Spawn: The Burning Vision (1997)

Todd McFarlane's infernal anti-hero rises up from the depths of Hell to battle the forces of evil, discover the truth about his identity, and fulfill his destiny in this dark animated series inspired by the hit comic book. Instilled with mysterious powers that give him a supernatural advantage over his human adversaries, Spawn wages a brutal war on the powers of darkness while constantly wrestling the inner-evil that dwells deep within his soul. As the series gets underway, a ruthless pair of mob henchmen guns down two reporters on the trail of a groundbreaking story. A witness to the brutal double homicide, Spawn dispenses with the murderous mobsters with a vengeance that would make his dark master proud. In the aftermath of the violent slaughter, Spawn meets Clown - a sadistic imp charged with helping the Hellspawn become a full-fledged demonic warrior. Meanwhile, a mysterious derelict named Cogliostro will aid Spawn in making his transition back into the realm of the living. A conversation with his own corpse reveals that Spawn was once a government assassin named Al Simmons who had struck a deal with one of Hell's masters in order to see his beloved wife Wanda once again, though it appears that Wanda has started over again by marrying Al's best friend Terry Fitzgerald and mothering a baby named Cyan. As Spawn struggles to comprehend his profound situation, the situation with the mobsters becomes even more deadly when powerful crime kingpin Antonio Twistelli determines to find out who killed his top men, and it's revealed that the thugs had been working for Jason Wynn - who has vowed to protect the interests of child killing Senator McMillian, even if it means claiming a few innocent lives. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi