Spawn: The Dark Ages #3
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeSpawn: The Dark Ages #3 (May 1999) is the third chapter of Image Comics' bold medieval riff on Todd McFarlane's Hellspawn mythology, placing the series' core moral tension into sharp relief for the first time: the Hellspawn Iain Covenant must decide whether to use his dark power in defense of oppressed peasants or submit to the training regimen Cogliostro demands of him. That push-pull between reluctant heroism and infernal obligation — Lord Covenant escaping the Three Sisters of the Morrigan only to be immediately drawn back into the earthly suffering of his former people — became the defining dramatic engine of the entire Holguin run. The issue deepens the series' medievally grounded horror-fantasy atmosphere by showing Baron Rivalen surrender his barony's governance to the cruel Guy DuBlanc while in mourning for his dying wife, escalating the oppression that drives Covenant's arc. As part of the first ongoing Spawn spin-off to transplant the franchise into a fully realized historical setting, issue #3 cements the creative identity of a series that spent 28 issues interrogating heaven, hell, and personal accountability through the lens of Crusade-era England.
In "Onward," Spawn confronts the Fates as they unravel his past, forcing him to face the truth of his origin. With his memories laid bare, he returns to Cogliostro for training, only to find the world of Rhynn on the brink as Rivalen’s grief ignites a brutal campaign against his people. As the tide turns, Spawn must decide whether to lead his former kin in a fight they may not survive. Written by Brian Holguin and illustrated by Liam McCormack-Sharp, with colors by Brian Haberlin, Dan Kemp, and Josh Myers, and letters by Richard Starkings and Comicraft’s Oscar Gongora, this 1999 Image Comics issue features a cover by Glenn Fabry and Liam McCormack-Sharp.
ComicBooks.com Value
Show all 11 grades ▾
This exact issue on ebay
Raw — MINT ▾ $2.66–$4.99 3 listings
Raw — NM ▾ $3.39–$24 10 listings
Raw — VF/NM ▾ $2.49–$11.99 5 listings
Raw / ungraded ▾ $2–$19.99 32 listings
More listings for this title
Read it digitally
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 ▸History
Spawn: The Dark Ages launched in March 1999 as a spin-off of Todd McFarlane's flagship Spawn series, written by Brian Holguin — who had been a regular Spawn writer since issue #71 — with art and covers by the British artist Liam McCormack-Sharp, coloring by Brian Haberlin, and lettering by Richard Starkings & Comicraft's Oscar Gongora. Issue #1 shipped with an alternate variant cover illustrated by McFarlane himself, and the series ran as an ongoing for 28 issues before concluding in October 2001, with Steve Niles and Nat Jones later taking over creative duties from Holguin and Sharp. The series remained uncollected in trade paperback for over two decades until Image Comics solicited Spawn: The Dark Ages: The Complete Collection — described as collecting all 28 issues in an oversized format with bonus art — for December 2024 release.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published by Image Comics with a cover date of May 1999; also released in a newsstand edition.
- Written by Brian Holguin; art and cover by Liam McCormack-Sharp; coloring by Brian Haberlin; lettering by Richard Starkings & Comicraft's Oscar Gongora.
- Issue #3's plot: Baron Rivalen, mourning his gravely ill wife, cedes control of his barony to the cruel Guy DuBlanc, worsening conditions for the peasants; meanwhile, the Hellspawn Iain Covenant escapes captivity by the Three Sisters of the Morrigan and begins recovering his sense of identity and purpose.
- Count Alessandro di Cogliostro — the immortal former Hellspawn and recurring Spawn-universe mentor figure, created by Neil Gaiman and Todd McFarlane and first appearing in Spawn #9 (1993) — appears in issue #3, pressing Covenant to train rather than fight for the peasants.
- The characters Baron Rivalen, Dark Ages Spawn (Iain Covenant), Guy DuBlanc, Pevvyn, and Shiann (cameo) all made their first appearances in Spawn: The Dark Ages #1 (March 1999), not issue #3; Eloise first appeared in issue #2 (April 1999). Issue #3 features continued (not debut) appearances of all these characters.
- Spawn: The Dark Ages was the first ongoing Spawn spin-off series set in a fully realized historical period — 12th-century Crusade-era England — rather than in the contemporary urban setting of the main title.
- The series ran for 28 issues (March 1999–October 2001), with Holguin and Sharp handling the first arc; Steve Niles and Nat Jones later succeeded them on the title.
- The entire 28-issue run was first collected in trade paperback as Spawn: The Dark Ages: The Complete Collection (Image Comics, December 2024), in an oversized format with behind-the-scenes bonus art and a cover gallery.
Cast · 8 characters
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Spawn: The Dark Ages Complete Collection #[nn] (2013)
Key issues in Spawn: The Dark Ages
Variants (1)
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.