror graphic novel is for Spawn fans and readers interested in experimental artwork, but it will attract few other readers.