Todd McFarlane kicks off “Year of Spawn” with SPAWN’S UNIVERSE one-shot

Last month Spawn creator Todd McFarlane revealed his bold plans to create a shared Spawn Universe through four new titles coming out in 2021 during what he declares the Year of Spawn.” Yesterday details of the Spawn’s Universe #1 one-shot coming in June were revealed.

The 52-page one-shot will feature four different stories – SPAWN, SHE-SPAWN, MEDIEVAL SPAWN, and GUNSLINGER SPAWN – highlighting different SPAWN characters from the past and present. As well as the introduction of new villains. The acclaimed artists working on each of the chapters will be:

JIM CHEUNG – chapter with SPAWN
BRETT BOOTH – chapter with GUNSLINGER SPAWN,
STEPHEN SEGOVIA – chapter with MEDIEVAL SPAWN
MARCIO TAKARA – chapter with SHE-SPAWN

Information on another series, The Scorched, was not revealed. In an interview with Newsarama yesterday, McFarlane said there “are still surprises to come” regarding other rumored creative teams for the Spawn Universe titles. He also said that he had reached out to female creators, though none have yet been announced as taking part in any of the Spawn Universe books.

Check out the cover and interior art below as well as the official press release.

Beginning in June, Todd McFarlane officially releases the beginning of his new “world-building” universe. Nearly 30 years in the making, the highly anticipated SPAWN’S UNIVERSE #1 is set to visually expand with a reveal of some of the stunning artwork by superstar artists Brett Booth, Jim Cheung, McFarlane and colorist FCO.  McFarlane takes on the writing duties for this inaugural book that will be the launchpad to build a bigger multi-character, interconnected comic book universe based around his top-selling monthly SPAWN comic.

SPAWN’S UNIVERSE #1 will be available with several variant covers. Most prominently, featuring the extraordinary artwork of J. Scott Campbell, who will be doing a set of four covers, each depicting one of the major characters who will be making the biggest impact in all the 2021 comic titles McFarlane is unleashing. Additional variant covers will be created by McFarlane and a group cover by artist Brett Booth – with inks by McFarlane. More covers and incentives will be announced later. However, these initial six covers will set the stage for over a dozen high profile artists to add their depiction of SPAWN and other fan-favorite heroes that will set the stage for three new monthly spin-off SPAWN titles: KING SPAWN, GUNSLINGER SPAWN, and THE SCORCHED, all releasing nationwide in 2021.

Contained inside SPAWN’S UNIVERSE #1 will be four different stories – SPAWN, SHE-SPAWN, MEDIEVAL SPAWN, and GUNSLINGER SPAWN –  highlighting different SPAWN characters from the past and present. As well as the introduction of new villains. The acclaimed artists working on each of the chapters will be:

JIM CHEUNG – chapter with SPAWN
BRETT BOOTH – chapter with GUNSLINGER SPAWN,
STEPHEN SEGOVIA – chapter with MEDIEVAL SPAWN
MARCIO TAKARA – chapter with SHE-SPAWN

SPAWN’S UNIVERSE #1, a 52-page, one-shot issue, will launch in June with a retail price of only $5.99. Given the current pricing from other comic companies, this will be one of comic’s most outstanding value of the year!

McFarlane’s vision is to create new exciting superheroes and new major villains over the next year and beyond.

Todd McFarlane said, “I’ve waited almost 30 years to be able to get to this moment. To deliver on ideas, I hope they will grow from this initial seed called SPAWN’S UNIVERSE #1 into a fully formed world populated with hundreds and hundreds of characters in the near future. The stage will be set with this book, and soon I’ll be launching into new monthly titles for the first time since 1992. I can’t wait to show comic readers all the crazy ideas in my head as well as opening up the floodgate to so many talented creators that have said they’d like to join me on this journey.”

It has been more than 28 years for collectors and fans since a SPAWN #1 title has released, and 2021 will bring four new Spawn-related #1 titles to comic retailers nationwide.  In 1992, the SPAWN comic’s first issue was released and sold an unprecedented 1.7 million copies, a record still unsurpassed for a creator-owned comic book. The original SPAWN book is one of the world’s bestselling and longest-running comics, with over 100 million copies sold in more than 120 countries.