Monolith #1 Review: An Ill-Considered Expansion of Spawn's Universe

Monolith #1 reveals the Spawn universe to be an inscrutable hellscape.

By Charlie Ridgely

The Spawn universe continues to grow with the arrival of a new miniseries focusing entirely on Monolith. The Hellspawn that first appeared in Spawn #312 gets his own story in the series from writer Sean Lewis and artist Valerio Giangiordano. The first of three issues of the series arrived on Wednesday, putting Monolith in a future where the Spawns failed to save their universe, trapped in a prison ruled by Omega Spawn.

Monolith #1 is part of a push to really make Spawn's universe a thing again – an agenda that creator Todd McFarlane has been pushing for years. The truth is, most Spawn things in the 21st century are sort of like Grethen Weiners and "Fetch." It's just not going to happen. Perhaps a solo Spawn relaunch with an enticing creative team aimed at new fans could get the ball rolling, but that's not what's going on here. This initiative is simply building out a universe that largely disappeared from public interest decades ago.

None of that is the fault of Lewis, Giangiordanao, or the other folks contributing to Monolith #1, but it puts them at a disadvantage from the get-go. They were tasked with getting readers to commit to a small side character they probably don't remember from a comic franchise most of them haven't paid much attention to for some time. That's a tough ask for anyone. They do an admirable job, but it's simply not enough to get anyone hooked into this story.

Monolith takes place in the year 3030, set on a prison colony where the titular character is held. He spends the first several pages of the issue tearing apart his fellow prisoners,"fallen warriors of conquered planets," in an effort to escape and track down Omega. It's later revealed he was trying to return to the past to keep the Hellspawns from losing the fight for their universe, but Omega stopped him and hid him away on the colony.

Ultimately, it's a whole mess of plot to set up a "heroic journey" for Monolith going forward. He's really on a revenge quest for most of it, though, and only decides to play the hero when a last minute monologue from the Mother of Nature tells him to choose his humanity over his bloodthirsty urges.

The majority of this issue boils down to a couple of big fights that lead to a whole lot of nothing by the time it's all said and done. What could've been handled in a few pages is stretched to a couple dozen, and you're not left with any substantial reason to care about what Monolith will do next. He's provided a clean slate and open ending to go out into the universe and make something of himself, but the front cover lets you know this is only a three-issue miniseries. So there's clearly not that much left in store for him, despite this ending feeling like the launchpad for a brand new hero. 

Giangiordanao does some wonderful work bringing the gruesome violence of the fight sequences to life, though. They're visceral and often entertaining. But that's just not enough to compel anyone to come back for more. If Image is sold on the idea of bringing Spawn back to life, there have to be some better ways to go about it.

Published by Image Comics

On May 15, 2024

Written by Sean Lewis

Art by Valerio Giangiordano

Colors by Ulises Arreola

Letters by Andworld Design

Cover by Valerio Giangiordano

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