In addition to prequels and sequels, spin-offs are seemingly easier said than done.
Basically, you’re trying to take some part of a successful equation (i.e., an existing, already great book/film/comic/game, etc.), pull it from that primary context into a new, more strange context, and hope that you once again strike gold. But in terms of the Spawn spin-off Bloodletter, co-writer Joseph Illidge said something massively significant when he explained that he, co-writer Tim Seeley, and artist Christian Rosado wanted to “create something additive with long legs.”
Because even if it’s still early for this spin-off, Bloodletter shimmers in all the right ways.
That word “additive” is really doing some heavy lifting there. Mostly ’cause the creators all seemingly admire Spawn at-large and Todd McFarlane’s sustained work, and so they begin with a core that feels deeply and lovingly connected to this angsty anti-hero. Perhaps the most “obvious” manifestation of this is the story itself, in which a former CIA operative carves a bloody path of revenge. If that seems at all familiar, Tasha Thornwall is basically Spawn with a few more steps, which isn’t at all annoyingly derivative. Instead, it adds layers to the Spawn/Al Simmons character (while once more extending that character’s morale arc) and further develops the bloody interpersonal conflict that hums at this universe’s core.
Perhaps the best way in which Bloodletter feels the most Spawn-esuqe is in the art (with Rosado joined by colorist D.C. Alonso). Bloodletter is the perfect visual extension of Spawn: It’s effectively the same dang spin on gritty ’90s action comics, with lots of light-dark interplay; flowing capes/jackets; and stylized blood and gore. Rosado-Alonso would be very much at home in the Spawn main title as they scratch at the same itches while still managing to feel novel and fully-formed in their visual choices/”language.”
Courtesy of Image Comics.
But even more than gun-toting soldiers, brutal kills, and wonderfully hokey vibes, the art captures that Spawn aesthetic where a sense of timelessness and an earnest, deliberate approach to world-building gives this new corner a true sense of individuality. You’ll feel all that warm familiarity (like blood from a head wound), but it never once overwhelms your senses or disconnects this book from its own identity. It’s about paying homage the right way — quickly and efficiently — without getting bogged down too much in overarching lore/history that is Spawn.
Of course, to be truly additive, you have to truly add something. (And not just, as I tried to make clear with the art, something that’s a well-done tribute.) There’s two such additions that best separate Thornwall from Simmons. The first is that Bloodletter is basically a title, and Thornwall acts as a magical mercenary (while hunting her foe). In that sense, we’re getting a surge of Hellblazer/John Constantine vibes, and that’s something that works really well in the Spawn-verse. Mostly because it gives Bloodletter proper legs, and if her beef with Spawn is ever “resolved,” she could easily continue onward with new adventures/rivals.
Courtesy of Image Comics.
Then, of course, there’s her relationship with Caspar, who is basically the Microchip to Bloodletter’s own Punisher. That dynamic-relationship is fully established in issue #1, and it also does heaps to establish Bloodletter as a character with real depth and sustainability. If we can see a future beyond all this bloody vengeance, it means that we can see Bloodletter as more than just some new toy but this living, breathing extension of Spawn and what this universe can continue to add as the story grows ever more robust. Even if there is a touch of impermanence to Bloodletter’s mission, being well-developed so early makes our connection to her deeds all the more organic and textured.
And speaking of that connectivity, there’s something else to Bloodletter worth discussing. Classifying Spawn after some 30-plus years of publication can be tricky, as the character has evolved so much over time. But even as Bloodletter is on a rather “simple” mission, she already feels more emotionally and thematically evolved. Not only because of the whole magic thing and the Caspar connection, but that in issue #1, she struggles with her own feelings and morality. Without revealing too much, issue #1 balances our immersion into Bloodletter’s world with her tackling a case of human trafficking. While Bloodletter herself makes interesting decisions to deal with both victims and perpetrators, it’s an uneven and frankly nuanced process.
Courtesy of Image Comics.
It’d be easy to cast Bloodletter as another Spawn-ian antihero, but it’s the small, subtle things (her moral back-and-forth, her somewhat transactional approach to “heroing,” etc.) that make Bloodletter so real and interesting. She may basically be the middle Venn diagram space between Spawn and Constantine, but in that place she’s vividly real because there is an authenticity and commitment to her arc. Bloodletter is someone in a familiar situation but who tries to react in a way that is novel in its balance of her personal needs and her awareness of suffering on a global level. In that way, she feels like a hero of this specific time — direct and unflinching but cognizant of larger trends — and that makes all the difference.
My praise aside, Bloodletter is still very much this untested property, and her story could just as easily break down into a series of hackneyed tropes and fan service to the larger franchise (and not the character herself.) But the creators have already given us just as much familiarity as subtle progress, and what we get in issue #1 is a perfect enough foundation for a character who will be of a beloved tradition and still try to do things that feel unique, socially resonant, and fully aware of her own familiarity in all the best ways.
In short, it’s a character who is additive in all the very best ways because her creators know when to tweak the math to make a more intriguing story of vengeance in a world that’s already known far too much such bloodshed. Long may Bloodletter multiply.
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