Spawn #174

Jan 2008 · Image · 2.95 USD; 2.99 CAD

📊 ~22,649 copies sold its debut month

☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join free

“Gunslinger Spawn: Part 1”

About this Issue

Spawn #174 (January 2008) marks the first full appearance and origin of Gunslinger Spawn — Jeremy Winston, a framed 19th-century preacher who strikes a deal with the demon Mammon to become a Hellspawn in the American West — establishing a character who would go on to anchor his own ongoing series in 2021 and a dedicated prequel series, Deadly Tales of the Gunslinger Spawn, in 2024–2025. The issue is equally pivotal for its role in the Mammon storyline: writer David Hine uses it as the centerpiece of a multi-issue revelation that Mammon has been engineering the Simmons family bloodline across generations, deepening the mythology of the entire series. By rooting the Hellspawn legacy in Buffalo Soldier-era American history and the cultural backdrop of the post-Civil War West, the issue gave the Spawn universe an unexpectedly rich historical dimension and introduced one of its most durable supporting characters. A production curiosity — 'Spawn' is misspelled as 'Spanw' on the spine of every copy — has made the issue instantly identifiable and impossible to confuse with a later printing.

writer David Hine · artist, inker, colorist Bing Cansino · artist, inker, colorist Geirrod Van Dyke · artist Greg Capullo · letterer Tom Orzechowski · cover Greg Capullo

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (NM) $172

CGC 9.8 · 539 in census $681

CGC 9.6 · 324 in census $438*

CGC 9.4 · 136 in census $315

CGC 9.2 · 65 in census $315

CGC 9.0 · 45 in census $280

CGC 8.5 · 36 in census $280

Show all 14 grades ▾

CGC 8.0 · 10 in census $270

CGC 7.5 · 6 in census $157*

CGC 7.0 · 4 in census $157*

CGC 6.5 · 1 in census $140*

CGC 6.0 · 5 in census $122*

CGC 5.5 · 3 in census $81*

CGC 5.0 · 1 in census $65*

CGC 4.5 · 1 in census $43*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

Find on ebay

Search eBay for Spawn #174 ▸

No confirmed live listings for this exact issue right now — this opens an eBay search.

Read it digitally

Amazon Kindle Buy the digital edition ▸ GlobalComix Indie & digital reader ▸

Opens a search on each platform — digital availability varies by title.

Sell my copy

Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.

We Buy Collections ▸

Fast, fair offers · we handle grading & shipping

History

Issue #174 was written by David Hine, who took over as primary writer on the series around issue #150 after Todd McFarlane stepped back from scripting duties; Hine's run was notable for pushing the book into darker, more mythologically layered territory. The interior art for the two-part 'Gunslinger Spawn' story (issues 174–175) was handled by pencilers Bing Cansino and Geirrod Van Dyke, a departure from the Brian Haberlin pencils that dominated surrounding issues in this era. The iconic cover was drawn by series co-architect Greg Capullo, lending the debut of the new character an extra measure of visual authority. The issue was collected alongside issues #170–175 in the 2008 trade paperback Spawn: Neo Noir (ISBN 978-1582409818).

Trivia · 8 facts

First full appearance and origin of Gunslinger Spawn (Jeremy Winston), a preacher from the Old West town of Bane who becomes a Hellspawn after being framed for his family's murder and accepting Mammon's deal at the gallows.
Gunslinger Spawn had made an earlier, unnamed background appearance in Spawn #119 as part of a two-page spread of historical Hellspawns before receiving his full debut and origin here in #174.
Mammon's role in issue #174 is to recruit Jeremy Winston as Gunslinger Spawn, continuing a pattern established in issue #165 (Mandarin Spawn/Chenglei) and extended in issue #179 (War Spawn/Thomas Coram) — all part of Mammon's secret scheme to cultivate a 'perfect bloodline' of Hellspawns culminating in Al Simmons.
Francis Parker, Al Simmons' great-great-grandfather and a Buffalo Soldier, appears in this issue as a condemned man alongside Winston; Parker refuses Mammon's offer but is spared, later taking the name Henry Simmons — a key link in the genealogical conspiracy Mammon has engineered over centuries.
Written by David Hine; interior art by Bing Cansino and Geirrod Van Dyke; cover by Greg Capullo; edited by Brian Haberlin, Todd McFarlane, and Francis Takenaga; published by Image Comics with a cover date of January 2008.
All copies of the issue contain a confirmed production misprint: 'Spawn' is misspelled 'Spanw' on the spine.
The character's design draws acknowledged inspiration from Stephen King's 'Man in Black' character from The Dark Tower series, and the issue features an in-story dedication to Clint Eastwood, reflecting its debt to revisionist Western films like Unforgiven (1992).
Gunslinger Spawn's debut here directly seeded the launch of the Gunslinger Spawn ongoing series (October 2021, written by Todd McFarlane, art by Brett Booth) and the Deadly Tales of the Gunslinger Spawn prequel series (December 2024, written by Jimmy Palmiotti, art by Patric Reynolds), both of which cite #174 as the character's point of origin.