Todd McFarlane Teases Return of Gunslinger Spawn

Last week, after having drawn a cover largely in real time during a Facebook Live stream, Image Comics co-founder and Spawn creator Todd McFarlane took to social media to tease the return of “Gunslinger” Spawn, who first appeared way back in Spawn #119, on the cover of Spawn #309. The character, who appeared briefly in a flashback/history story in Spawn #300 and then briefly popped up in Spawn #308, is the victim of a centuries-old curse very much like the one Al Simmons had to live with. He’s also tangentially related to Simmons’s family line. His story was told in Spawn #174 and #175.

McFarlane seems to be teasing that the character will have a much bigger role in the next issue, which is part two of “Consequence of Sin.” The story features art by Ken Lashley, which McFarlane shared in a second tweet.

You can check out McFarlane’s cover below.

Here’s how the Image Comics Wiki gives his backstory, starting when a brutal man named :

“Jeremy Winston, however, it was a fatal mistake. Winston (or Ol’ Job as he was known) was not a violent man – in fact he used to be a preacher before he met his wife. But after her death, Ol’ Job had a desperate need for vengeance and he went after Kemper himself.

“He killed two of Kemper’s men before being subdued by the Marshal, after which he was thrown in jail to await trial. While incarcerated, Ol’ Job was visited by the fallen angel Mammon who offered him a deal.

“In exchange for his eternal soul and allegiance to Malebolgia, Ol’ Job could have the freedom and power to exact revenge upon the town of Bane for the death of his family. Ol’ Job accepted the deal, and the next day he was killed by Kemper’s men.

“After his death, Ol’ Job returned to Bane as a hellspawn where he unleashed his vengeance by killing every man, woman and child in town except for one – a fellow prisoner that Mammon had forbade him from harming named Henry Simmons.”

Spawn #309 is coming to stores on August 26. You can check out the official solicitation text for the issue here:

Introducing new series artist KEN LASHLEY (X-Men, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man). “CONSEQUENCE OF SIN,” Part One TODD McFARLANE and KEN LASHLEY continue to expand the SPAWN Universe. With the future in doubt and Medieval Spawn’s legacy in question, Spawn, She-Spawn, and Reaper go on the offensive. But a long-time ally has shown his true colors, and Cogliostro rallies an army and a deadly new recruit…GUNSLINGER SPAWN.