Spawn Gets a New Costume in Rat City, a New Series Set in 2092

Set 100 years after the character’s first appearance in Spawn #1, Todd McFarlane’s Spawn will get a new look in Rat City, a new series announced at New York Comic Con last weekend. Picking up on a thread from Spawn #301, the story marks a new generation of Spawn, both figuratively and literally, as McFarlane and company cross the 350-issue mark and head toward Spawn #400. The series establishes a new Spawn — but one with direct ties to Al Simmons.

According to Image Comics, Rat City follows Peter Cairn, an ex-soldier, amputee, and a Hellspawn of 2092. But Peter’s not dead like Al…Peter gets his Spawn powers through the nanites in his prosthetic legs…nanites that were affected when Al Simmons initiated his necroplasmic detonation in Spawn #301. Al had no clue that the effects would ripple across space and time. The series will be written by Erica Schultz, the first woman to write a Spawn title, and feature art by Ze Carlos.

“I had met Thomas Healy at New York Comic Con about a year ago, and we discussed me doing something for Spawn, whether it was for She-Spawn, or Scorched, or something,” Schultz said in a promotional video. “We had a great conversation, and I just sort of gripped on this idea about going into the future and having a cybernetic character who becomes Spawn in an unlikely way. So I really hope that you enjoy Rat City. Myself and Ze are really proud of the work, and thank you everybody at McFarlane for giving us the shot.”

You can see a sneak peek of the new costume here:

Typically, superhero comics outside of DC and Marvel don’t make a ton of headlines, but McFarlane has managed to release the best-selling comics of the last two years, with King Spawn #1 in 2021 and Batman/Spawn in 2022. Like fellow Image co-founder Rob Liefeld, McFarlane started at Image following a history-making run at Marvel, in which he introduced Venom and sold 2.5 million copies of Spider-Man #1. Scorched, which feature a team of Spawns throughout time and space, has also been a consistent seller, likely setting the stage for this Spider-Man 2099-style take on the concept.

Keep an eye out for Rat City in early 2024 from Image Comics and McFarlane Comics.