Spawn: Armageddon - How Heaven and Hell's Final Battle Changed Spawn Forever

Todd McFarlane's Spawn series broke new ground for independent comics in the 1990s, bringing a hellishly dark twist to a nominally superheroic book. Eventually, the Image launch title would change gears to embrace its horror and supernatural elements, building up to what seemed like a finale of Biblical proportions.

While the series began with a deal with the Devil, it looked for the longest time that it would be ending with a battle between God and Satan themselves, with Spawn and the denizens of Earth caught in the crossfire. Taking place in Spawn issues #150-164, "Armageddon" changed the earth and status quo of the book for good. Here's a look back at what was possibly meant to be the ultimate Spawn storyline -- one which had a drastic effect on the world and history of Al Simmons.

The Garden of Eden

The prelude to the "Armageddon" storyline had longtime Spawn ally Cogliostro revealed as the Biblical Cain, who betrays Spawn and leaves him an amnesiac derelict. After interacting with the mystical Greenworld, Spawn not only regains his memories but also a powerful new costume composed of a myriad of souls that bonds with his necroplasmic body. Returning to the mortal realm, Spawn realizes that the end of days is approaching when he discovers that Wanda and Terry's children Jake and Katie are the human embodiments of God and Satan.

Spawn is relayed this information by the being known as Mother, who birthed both God and Satan and is disappointed in them both. Beforehand, Mother had been known by names such as Jesus Christ, Kali, and the Man of Miracles. Though Mother warns that Armageddon must come to pass, she also believes that Spawn is the one being who can finally stop God and Satan's feud. To fully gain this power, Spawn visits the Garden of Eden to face twelve powerful Disciples of Mother. With each second in the Garden slowly killing Spawn, he's finally killed when he refuses to do the same to the last Disciple, Judas.

Mother resurrects Spawn via the Forbidden Fruit of the Garden of Eden, now with angelic wings in place of a cape and chains. Returning to New York, Spawn sees the city decimated as the Apocalypse has already begun. Noticing Spawn's presence, both God and Satan's forces converge to take him out, along with anything else in their way, for the universe's final battle.

Rewriting Doomsday

Watching the events from afar are Mammon and a mysterious cloaked figure who claims that everything is going just as planned. Almost overwhelmed by the forces of Heaven and Hell, Spawn summons all the strength given to him by Mother to become more powerful than ever, stopping all of his foes in one fell swoop. This leaves both God and Satan without soldiers to fight in their war for them. Spawn then has Mother make God and Satan think that they have destroyed Spawn, with the two both stuck in a sort of pocket dimension in which they both think they have won.

Spawn closes the door to Earth in both Heaven and Hell, keeping the cosmic children from interacting with the lives of mortals again. He also resurrects all who were taken in Armageddon, restoring the Earth but also making sure that the knowledge of what happened remains. For a time, he considers returning to his mortal life as Al Simmons and even reuniting with his former wife Wanda, but upon remembering the hurt that he had caused her in life, he leaves her at last in peace. Going back to his red-caped appearance, he again haunts the backroads of Rat Alley, albeit a much different person than before.