Issue 165 breaks continuity and features a Mandarin Spawn one-shot. Lan Medina, part of the Eisner award-winning team on Fables, is doing the art honors. The Mandarin Spawn action figure has long been a fan favorite, and in response to their requests over the years, this issue provides the origin of the character.

From David Hine (The Bulletproof Coffin), Brian Haberlin (Witchblade), and Geirrod Van Dyke (Spawn, Medieval Spawn/Witchblade) comes a tale of the clash of two cultures on a planet they each believe is their Promised Land. The Rans are a peace-loving people, but the Tayans are a race of warriors who seek to colonize and control. The mysterious Sleeping Giants also call this place home, though no one knows if they're monsters or the gods of legend....

As Spawn continues to explore the past, he finds that Mammon's influence on the Simmons' family goes back further than he has imagined. Al Simmons' great-great-grandfather was a Buffalo Soldier, but what happened when this hero of the Old West crossed paths with an emissary from Hell? Two words: Gunslinger Spawn!

Desperate to regain her powers of magick, Nyx seeks help among the Voudou community of New Orleans. But the price she has to pay proves too high. Only Spawn can save her from the evil she encounters. The problem is, the last time they met, Spawn swore to kill her if their paths ever crossed again. Poor Nyx. Out of the cauldron and into the fire.

With Spawn revitalized, it's time to take his pounds of flesh from those who have imprisoned and tortured him. A battle royal of classic proportions in the bowels of Hell itself with Spawn's most vile villains! And meanwhile, all is not right at the Fitzgerald's. The twins are behaving very strangely....

When Spawn re-made the world he closed the portals to Heaven and Hell. With no fresh souls to torment, the demons are getting restless. In this issue, the door is breached. One man faces judgement and if he is guilty the price will be a one-way ticket to eternal damnation.

Spawn battles his inner demon. Is he a force for Good or Evil? If Evil wins, Wanda dies. If Good triumphs, this is the end of Spawn. We mean it!

Spawn was created to lead the armies of Hell in the war of Armageddon. The only catch is Spawn wants nothing to do with Hell - or Heaven for that matter. Disfigured, homeless and alone, this warrior wanders the shadowy alleys of the world in search of his place in the scheme of things.

Imagine you are a monster, abandoned by your family, confined to a locked room, friendless and alone. Imagine you are so repulsive that the only people who can stand to look at you are the ones who are paid to attend to you. Imagine you have been given unbelievable power. Imagine what you would do... The stunning conclusion to 'The Monster in the Bubble'?

Beyond Good and Evil! Spawn and Zera fight it out among the ruins of a devastated civilization. This is Spawn as you have never seen him before, facing an adversary who is too insane to ever admit defeat. No one gets out of here alive!