That's a pretty straightforward and easy launching point for Jenkins' run. Unfortunately, this series has yet to do anything compelling with that direction. There's a clear desire in this book to both remold Spawn into a hero of the common man and make his world more politically conscious. One of the running subplots involves a controversial police shooting and resulting riots. This isn't necessarily a bad direction in which to take the character. It gives Simmons something to fight for beyond his own selfish desires and isolated world. However, it is something that has to be executed intelligently and purposefully. And so far, the political elements aren't achieving that end. Most of it simply feels tacked on for the sake of being political, leaving the series seeming as if it's being tugged in two completely different directions.
But the more fundamental problem with Spawn right now is that it simply isn't written very well. The dialogue and narration are as clunky now as they were during McFarlane's tenure. Everything has a very overwrought and even melodramatic feel to it. Nowhere is this more noticeable than when Simmons palavers with some random teenagers and said teens begin spouting very stilted and unnatural dialogue. Interestingly, McFarlane and Jenkins now receive equal credit for "dialogue" on the credits page. Jenkins generally has a much more efficient scripting style than this, leaving the impression that McFarlane is still a lot more heavily involved in the writing (or rewriting) process than readers were led to believe. And maybe that's the problem. This book really needs to be the result of one writer with a clear vision. It needs to be treated like a true creator-owned title with all the freedom that goes along with that, even if Spawn is still McFarlane's creation at the end of the day.
For now, Meyers' art is the one real ray of light with this book. The series has done an almost complete 180 from the dark, surreal style it boasted in the previous storyline. Meyers' work falls more in the Joe Madureira camp - powerful, exaggerated figures and a manga-influenced sensibility. Between those elements, the general approach to character design, and the subject matter, this comic is more than a little reminiscent of the Diablo games. This issue puts that style to work in a way Resurrection didn't, allowing Meyers to render a slick battle between Spawn and a group of demons disguised as police officers. Whatever sense of depth or texture might be lacking in Meyers' work is largely made up for by Laura Martin's always pleasing color work. It's just a shame the the writing hasn't received the same boost.
