The Spawn franchise is growing larger than ever, with the character's resurgence in popularity also seeing several books being added to his line. One of these is a title featuring the Gunslinger Spawn, an Old West Hellspawn who's recently become quite popular with fans. Though Gunslinger Spawn only recently became popular, he has a history that goes back to the early days of Spawn's book.

Becoming a Western Hellspawn centuries ago and encountering Al Simmons' ancestor, Gunslinger Spawn is now in the present day and getting his own book. It's been revealed that he may have more history in the past that readers are still unaware of. Before the title launches, here's a look at the history of Gunslinger Spawn and what his current status quo looks like.

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The Origin of Gunslinger Spawn

Gunslinger Spawn header by Brett Booth

Gunslinger Spawn actually made his debut in the franchise all the way back in Spawn #174, with the ensuing storyline detailing his origin. Al Simmons, the current Spawn, discovers in a journal that his great-great-grandfather had actually encountered a Spawn in his era -- one who exemplified the time period's manner of smokin' justice.

Gunslinger Spawn was originally a man named Jeremy Winston who lived in the Old West town of Bane. A priest who owned a veritable amount of land was framed for the murder of his family by a man named Ed Kemper so that he could acquire it. Sentenced to hang, the man standing beside him was Francis Parker, a former Buffalo Soldier and an ancestor of Al Simmons. Before the execution, Parker and Winston were both offered inhuman power by Mammon, who worked for the devilish Malebolgia.

Parker refused the offer and Winston accepted, though this didn't turn out exactly as he had envisioned. Winston still died while Mammon helped Parker escape, though the former was subsequently reborn as an undead and powerful Hellspawn. Imbued with power and realizing the wrong that had been done to him, the newly born (or reborn) Gunslinger Spawn ravaged the entire town of Bane, save for Parker (who had taken the name Henry Simmons) and his family, who he spared.

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How Gunslinger Spawn Came to the Present

Spawn Gunslinger Spawn

Despite how cool the idea of a Western-based Spawn sounds, Gunslinger Spawn went unused in the series' narrative for quite a while. This finally changed in Spawn #308, where Jeremy Winston finally came back into the picture. He did so by possessing the body of a man in a bar in the modern-day, with recent events having opened rifts in Heaven and Hell that allowed him to do so.

He met and quickly ran afoul of former Spawn "ally" Cogliostro, who went to work trying to attack the weakened Gunslinger Spawn with a monster of his own making. Ready to unleash his full power on anyone who stood in his way, Gunslinger Spawn decapitated Cogliostro and left for parts unknown. It was also revealed in King Spawn #1 that he had been active between his origin and his current resurgence, namely to get revenge for a sister of his. Whether or not this will play out further in that book or in the pages of the Gunslinger Spawn comic book are unknown, but the Spawn universe is definitely a lot more crowded with the priest-turned-Hellspawn around.

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