Frenetic Fun: Reviewing ‘Spawn Kills Every Spawn!’ #2

L’il Spawn (Albert to his mother) is finding that killing even one Spawn, let alone EVERY Spawn, is harder than it would seem in Spawn Kills Every Spawn! #2 from writer John Layman and artist Rob “Sketchcraft” Duenas. This breaking news might not be fun for Albert, but it’s plenty of fun for the reader as they are launched, once more, into a fast, frenetic and fun scenario that demands your attention.

Much like the debut issue, and great funny books in general, there is often just as much entertainment to be gained from scanning Duenas’s purposefully busy and energetic artwork as there is from Layman’s witty words. A great example of this is Al’s very own pet demon, Buddy. Much like Obelix’s loyal dog, Dogmatix, Buddy is a character well worth keeping an eye on throughout the comic, just for his reactions to the ever-ridiculous situations. There’s a good two or three gags per page. That’s a damn good hit rate and a damn good way of keeping the pace of this comic fast, upbeat and always moving forward. Like an unstoppable freight train. Or in L’il Spawn’s case, an unstoppable toy train. Layman makes fun his own paymaster, copyright laws and IP as well as finding room to satirise classic fairy tales too. Nothing is off limits in this admirably anarchic corner of the Spawn Universe and it’s a testament to Layman’s comedic chops that he is able to keep this up page after page to land a laugh even on the very last page. Cheeky l’il guy. 

The goofiness in Duenas’s art style is a perfect fit for Layman’s laugh-a-minute script and both seem to be having immense fun with how far they can stretch the concept of multiple Spawns across multiple universes. Hence we get scene like Gingerbread Spawn “getting toasted” or infuriating PETA by killing Spawnaroo, a – you guessed it – kangaroo with the powers of Spawn. And wait till you get a load of the rest of the daftest multiversal interpretations of Spawn you’ll ever see, especially the double-page spread always favoured by comic book creates when revealing multiverse doppelgängers. Or, for that matter, the daftest multiversal interpretations of ANY character you’ll ever see. And not a Nazi Spawn in sight! All I can say is, thank the gods for parody. Otherwise, Layman et al would be getting stiff letters from… well, everyone! It all makes for a hugely entertaining comic book guaranteed to put a smile on your face. 

Spawn Kills Every Spawn! #2 is the perfect antidote for any comic book fan overloaded with dour and dark superheroes, and the perfect summer read. Even if it is the end of summer. Irreverent and fiendishly satirical and out on now from Image Comics.