The real problem here is that the conflict simply isn't engaging. There's a large scope to this issue as an entire city finds itself under siege, but McFarlane is generally content to pull back from the drama. This issue spends far too much time dwelling on narrative captions and explaining why the situation is dire rather than simply showing readers. The narration is over-written and excessive. The tone becomes almost melodramatic The multiple comparisons to 9/11 certainly don't help.
Visually, at least, this issue has something to offer. Szymon Kudranski is a natural fit for the Spawn franchise. He's drawn plenty of Batman comics in recent years, and that experience coupled with his tendency towards distorted, surreal figures plays nicely with this grim and gritty universe. Kudranksi's figures sometimes appear stiff and lifeless, but the general tone of unease and lingering malevolence he brings to these pages is much appreciated.
Spawn #250 mostly boils down to two things. On one hand, we have the big showdown between Downing and his Spawn costume. This material really highlights the influence McFarlane's Spider-Man work had and continues to have on the evolution of Spawn. It's like Peter Parker confronting his alien costume all over again, and with little new to add to the dynamic. On the other hand, Detectives Sam and Twitch launch an investigation into the bug situation and repeatedly find the numbers 1, 5, and 7 coming into play everywhere. If that conjures up bad memories of Stephen King's last couple Dark Tower books and their "19" obsession, that's because this plays out in much the same fashion. The constant 1-5-7 patterns quickly grow tiresome, and in the end this subplot amounts to very little.
The same can be said for the issue as a whole. This comic is meant to wrap up the Jim Downing era of Spawn, but it all comes across as a means to an end in service of the new status quo. There's little emotional resonance to any of it. Maybe hardcore Spawn lovers will find more mileage out of this finale. For me, this comic only highlights the need for a fundamental overhaul of the series.
