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• Todd McFarlane wants to give Spawn the Absolute Batman treatment... and already has a name for it

Todd McFarlane is proud of his earliest days as a creator - look no further than Spawn '77. The upcoming miniseries, which McFarlane is doing in tandem with artist Mark Spears, takes the very first design McFarlane ever used for the Spawn - artwork that he did at just 16, reader - and works it into an all-new story set within the modern Spawn mythology. But don't expect this project to just be about taking old designs and refurbishing them.

No, the way McFarlane tells it, he's planning on publishing that work almost exactly as it was created 49 years ago.

I spoke with McFarlane recently about his new project, the first Spawn book that will bear his name since April of this year, and he was happy to share with me details of at least one variant cover headed to the series.

"We're doing a cover for Spawn '77," the Image cofounder told me, "That is the original cover I did when I was 16, penciled by 16-year-old Todd, but inked by old man, over-60-year-old Todd. I'm going to ink myself, like, almost 50 years later."

But if McFarlane has his way (and let's face facts, when Todd McFarlane sets out to do something, it gets done), that cover won't be the end of his return to his high school days. 

"It's 1977, I'm 16," McFarlane told me elsewhere in the discussion, "I create this character because I just started collecting comic books. [...] I teach myself how to draw on this style, going, 'Hey, maybe I can someday break into it.' Along the way, I create my own characters. The one that was at the top of the list was this character called Spawn. But I did more than just a drawing or design. I did a 40-page story. I've had conversations with Image; maybe I should finish that book. Ink it and color it up and put it out, like when Spawn 400 comes out. Just as a 'Hey, here's what I did when I was 16.'" 

By our math, Spawn #400 would be hitting stores some time in 2028, if the title continues the publication pattern it's currently on. That would put a whopping 51 years between McFarlane's project and its hypothetical publication at Image Comics, and if you think that number is high, well...

Just wait until you see the sales.

Todd McFarlane's Spawn is available now wherever you get your comics. Spawn '77 arrives on shelves September 9. 

Interested? Here's where to find your closest local comic store, courtesy of Sweet.