The Batman and Spawn figure 2-pack is the latest release in the 7″ DC Multiverse line from McFarlane Toys, based on designs by the man himself, Todd McFarlane. If you want to recreate an iconic gothic showdown, it doesn’t get much bigger than this.
There are few business ventures that have rocked the comic industry as much as the start of Image Comics in 1992 when seven superstar comic artists bravely broke away from the secure paycheck of The Big Two to nurture their creator-owned projects. For Todd McFarlane it was a chance to work on a character he’d been developing since high-school, Spawn. The story of a good soldier who is murdered and sent to Hell, only to return as a Hellspawn warrior, it was an instant hit. Spawn #1 (1992) sold 1.7 million copies and within the space of two years it was the biggest-selling title for the publisher.
By this time the legendary Frank Miller had written classic stories for both Marvel and DC including Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986) and Batman: Year One (1987), which almost single-handedly brought a new respectability to the character for the wider world and the literary market. Heading into the ’90’s, he too had begun to work on creator-owned projects (such as Hard Boiled (1990) and Sin City (1991)) and agreed to write Spawn #11 (1993).
Then came the big news. In 1994 two Batman and Spawn crossovers were slated for release, and with all respect to the creators of the second one-shot Batman/Spawn: War Devil (Doug Moench, Chuck Dixon, Alan Grant, Klaus Janson, Steve Buccellato, and Todd Klein), the news that the creators of the first title Spawn/Batman included Frank Miller and Todd McFarlane really set head’s spinning. Not only did readers have the treat of seeing two of the biggest, darkest and most visual characters in comics at the time coming together, but the two biggest creator names attached to them were along for the ride.
Miller was proud enough of the work to later say that he considered it to be part of his Batman continuity. For McFarlane there is something more in terms of bringing his long-treasured project to some unfinished business – looking at his work on Spawn, not to mention the association with Batman thanks to his toy company, it’s incredible to think that his only work on Batman comics to that point amounted to covers and three issues of Detective Comics #576-578 (1987).
The cape is crucial, usually spikey-looking, and always filling the panel. Spawn’s cloak is elaborate, with huge collars, and McFarlane developed chains that flung around him too. For Batman, McFarlane created a similar effect by going all-out on the bat-wing imagery with Batarangs and Batrope and a cape with a jagged trim. He also drew pointed shoulder tips, tall, pointed ears on the mask and lined each of Batman’s gloves with a fierce-looking line of three batwing tips. And of course he favored the predominantly black costume – they may be opposites in terms of origins and powers, but both Spawn and Batman live with darkness and the shadows, so it was important to pick out visual similarities.
At 7″ and with over twenty points of articulation, the Batman and Spawn figure 2-pack manages to capture all of McFarlane’s visual embellishments and make them all look cool even without all the movement he would convey in the comics. They beg to be posed though, particularly with Batman’s open mouth and the way Spawn’s cloak looks as if it’s being caught by a breeze. Certainly the more imposing of the two, particularly with that enormous sword, you know that if fighting against or with Spawn, Batman is going to be pushed to the limit.
Inter-company crossovers don’t happen too often in comics – the Batman and Spawn one was so special that almost thirty years later a third one-shot finally appeared, Batman/Spawn #1 (2022).
Jump on this celebration of the initial event when two of the darkest, gothic and most iconic capes in the business first went into battle, brought to you by two of the biggest comic creators of the time.
The Batman and Spawn figure 2-pack is available to preorder and is brought to you by McFarlane Toys.
Product details:
- Incredibly detailed 7″ scale figures based on the DC Multiverse and Todd McFarlane’s Spawn Comic Series.
- Designed with Ultra Articulation with up to 22 moving parts for full range of posing and play.
- Includes a specialized base with a backdrop and 2 figure bases.
- Batman includes extra hands and batarang.
- Spawn includes a sword.
- Included 2 collectible art cards with character art on the front, and character biography on the back.
- Collect all McFARLANE TOYS DC MULTIVERSE figures.
Images and press release courtesy of McFarlane Toys