Medieval Spawn

Todd McFarlane's first Kickstarter was such a success that it allowed McFarlane Toys to get Spawn back onto store shelves for the first time in over a decade. Now he's back with a second campaign. The concept of a Spawn existing in the medieval period was, along with Angela, one of the things Neil Gaiman created for his fill-in issue of Spawn - in fact, that story also did more to codify and explain the workings of Spawn's world than any other. Issue #9 was published in April of 1993, and when Todd made his first series of toys in 1994, Medieval Spawn was among their number. 30 years later, he's got his best toy yet. The packaging for this figure is as overdone as the first Kickstarter's: shipping box, outer box, foam padding, resealable clamshell, all that. It's still gigantic and ridiculous, as before, but since we went into all that last time, this time we'll just tell you it's the same and get on with reviewing the figure inside it. There were three versions of the figure available during the Kickstarter: blue, black, and fully pewter. (That one was originally going to be a matte grey "artist proof" edition, but got upgraded to shiny silver as the campaign went on.) It's really just the under-suit that's different on the two colored versions; the upper layer of armor is red or gold or silver in the same places on both the blue and black Medieval Spawns. And while the black did look quite nice, this is supposed to be a remastered take on the 1994 toy, so the blue was the truest choice. Fans of Medieval Spawn already got one modern take on the character in Series 5 of the rebooted line, but it was a different design, not inspired by the original. This, though, is much more classic. It's not a case of "the same thing, but bigger," just using the original as a strong inspiration. Consider the '94 figure: asymmetrical apiked armor on the legs, the familiar white Spawn M-shape on the chest filled in by red, skull belt buckle, spiked shoulder pads, and a flat, flared mask covering the face. All that stuff is true about the new toy, too, but way, way more intricate. The sculpt on this figure is truly outstanding, even by McFarlane Toys standards. The armor is layered and sculpted with a filigree pattern, there are rivets on the plates, a chainmail pattern over the blue (or black) sections, a chainmail loincloth, straps to hold the pads on his forearms, and more. There is so much to see and feel here. The Kickstarter was constantly unlocking new extras as the pledges rolled in. For instance, instead of different editions coming with different heads, like last time, all the Medieval Spawns come with the same three heads: one wearing a version of the vintage mask, one unmasked with the mouth closed, and one unmasked with the mouth open. Then, on top of that, there are three alternate helmets: the "Soft helmet," which is shaped more like the classic Spawn mask and fits over the hamburger head; the "Roman helmet," with a Spartan-style crest over the top; and the "Valkyrie helmet," with a flip-up visor. Those last two are full heads, not just hollow pieces, with bits of burnt skin visible within. There's an alternate pair of hands that are more gesturing than ready to hold accessories, and a bunch of different armor pieces to allow you to customize how you want the figure to look. Do you like the cape clasps to be shaped like small skulls, or shaped like discs with Spawn-eye logos on them? Do you like the fancy, ornate forearm pads, or would you prefer ones that look more like modern Spawn's? Do you want his breastplate to match the rest of the armor, have an additional skull in the center, or be fully silver? Six heads, three breastplates, two chains, four forearm pads... you could have 144 different looks for this toy before we even consider what weapons you give him! Being done on Kickstarter, this toy can give us something a mass-market toy couldn't: magnets! Rather than using pegs to attach the different pieces of his armor, there are magnets in the armor and in the body, to make swapping them fast and easy. The chest plate is also held on by the chain plugging in place, but there's a magnet behind there as well. That does mean you have to be careful when you're moving the arms, because you could bump the pieces off fairly easily, but they snap right back into place. If there's one thing that makes a Spawn a Spawn, it's his big cape. Medieval Spawn's is not as big as Modoeval Spawn's, since more of his symbiotic suit is taken up in creating all that armor than would be in creating Al Simmons' spandex. It still has the folded, angular style you expect, and there's a raised, sculpted pattern all along the edges. The prototypes shown in the Kickstarter campaign had the edge of the tall collar folded over in front of Spawn's face, annoyingly making the masks and helmets hard to see; fortunately, the final product fixes that, leaving the view unobstructed. Impressively, the capes doesn't attach to the figure via any sort of cheat - it's actually held on by the cape clasps the way a real thing would be, rather than being glued to the back or anything. That means you can take it off if you want, and that's neat! The articulation on this figure is better than the first Kickstarter Spawn. That one had a couple weird choices, while this is more like the rest of Todd's current output: hinged toes, swivel/hinge/swivel ankles, double-hinged knees, swivel thighs, swivel/hinge hips, a balljointed waist, balljointed chest, swivel/​hinge/swivel wrists, double-hinged elbows, swivel biceps, balljoint/​hinge shoulders, and a barbell head. Like Todd normally does now, the shoulder joints are concealed by rings that fit between the arm and the body, but they're narrower than usual and so tend to slip out of place a bit too easily, which leaves big visible gaps. Annoying. The armor's shoulder pads plug into these rings, as well, putting more weight on them - the pads are on barbell joints, so you can pop them off easily if you want a more stripped-down look. If the shoulder-rings were just a bit wider, they'd probably work better... or at least be less frustrating. The original Medieval Spawn came with a stupidly jagged sword. As with the first Kickstarter figure and his "board with a nail in it," you had to order the premium signed three-pack in order to get the updated version of that. You won't miss it, though, because a bunch of the stretch goal unlocks were new kinds of weapons. The base figure began with a long sword with intricate sculpting etched into the blade, and a round wooden shield with steel plating in the shape of the Spawn eyes logo. The shield is sculpted with straps to go around the knight's arm; they unplug on one side so you don't have to actually try to side the arm through. There's a magnet in the shield, too, to help it clamp on (and to remind you that it's meant to take the place of the armor pad on that arm). And this isn't intentional, but the magnets are strong enough that the removed pad can gingerly stick to the face of the shield. The bonus weapons started with a scabbard to sling the sword over his shoulder, which the figure is now wearing right in the tray. Next was a small axe with lopsided blades and a huge spike on the top. After that came a second shield, this one diamond-shaped with a humongous skull in the center and swooping, winged blades jutting out the sides. Following that, a spiked morning star flail with a head the size of a basketball and a real metal chain. If you thought some of the helmet styles were weird choices for a medieval knight, the serrated scimitar may shock you as well. Next was a large axe with its blades styled like bat wings and a small skull in the center. And finally, when the campaign crossed the $2 million mark, a heavy mace for bludgeoning foes at close range. There's no way the figure can use or even hold all this stuff at once, but it all has a spot cut out in the foam insert inside the box. Like last time, we also get a comic with a new cover. Or, well, the same cover as the comic that came with the 1994 figure, but redrawn and recolored in modern fashion. All three editions of the figure include different colorings, with the Blue one looking the most like the vintage book. There isn't a story inside, just a series of pin-ups featuring Medieval Spawn. Various Medieval Spawns. It was apparent when the character was introduced that he was the same person as Cogliostro, the old guy who hung around Spawn's alley and taught him how to Spawn; but when Todd didn't want to continue paying Gaiman for the things he created, the story was retconned so that Cogliosto was Cain Bar-Adam and Medieval Spawn was some dude called John of York. The pin-ups include Meddy when he was secretly Cogliostro, as well as Meddy when he was John. But the actual intersting thing is a look at the original concept art for the 1994 toy! The Medieval Spawn Kickstarter wasn't as much of a runaway success as the first Spawn Kickstarter was, but the toy is better. All the figures coming with the same accessories (instead of having things split up amongst the various releases) is a superior choice as well, but even without that we've got an outstanding sculpt and all the appropriate articulation. And with all the display options available thanks to the variety of extra and alternate pieces, this is an amazing offering, tons better than the Medieval Spawn you could buy in stores. -- 12/28/24 What old figure do you want to see Todd Kickstart next, and why is it Violator? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.