It’s hard to predict what will become popular in the entertainment industry. There have been so many instances where studios tried using a movie to launch a franchise…only for it to die before it even got a chance. And then there are the movies and shows that became popular out of nowhere – or despite the obstacles they had to overcome. The same can be applied to the comic book industry. At the time, I imagine only Todd McFarlane believed that Spawn would have lasted this long and continues to go strong. But that doesn’t mean he kept that to himself. He let his belief become public knowledge in the tenth issue, released back in May 1993.

In the previous issue, Al Simmons had his first fight with an angel named Angela. Spawn managed to lure Angela into a trap and defeated her. But she had left her lance in the New York alley. When Spawn went to grab it, he is seemingly transported to another place. And that is depicted in issue 10 and it gets a bit weird. The issue has these narration boxes coming from Al’s point of view. Only, it also isn’t his point of view? He’s both the Al/Spawn of his world but also the one of this alternate world too. I think the narration continuously confusing us about this is supposed to enhance a dream-like feeling of this other world. But it only makes it confusing on who exactly is supposed to be telling us what is going on.

Moving on though, Spawn goes out and finds this cave that turns out to be a prison. One one side of the wall, there are a bunch of unknown people with hands behind their back and bags covering their heads. On the other side is the actual prison. Out from the bars are this arms for all of these superheroes. None of them are actually referred to by their official names. But the way Spawn describes this group of heroes and the designs of these outstretched arms clearly indicate they are heroes from both Marvel & DC. There is even a figure that falls just sort of outright confirming it’s Superman, but referred to as “He-Who-Came-First”. They all give Spawn their power so that he can try to free them…only to fail. Oh, and we also see a female version of Violator wearing a dress made of money. Not much else to say about that.

This also counts as a crossover because this character named Cerebus arrives in this issue. I’ve never read any of Cerebus’s comics so I don’t know enough about him to give an opinion about the character. But he explains to Spawn this is a world where superheroes have been sold by their creators. That is, with the exception of this world’s Spawn. Cerebus takes Al to a home that belongs to him and to this world’s Cyan. It ends on this bittersweet moment where Al goes downstairs holding his child to greet his – or this world’s – Wanda.

So…there are a couple of ways to view this issue. Let’s look at it as if it’s 1993 and this just came out. It must have taken big brass balls to release an issue like this – and for a series that’s still technically within it’s first year of publishing! But this actually does connect to why Image Comics was created in the first place. There were artists in the comic industry that were frustrated with how they were treated by the two big companies and how their work was owned by them and not by the creators. You could read this entire issue as a big middle finger to DC & Marvel. Doesn’t necessarily excuse the awkward writing, especially with confusing narration. But I’ll grant that this was written with courage.

Now, let’s view this from the modern era. And I have to say that this is…an amusing issue. Still has flaws when it comes to the writing. But it does read differently given everything that has happened with Spawn in recent years. Spawn has run for over 300 issues, even earning the title of longest-running creator owned comic book series. It has now launched 3 new titles in an effort to created a shared universe. And the first issue of each of those titles has broken different sales records. This is no small feat for this industry, where the two leading companies are constantly restarting series with new number one issues and struggling to maintain a consistent direction for any number of books.

This issue is by far the most meta Spawn has ever been. But it came out at an awkward time. Not only was the writing for a lot of comic books at the time – especially from Image – awkward, but it was for a comic that had yet to prove any staying power. Yet in time, it has actually become something of a prophetic story for the character. I’m not going to act that the Spawn title has been perfect for it’s entire history. I’ve had some issues with it from time to time. But I find myself still connected to this character and world. And that’s most likely because Spawn’s creator still owns him and is passionate about him. Cheers to whatever lies ahead! Just make sure the writing doesn’t get as awkward like it was in this old issue and you should be fine.