Spawn #188 - Image

This is another great issue in the new Spawn story-line. Basically, Jim Downing was lost in the system. When Al blew his head off, to kill the Spawn, Jim woke up from his coma. The problem is . . nobody remembers how long he's been there. Most of the staff that were there when he got there are gone. Anyways, somehow he's hooked up with Spawn. Someone comes to the hospital to get him, but when his life is in danger the Spawn entity takes over and they create an explosion and fire with-in the hospital. Jim ends up at another hospital but is very shortly released because they can't find anything wrong with him. Luckily he comes across Sara and they leave together. He thinks that the encounters with the Spawn entity are just bad dreams. But the first night at Sara's he wakes up to go to the bathroom and while in there finds his body transformed. Meanwhile, the Clarion is looking into the events at the hospital. They can't find anything out of the ordinary yet, but . . it's the only hospital in the city not getting federal funding. Which isn't overly suspicious but, they find out that they seem to specialize in long term care of patients with chronic and rare diseases, or conditions. "Which is odd because they have a lot of veterans there for some reason. I'm guessing half those people haven't stepped outside the place in years. Maybe decades. And now they're scattered around the city." And the Clown is still trying to figure out what to do with the 'dead-spot' where he found Al's body. He knows he can use it to his advantage but he hasn't figured out how. Oh yeah, you remember how in the beginning of this series there was that clock like thing on the top or bottom of the pages that counted down Spawn's power? Well, when Jim turns in to Spawn at the end of this book . . the countdown returns. I don't know the signifigance yet, but I'm sure we'll find out soon. I'm really liking this story-line so far. It's supposed to wrap up with issue #190. Then they can move on with the character . . whether it's Al or Jim. So far I think Todd, Brian Holguin and Whilce Portacio are doing a fantastic job here. It really seems like these guys have gotten back into the book again. I think the best is yet to come.