Major Issues: First Appearance of Spawn

Hundreds of comic book characters are being portrayed in film and television, and with each new day more are being announced.

Major Issues -- a ComicBook.com original video series -- will speak to true comic book hobbyists as well as new fans in a short, fast-paced digital series featuring the first appearances of characters we all love. Each episode will feature the actual comic book, info on the creators, and the backstory on the creation and legacy of the character.

The next in our series is our look at the introduction of one of the greatest anti-heros in the comic industry.

This is the origin of Al Simmons, from ComicBookDB is as follows: Al Simmons, once the U.S. government's greatest soldier and most effective assassin, was mercilessly executed by his own men. Resurrected from the ashes of his own grave in a flawed agreement with the powers of darkness, Simmons is reborn as a creature from the depths of Hell. A Hellspawn. Now Spawn must choose between his life on Earth and his place on a throne in Hell.

An origin story from Image Comics in 1992, Spawn No. 1 introduces us to a strange assailant that stalks the city, ripping out human hearts, another otherwordly being arrives. As his mind reels, our tortured hero remembers that he struck a deal with the devil in order to return to his beloved wife - five years after his death.

Be sure to check out our other Major Issues.

Luke Cage | Black Mariah | Misty Knight | Cornell Cottonmouth | Wally West | Negan | King Ezekiel | Kaecilius | Bane | Savitar | Deadshot | Darth Vader