SEASON TWO REVIEW

Todd McFarlane's Spawn Season Two Review
by Zach Demeter
Written in 2007

One could describe the second season as a near opposite of the first. There was a considerably less amount of violence, swearing and nudity. In fact, aside from the opening sequence of season two, I really don’t think there was any other nudity in this season. I’m sure it disappointed many, but to me it just showed that the show had moved on past the shock value and was ready to get into the deeper “stuff.”

The season opener is one of my absolute favorite episodes. The fight with Spawn and Chapel holds some of the best animation, dialogue and staging I’ve seen in this show. It’s just a real treat to watch and combined with the last act of the fifth episode this season (“Deathblow”) and all of “Hellzapoppin,” there’s a lot of this season that I can enjoy over and over again.

Animation in this season is knocked up a few notches. With McFarlane seemingly now satisfied in the shadow palettes for Spawn, we see a lot less of Spawn’s outfit or face and more of his eyes and cloak. I don’t recall ever seeing the white markings on Spawn’s face at all this season, not even in the fully lit shots. It does take away from the drama of the scene, but it’s still a tad strange to not see them knowing they’re there.

Music, again, as with the previous season just didn’t stick out much to me. Most of it was so low or nondescript that I didn’t even notice it. The bells and chimes in the opening episode with Chapel and Spawn are some of my favorite cues out of the series, but none of the music really stood out. I hate saying that since there’s not a single piece of work that Shirley Walker did on Bruce Timm’s animated Batman and Superman series that I don’t like…but what’s here on Spawn is nothing I really can sink my teeth into.

The story for this season was kind of broken up. The underlying plot was carried over from a season one episode where Terry found discrepancies in Wynn’s weapon shipping. After getting too close, Wynn attempts to have Terry killed but of course Spawn intervenes. This goes on for three episodes before we get kind of a throw-a-way episode in “Colors of Blood.” After that one we get the closing episodes with Spawn at Wanda’s house and finally Spawn telling Wynn to back off of Terry’s family.

This season was definitely a change in tone for the series. It’s just what it needed to shake off any viewers were coming for the violence and breasts and I think it made those who stuck around for the third season even more appreciative that they did. While this season was certainly strong, the third season, to me, remains the strongest out of the series.

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