Review Spawn #87 - Folklore -
pictures : cover | page
10 | page 12 | page
21
In my opinion, it's always good to have a breather in-between the end of a major chapter and the beginning of the
next. Keeping us in suspense after a turning point. In this case, making us feel the absence of Spawn after he
"quit." This small, and way too quick, story gave us another perspective on Spawn, gave us a glimpse
of how the rest of the world might see him. Let's just hope this is indeed a breather, and not the start of a new
trend in the all-new, all-urban-horror saga of Al Simmons.
While I liked the mood created by this issue, and I enjoyed the alternate perspective, this issue was seriously
lacking.
The interviews seemed to drag on forever. I'm not saying this because I don't like reading text -- I am quite capable
of that. But the interviews seemed to be in a random order, and they became quite repetitive. Was there reason
for the Bobby interview to break the pattern and drag on for two pages? The single camera perspective was fun for
a while, but Capullo ran out of new things to do with it. I felt cheated after a while, what a waste of page space.
And the dialogue wasn't enough to keep me interested... maybe if Brian Michael Bendis had written it, I
would have had a few laughs. Let's just hope this was a one-time experiment.
And, while I enjoy good prose and imaginative text, this issue served as another example of Brian Holguin's tendency
to over-write. To the point of gagging me with a sickening dose of "moody" verse. It gets tired after
a while, especially when you realize that all it takes is a few buzz words, melodrama, and a fondness for rock
bands of a bygone era. One wonders if he created the Ethan Crone character as a mirror of himself, to satisfy his
own desire to spew from the mouth. But to his credit, he does occasionally know when to keep quiet, as displayed
on
page 21 -- a masterful joint
effort by Capullo and Holguin.
My favorite part of this issue (besides the brief moment with Wanda
and Terry ... man, I miss the Fitzgerald family) -- INTERVIEW
#24 "Identity Unknown." How intriguing. It's place as the final interview was like waving a red
flag, but otherwise, this introduction of a character who is sure to reappear in these pages was handled in an
interesting way. A juicy little glimpse at a future player in the Spawn saga. We will be able to look back on this
one page someday and say "oh, cool, He was introduced way back in issue #87 and I forgot all about it."
"CREECH II Coming Soon." Another example of how Greg likes to have fun with the readers. Can't wait for
the new series.
And guys, how about once, just once, giving us a cover
that is related to the story inside? Why must every issue's cover be designed as potential art for the next Spawn
video game or album cover? If any issue deserved featuring a character other than Spawn, it would have been this
one. Seriously, guys, I'm getting sick of seeing "this month's cool new Spawn pose."
Let's hope the ball gets rolling next issue. We've waited a long time for this "saga" to pick up some
steam.
-Chance Cameron -
