By Allison Watkinson
TLL Reporter
A licensed crossover comic called Batman/Spawn is being released as a new, licensed series by DC and Image Comics.
The new release was made by the Spawn franchise’s creator, Todd McFarlane and his longtime teammate, Greg Capullo. Capullo was responsible for penciling the comic and McFarlane was responsible for the writing and inking of the crossover.
Todd McFarlane’s Spawn franchise is one of the world’s longest-running monthly comic book series, with several hundred million copies sold in more than 120 countries.
The Spawn superhero comic franchise began in 1992 when MacFarlane co-founded Image Comics and released Spawn #1. The Spawn character has also been featured in an HBO animated series and a live-action feature film.
Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher that consists of five major publishing divisions including: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline Comics, Skybound Entertainment, and Image Central.
The new Batman/Spawn crossover is the second time the two superhero franchise’s have intersected. The first Batman/Spawn crossover was created by McFarlane and Frank Miller in 1994.
The rights to the Batman superhero franchise is owned by the American publishing company, DC comics. Initially founded in 1937, DC Comics is currently a subsidiary of Warner Bros Discovery. The Batman character, now one of the world’s most valuable franchises, originally appeared in May, 1939, in Issue 27 of Detective Comics, which later became simply DC.
The new licensed crossover comic, Batman/Spawn #1 hit shelves on Dec. 13.