Personally I think that Spawn is underappreciated and a perfect combination of equally gothic and superheroics from the 90s.

Spawn is weird, it's edgy, It's extreme. it's really over the top, it's the 90s. But in the same time it's a modern gothic tale(by modern I mean that is not set in 1800s),a twisted and sad kid's tale and that can be seen in most of the artistic choices McFarlane takes here IMO. The book has a lot of charm because of that and a lot of atmosphere. It takes you on a journey in the confused world of the already heavily confused Al Simmons and all that with the power of it's art. The story was made to serve the art and the art has that darkness and grit, but it's most definitely not realistic, not at all, it's heavily cartoonish and extra exaggerated, so much so that it can be said that the characters are becoming caricatures, which helps the books and the vibe it has. It makes characters like Billy or the Violator for example even more despicable and gross, characters like Spawn even more darker, mysterious and pitiful. So yeah that cartooniness most definitely brings a lot to the book as a whole and makes everything better in my mind. A story which is so over top and overly dark , needs an art that is equally over the top. It's like Hyperpop. It takes a lot of tropes and turns them to 11, but it's not a satire, it's still pretty much a superhero comics, although a very extreme one. It has drama, it has a lot action and a lot of masculine energy. As far as style go, I think this book is perfect tbh. The energy, the atmosphere, the flow can hardly be matched, at least for me. The substance and the dialogue can lack at times, but it's supposed to be like that.

There is a lot to be said about this book and what I said is only the surface. Sadly a lot of times it's been treated like a garbage from the garbage past and because of that, it not always get the attention and care, that can possibly deserve.