Al Simmons was basically a hitman for the United States government. After he is killed all he dreams about is seeing his wife one more time. So, he makes a deal with the devil. Simmons is sent down to earth as The HellSpawn but instantly feels betrayed (what'd he expect?). His wife has remarried and has a child, his memory is shot, and he's plauged by demons (both inner and litteral).

This Novel collects issues 1-8 and 11-12 and is the perfect introduction to anyone new to the series.

I recommend this title to anyone who is tired of the normal every day super hero comic. The only problem I have with the series is that it gets really dark at times. Don't get me wrong...I love that. It's just I can't read something like that straight threw. I have to take breaks and read something a little less dark now and then just to keep my mind from becoming completely warped.

Though I was well aware of Spawn via his action figure line, I never knew much about the character or the comics which he originated from, wondering what the big deal was about this seemingly over-popular indie hero. Upon reading the first Spawn volume (and watching the movie), I learned what the buzz was about. This graphic novel introduced one of the coolest comic book characters out there. The story was pretty good, if a little simple sometimes, the dialogue, though sometimes stilted and cliched, could be interesting, but where the book really shined is McFarlane's magnificent artwork. This guy, no matter how ridiculous his human characters can look, draws a tight-looking Spawn, chains, skulls, cape and glowing green eyes and all. The action scenes are very good too. Overall a really good introduction to Spawn. However, the two issues that really launch the title in the direction it would go in for the rest of the series, involving Cogliostro and the angels of Heaven, was left out, porbably due to the fact that McFarlane tried to screw Neil Gaiman out of his Neil's own characters he created and wrote for Spawn. While these would have made the collection way better due to their educational content in the world of Spawn, nevertheless, I still highly recommend the first volume of Spawn.

Awesome!!! The perfect start to the Spawn collection. The only unfortunate thing about this collection is that it doesn't include issue 9 the one that introduced Angela, Cogliostro and Medieval Spawn. They also removed issue 10. I think it had to do with some legal issues with the writers. Otherwise it is a must have.

Book was very entertaining and it delivery in timely manner.