Creator Todd McFarlane’s Spawn holds the record as the best-selling independent comic series of all time. Now, McFarlane himself is making the claim that this year’s Batman/Spawn crossover will be the best-selling comic of this century.
When Spawn #1 came out in 1992 in May of 1992, it sold 1.7 million copies. Popular enough to be adapted into film, TV and video games, it also allowed its creator the luxury of creating his own toy company, McFarlane Toys, which revolutionized the action figure industry and continues to be a leading force in the collectible world. Not content for holding the record for the best-selling independent superhero comic, McFarlane broke another record with the publication of Spawn #300, making the Image Comics title the longest-running independent comic book series of all time.
Now, McFarlane is poised to break records once again with the publication of a new Batman/Spawn crossover, recently announced at this year’s SDCC. Written by McFarlane and with art by superstar Greg Capullo, the crossover is currently scheduled to be released in December 2022. In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, McFarlane states that it “is going to be the comic book event of the year, and possibly in terms of sales, could be the highest-selling book of the century, for any comic book company for anything coming out.”
It may seem like an outrageous claim, but McFarlane has the track record to back it up. The Spawn titles have seen a resurgence in popularity after the publication of the main series’ 300th issue, and talk of a new feature film has kept the excitement for McFarlane’s signature character going strong. McFarlane also saw a recent sales success in 2021 with the publication of spinoff title King Spawn #1, which sold almost half a million copies - the largest sales figures for an Image Comics single issue in decades.
There’s also another factor at play for the new crossover: artist Greg Capullo. Capullo is one of the definitive Spawn artists, with a significant run as the lead artist on the main Spawn title under his belt. Capullo has also risen to one of the definitive artists on Batman in the years since, with the his run on the title with writer Scott Snyder being both a critical and sales success. The two previous Batman/Spawn crossovers were massive hits over twenty years ago, so with the addition of a fan-favorite like Greg Capullo, the sky is the limit for the latest meeting between the two legendary characters. McFarlane himself has little doubt of the upcoming crossover’s success, telling Screen Rant, “We're gonna crush it.”
Whether or not it winds up being the best-selling comic of the century, there’s no doubt that Todd McFarlane’s new Batman/Spawn crossover will be hotly anticipated by fans both new and old.