584 SPAWN
himself, and reveals himself as the
Biblical Cain. Cagliostro returns
Spawn to Earth seemingly trans-
formed back to his original form
as Al Simmons.
Simmons does not remain in
that state for long, however, and
is able to transform himself into
Spawn again with the help of a witch
named Nyx. He assumes a position
strikingly similar to his original one,
with Mammon replacing Malebol-
gia as the chief adversary. Spawn
later fi nds himself at the center of
Armageddon, where he rises to be-
come as powerful as God and Satan
(re-imagined as warring children of
a more powerful fi gure named the
Mother). Spawn destroys the armies
of Hell and Heaven as well as all of
humanity, and subsequently creates
a new Earth with the sanction of
the Mother. He asks the Mother to
return him to Earth as Al Simmons
thereafter.
Subsequent episodes in the
Spawn narrative take a decidedly
domestic turn, with Spawn’s fam-
ily relations and Mammon’s long-time involvement in his life since early childhood
taking precedence. Th e convoluted family history essentially centers on Mammon’s
intentions to create the ultimate Hellspawn, originally meant to be Al Simmons but
afterwards his child Morana, whom Wanda miscarried after she was beaten by Sim-
mons just prior to his death. Mammon’s plans are foiled by the clairvoyant Cyan, who
in cooperation with Nyx destroys Morana.
From the very beginning, the sense of uncertainty regarding Spawn’s identity and
past forms a central theme in the comic. In issue #2 of Spawn, for example, Spawn
attempts to use his powers to assume a human shape, only to fi nd that he has assumed
the body of a blonde, white man. Th e issue of Simmons/Spawn’s race is of striking
interest given the dearth of main characters in comics that are African American. Th e
matter has been addressed directly in the comic several times, nowhere as visibly as
in Spawn #30, where Spawn, returning to the world after a sojourn in Heaven, fi nds
himself in the U.S. South confronting the KKK while trying to protect an AfricanMichael Jai White as Spawn, in the 1997 film by the same
name, directed by Mark A. Z. Dippé. Photofest/New Line
Cinema