New Releases by Brian Holguin

Nyx persuades Al that he should try to right the many sinister deeds he has been responsible for, and starts by going back to the alleys to save Major Forsburg. Triumphantly, Jason Wynn and his new "co-worker" return to the CIA offices. Jason goes right to work, and asks for all the files on Al Simmons. At police headquarters, Twitch discovers that the man who had no shadow was also the man who''s grave had been robbed, Al Simmons.

Just when he thought the possibility of a normal life was looming before him, Al and his truant shadow are reunited, thanks to the misguided Nyx. It becomes clear that Al''s "shadow" is actually Spawn, and the meddlesome Nyx soon realizes that, this time, she may be in way over her head. Meanwhile, Jason Wynn is hearing nothing but apologies and praise from those who had him locked away so long ago. They need his help and cooperation now, and Jason is prepared to take full advantage of the situation. Wynn and his new best friend have created a tenuous partnership, that you can be sure will eventually bring problems for Al.

Al is a grateful man. After so many years of living with his chosen destiny as a Hellspawn, he''d forgotten the simple joy of being human; however, he should choose his new friends more carefully, since the Wiccan, Nyx, has plans for Al that look unpleasant at best. As Jason Wynn is being interrogated for information about Al Simmons, he is getting advice from the long-absent, opportunistic and apparently invisible Clown. With the Clown''s help, Wynn appears not as crazy as originally thought. Meanwhile, Al has a dream that turns into a real life nightmare as he awakens to find himself physically restrained, with Nyx, his new best friend, about to plunge a knife into his chest.

While Al roams the city, enjoying the small things in life that he''s missed for so long, a Wiccan is trying to contact the man with no shadow. Meanwhile, there are plenty of others who are interested in finding Al, including the people for whom he used to work. In the deepest, most secure part of a government building resides a mostly insane man who may still have valuable information about Al.

Lacking both fingerprints and a shadow, a confused Al Simmons resorts to his natural instincts when he suddenly finds himself standing in the middle of a New York City street. As two policemen approach him, he violently lashes out at them, an act that lands him in a jail cell next to a violent killer that confesses his crimes to Al alone. As Al is taken from his cell to speak with a Public Defender, a shadow lurks in the darkness that surrounds the cell occupied by Al''s self-confessed, murderous neighbor; it''s Al''s missing shadow, which has taken on a life of its own as Spawn! And while Al may not know who or where he is, he does remember one thing: Wanda.

Cog reveals both his origin as Cain and the contents of the mysterious box. Did the box actually contain a piece of the Garden of Eden, or did it only contain the dream of a perfect world? While keeping his word that he would never serve a day in Hell, Cog grants Spawn the one thing he has always desired: To return to earth, not as the disfigured Hellspawn, but as Al Simmons. Suddenly, on a rainy, New York night, Al finds himself in the middle of the city, apparently as a normal human for the first time in many years. When dealing with Hell, however, things are not always exactly as they seem as a shadow-less Al will soon find out.

Spawn envisions the lives of his predecessors, including his own past life as Al Simmons. Is what he''s seeing real or imagined? If real, how will the scene he observes at his own funeral affect what he has always supposed to be true? In his original agreement with Malebolgia, he acquiesed to becoming a Hellspawn in order to be reconciled with his beloved Wanda; but were his memories of his marriage accurate? As Spawn descends into Hell with Cog at his side, will he finally abandon all connections to his previous world and take his place on the throne that he inherited from Malebolgia?

Arising out of young Eddie''s search for revenge on the Hellspawn, the Redeemer finds Spawn in the desert and intends to finally settle the score. As the battle between the two is taking place, the mysterious stranger visits Eddie''s bedside in the hospital and reveals the truth to an unconscious Eddie that has always been impossible for him to admit: His father was an abusive, drunken brute. While the truth could kill Eddie, it has the Redeemer examining his own motives. After receiving a final crushing blow from the Redeemer, Spawn lays on the desert floor while two patiently waiting scorpions do what they have been sent to do: drag the Hellspawn down into the bowels of Hell.

Ben Nakadai has never embraced the adventure of business travel. His current trip to Japan is no exception. On his first night in the land of his ancestors, he has a restless sleep and dreams a cryptic dream that haunts him the next morning. In the hotel bar, he meets the mysterious Mykoto, who informs Ben that Nakadai is a storied name in Japan. Mykoto embarks on a tale of Ben''s samurai ancestors, but the story abruptly ends when Ben receives a phone call. While reflecting on Mykoto''s story, a violent thunderstorm erupts and it may well be a harbinger of violence to come.

After apparently losing his son, Twitch Williams is on the verge of suicide, but Spawn will intervene before Twitch pulls the trigger. Out in Central Park, the Children of the Kingdom are gathering but have not taken into account Spawn_s allies. Nor have they considered the versatile Ab and Zab who, with the help of a magic marker, turn the Citadel into a pillar of death and a gateway to Hell for all the vampires. In the end, Max is saved, but is no longer a part of this world. And though it appears that Spawn has vanquished the Kingdom_s cult, he fails to realize, as a familiar face reminds us, that a gateway to Hell can also let things out.

As Sam & Twitch request that Central Park be closed down, the Night of the Cleansing is already underway; but there is no one to be cleansed! Much to Simon''s dismay, the entire city seems to be free from sin. Spawn has taken that burden upon himself. Elsewhere, Dawn is about to "save" Max when she meets an untimely end, courtesy of Ab and Zab. While Simon and his legion of vampires prepare to attack Spawn, Ab and Zab are in the Citadel of the Kingdom, busying themselves by building a doorway to Hell.

A group of vampires join Simon Pure in his battle against Spawn, but the Hellspawn has experience on his side and causes a tidal wave that engulfs Simon and his followers, all of whom drown. Simon survives, but cuts off his own hand to escape Spawn''s chains. Meanwhile, Twitch has an encounter with Max Jr. and Dawn, but it turns out to be only a dream... or was it? Spawn has a new plan to eliminate Simon and enlists the help of Ab and Zab, who have been reinstated as full demons, while Simon''s plan to eliminate those who are sinners continues apace.

As Sam and Twitch wait at the appointed hour, Spawn arrives with Ab and Zab in tow. They are carrying the head of Wolfram in a bag. The two detectives are more than a little startled when Wolfram, after some encouragement from Ab, begins to speak and tells them what he knows about Simon Pure and The Kingdom. While Max Jr. realizes he may be past the point of no return with Dawn and her friends, Spawn finds a warehouse that he suspects is Simon Pure''s headquarters. The structure itself is indestructible, and though the young inhabitants are no match for Spawn, he comes face to face with a truly formidable enemy: Simon Pure himself.

Old enemies meet again as Jason Wynn completes a plan to bring Spawn out into the light. But this is a new Spawn; a Spawn with nothing left to lose and he pays a visit to the unsuspecting Wynn. Once, he would have simply killed Wynn, but Spawn realizes there are much more lasting ways to torture your enemy. Rather than use his powers to harm Wynn physically, he affects Wynn''s perception, driving him insane and forcing him to exist in a living Hell for the rest of his days. Meanwhile, the threat of being exposed to the world is no longer something to be avoided; in fact, Spawn welcomes it.

While Wanda lies close to death, Spawn returns to the eighth level of Hell for a final showdown with a weakened Malebolgia. At the height of the conflict, Angela arrives to join in the battle. After mortally wounding Malebolgia and thinking him dead, Spawn and Angela prepare to escape; however, with his last breath, Malebolgia extracts Angela''s lance and impales her with it. In a rage, Spawn decapitates Malebolgia with Angela''s sword. Carrying Angela''s lifeless body, Spawn delivers her to a host of angels who offer him forgiveness and redemption. He refuses this angelic pardon, but the angel who offers it can yet do one favor for Spawn: She appears in Wanda'' hospital room and breathes new life into Wanda. Meanwhile, Spawn finally comes to terms with his place in the world.

Angela halts an army of angels from going to war on Earth''s behalf and then comes to the aid of Spawn in his battle against Urizen. Together, harnessing the elemental power of nature, they return Urizen to an Earth-bound prison. Meanwhile, Terry rushes Wanda to the hospital while Granny urges Cyan to protect the Òsad manÓ by using her mind. After their victory against Urizen, Spawn and Angela question the Earthbound demons Ab and Zab and finaly learn that it was malebolgia who set Urizen upon the Earth.

Angela rescues Spawn from his impaled position and gives him the lowdown on their new mission even after she received orders on to act. Other angels debate the order, saying it is thier duty, their purpose to fight while others claim it is their job to follow orders. Spawn and Angela find Cog and try to pry ancient information out of him, but he is vague and uncooperative. Later, after Spawn and Angela leave Cog, they argue and even get into a bit of a tussle. Angela is surprised to learn that Spawn still hasnÕt figured out his earthly role. Meanwhile, Urizen is leading people to their deaths like a monstrous Pied Piper.

While Spawn and the ghost of Al Simmons confer in the cemetery, two demons inhabit the bodies of two car accident victims. They walk to the nearest diner where they carry out their earthly mission to kill 13 innocent people and then burn their bodies in a sacrificial circle. Spawn senses the evil vibes and goes to the burning hilltop to investigate. There, he is confronted by the ancient and powerful dark god, Urizen.

Reneu008e, a young runaway, has her bravery and pain tolerance tested in exchange for a place to stay in an abandoned house. Later, Mark, the master of the house, drugs her and begins a sacrificial ceremony when Spawn intervenes. And even though Mark demonstrates a hypnotic power over others he comes in contact with, he wants Spawn''s powers. Mark makes Spawn an offer to exchange powers and lives.

Ethan Crone, accused by his editor of being obsessed with Spawn, interviews people from all walks of life around the city who may have witnessed Spawn and his mysterious ways. When he actually tries to spend the night in the Rat City alleys, Cog tells him that there is no Spawn and there never was: he was simply a ghost story told around the bonfires in the alleys.

After Cog is unable to reason with Spawn, the ghost of Al Simmons appears to him and they have a heart-to-heart talk. Spawn''s epiphany comes when he kills his own ghost. He then returns to the alleys a changed man refusing to be a pawn in someone else''s game. He announces to Cog that he is quitting.

Twitch puzzles over the case of Billy Kincaid and forms a plan with Spawn to stop Kincaid from possessing innocent people, coercing them to perform unspeakable crimes and then sentencing their souls to Hell. Knowing his family is a target of Kincaid''s, Twitch convinces Helen to take the kids away for a while. Later, his fears are confirmed when he and Sam receive a hit list with his family, the Fitzgeralds and Granny Blake named.

Billy Kincaid''s ghost taunts Spawn about the recent innocent murders. Not only has Spawn been unable to prevent the killing of innocent people, but Billy warns him that things are just getting started. Elsewhere, Twitch''s wife and son become hostages on the commuter train. When Spawn intervenes to save the innocent people on the train, the gunman is inadvertently killed and becomes one of Billy Kincaid''s ghostly crew. Later, Granny Blake feels Billy''s ghostly presence and protectively warns him away from her family.

To everyone in the community, Mark Lucas was a good kid. He was always polite, attended church, did well in school, was quiet and never caused any trouble. But one day he brought a gun to church, shot a few people and later took his own life. Meanwhile, Sam and Twitch try to unravel the mystery of Billy Kincaid''s apparent ghostly return and Cog and Spawn do some detective work on their own relating to the strange brands they have seen on the latest victims. Are all the seemingly isolated deaths somehow related?

With Spawn''s help, Sam and Twitch surmise that Dr. Sarah Frost is the serial killer of the alley inhabitants. Spawn confronts her and witnesses her suicide by pesticides, a victim of her own imagined phobia. But when Sam examines Dr. Frost''s body, he finds that now familiar symbol branded on her neck. Later, Sam and Twitch receive a cardboard box with a head in it and a cryptic message written on their office wall.

Spawn has been thrown into the realm of Greenworld, a third power beyond Heaven and Hell. There he learns that the earth is under siege by man''s relentless pollution and overuse of its resources. He is given the task to stop the war between Heaven and Hell in order to preserve Mother Nature. Back in the alleys, Bootsy prays for Spawn''s return to earth and is removed from earth for interfering with mortal''s lives.

Bootsy steps between Spawn and Wolfram, the vampire, to keep them from destroying each other. When Wolfram mentions a nest of vampires in the area, Spawn goes to investigate just as the police arrive and take Bootsy in for questioning. At the police station, Bootsy passes a cryptic message to Sam and Twitch. Elsewhere in an abandoned warehouse, a child is being tortured. Spawn breaks in, kills the abusers and releases the child who reveals an emblem blazoned across his belly.