Todd McFarlane Homaging Jim Lee’s Famous X-Men Covers For The Scorched

In a new series of interconnected covers, Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane is paying homage to Jim Lee’s historic X-Men #1, with a trio of covers beginning with The Scorched #3. McFarlane has revealed the artwork for the first cover and announced he will be drawing three more connecting covers in the coming months. The Scorched — a spinoff of McFarlane’s flagship Image title Spawn — will feature the McFarlane-Lee homage covers on issues #3 through #6, which will all connect to create one stunning piece of artwork to help celebrate Spawn’s 30 year anniversary this year. 

The Scorched is like The Avengers by way of Spawn, bringing together numerous hellspawn characters in a team to tackle the kind of utterly insane threats that one or two of them can’t tackle on their own.

“Over the years, I have what seems like hundreds of homage/parody covers based on my artwork,” McFarlane said in a statement. “So, it is always fun to turn the tables and do an homage to other covers and/or artists whose work I have admired. This will mark my first attempt at tipping my hat to my friend Jim Lee’s amazing art. His career and the images he has given us have been an inspiration for many. I thought this image would be the best way to pay tribute to his talents.” 

You can see the first cover below.

McFarlane’s The Scorched #1 launched in January 2022, bringing together fan favorite characters from the shared universe of Spawn‘s three decades, and putting them together into one title. It set the sales record for the “Biggest New Team Book” from the past 30 years. In addition to McFarlane, the creative team on the record-breaking title includes the creative team of writer Sean Lewis and artist Stephen Segovia.

McFarlane had four massive Spawn-related launches in 2021, Spawn’s Universe #1, King Spawn #1, Gunslinger Spawn #1, and The Scorched #1 which became one of the biggest selling Image Comics books in the 21st century.

The EXTENDED retailer Final Order Cut Off for The Scorched #3 is Monday, February 21. You can see the official solicitation text below.

The Scorched #3 will be available at comic book shops on March 16 (24 pages, full color, rated: Teen+, $2.99, FREE UPGRADE PREMIUM COVER STOCK) and on digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.

• Cover A by Francesco Mattina – Diamond Code DEC210328
• Cover B by Todd McFarlane – Diamond code DEC210329 (connecting cover to 3 upcoming The Scorched covers)