As he was struggling to understand and control his powers, Spawn learned an important lesson or two from Harry Houdini himself.
Although the famous escape artist had supposedly been dead for decades, he appeared before the surprised Al Simmons as an agent of the Overlap, an alternate dimension full of creatures obsessed with learning and absorbing any and all information. Although his intentions for Spawn were less than noble, Houdini managed to inform the former Al Simmons about his unique costume and the magical powers it grants him as Spawn.
In Spawn #19 by Andrew Grossberg, Tom Orzechowski, and Greg Capullo, a memory appearing as one of Simmons’ dreams is interrupted by the actions of an amateur arsonist who’s been attacking the homeless population within New York. After surviving an assault point-blank, the angry and vengeful Spawn is stopped by a well-dressed gentleman wearing a flowing cape who claims to be Harry Houdini. After explaining that he discovered the Overlap through the intense concentration that allowed him to perform the legendary acts he’s remembered for, Spawn still doubts his legitimacy or ability to travel to the present day to meet him. Houdini counters this disbelief with the fact that Al is a Hellspawn, brought back to life with powerful abilities which have provided useful dealing with his enemies in the past. He reminds Al that his Spawn costume is a living entity, a malevolent symbiote that exists to protect him, by force if necessary. After using their combined efforts to defeat a group of thugs, Houdini teaches him the nature of magic and how his symbiote gives him the ability to bend or completely alter reality to his bidding.
In real life, Harry Houdini’s exploits were so amazing and often unexplainable that many believed that he did possess magical abilities, a rumor that the future spiritual investigator would have likely found amusing and allowed to keep his popularity afloat. There's a reason Paramount is making a movie of Houdini's life. In this case, Houdini operates like Image Comics’ version of Marvel’s Ancient One, teaching the former Al Simmons how to wield and use the magical abilities of a Hellspawn with his own powers. Considering the nearly unlimited potential of Spawn’s powers, he could have easily become his world’s version of Doctor Strange if not for his personal missions or the fact that Houdini was setting him up for a trap as ordered by his superiors. This would continue a trend seen by other mentors that Spawn would trust like Count Nicholas Cogliostro who would later betray him for their own agendas.
As Houdini and Spawn investigate both the amateur arsonist and a ploy for Russian scientists to hold New York hostage with a nuclear bomb, the former tries to leave Al to his fate but learns he’s been double-crossed by the Overlap. Houdini uses his powers to get some payback by teleporting the atomic blast into the parallel dimension while still finding time to appear triumphant for his audience in 1916. While this would be the only time Spawn and Houdini’s paths would cross, the famous performer managed to teach Al Simmons about magic which considering the long and painful road that lay ahead for him would come in very handy.