Comics
Review: ‘Spawn (Of The Dead)’ #223
Spawn has always come across as supremely dark, and no matter how heroic he is in his actions, he will be a villainous hellspawn in the end. As a child, I loved the character. Hell, I even loved the movie. Nostalgia creeps into my heart and soul every time I see the name Spawn, and unfortunately “Spawn (Of The Dead)” #223 hurts my childhood self a little bit. Todd McFarlane obviously knows his way around the character and his world, so it’s a surprise how dull and uneventful the issue is. Luckily the artistic creativity of Szymon Kudranski saves the book from being completely lacking in substance.
WRITTEN BY: Todd McFarlane
ART BY: Szymon Kudranski
PUBLISHER: Image Comics
RELEASE: September 5th, 2012
In the guise of Spawn, Jim Downing, and Richard Masulls as Tremor, continue to track down the origins of their alternate personalities by locating people with information, and subsequently torturing them. As questions (and fists) fly, the torture scenes are filled with dialogue in order to advance the plot, but are less than thrilling. The rest of this book revolves around flash backs spawing from this torture session, which helps the team and put together peaces of their past.
The book is loaded with dialogue, which takes away from any proper pacing. The dialogue is a overbearing, and draws attention away from the artwork, which is upon examining, is the best part of the issue. Kudranski does an outstanding job giving Spawn, and the rest of the characters, the truly defined look that I’ve come to love in Spawn books. The details of Spawn’s “mouth” during the torture scenes is reminiscent of Christopher Nolan’s Demon Batman from Batman Begins; a hellish black demon with a melting face would be enough to get any thug talking. The effort and consistency of Kudranski and Plascenia work delivers the mood of the book where McFarlane’s script is lacking. Kudranski’s Spawn is one of my favorites to date; the smoking green eyes take me back to my child hood and remind me of my love for the character.
The issue ultimately lacks heart and action. I was craving more carnage and less talk, but the cliffhanger ending offers hope that next issue will pack more of a punch.
2/5 Skulls
Reviewed by – GreenBasterd
The supernatural world of Korean folk horror movie Exhuma grows larger with the arrival of prequel spinoff webtoon Maengjong this weekend, Variety reports today.
Naver Webtoon debuts Maengjong on May 30.
The series hails from Haemuri (Olgami) and will trace the high school origins of how shaman duo Hwarim and Bonggil, played by Kim Go-eun and Lee Do-hyun in the 2024 film, came together to face occultish threats.
The story is set to begin when “Hwarim, who has been concealing her identity following a childhood encounter with a snake spirit called Jin, crosses paths with Bonggil at their school.”
Variety notes that Exhuma director Jang Jae-hyun participated in the project’s early concept stage.
“We are presenting ‘Maengjong,’ a new series capturing the appeal of the horror-occult genre, ahead of the full summer season,” said Lee Jeong-geun, Naver Webtoon’s Korea webtoon content leader. “With the high school story of Hwarim and Bonggil, who left a strong impression in the film ‘Exhuma,’ enhanced by Haemuri’s characteristic tense direction, we expect it will be a welcome work for genre fans.”
“It is meaningful that the spin-off story of ‘Exhuma,’ loved by many audiences, expands by meeting the new grammar of webtoon,” said Lee Hyeon-jeong, managing director of the film business division at Showbox, which distributed the film. “We hope it will be a fresh experience for both film fans and webtoon readers.”
Exhuma was a breakout hit in 2024, becoming the first Korean occult film to surpass 10 million ticket buyers and the country’s highest-grossing film of the year. I wrote in my review that “the intricately woven Exhuma delivers one of the year’s biggest surprises in horror so far.”
The bond between Hwarim and Bonggil was one of the film’s highlights, making this prequel webtoon a must for fans.
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