Last year, Santa Claus made a bloody appearance in the Spawn Universe with the two-part miniseries I Saw Santa. That series ended with a cliffhanger ending that was both a wicked twist and a hopeful possibility for the future. However, this year, the series continued with a sequel called I Saw Spawn, and it is clear that the hopeful ending from I Saw Santa was turned on its head, and things are not good at the North Pole. Not only that, but while Spawn showed up at the end of the previous story, he looks to play a much bigger role this time around.
I Saw Spawn is the latest chapter in this twisted Christmas tale, with a story by Chris Killian, Andrew Sanders, and Todor Hristov. The story follows the events from I Saw Santa, in which Santa Claus had to battle a twisted serial killer who was angry that Santa only gave him coal as a child. This new story shows Santa facing the repercussions of the decision he made to end Charlie’s threat. The result is a brutal holiday story in which the meaning of Christmas is a lot bloodier and more violent than most people might expect.
Rating: 4 out of 5
I Saw Spawn is a sequel to last year’s Spawn Universe holiday special I Saw Santa. It is very important to understand what happened in that story; otherwise, you might be completely lost this time around. In I Saw Santa, Santa Claus was delivering presents one year when he came upon the home of a child named Charlie, who was always on the naughty list. That child was irredeemable, and the coal Santa brought him every year finally broke him. Charlie walked in on Santa after killing his own parents and stabbing him multiple times. Santa ran, despite knowing that Charlie was going to the boy’s own baby sister next, as well as burn down the building, killing everyone in it. From that point on, Charlie killed people every Christmas until Santa found a way to stop him. Santa allowed Charlie to kill him by beheading him, only for Charlie to suddenly put on Santa’s hat and become the new Santa Claus, seeking redemption.
That story’s ending made it look a lot like the movie The Santa Clause, with Charlie getting a chance to redeem himself. However, this new series shows that isn’t what happened. Santa has been having nightmares, and he believes that Charlie might still be killing people, but he has no idea how this is possible since he is Charlie now. What happens next is a bloody, violent affair, with dead elves and even the arrival of Krampus, who might not be the most frightening Christmas bringer now.
The story has beautiful art from penciler Todor Hristov and striking colors by Dan Kemp and Dave Kemp. The story by Chris Killian and Andrew Sanders also keeps the spirit of Christmas that the first series captured so well, all with the twisted violence that is expected from the Spawn Universe. There is also the added fact that Spawn was barely seen in the first series (although it also included a fun cameo by Sam and Twitch investigating a murder and debating Die Hard as a Christmas movie). This series seems to fix that, as Santa sends his postmaster to bring Spawn a letter, only for the first issue to end by showing Spawn possibly pulled into the battle.
That one moment makes this series even more exciting than the previous one, since Spawn and Santa finally fighting should be the price of admission if that is where Killian and Sanders plan to take the story when it concludes in I Saw Spawn #2. Now, it is a hard read if you are not familiar with the I Saw Santa series, but I would highly recommend you seek those two comics out and read them because they are a great read, and the sequel looks to add to the brilliance of horrific Christmas mayhem in what seems to be becoming a tradition for Image Comics.
I Saw Spawn #1 goes on sale December 11th.
