Todd McFarlane Shares Jim Lee Cover for Batman/Spawn Crossover

Todd McFarlane's crusade to make the new Batman/Spawn crossover comic the best selling book of the decade is going well. Having already revealed a variant cover earlier today that he actually drew himself, but has also shown off the variant cover by none other than his Image Comics co-founder and former Marvel cohort Jim Lee. IGN has the full details on the variant cover, which features inks by Scott Williams and colors by Alex Sinclair, plus some talk from the man himself about reuniting with Todd for a variant of the DC and Image Comics event. Batman/Spawn #1 will arrive in comic shops in January of next year.

"It was 100% challenging because the two characters do share a lot of visual similarities and they are both driven by a core need to exact justice, so the mission was – how can I compare and contrast in a single cover who these characters are?" Lee told the outlet about drawing the two comic book heroes together. "So with Spawn, I went with a slimmer, more athletic build where the cape was a living extension of this powers. And with Batman, I chose a squared-off, thicker, old-school boxer physique. Hunched over with coiled muscles, this Batman reacts with lightning speed to any threat and his cape is more of a camouflage element-a way for Batman to blend into the deepest of shadows."

"I think we've got a whole new generation and this is gonna be there Woodstock," McFarlane teased to ComicBook.com at New York Comic Con earlier this month about any comparison between the 1990s crossover and the new one. "So it's like we did it, we had that concert a long time ago. This is gonna be their concert. I don't think there's gonna be a comparison. It's just gonna be 'Was that cool back then? Yeah. Is this cool today? Yeah.' Then that's it. We solved our problem done."

Greg Capullo, who previously drew a majority of Spawn comics for years and later made his mark on Batman in a big way, will provide the pencils for the series. When the subject of villains in the new series came up, the artist told us: "Todd asked me who I wanted to use, I said I think you should use the Court of Owls, which he was not familiar with. So he went and grabbed some books and read up the bottom and goes, 'Wow, this is like a perfect fit for the story I'd like to write.' So it was my idea to use the Court. Court was very popular. I think it's one of the best things that Snyder and I did together when we took over Batman and the fans really, really like the Court of Owls and Talons and stuff. So I just go to me. That's a no brainer."

Batman/Spawn #1

Two dark heroes, cursed by tragedy, find their paths again crossing...but not by choice! What sinister foe is at work, pitting the Dark Knight against the Hellspawn? From the shadows of Gotham City to New York City, this epic event is the blockbuster you've been waiting almost two decades for!
In Shops: Jan 25, 2023
SRP: $6.99