In the 90s, Spawn was outselling Superman, had his own cartoon, and had his own movie. What happened? Can he ever regain his popularity? Should he be rebooted to be more or less hardcore? Should he be modernized? Can he be modernized?

He was a fad of the 90's like ridiculous muscles, guns and pockets on super-heroes. I don't think he'll ever really be as popular as he was back then.

The stories got really, really convoluted from what I heard. And I guess he just isn't in style right now. Image feels like a company trapped in the 90s. Not that that's always a bad thing. Haunt has been fantastic, but idk if it has 90s syndrome :P

Probably because Todd McFarlane is a total douche.

" Probably because Todd McFarlane is a total douche. "

" @geraldthesloth said:

" Probably because Todd McFarlane is a total douche. "

What did he do? "

" Probably because Todd McFarlane is a total douche. "

mc'todds a  doucher....spawn was sooo bad asss 

I think the fans should reclaim Spawn and save him.  
 
I heard they're gonna make another movie soon. 
 
He was such a badass. I miss Spawn =(

He's too powerful.

" I think the fans should reclaim Spawn and save him.   I heard they're gonna make another movie soon.  He was such a badass. I miss Spawn =( "

" @Gambit1024 said:

" I think the fans should reclaim Spawn and save him.   I heard they're gonna make another movie soon.  He was such a badass. I miss Spawn =( "

Yeah, Todd says he's writing/directing the new movie. Apparently it's not a reboot, but just a "stand alone story" or what have you. "

I don't think there will be a comeback anytime soon unless he gets a series with an already famous character in Image or cross-company, along with positive reception.

" @InnerVenom123 said:

" @Gambit1024 said:

" I think the fans should reclaim Spawn and save him.   I heard they're gonna make another movie soon.  He was such a badass. I miss Spawn =( "

Yeah, Todd says he's writing/directing the new movie. Apparently it's not a reboot, but just a "stand alone story" or what have you. "

Yup. Not only that but I hear it's scary as hell too. Maybe this could boost up his popularity a little bit.  "

There was a Spawn movie in the past, but it wasn't that good in my opinion.

" @Gambit1024 said:

" @InnerVenom123 said:

" @Gambit1024 said:

" I think the fans should reclaim Spawn and save him.   I heard they're gonna make another movie soon.  He was such a badass. I miss Spawn =( "

Yeah, Todd says he's writing/directing the new movie. Apparently it's not a reboot, but just a "stand alone story" or what have you. "

Yup. Not only that but I hear it's scary as hell too. Maybe this could boost up his popularity a little bit.  "

Really? A movie about Spawn, that's SCARY? FINALLY. xD I hope Violator does that thing from the HBO show where, instead of shape shifting, he literally rips out of skins. "

 http://www.comicvine.com/spawn/29-3381/whatever-happened-to-spawn/92-534850/#18
 
@Winfield said:

" I think Spawns popularity was mainly driven by McFarlane and Image's popularity.  McFarlane's own popularity faded as he put out less work in comics. I'd say his credibility was also damaged by his collection of balls and the ongoing fiasco with Gaiman.  Image's popularity decreased because they were very closely linked to the speculators boom and subsequent bust of the 90s.  There is also the stigma of being an artists company while everyone else was beginning to really focus on writing. With creator and company going off the boil, and the industry as a whole shrinking Spawn faded into relative obscurity. "

So I'm still wondering what the fans want to see to make him popular again.

Comic book spectator market and fans of marvel comic artist were the reason of his popularity. Most fans of his work were preteen to young adults who though blood and guns were mature story telling. Parents and adults bought issue one thinking it'll be worth a lot of money only to realize it wasn't worth anything. Too be quite honest Neil Giaman wrote a fantastic issue crossover with Cerberus and independent comics vs mainstream Marvel/DC. Spawn it self was okay I only read spawn origins collection and don't plan on reading it after that. Spawns problem is that once he solves a problem he just goes back to his alley and cries about Wanda.

well al simmons died cos the burnt out his story completely  
so they got a new spawn  
its horrible tbh

Spawn was cool back then.

i think because he never progressed completely, he always ended up again in the alleyways

Mcfarlane's been talking about getting Spawn's popularity up with the new movie and animation, but he keeps delaying it, because he's Todd Mcfarlane, that's what he does.

" So I'm still wondering what the fans want to see to make him popular again. "

" @Captain13 said:

" So I'm still wondering what the fans want to see to make him popular again. "

To make him popular you need to consult the people who aren't fans of him. 

I'm not sure what things are like with the new Spawn host, but I think the one of the biggest things holding down the series is Al Simmons's character. "

" @Captain13: Simmons, since the beginning of the series, has been extremely emotional. He is totally blinded by his anger and so is manipulated with very little effort. For the first half of the series at least, Al is stuck in this really annoying cycle: Some one pushes his buttons; He is manipulated into rash action; His bad choices cause him not to progress in any sense; He pouts in alleys about his situation, but learns nothing from it. Then the cycle start all over. The character is so single minded that he never makes any headway. He never gets over his hang ups. He never learns from his mistakes. His revelations are few and far between and even when he gains them it only seems to serve to make him even more despondent over his situation. Simmons just swings between ineffectual self-pity and rage fueled recklessness.Admittedly, I'm not caught up to where things are now and I know he does eventually go through some changes, but that cycle exists for at least the first 90 issues. That's a long time.  I think they just need to get the series back to a new(ish) Hellspawn. "

Spawn has some good ideas it's not well excicuted by someone who can write except Neil Gaiman. Wanda has moved on without him so why can't he, he was a ruler of hell yet he hasn't done anything with that amount of power. Al Simmons a good guy and Todd thinks making him a bogeyman is a good idea.  umm...Why?

Spawn started off well, ended in an epic fashion with the Divine Spawn arc. After that the series went downhill. As to if he could get there. problem is after the Divine Spawn arc. There was no reason to continue the story. It was so final in it's execution that it basically meant the end of the Spawn verse.
 
And image has awesome stuff. Not all of it is good. But some of the stuff they put out is pure win

" Spawn started off well, ended in an epic fashion with the Divine Spawn arc. After that the series went downhill. As to if he could get there. problem is after the Divine Spawn arc. There was no reason to continue the story. It was so final in it's execution that it basically meant the end of the Spawn verse. And image has awesome stuff. Not all of it is good. But some of the stuff they put out is pure win "

" @Crom-Cruach said:

" Spawn started off well, ended in an epic fashion with the Divine Spawn arc. After that the series went downhill. As to if he could get there. problem is after the Divine Spawn arc. There was no reason to continue the story. It was so final in it's execution that it basically meant the end of the Spawn verse. And image has awesome stuff. Not all of it is good. But some of the stuff they put out is pure win "

That pretty much sums it up. "

" also the stories were very sacreligious which turned off some readers. "

I would love to see spawn regain its popularity. I was always a fan. I believe its possible but not likely. Although i would very much like to see it.

Its Cause He's Black

" He was a fad of the 90's like ridiculous muscles, guns and pockets on super-heroes. I don't think he'll ever really be as popular as he was back then. "

" @dementedtheclown: lol wow... "

My first thought was that the character never deserved the popularity to begin with...

Spawn was pretty sweet... but  I think i liked the books with sam and twitch in them the best.. They Rock!!!!!!

Anyone recommend a good jumping on point for the Spawn comic? 
I've already some of the first few issues or so and watched the HBO show.

I havent followed Spawn for some time but I remenber when early on he killed a child killer with popsicle sticks and the little rhyme 
 "Boys screamed and girls screamed. So I made him scream and scream and scream..."   That was great. I think where Spawn 
went wrong was the creator McFarlane was not involved and was more into the business and as the stories went on they became 
more convoluted and interest dies off. I stopped reading Spawn years ago partly, for that reason.

" I havent followed Spawn for some time but I remenber when early on he killed a child killer with popsicle sticks and the little rhyme   "Boys screamed and girls screamed. So I made him scream and scream and scream..."   That was great. I think where Spawn  went wrong was the creator McFarlane was not involved and was more into the business and as the stories went on they became  more convoluted and interest dies off. I stopped reading Spawn years ago partly, for that reason. "