"The dream is always the same." "We are pale riders in the night carrying the swords of justice... as was done when men first put on the hoods and set the cross on fire... for all to see and fear." "One more of the outsiders has been brought to justice:" "those who have taken our homes and jobs... defiled our country and our god." "I know now what the dream really means." "I am to prepare the way for the one who is coming." "I see his face every night." "We share the same dream." "The Master told me what I had to do." "He speaks to me, and I know his name." "He calls himself Malebolgia." " Please, sir, no smoking in cab." " Please forgive me." "No problem." "Where you going tonight?" " l'm going to Brooklyn." " Brooklyn." "Okay." "I am the one to cleanse and purify this city." "To rid us of them." "They're not like us, but they can't really help themselves." "They don't even know why this must happen." "Please." "Why are you doing this?" "I don't understand." "I'm sorry." "I know it's not your fault." "And it's really nothing personal." "It is not just the lost and dispossessed... that have gathered near the Hell Spawn." "There are those lone predators, the human monsters... those who have heard the voice of Malebolgia whispering to them." "Evil has seeped into their empty lives like a stained liquid." "Aware of the presence of the Hell Spawn... they come to the alleys to be near him." "They are drawn to him." "He is their savior... their link to the Master." "Hell has sent them to be Malebolgia's hands... covered with blood." "I found you." "Get away from me." "A woman makes it her business to know where her husband is." " She knows she's being watched." " Why is this woman still alive?" "Let me take her and the kid." "I'll know where Fitzgerald is in an hour." "And if she really doesn't know, you would have cut her to pieces." "I'll find him, don't worry." "Yes?" "You wanted us to check in, sir?" "Yes." "What have you got?" "She hasn't left her office all day." "She spoke with her grandmother, her daughter, several clients... and you." "She's clever, this one." "You know I'm good in voice stress analysis." "Let me be there next to you." "She's not a pro." "I'll know when she's lying." "If I feel like she's lying, you can take her." "Ask her about her daughter." "is she missing Daddy?" "A mother won't lie about her kid's feelings." "Wanda?" "It's after 9:00." "Why are you still here?" "I've got briefs to catch up on." "Why don't you relegate the cases to somebody else?" "At least till you hear about Terry." "Thanks, but I have to stay busy or I'll lose my mind for sure." "Okay." "See you tomorrow." "If you need anything, let me know, okay?" "Night." "Good night, Lois." "Wanda Blake." "Jason Wynn." " Anything new?" " Yes." "Can you meet me for dinner?" "Of course I can." "Where do you want to meet?" " l'll send a car to pick you up." " All right." " l'll be downstairs in ten minutes." " See you then." " You look exhausted." " No sleep." "I have the same dreams every night." "There's been a string of disappearances all in the Brooklyn area." "Police are investigating, but there are no leads." "They're asking for the public's help." "The most recent disappearance... is local cab driver, Joseph Weiss." "If you've seen this man or have any information of his whereabouts... please call the number on the screen." "I didn't get the money." "Yeah, I swear." "I swear I'll never do it again." "Please, baby, come get me." "What are you lookin' at?" "Fuck off!" "Astoria, Queens, please." "Astoria, it is." "$$"Sale"" "Oh, thank you, honey." "It's beautiful." "Oh, so are you." "Happy anniversary, baby." "Excuse me." "Astoria in Queens, not Brooklyn." "I'm sorry." "The traffic on the bridge" "Do we look like tourists?" "Stop the cab." "I said stop the cab right now and let us out." "Man, look." "I've only got 50 bucks." "It's yours." "Just let us out here." "I apologize, but it has to be this way." "Don't." "No, please!" "Don't!" "I really am sorry." "As his lawyer, I'd like to know if my husband is being charged with a crime." "This can be resolved in Terry's favor." "Don't get my hopes up, Jason, unless you are sure." "I'll always tell you the truth." "How are you making out?" "How's Cyan?" "It's tough on a kid." "She cries for Terry every night, and I try to stay busy at work." "I try to keep myself together for her, but I do my own share of crying." "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to dump my problems on you." "It's all right." "I know it's tough." "I'll be here as long as you need me to be." "I just want Terry home." "So do I." "is that him?" "is that the one you want?" " Problem?" " No. I've just got to make a call." "You can use my phone." "No, thank you." "This is a private call." "I'll use a pay phone." "Excuse me." "She's lying." "Wanda." " Terry!" "Where are you?" " Our old club in Brooklyn." " l can be there in 30 minutes." " l'll be waiting in front." "Terry, I love you." "I love you, too." "I'm sorry." "Cyan's not feeling well." "I have to go." "I hope it's nothing serious." "She's been running a fever." "Thank you for everything. I'll take a cab." "No, I wouldn't hear of it." "Merrick, will you see Miss Blake to the car, please?" "All right." " No problem, ma'am." " l'll call you, Jason." "Good night, Wanda." "Be careful." "Traced her call to a pay phone in Brooklyn." "Where is she?" "On the Manhattan Bridge heading into Brooklyn." "Keep me posted." "Oh, you're awake." "That's better." "Please, forgive all this." "I really don't blame you." "None of us chooses what we were born to be." "Yes." "Excellent." "Brooklyn." "Interesting." "One of Fitzgerald's credit cards was traced in Brooklyn." "The son of a bitch has been in your backyard all this time." "And Blake is on her way there now." "What?" "She keeps circling the same blocks... real slow." "Pull her over." "Hold her till I get there." "Oh, no!" " Please step out of the car." " What's this about?" " Please, don't make this difficult." " Who are you?" " What do you want?" " Get out of the car." "No, I won't!" "You don't have a choice." "Watts, go check it out." "Please get out of the car, miss." "Watts!" "Yeah." "Nothin'." "Come on!" "Oh, God!" "Oh, God!" "Oh, no!" "Come on!" "Wanda." "I'm sorry. I took longer than I expected." "Oh, no." "This isn't supposed to happen this way." "I know you're here... 'cause there's no place to go." "You fucked with the wrong guy." "You sick twerp!" "Come on out." "It's time to take your place among the others." "He told me it has to be this way." "Does he think he can fuck with me, with my plans?" "You'd have killed her, too, if you had the chance." "Who's that?" "Who's there?" "I have a bad feeling about this." "Where the hell are Raymond and Watts?" "Do you see what I've done here?" "This was for the Master." "I've saved them for you." "I don't serve any master." "Do you think our Master will be pleased?" "Why don't you ask him yourself?" "You're about to meet him." "The dream." "My savior." "He betrayed me." "The press is gonna have a field day with this." "There were 12 people swinging from the rafters up there." "One of them was this sick fuck who did all the killing." "Looks like someone did us a favor." "But who killed him?" "He didn't hang himself." "There's another psycho running around out there." "The city's goin' to hell." "What triggers these guys anyway, killing all those innocent people?" "Oh, Jesus." "Two of the victims were agents from the NSC." "No wonder this place is crawling with feds." "What the hell?" "Lady, get that car out of here!" "You're clear." "Back her up." "Wanda Blake was the last person to see my agents alive." "Find her." "Fitzgerald could be with her." "My people are collecting the bodies." "I want their identities withheld." "As far as the press is concerned, they were never there." "Two agents slaughtered, put on display." "Are you ready for this?" "He was there." "Fitzgerald couldn't have done all that alone." "Of course he couldn't." "This is getting too strange and costly." "Oh, shit!" "Look out!" "Oh, shit!" "Goddamn, lady!" "Damn!" "Where'd you learn how to drive?" "You about killed me." "You guys okay?" "Yeah, we're all right." "May I see a driver's license and registration?" "Raymond and Watts were torn apart, then dragged up seven flights of stairs." " There's a second killer." " Wynn." "It's Banks." "One of my cops just pulled over Wanda Blake." " She's a few blocks from you." " Where's Fitzgerald?" "No sign of him." "What do we do with her?" "Do not detain her." "Fitzgerald must still be in the area." "Find him now." "You know, Jason... someone's out there." "You must have friends in high places, Miss Blake." "What?" "Go home, ma'am." "Try not to kill anyone getting there, okay?" "She was afraid of me." "Who are you blaming?" "Her?" "Yourself?" "You cannot have that life back." "When Al Simmons died, all hopes of a future with Wanda died with him." "You have been born into another existence." "A chance to regain your humanity." "It's there and only there where your choices lie." "She's seen the creature I've become." "That's all she knows." "Her only memory of me." "This is truly what hell is, old man." "You have a chance to" "A chance?" "What chance?" "I have nothing here anymore!" "No escape, not even death!" "You see?" "I can't even end it." "I would trade anything... do my life over again in the world's worst shit hole... than to be here now... like this!" "I know what you're going through... the pain that you're feeling." "How could you possibly know, old man?" "Because I have endured it and survived." "Do you think your fate is sealed?" "Are you going to accept the shroud that's been placed around you?" "I can't go on like this anymore, hiding in the shadows." "I'm sick of it!" "I have to let her know who I am." "How can you tell her that when you don't even know yourself?" "Tomorrow's headlines will be, "Traitor Shoots Wife and Child."" "After all, he was distraught." "You have Fitzgerald's gun?" "Yes, and his prints, too." "Banks has every cop in Brooklyn looking for Fitzgerald." " We should have him by morning." " l'd like to finish this myself." "Use an independent contractor, someone outside the agency." "Jason, I said I'd do it." "No." "My best agents are coming back in body bags." "Someone is out there, and they're getting closer." "I want you to find them before they find me." "You look spooked." "I won't let anything happen to you." "Here we go." "Please, Miss Wu, some of us would like to go home." "I'm almost done." "Last time I do you a favor, goddamn it." "Interesting." "I think it's time I had a talk with Wanda Blake." "The scene is Brooklyn is grim." "We have another monster's handiwork to sort out." "The media's gone ape-shit." "And the politics on this one?" "Gentlemen, the politics are heavy." "So bag and tag everything by the book." "Make a note of everything that doesn't belong there." "We are working two major crime scenes." "We have some badly decomposed bodies in the alleys off 42nd Street." "My guess, the missing drug dealers." "All right, go be New York's finest." "Each of those pins represents a body found in that alley." "It pisses me off this has to happen in our precinct." "I agree, sir." "About fuckin' time they're goin' into those alleys." "I know something's in there." "How many reports do we have to write, Twitch?" "Too many, sir. I'm sure the locals will appreciate their concern." "lt's a ghost town!" "See those body bags?" "lt's the alley." "Guns goin' off." "Please, honey, where are you?" "Wanda?" "Hey, you over there!" "Yes, Officer?" "is there a problem?" "Can I help you?" " What are you doing?" " Looking for a phone to call my wife." "He fits the description." "This could be our guy." "Be careful." "Could you stop shining the light in my face, please?" "Excuse me." "Could you get that light out of my eyes?" "Can you tell me where there's a phone?" "I can't seem to find one that works." "What happened to your clothes?" "Been fighting'?" "Been drinkin'?" "is there a law against having a drink?" "I'm not driving." "You see anything unusual in the last couple of hours or so?" "Unusual?" "What do you mean by "unusual"?" "Hear any loud noises, screams, shots?" "Anything out of the ordinary?" "No, otherwise I would've called the cops." "May I see some l.D.?" "l.D.?" "Yeah, sure." "Right here." "I seem to have lost my wallet." " You're gonna have to come with us." " l haven't broken any laws." " Come with us, please." " What for?" "I need to call my wife." "She'll come get me." "I haven't done anything. I was at a bar." "What bar?" "Where?" "is that where you had the fight?" "No. I just need to call my wife!" "Lie down on the street right now!" "Hands out, at your sides, now!" "This is Lisa." "Sorry I can't take your call, but leave a message." "I'll call you back as soon as I can." "Lisa, I know you're there." "Pick up." "I'm used to talking to this damn thing anyway." "Okay. I want you to join the circus." "This Brooklyn serial killer story is gonna sell a ton of pictures." "This guy was strung up next to his victims." "There's my front page." "Stop covering that dead-end alley story." "Switch all your attention over to this." "I'm hunting another monster." "By the way, I got your compensation... for the deep throat you're workin' with at the NSC." "Someday you'll have to let me know who it is." "Must be somebody pretty high up." "Let's go." "Let's move the civilians out." "Set up a perimeter, put the tape up and do it now." "Step back." "There's nothing to look at here." "Excuse me, miss." "I can't let you do that." "What are they looking for?" "I can't tell you that." "Move along, please." "Thanks for the help." "Maybe the locals know something." "What's up with the guys in the moon suits?" "Looks like they're invading these alleys of yours." "What are they looking for?" "They're cleaning up the trash that tried to fuck with us." "We took care of business 'cause this is our home." "Shut up, Bobby." "I'm a reporter for the Washington Post." "I could sure use a lead." "Lookin' to have a party?" "Lady, I've got some stories for you." "Do you know anything about the murders happening in these alleys?" "You must've seen something." "It's strange how they all occurred in the last several months." "They're connected is my feeling." "Come on. I'll show you somethin' that you're gonna like." "Bobby, what are you doing?" "I wish you'd keep your big mouth shut." "Good night, sweetheart." "Terry, where are you?" "Hello." "Good evening, Wanda. lt's Jason Wynn." "Any word from Terry?" "No." "No, nothing." "Have you been watching the news?" "Yes." "They say that there's another killer out there." "Yes. lt seems that this city has become an even more dangerous place to live." "By the way, I'm posting someone outside your house to watch over you." "Thank you, Jason." "I'll call to check on you in the morning." "Maybe tonight you can get some sleep." "Good night." "That's a hell of a story, but I'm not buying it." "Show her." "Be glad to get these things out of the alleys." "Wow!" "You weren't kidding." "Where did you get this?" "Take it." "Maybe without them there'll be less people getting hurt." "These must be the missing weapons my source was talking about." "Are there more?" "There's more hid around here, too." "I'll show you." "Well, why don't you tell me more about this Al guy?" "Its most important feature, it works." "It burns fat." "You'll trim inches off your waist and those saddlebags will disappear." "The Flex Flat is here to help." "In just weeks, you'll notice a difference." "Wanda, I just want to talk to you." "I would never hurt you." "I only want to protect you." "Police!" "I need help." "It's me." "It's me, Wanda." "Listen to my voice." "I'm your husband." "You're lying to me." "You're that monster." "Why are you making my mommy cry?" "Please, don't hurt my baby!" "Please, leave her alone." "Don't cry, Mommy." "He won't hurt you." "That was the Sad Man." " What?" " You know." "The Sad Man." "He saved me." "The dreams keep coming." "I can't seem to stop them, to shut them out." "In the dreams, I see a second real world where the dead appear to me." "Now I know that the dead live on." "I'm connected not to this killer." "He's just a cipher." "I'm connected to the one who sent the killer." "I have felt a presence of evil, and find comfort in its familiarity." "It's been guiding me all along, and will help me change the world." " Merrick?" " Yes, Jason?" "Step in here for a moment." "I'm on my way." "Merrick?" "Merrick, that you?" "All right, step out slowly." "I've come to take you to hell." "Who the fuck are you?" "You take such pleasure in destroying lives." "Hell has been waiting for you." "You're the one in my dreams." "Can you smell it... the smell of burning flesh?" "What are your sins, Jason Wynn?" "Are you ready for judgment day?" "Jason, something's wrong." "I can hear it in your voice." "No, nothing." "You retreat here, hiding in the shadows of this alley... because you don't want to face the truth of your existence." "You made the deal with Malebolgia." "I came back for her." "But she sees the monster I am." "I can't let that be the end of us." "You will only bring her more pain." "Let her go." "I can't. I have to protect her from Jason Wynn." "You have brought this evil into her life... the stink of hell brought back from your Master." "Who do you think wrapped you in that shroud?" "It was Malebolgia." "Are you going to send him the dark soul of Jason Wynn?" "Wynn had me murdered." "He'll kill Wanda, too, if I don't stop him." "Your life and Jason Wynn's life have always been entwined." "Malebolgia has been guiding both of you." "You are blood brothers." "Who are you?" "How do you know these things?" "Because he was once my Master, too." "Listen to me, Hell Spawn." "I'm your only hope." "Maybe you were sent by him to confuse me." "I will protect my wife." "How are you going to do that?" "By killing Jason Wynn?" "That's what your Master wants." "If you send his soul to hell... he'll come back as powerful as you are." "I can show you how to break the curse." "But you have to stop the savage killing." "Wynn is going to die." "And to hell with him!" "Tomorrow, an exclusive Washington Post story... will report allegations of an NSC cover-up... involving the disappearance of a large supply of new generation weapons." "The article states that the weapons were stolen several months ago... from the NSC's highest security compound." "Sources from inside the NSC... allege that its top officials may have concealed knowledge of the theft." " The attorney general's office" " He's promising a full investigation." "Do we have... our contingency plan, Mr. Wynn?" "All that power comes with a price tag." "Time we collected on your bar tab." "Wynn." "Maybe it's time you made new friends." "Got next to the man with the master plan." " Demons inside you waiting to get out." " What's wrong?" "Did you see that on the TV?" "The NSC has refused to comment." "I have a right to make a phone call." "You haven't charged me with anything." "Have you?" "I haven't heard anyone read me my rights, so I'm not playing your game." "Your prints are all over that crime scene." "Your life is over." "Had to cut that short." "Twitch came into the observation room." " Twitch is a tight-ass about procedure." " That guy's cool under pressure." "I'm unclear why Chief Banks didn't allow us to question the suspect." "Because I think that guy's a fed." "Two NSC agents were hanging from rafters." "The whole thing stinks." "Excuse me." "I'm Lisa Wu, Washington Post." " You're investigating the murders." " No comment, lady." "I never talk to the press unless I'm getting the score on the Yankee game." "But the coroner says that... most of the victims were strangled, necks, backs broken." "But three victims died strictly from gunshot wounds." "I'm assuming you have leads on possible suspects." "Have you found the guns used in the murders?" "Twitch, do you know?" "My memory's fading." "I've been asking around about you guys." "Word is that you're both straight-arrow cops. I like that." "Your job is to find the truth, my job is to report it." "I admire your persistence." "I have a feeling there are truths you know that may be helpful to us." "Tell me about the fed you're holding, and I'll show you the murder weapons." "Step into my office." "That was very nicely done, Miss Wu." "Spawn, you're fucking things up." "You're pissing the man off." "The last time I saw him pissed off, look what he did to me." "You think I like lookin' like this?" " l'm a disgusting clown." " lt suits you." "I can forget about getting laid." "I see the way people look at me." "But enough about me." "You gotta take out your enemies." "That would be Jason Wynn." "Sooner or later you're not gonna be there when he whacks your pretty wife." "NSC headquarters." "All visitors must check in and receive clearance for entry." "Lisa Wu. I'm here to speak with the director, Jason Wynn." "I'm sorry, Miss Wu." "As I told you on the phone... we're not making statements to the press." "I'm holding a press conference tomorrow... and place the stolen NSC weapons on a table in front of TV cameras." "Then N.Y.P.D. will be there to confirm these weapons were used in the murders." "I'm here to ask Mr. Wynn if he'd like to be there." "He's invited." "Wanda Blake is still alive." "They found your independent contractor washed up on the shore... torn apart like the others." "Excuse me, waiter." "Another bottle, please." "His car was still parked in front of her house." "Did you invite me to dinner just to fire me, Jason?" "The killer is still out there." "You know who it is, don't you?" "I've been having dreams." "They started when the killing began." "There's a strange familiarity about it all." "He's really fucking with me, Merrick, playing with my head." "Wynn." "The Washington Post?" "What does she want?" "You are supposed to deal with the press." "What the hell do I pay you for?" "I never want anyone giving anything to the press." "Understood?" " A reporter?" " Yes." "What's the name?" "Miss Blake, Lisa Wu." "Thanks for seeing me so early in the morning." "Please, come in." "Hey there." "This is what I know." "A man matching your husband's description... is being held at the precinct." "They're trying to tie him to the Brooklyn serial murders." "I'm very sorry." "Look, Miss Wu, I've checked... the police stations, hospitals and morgues." "No sign of Terry." "How do I know you're not lying?" "Did you actually see Terry?" "Miss Blake, I know it's Terry." "The only way to get him off the hook is to pressure the guy who framed him." "And that's Jason Wynn." "They're stepping out now." " The reporter's in front." " Shoot when they become available." "The reporter first, and then Blake." "Stiles, take your shot." "Someone talk to me." "Stiles?" "Yeager?" "What the hell is going on?" "Are you out there?" "Someone talk to me!" "I'm coming for you, Jason Wynn." "I'm coming for you, Jason Wynn." "That voice, it was in my dream." "Two more slaughtered." "This is what I want him to do." "He'll come to me... and then we'll have him." "Level four counterterrorist maneuvers." "What are we looking for?" "No one talks." "Probably another exercise." "I didn't pick up anything over the wires. I don't like it." "You don't have to like it." "You just have to do what I say." "This could be prom night, boys, so listen up." "From now on, I am the voice of God in your headsets for the outside team." "I want our snipers on all surrounding buildings." "Civilians have been evacuated." "Only kill shots." "The chopper's on the roof waiting." "Surveillance equipment is on-line." "Jason, my men want to know what we're dealing with." " Let him back us in, then we'll strike." " We can see everything from here." "We're ready for him." "Chopper, anything to report?" "I don't get it." "No briefing, nothing!" "It's bullshit." "When do we get some real action?" "Got men down here." " What's going on?" " This ain't right." "Kill the lockdown." "Who gave that order?" "Shit!" "Stop the doors." "Override." " What's going on?" "Over here." "Now!" " What the hell's going on?" "Get these doors open!" "Clever." "He's taking out our system." "He's shutting us down." "I need you down there now." "All teams, check in every two minutes." " Status on power?" " They're working on it." "Nelson, status from the outside team?" "Jesus." "Agent down." "Need communication with outside team." "We have an intruder." "Let's go." "Find a way into this building now!" " This one's locked, too." " Shit." "Out of the way. I got it." "Hold your fire!" "Something is in there." "Let's move it!" "Come on!" "We'll gas the fucker out." "Shoot when the target's clear." "What is the target?" "I haven't seen anything." "We're shooting at shadows." " What the hell is going on?" " Just follow my lead." "What is it?" " Get me backup." " l need a team up here." "Wynn's office, now!" "There you are." "I've been waiting for you." " Who are you?" " Remember me?" "You had me burned alive." "What?" "Simmons?" "Simmons is dead." "No shit." "I don't believe you!" "Do it." "Kill me." "If you send his soul to hell, he'll come back as powerful as you are." "In there." "Fitzgerald and my wife." "You will never endanger their lives again." "Get out of here." "Get me Chief Banks." "Dorsey, that guy you're holding, we ran his prints." "We got a call from the feds." "We're instructed to cut him loose." "Cut him loose?" "What for?" "That's the guy for sure, and you and I both know that." "Order came down from Chief Banks himself." "Clean him up." "Let him go home." "I don't like it either, but that's what we gotta do." "That's bullshit." "Can't be true." "You heard me." "There's nothing we can do about it." "Keep it on the Q.T." "Give him the goddamn telephone call." "Show your face." "Do as I say." "Hello, Jason Wynn." "I believe it's time... I made your acquaintance." "Hello." "It's me, baby." "God, where are you?" "Are you all right?" "I'm okay. I'm fine." "Can I come home?" "Come home." "Subtitles By Captions, lnc." "Los Angeles" "We had people coming at us from the networks... that thought it was a Saturday morning cartoon because it was a comic book." "They made that kind of stereotype judgment call." "I kept telling them, "You obviously haven't read the book." "You don't know where this thing's going." "Do your homework and come back."" "I knew it was never going to be ready for prime-time viewing." "HBO being the biggest of cable, I landed in the right spot." "They were going to give me my freedom, and at the same time... give me the exposure I was hoping for with the characters." "The things we do in animation in this country... are 99 percent aimed towards children." "And children being anywhere from 2 to 12." "They gave me a time slot which was going to be around-- lt wasn't locked in, but I knew it would be around Friday late." "The audience would be old." "You have to tailor-make your show to your audience." "When you say "adult animation," everybody thinks of Fritz The Cat." "It's like, "No." The reason it has to be adult animation... is because the themes we were going into, especially in the second season... are more sophisticated and intelligent." "When you start talking about, "Why are you good?" "Why are you bad?" "Where's God in all of this?" "What's the meaning of life?" "Do I love that person, or am I staying with them because it's convenient?"" "And all those kind of odd questions." "That's not something a kid 12 or 10 years old wants to see in animation." "He wants to just go, "Blow something up."" "To me, the greatest comic book I've ever seen... in terms of execution and the delivery of it... is a book called Akira." "It's done by Otomo Katsuhiro." "He's the man behind it." "He also did an animated show of it." "It came to America briefly... and they did dubs of some of it." "It lost a bit in the translation verbally." "But visually it's a wonder to behold." "And in terms of quality and the number of frames per second... it's slightly a step below what they do in Disney." "But it's right there." "But unfortunately, in this country, there's such a gulf." "There's Saturday morning cartoons and then "Disneyesque" quality... that a lot of studios are going into." "There's really nothing in between." "In terms of quality and the genres you're going into... and Spawn is in between there." "It's just a wide open void that is a big playground." "But because there's nothing there that we're competing against... and some of the things we're trying to create... there's nobody there making us competitive except for ourselves." "One of the things we talk about all the time is... we have to keep pushing ourselves, reinventing ourselves... because at this point, there's nothing to compare Spawn to in America." "When you make animation, it's the equivalent of building a house." "You need blueprints." "And from the blueprints you find builders." "And then obviously the builders are as good as your foreman." "Then you put it together." "Once you get it back, you decorate your house." "Then you move in and live with it." "Animation is a bit like that." "Your blueprints are all the things you send overseas... to actually get drawn in kind of a conveyor-belt system." "You have to create the characters here, give them the color notes... give them the timing of the lip flaps when people talk... give them the staging... give them the background of what the cities will look like, all the drama." "You give them everything other than physically drawing it." "Once you ship it off overseas, that's where their skill comes in." "Taking all that information, literally the blueprints... our job is now to erect this." "They take all this information and start to put it in." "But one of the things we were looking for over in Japan... is to try and get some of their influence... mixed in, again, with Americana kind of looks... and do a show that takes the stuff that we're very strong at... and mix it in with what they're strong at." "Put the two together, and keep experimenting... to see what works and what doesn't work." "I think the future of Spawn... depends upon the job we all do." "That includes story." "It includes visuals, the way we present it." "It includes marketing and advertising." "All the things that are like a big picture." "I think Spawn can be something that is an example out there... to pave the way for other shows of its kind."