该漫画与麦克法兰以往的作品一样，充满浓重的宗教意味和超级英雄的旋律，不过主人公确是身有缺陷的反传统英雄形象。
该书近期连载的故事比以往更加的扭曲黑暗。McFarlane认为这是发展的需要。刚开始创作这部作品时，他不得不将他真实想表达的内容做一些修改，让作品变得更加像超级英雄的故事。以便让读者相对容易的接受。随着故事展开，读者群确立起来以后，他可以把故事的旋律转成他所真正想表达的旋律。
美国中情局的特工Al Simmons（艾尔·西蒙斯）因为知道上司腐败，而被其上司杀害，落入地狱。为了再见他妻子一面，他和地狱魔王Malebolgia（马勒博基亚）做了一个交易，将自己变成了不死的“地狱再生魔”。
在故事中，再生侠一直不断努力去保持自己的人性，找寻摆脱Malebolgia控制的方法，同时还要和各种匪徒和超自然物种进行战斗。
该作品延伸出很多分支作品，包括《Angela》、《Curse of the Spawn》、《Sam & Twitch》和日本漫画《Shadows of Spawn》（作者：所 十三，Juzo Tokoro，代表作《SHOGUN》、《疾风特攻队》）。
《再生侠》于1997年被改编成电影，1997至1999年间HBO将之动画化，同时麦克法兰推出一系列高品质的模型，令其在模型领域里名声鹊起。
《再生侠》的风潮冷却下来，开始由其他作者们创作它的主线月刊。在David Hine执掌该系列月刊以后，故事更专注于恐怖要素，让其人气再次升温。《再生侠》和《Savage Dragon》是Image硕果仅存的两个至今还在发行的原创漫画。（《Youngblood》虽然于2008年重回Image，但已经没有了Liefeld来掌舵。）
2008年4月20日，在纽约漫展上宣布由两名Image创始人组成的新的小组从第185期开始，将执掌《再生侠》的故事走向。
同年6月12日，又宣布该小组将由Todd McFarlane和Brian Holguin，以及另外一名Image的创始人Whilce Portacio组成。
流行风潮： 《再生侠》在20世纪90年代初版发行时异常流行，对一个非DC和非marvel的角色来说可以用丰功伟绩来形容。确实，McFarlane总是在说，他的目标就是让再生侠这个角色变得像超人和蜘蛛侠一样有名。
那时候，漫画书的销量一直在上涨，再加上投机者的推波助澜，所以再生侠刚一推出，便大受欢迎。
McFarlane与老东家Marvel的破裂，并创建Image Comics公司，被人们认为是天翻地覆的巨变，影响波及漫画产业的各个领域。
《Wizard》杂志在2008年5月，将Image Comics公司的成立评为1991至2008年间影响漫画产业的第一大事。
第一期《再生侠》销售了170万本。
1997年随着再生侠电影的放映，它的流行达到一个高峰，但这仅仅是一场商业上的成功，并没有让再生侠的角色登上电影界的高峰。
不过随着时间流逝，再生侠的风潮也渐渐回落。
最近，因为启用了新的创作团队，粉丝对故事的兴趣再次升温。再生侠第150集在炒作中很快售罄，而最近一期，第174期，以22667本的预订数量排在销售排行榜前300名中的第99位。
南非发行情况： 早在20世纪90年代再生侠便由一家叫做Battle Axe Press的出版社在南非发行。
由于法律问题，只发行了前10期。在非洲发行的再生侠选用标准纸张印刷，而不是采用Image原本使用的蜡光纸
外传：
《Angela》迷你系列故事 1994和1995年，发行了3本一套的限定版《Angela》，由Gaiman编剧，Greg Capullo作画。之后，该系列和一个Angela的单行本一起合集收录在合订本中，到2005年截至，该合订本已绝版。
《Spawn：Blood Feud》 1995年发行的再生侠迷你系列故事，共4集。由Alan Moore编剧，Tony Daniel作画，Kevin Conrad描线。
《Spawn: The Impaler》 1996年10月发行，三本一套的迷你系列故事。该故事灵感来源于著名暴君Vlad Tepes。由Mike Grell编剧，Rob Prior作画。
《Spawn: The Dark Ages》 该故事讲述的是Lord Covenant的故事，Lord Convenant是12世纪的一名骑士，在一次神圣十字军东征中被杀，他死后成为地狱再生魔重回人间。适时，英国乡村正被暴力与骚乱笼罩，黑骑士必须选择是站在无辜村民一边，还是站在邪恶腐败的恶势力一方。该系列故事共发行28本。
《Curse of the Spawn》 关于其他地狱再生魔和再生侠世界中的其他角色的故事，包括胖瘦警官Sam和Twitch，天使Angela，女杀手Jessica Priest和黑帮头子Antonio Twistelli
《Spawn: Blood and Salvation》 单本故事，讲述《Curse of the Spawn》前4集中的地狱再生魔Daniel Llanso的故事。
《Hellspawn》 比《再生侠》更前卫更黑暗更大气的外传作品，由Brian Michael编剧，Ashley Wood作画。
《Spawn: Blood and Shadows》 1999年发行的单本作品。Paul Jenkins编剧，Ashley Wood作画。
《Sam & Twitch》 + 《Case Files: Sam & Twitch》 探员Sam Burke和Twitch Williams的犯罪调查的外传故事。《Sam and Twitch》发行了26集，于2003年完结，然后开始出版《Case Files: Sam & Twitch》
《Spawn: The Undead》 该故事主要描写Al Simmons，与《再生侠》正传不同的是，该故事是独立的，单一主线的作品。由Paul Jenkins编剧，共发行9集。
《Spawn: Godslayer》 最初是单本作品，后来开始变成连载作品。
《Spawn: Simony》 2003年由法国的Semic发行，这是由Todd授权的创作者Jean-Francois Porcherot和Alex Nikolavitch所做的原创作品，并没有使用Image Comics的名义发行。
《Shadows of Spawn》 最近在美国发售的三本图画小说，是对再生侠日本漫画《Shadows of Spawn》的资料汇编作品。
《Spawn: Architects of Fear》 2008年2月发行的单本作品。Arthur Claire编剧，Aleksi Briclot作画。
《The Adventures of Spawn》 2006年在圣地亚哥漫画展（SDCC）宣布制作这一新的故事，名为《The Adventures of Spawn》，据Spawn.com的信息板的栏目负责人Jon Goff透露，该故事是再生侠故事的再创作，故事发生在一个“假如”的世界中，去除了黑暗要素，更适合孩子阅读。该故事采用网上漫画形式，同时制作成McFarlane再生侠系列第30代玩具。
客串作品：
再生侠分别和Witchblade, Wildcats, Youngblood, Savage Dragon, Cerebus, The Ant, and Shadowhawk展开过各种穿越类型的作品。
Angela也出现在很多穿越本中，如1996年的《Angela and Glory：Rage of Angels》迷你系列故事中看到Angela会见Glory。后又出现在《Youngblood》第6期（1996年），和《Team Youngblood》的第21期。Angela还与Aria漫画系列合作上演过穿越故事。
Clown/Violator也在迷你穿越故事《Violator/Badrock》中登场。
再生侠还在Archie Comics的《Sonic Super Special》第7期的一个画格中出现，将Sonic and Knuckles当成了穿着戏服的孩子了。
再生侠在对战游戏《Soul Calibur II》的Xbox版中有登场
法律纠纷：
与Neil Gaiman的纠纷 1993年，McFarlane与Neil Gaiman签约，让Gaiman为《再生侠》第9集创作剧本。在该剧本中，Gaiman创造了Cogliostro, Angela和Medieval Spawn三个角色。
这三个角色在再生侠的故事中占有举足轻重的地位，而且与McFarlane的玩具紧密相连。Cogliostro在1997年的再生侠电影中也是重要角色。
McFarlane同意Gaiman是这三个角色的联合创作者，愿意支付重印、图像小说和玩具的版权费
但几年后，他停止向Gaiman支付版税，并通知Gaiman，说他才拥有这三个角色的全部权利，他引用版权声明第9条，声称Gaiman只是受雇来工作，McFarlane才是角色的唯一拥有人。
2002年，Gaiman向法院起诉McFarlane，McFarlane多方争辩，但都被否决。2003年法院宣布终审判决。
法院承认Gaiman是Cogliostro, Angela, and Medieval Spawn是这三个人物的共同创作者，应该享有人物创作者所应享有的权利。法院认为这三个人物由Gaiman编剧，McFarlane绘画，所以两人各拥有这三个角色50%的权利。该官司的附带结果仍然模糊不清。
在最近再版的再生侠前12集的收藏版中，第9集和Dave Sim编剧的第10集都没有收录在内。
与Tony Twist的纠纷 Todd McFarlane创作的一个黑帮角色“Antonio 'Tony Twist' Twistelli”，McFarlane承认这个名字来自冰球球员Tony Twist
2004年，密苏里州圣路易斯陪审团根据Todd McFarlane的产品用Twist的肖像获利，判决McFarlane向Twist支付1千5百万美金的赔偿。2006年6月，两次上诉之后，法院终审判决维持原判。
感谢 五湖县人 翻译
显/隐英文
Spawn is a fictional comic book character created by Todd McFarlane. Spawn primarily appears in a comic of the same name, published by Image Comics, and his first appearance was in Spawn #1 (May 1992).
Overview
The religion-heavy book began with a very superhero-like tone, much like McFarlane's previous work, but the title character evolved into a more flawed anti-hero.
The current book has skewed significantly darker than early issues would suggest.
McFarlane attributes this to being a necessary part of development.
To introduce the book to readers it had to be slightly cleaner than he really wished it to be so that it read like a superhero tale.
As the book took off and became more established he was able to alter the tone closer to his vision.
A CIA agent killed by his own boss for witnessing his corruption, Al Simmons was sent to hell. To see his wife one more time, he made a deal with the devil Malebolgia to become an undead "hellspawn".
Spawn has tried to retain his own humanity while finding a way out of Malebolgia's control and battling a variety of enemies, both supernatural and criminal.
The series has spun off several other comics, including Angela, Curse of the Spawn, Sam & Twitch and the Japanese manga Shadows of Spawn.
Spawn was adapted into a 1997 feature film, an HBO animated series lasting from 1997 until 1999 and a series of action figures whose high level of detail made McFarlane Toys known in the toy industry.
Spawn's popularity cooled and creators other than McFarlane have been responsible for the monthly series—a source of criticism as McFarlane and others left Marvel in the belief that creators should own and control their own characters, although McFarlane still makes decisions for the book's course.
After David Hine took over the title, the monthly series, with a new focus on horror, began picking up heat again. The title, along with Savage Dragon is one of the only two original Image titles still published; (YoungBlood returned to Image in 2008, but without Liefeld at the helm).
On April 20, 2008, it was announced at the NY Comic-Con that a new team consisting of two Image founders would be taking over Spawn beginning with issue #185.
It was announced on June 12, that this team would consist of Todd McFarlane and Brian Holguin, with artist and Image founder Whilce Portacio.
Popularity
Spawn enjoyed considerable popularity upon its initial release in the 1990s, which was a notable feat for a non-DC and non-Marvel character. Indeed, McFarlane stated repeatedly that his goal was for the character to become as well known as Superman and Spider-Man.
Comic-book collecting was enjoying a marked upswing at the time, fueled by the speculator boom looking for the next hot book that would jump in value after its release.
McFarlane had also already enjoyed superstar status among comic fans with his work on Spider-Man, which had featured McFarlane's name prominently as both writer and artist.
McFarlane's subsequent break with Marvel and the formation of Image Comics was seen by many as a sea-change event, changing the very way in which comics were produced.
Wizard Magazine, on May 2008, rated "The Launch of Image Comics" as no: 1 in the list of events that rocked the Comic Industry from 1991 to 2008
The first issue of Spawn was very popular with sales of 1.7 million copies , however, popularity has faded over time.
A recent issue, Spawn #174, ranked 99 out of 300 with preorder sales of 22,667.
The popularity of the franchise peaked with the 1997 Spawn feature film, which was only a mild commercial success and failed to start a film franchise based on the character.
Although a sequel is lined up (co-written by creator Todd McFarlane himself), it is still in development at McFarlane's camp.
Most recently, the hype around Spawn #150 allowed the issue to sell-out quickly as a new creative team was brought on board and fan interest in the book has again picked up.
South African releases
They were originally published by a South African publisher named Battle Axe Press in the early 90s.
Only the first 10 issues got published due to legal matters. The comic book prints got released on standard paper as opposed to the original glossy paper from Image comics.
Spinoffs and crossovers
Angela miniseries
In 1994 and 1995, a three-issue Angela limited series was published, written by Gaiman and illustrated by Greg Capullo. The series along with Angela's one-shot were later reprinted in a trade paperback (ISBN 1-887279-09-1), which, as of 2005, is out-of-print.
Spawn: Blood Feud
Spawn mini-series during 1995, issues 1-4. Written by Alan Moore. Drawn by Tony Daniel. Ink by Kevin Conrad.
Spawn The Impaler
Three-issue mini-series released in October 1996, inspired by the story of the Wallacian voivode Vlad Ţepeş. Written by Mike Grell with art by Rob Prior.
Spawn: The Dark Ages
This series focused on Lord Covenant, a 12th Century knight killed in a holy crusade far from his homeland, who returns to Earth as a Hellspawn.
As a plague of violence and turmoil cover the English countryside, the Dark Knight must choose whether to align himself with the innocent inhabitants of the once-thriving kingdom or with the malevolent forces of evil and corruption. The series ran for 28 issues.
Curse of the Spawn
Tales of other Hellspawn and Spawniverse characters, including Sam & Twitch, Angela, Jessica Priest and Antonio Twistelli.
Spawn: Blood and Salvation
A prestige-format one shot that concludes the story of Daniel Llanso, the Hellspawn featured in the first four issues of Curse of the Spawn.
Hellspawn
A relatively avant-garde spin-off comic inspired by Spawn.
Darker and more atmospheric than Spawn, Hellspawn frequently dealt with disturbing subject matter. It originally featured writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Ashley Wood.
Spawn: Blood and Shadows
A Spawn prestige-format one shot released in 1999. Written by Paul Jenkins with art by Ashley Wood.
Sam & Twitch + Case Files: Sam & Twitch
A spin-off series following the crime investigations of detectives Sam Burke and Twitch Williams. Sam and Twitch ended in 2003 after 26 issues, to be followed by Case Files.
Spawn: The Undead
This series concentrates on the Al Simmons. Unlike the original Spawn series, it was self-contained, single-issue stories. Written by Paul Jenkins and lasted 9 issues.
Spawn: Godslayer
Originally a prestige format one-shot, Godslayer became an ongoing series.
Spawn: Simony
Published in 2003 by Semic of France, Todd allowed the creators (Jean-François Porcherot and Alex Nikolavitch) to create an original Spawn tale without using Image comics.
Shadows of Spawn
Recently released on American shores are three graphic novel compilations of the Spawn manga, known as Shadows of Spawn.
Spawn: Architects of Fear
A prestige format one-shot released in February 2008. Written by Arthur Claire with artwork by Aleksi Briclot.
The Adventures of Spawn
Cover of Spawn/Batman Polish edition. Art by Todd McFarlane.
At the San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) '06 it was announced that a new take on the Spawn mythos was in the works.
This new Spawn story is known as The Adventures of Spawn and as stated by Jon Goff, a moderator on the Spawn.com Message Board and McFarlane employee, it is a re-imagining of the Spawn story that is essentially a "What If?" universe that hearkens back to classic kid-friendly Saturday morning cartoons.
The story takes place in a webcomic format and has been tied into the action-figure world through McFarlane Toys' Spawn Series 30.
Crossovers
Spawn has appeared in crossover storylines involving Batman, Witchblade, Wildcats, Youngblood, Savage Dragon, Cerebus, The Ant, and Shadowhawk.
Angela has also been featured in several crossovers. The "Rage of Angels" miniseries saw Angela meeting Glory in Angela and Glory (1996), and was continued in Youngblood #6 (1996) and Team Youngblood #21. There was also a crossover Aria/Angela, featuring Angela in the Aria comic series.
Clown/Violator was also part of a Violator/Badrock crossover miniseries.
Spawn also appeared in one panel in Archie Comics' Sonic Super Special #7, mistaking Sonic and Knuckles for kids in costumes.
Spawn appeared in the Xbox version of the fighting game Soul Calibur II.
Legal disputes
Dispute with Neil Gaiman
In 1993, McFarlane contracted Neil Gaiman to write Spawn #9. While doing so, Gaiman introduced the characters Cogliostro, Angela, and Medieval Spawn.
All three characters continued to be featured prominently in the series after Gaiman's involvement, and had many tie-ins with McFarlane's toy company. Cogliostro had a prominent role in the live-action movie in 1997.
McFarlane had agreed that Gaiman was a co-creator of the characters and paid him royalties for reprints, graphic novels and action figures.
After a few years he ceased the payment of royalties and gave Gaiman notice that he owned all rights to the characters, citing the copyright notice from #9 and claimed that Gaiman's work had been work-for-hire and that McFarlane was the sole owner.
In 2002, Gaiman filed suit against McFarlane and in response Todd counter-sued.
Gaiman had partnered with Marvel Comics to form Marvels and Miracles, LLC which bankrolled the lawsuit. The main goal was to determine the issue of ownership for another character Gaiman felt he had a stake in, Miracleman, which at the time McFarlane was believed to hold a sizable stake in after his buyout of the assets of Eclipse Comics.
This issue was thrown out. Instead the court chose to rule on the breach of contract issue, the rights of ownership and the copyrightability of the characters from Spawn #9.
Several arguments were presented by McFarlane and all were rejected, leading to a sizable judgment against McFarlane and Image Comics. The matter went to appeal and the judgment was upheld in a 2003 decision.
Gaiman's rights as co-creator and co-owner of Cogliostro, Angela, and Medieval Spawn were acknowledged. The court's view was that Gaiman and McFarlane's collaboration led to each contributing half of the work.
Gaiman wrote the story, McFarlane illustrated the character and because of this each held a 50% stake in the characters. The fallout of this lawsuit is still unclear and the issue of Miracleman is yet to be resolved.
In a recent reprint collection of the first twelve issues of Spawn, the contentious issue (along with Dave Sim's #10, featuring copyrighted character Cerebus) was excluded.
Tony Twist suit
Todd McFarlane created a mob enforcer character named "Antonio 'Tony Twist' Twistelli," who McFarlane acknowledged was named after hockey-player Tony Twist.
Twist won a $15 million verdict in 2004 when a St. Louis, Missouri jury found Todd McFarlane Productions had profited from Twist's likeness. The verdict was upheld after two appeals in June 2006.